Night of Burning Terror

http://www.indian-express.com/ie20020120/top3.html



Pak double trouble: an IC-814 hostage from



California RITU SARIN



NEW DELHI, JANUARY 19: AMONG the petrified passengers on board the hijacked Indian Airlines IC-814, there was one American citizen, Jeanne Moore, a psychotherapist from Bakersfield, California. She got away with a blow on her head and helped the hijackers spell the word ‘‘coffin,’’ when they were preparing their ransom note listing their demands, which included the release of Maulana Masood Azhar, and the return of the body of Azhar’s associate Sajjad Afghani.

Now the presence of Moore on board the aircraft has acquired a special significance since that’s the reason the FBI registered a case soon after the hijack. (And not when Union Home Minister L K Advani was in the US recently, as reported).



Interestingly, Moore’s testimony was recorded both by the FBI on her return to California and by the CBI although it isn’t clear how and where the CBI recorded her statement.

There is speculation here that in light of New Delhi’s demand on the list of 20, the FBI might press Pakistan to hand over the five hijackers—who are on the list—to Washington since a crime has been committed against a US citizen. In fact, soon after the FBI registered the criminal case for abduction of Moore, its teams have visited New Delhi at least on two occasions to discuss the progress of the investigation.

The possibility of the US pressing charges against the five hijackers—Ibrahim Athar, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Shahid Akhtar Sayeed, Rajesh Gopal Verma and Mistri Zahur Ibrahim—also assumes importance in view of FBI chief Robert Muller’s visit to New Delhi next week.

Muller is scheduled to meet CBI director P C Sharma and the IC-814 hijacking is expected to figure prominently in the talks.

Sharma said that while it was difficult for him to speculate upon this, developments were moving fast: ‘‘We certainly want the hijackers for our own case. But if the US succeeds before we do, it will also be a step in the right direction for booking the culprits.’’

He said there was ‘‘active’’ cooperation on the hijacking case between the FBI and the CBI and that their agency had passed on all possible help on identification, nationality and whereabouts of the hijackers to FBI agents.

Sources say the evidence also includes transcripts of ‘‘tapped conversations’’ between conspirators in Mumbai and Masood Azhar’s family in Karachi.

‘‘The Americans would naturally want to take action in accordance with their own laws and jurisdiction and we have provided them all possible cooperation,’’ Sharma said.

In India, the hijacking trial is going on in a designated court in Patiala where three conspirators are facing criminal charges. The five hijackers and two other conspirators are listed in the case as absconding accused.

a very interesting article

i really enjoyed it

ram-rahim # 21

Keep the faith, my friend. Hindu-Muslim are accidents, accidents of birth. There is no pride in being one. But there is tremendous pride in being a human being, and you appear to be a fine one.

In the lives of any one who refuses to bask in the reflected glory of an accidental collecitivity, there are times of personal triumphs and personal tragedies, of dream realized and dreams shattered. But that matters none at all. We shall yet see the end of senseless religious/caste/racial bigotry.

Regards.

I come from a small village in India (Maharashtra state) near Pune. A poor 1500-person village had two Brahmin and one Muslim family in 1947. Today, most of Brahmins have moved to cities and Moslem population has gown to 50 strong. Most of Muslims are farmers, laborers and civil servants just like most of non-Muslims in my village.

Here is a story told by my Muslim father about the partition and Gandhi assassination troubles.

After communal riots in Punjab and in many cities in India, there was trouble brewing in rural areas Maharashtra also. Some RSS and Hindu Mahasabha types from other villages came to our village Patil (a Maratha village chief) to ask for his permission to do away with Muslims as our village Hindus would not do this dirty work. This offer was firmly refused by our Patil and the outsiders were told to stay away from our village or face dire consequences. This action by the Patil saved the only Muslim family.

Same thing happened after Gandhi assassination. Outsiders who hated Brahmins wanted to burn Brahmin houses and the Patil protected Brahmin families just as he had protected the Muslim family.

Now in 2002, I am proud to say that there are no Hindu-Muslim-Brahmin communal problems. My ‘Guruji’ who guided me during my seven years in village school and helped me to go to college was a Brahmin man whose own children could not get in any colleges (poor grades).

tahmed - thankyou for taht very informative piece.

aicha

aicha #16 ``forgive me but doesnt ``jebel`` mean ``hill`` in arabic?? ``

It does. As in Gibralter (twisted form of the original Arabic Jebel-al Tariq, where the Moor general Tariq burnt his boats so no one gave another thought to retreat back to Africa - thus also contributing the phrase ``burn one`s boats`` to the world).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0%2C4273%2C4333236%2C00.html

India turned Kashmir into the bitter place it is now

BJP Hindu nationalism has made the conflict more



dangerous

Martin Woollacott

GuardianFriday January 11, 2002When sections of the Kashmiri crowd booed the Indian side and waved flags similar to the Pakistani flag at a match between India and the West Indies in Srinagar in 1983, the reaction in government circles in Delhi was fury. The Kashmiris, or, rather, the Kashmiri government, by not preventing the outrage, had failed the sub-continental version of the cricket test. Not many months afterwards, after underhand manoeuvres, the then Kashmiri chief minister, Farooq Abdullah, was toppled. Recounting the story in his book on Kashmir, the distinguished Indian journalist MJ Akbar notes that there was at that time no serious Pakistani-supported subversion in Kashmir. Instead, there was an established pattern of Indian subversion of Kashmiri institutions and leaders. From the beginning, the Indians could not bring themselves to leave well enough alone in a state that had acceded to the Indian union - even in the Indian version of events - on the basis of a document which gave its government full powers except in foreign, defence and fiscal policy. The story of Indian-held Kashmir had, from 1948, been of efforts to wear down and abolish the Kashmiri difference. There were periods when saner policies prevailed. But usually New Delhi wanted a crude mastery in Kashmir and it wanted Kashmiri leaders, notably Sheikh Abdullah and his son Farooq, to be utterly compliant allies. In this, it ignored the fact that any successful Kashmiri leader had to reflect to some extent the ambivalent feelings of part of the Muslim majority toward the Indian connection. It undermined and detained leaders when they failed to be as loyal as expected, and replaced them with worse men. Mrs Gandhi wanted Farooq out because he would not go along with what amounted to a merger of Kashmir`s main party with Congress. The cricket incident was a useful tool in the campaign to unseat him. Rajiv Gandhi reinstated Farooq in 1987 but the rigged elections of that year reduced belief in the political dispensation in Kashmir, Islamic parties gained ground, the ranks of unemployed youth increased, and significant armed actions happened. New Delhi`s reaction was to send in disastrously hard-line administrators. One of them famously said: ``The bullet is the only solution for Kashmir.`` In the resulting campaign, with its reprisals, rapes, and killing of innocents, the insurgents were damaged, but the population of the Vale was comprehensively alienated. The consequence was that, as Victoria Schofield writes: ``No political leader prepared to voice the demands of Kashmiri activists and militants would be acceptable to Delhi; any leader of whom Delhi approved would be rejected by the militants.`` In her careful and even-handed account she shows how the first phase of this deterioration preceded serious Pakistani intervention. Once it was under way, Pakistan certainly seized on the opportunity it saw, in both Afghanistan and Kashmir, to follow a forward strategy which would supposedly enable it to counterbalance India`s much greater strength. But it was New Delhi which bore most responsibility for the dismal situation in Kashmir - first for the years in which normal politics in the state slipped into decline, and then for a counter-insurgency effort, which lacked the scrupulous care which alone brings a chance of true success in such campaigns. Indian governments later tried to repair the damage done in the early 1990s, even as Pakistani-supported subversion of a more Islamist character continued, with Afghan and foreign militants added to the mix. But the Bharatiya Janata party`s arrival in government brought new and dangerous uncertainties, something now often overlooked by an outside world inclined to see an end to Pakistani-supported cross-border terrorism as a dependable step toward a Kashmir solution. That is to forget that the BJP is not a normal political party, but the parliamentary wing of a Hindu nationalist movement that has already succeeded in radically changing Indian political culture for the worse. This is a party whose position on Kashmir has been not just that there can be no talks with Pakistan until cross-border terrorism ends, but that there can be no talks until Pakistan has handed over to India the part of Kashmir which it holds. This is the party dedicated to the proposition that Kashmir`s autonomous status, so often violated in practice, should be officially abolished. This is the party intent on getting rid of the separate civil code for Muslims. It is true that Atal Behari Vajpayee, the BJP leader, has postponed or temporarily amended such BJP objectives in the interests of building the coalitions at which he is so adept. Many say that Vajpayee possesses a particularly gentle and winning personality. He has made an ally of Farooq Abdullah, and he has met Pakistani leaders twice as prime minister. He has almost certainly explored, in behind-scenes diplomatic meetings with Americans and others, prospects for a settlement of the Indo-Pakistani conflict. Against this has to be laid the fact that BJP`s accession to power has made that conflict much more dangerous. This is the party that, enjoying the direct support of only a fifth of the voters, tested and deployed nuclear weapons, provoking Pakistan into acquiring nuclear weapons too. Some of its members have openly spoken of using those weapons against Pakistan in the event of a war over Kashmir, and some have called for the invasion and occupation of Pakistani-held Kashmir. Nowhere else in the world, as the leftwing analyst and journalist Aijaz Ahmad says, have nuclear threats been so lightly thrown around. This may be only foolish rhetoric. What is undeniable is that the BJP has changed the agenda of Indian politics, resulting in a situation in which the opposition often competes with the BJP in patriotic and anti-Pakistani statements, rather than providing a needed corrective. The way in which it has become generally accepted that India is a Hindu country with non-Hindu minorities, rather than a secular state of many faiths, is another example of the BJP effect. For a while there was an unhappy symmetry, with Pakistan and India veering toward their own forms of fundamentalism. Aijaz Ahmad suggests that it is worth remembering, as the outside world takes a new interest in the sub-continent`s problems, that it is Parvez Musharraf of Pakistan who broke that pattern. At least let it be understood that India bears more ultimate responsibility for the Kashmir troubles than Pakistan, and that the confrontation between India and Pakistan would be a far less dangerous thing had it not been for the BJP`s communal thrust at home and its attempt to turn India into a nuclear great power abroad. · Kashmir: Behind the Vale by MJ Akbar, published by Viking Penguin India. Kashmir in Conflict by Victoria Schofield, published by IB Tauris. Lineages of the Present by Aijaz Ahmad, published by Verso. m.woollacott@guardian.co.uk







[]

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0%2C4273%2C4333236%2C00.html

India turned Kashmir into the bitter place it is now

BJP Hindu nationalism has made the conflict more



dangerous

Martin Woollacott

GuardianFriday January 11, 2002When sections of the Kashmiri crowd booed the Indian side and waved flags similar to the Pakistani flag at a match between India and the West Indies in Srinagar in 1983, the reaction in government circles in Delhi was fury. The Kashmiris, or, rather, the Kashmiri government, by not preventing the outrage, had failed the sub-continental version of the cricket test. Not many months afterwards, after underhand manoeuvres, the then Kashmiri chief minister, Farooq Abdullah, was toppled. Recounting the story in his book on Kashmir, the distinguished Indian journalist MJ Akbar notes that there was at that time no serious Pakistani-supported subversion in Kashmir. Instead, there was an established pattern of Indian subversion of Kashmiri institutions and leaders. From the beginning, the Indians could not bring themselves to leave well enough alone in a state that had acceded to the Indian union - even in the Indian version of events - on the basis of a document which gave its government full powers except in foreign, defence and fiscal policy. The story of Indian-held Kashmir had, from 1948, been of efforts to wear down and abolish the Kashmiri difference. There were periods when saner policies prevailed. But usually New Delhi wanted a crude mastery in Kashmir and it wanted Kashmiri leaders, notably Sheikh Abdullah and his son Farooq, to be utterly compliant allies. In this, it ignored the fact that any successful Kashmiri leader had to reflect to some extent the ambivalent feelings of part of the Muslim majority toward the Indian connection. It undermined and detained leaders when they failed to be as loyal as expected, and replaced them with worse men. Mrs Gandhi wanted Farooq out because he would not go along with what amounted to a merger of Kashmir`s main party with Congress. The cricket incident was a useful tool in the campaign to unseat him. Rajiv Gandhi reinstated Farooq in 1987 but the rigged elections of that year reduced belief in the political dispensation in Kashmir, Islamic parties gained ground, the ranks of unemployed youth increased, and significant armed actions happened. New Delhi`s reaction was to send in disastrously hard-line administrators. One of them famously said: ``The bullet is the only solution for Kashmir.`` In the resulting campaign, with its reprisals, rapes, and killing of innocents, the insurgents were damaged, but the population of the Vale was comprehensively alienated. The consequence was that, as Victoria Schofield writes: ``No political leader prepared to voice the demands of Kashmiri activists and militants would be acceptable to Delhi; any leader of whom Delhi approved would be rejected by the militants.`` In her careful and even-handed account she shows how the first phase of this deterioration preceded serious Pakistani intervention. Once it was under way, Pakistan certainly seized on the opportunity it saw, in both Afghanistan and Kashmir, to follow a forward strategy which would supposedly enable it to counterbalance India`s much greater strength. But it was New Delhi which bore most responsibility for the dismal situation in Kashmir - first for the years in which normal politics in the state slipped into decline, and then for a counter-insurgency effort, which lacked the scrupulous care which alone brings a chance of true success in such campaigns. Indian governments later tried to repair the damage done in the early 1990s, even as Pakistani-supported subversion of a more Islamist character continued, with Afghan and foreign militants added to the mix. But the Bharatiya Janata party`s arrival in government brought new and dangerous uncertainties, something now often overlooked by an outside world inclined to see an end to Pakistani-supported cross-border terrorism as a dependable step toward a Kashmir solution. That is to forget that the BJP is not a normal political party, but the parliamentary wing of a Hindu nationalist movement that has already succeeded in radically changing Indian political culture for the worse. This is a party whose position on Kashmir has been not just that there can be no talks with Pakistan until cross-border terrorism ends, but that there can be no talks until Pakistan has handed over to India the part of Kashmir which it holds. This is the party dedicated to the proposition that Kashmir`s autonomous status, so often violated in practice, should be officially abolished. This is the party intent on getting rid of the separate civil code for Muslims. It is true that Atal Behari Vajpayee, the BJP leader, has postponed or temporarily amended such BJP objectives in the interests of building the coalitions at which he is so adept. Many say that Vajpayee possesses a particularly gentle and winning personality. He has made an ally of Farooq Abdullah, and he has met Pakistani leaders twice as prime minister. He has almost certainly explored, in behind-scenes diplomatic meetings with Americans and others, prospects for a settlement of the Indo-Pakistani conflict. Against this has to be laid the fact that BJP`s accession to power has made that conflict much more dangerous. This is the party that, enjoying the direct support of only a fifth of the voters, tested and deployed nuclear weapons, provoking Pakistan into acquiring nuclear weapons too. Some of its members have openly spoken of using those weapons against Pakistan in the event of a war over Kashmir, and some have called for the invasion and occupation of Pakistani-held Kashmir. Nowhere else in the world, as the leftwing analyst and journalist Aijaz Ahmad says, have nuclear threats been so lightly thrown around. This may be only foolish rhetoric. What is undeniable is that the BJP has changed the agenda of Indian politics, resulting in a situation in which the opposition often competes with the BJP in patriotic and anti-Pakistani statements, rather than providing a needed corrective. The way in which it has become generally accepted that India is a Hindu country with non-Hindu minorities, rather than a secular state of many faiths, is another example of the BJP effect. For a while there was an unhappy symmetry, with Pakistan and India veering toward their own forms of fundamentalism. Aijaz Ahmad suggests that it is worth remembering, as the outside world takes a new interest in the sub-continent`s problems, that it is Parvez Musharraf of Pakistan who broke that pattern. At least let it be understood that India bears more ultimate responsibility for the Kashmir troubles than Pakistan, and that the confrontation between India and Pakistan would be a far less dangerous thing had it not been for the BJP`s communal thrust at home and its attempt to turn India into a nuclear great power abroad. · Kashmir: Behind the Vale by MJ Akbar, published by Viking Penguin India. Kashmir in Conflict by Victoria Schofield, published by IB Tauris. Lineages of the Present by Aijaz Ahmad, published by Verso. m.woollacott@guardian.co.uk







[]

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002

forgive me but doesnt ``jebel`` mean ``hill`` in arabic??

aicha

HARAMI ..OU THIS IS THE FATE OF INDIAN MUSLIM WHO ARE ONE OFV A KIND IN THE WORLD ,THEN WHAT ABOUT PPL. LIKE FARZANA WHO ARE JUST A ONE OF THE JOURNALIST WHO WRITE IN ENGLISH

YES YOU WERE PROUDLY MAKING BISMILLAH KHAN OF VARANASI ,HE IS BEGGING IN BHARAT AT THE AGE OF 80

SHAME INDIA ,SHAME HINDUSTAN ,SHAME BHARAT

http://www.timesofindia.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=1174154641



Bismillah Khan humiliated





HINA KAUSAR ALAM

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2002 1:48:20 AM ]



YDERABAD: Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan was in tears as he described to The Times of India, the hardships he was put through over the last two days by the state government and the Andhra Pradesh Lalita Kala Vedika (APLKV), a private cultural organisation.

He was made to run from pillar to post for a place to stay and to claim his performance fee. ``Hamara man Hyderabad se chal gaya (I am heart-broken with Hyderabad),`` Khan Saheb said.

The 86-year-old Bharat Ratna was to perform at Necklace Road as part of the Festival of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday. But the show was cancelled due to bad weather. He was also scheduled to play at Ravindra Bharati on Wednesday in a programme arranged by APLKV, which too did not happen. He will now perform at Necklace Road on Thursday evening.

APLKV founder R V Ramanamurthy took the initiative to invite the ustad to perform at the Festival of AP. Ramanamurthy said, ``I approached Tourism Director G Kishen Rao in December with a proposal to honour the ustad and asked him if Bismillah Khan`s performance could be included in the Festival of AP.`` He says Kishan Rao approved, but only if the maestro agreed to a Rs 3 lakh fee instead of his regular fee of Rs 5 lakh. Bismillah Khan agreed.

According to Ramanamurthy, Kishan Rao agreed to contribute Rs 2 lakh towards the fee with the APLKV pooling in Rs 1 lakh. This deal agreed, APLKV was told to make the arrangements, Ramanamurthy says.

Ramanamurthy went ahead and arranged for Khan`s travel to Hyderabad on Jan. 7, one day ahead of the Necklace Road performance. But in the meantime, the deal between APLKV and the tourism director to split the bill fell through. Ramanamurthy claims Kishan Rao backed out of his commitment to contribute Rs 2 lakh. The latter offered to give just Rs 1 lakh.

So, just a day before the performance, Ramanamurthy says he had a maestro on his hands with his accommodation not yet arranged for and no money to pay for the performance. When Bismillah Khan reached Hyderabad, he was taken to the state guest house Manjira, but had to wait in the taxi for nearly two hours.

``I pleaded with the authorities to let him stay but they refused as he was not a state guest,`` Ramanamurthy claimed. Kishan Rao denied Ramanamurthy`s allegations. ``I did not make any promises,`` he said. ``I was actually trying to rescue the deal and see to it that the maestro does not face any more trouble,`` Kishan Rao said.

After two days, Bismillah Khan was on Wednesday given the status of state guest and the state government agreed to meet all his expenses. Despite his harrowing experience, Bismillah Khan said he was finally going to perform at Necklace Road on Thursday.

Lets be objective........

Br. Nafisul Hasan has provided a news clipping (TOI 24 Dec 2001) on

information about UP govt`s decision to issue an ordinance for qualitative &

quantitative improvement in Madrasas. He expressed his optimism on, `` a good

step forward toward minorities welfare`` followed by a dig at the Ulemas

asking them whether they are pleased or amused with this decision.

The Islamic education in general & the Deeni madaris in particular are the

subject of discussions & debates in our country now a days. The 11 Sept

attack on US, the Afghan war which eliminated the Taliban, then the recent

attack on our parliament has provided further vigour to this debate.

Prior to these incidents, the ruling political formation in our country was

gunning for the madrasas with a sustained campaign projecting madrasas as

the dens of terrorists. However, all these claims were without any back-up

but surely succeeded to an extent to demonise the madrasas to discredit the

religion & the Muslim community.

In a recent meeting our Home Minister resolved to crackdown on the illegal

madarasas which according to the Home Ministry report, ``pose a threat to

national security``.

The vicious campaign by the BJP government in UP is known to everyone. The

Sangh Parivar`s perception of Islam, Muslims & their seminaries are well

known which is full of venom & hatred. It is undoubtedly their agenda to

either finish each & every school of religious teaching or transform these

institutions by way of intimidation where Islam can be Indianised.

Don`t forget, they are talking about Indianisation of Islam, cultural

transformation of Muslims in India & even asking to interpret Quran & Islam.

There are even elements within the Muslim fold who think that the highly

respected institution like Deoband is promoting puritanical brand of Islam.

Puritanical means practising or affecting strict religious & moral

behaviour.

So, what they mean by asking to Indianise the Islam or dump the puritanical

brand of Islam?

Do they want the Muslims to dump the Hadith & Sunnah of the Prophet (PUB)?

Do they want the Muslims to earn through Usury?

Do they want the Muslims to marry non-Muslims without converting?

Do they want the Muslims to create a replica of Kaba in India & perform Haj

there?

Do they want Muslim girls to give up hijab & indulge in all those social

activities which are recognised as not immoral by the so-called civilized

society?

Do they want Muslims to not ask for their personal law?

Do they want Muslims to stop growing beard?

Do they want Muslims to Hindunize & accept everything against their faith?

The list & demands are unending.

In fact anything bears the name of Islam & Muslims would be unacceptable to

these fascist forces or they may even accept it provided it is corrupted,

distorted & concocted. In a nut shell, the message is clear - you can be

anything but Muslims.

Against this backdrop, the latest in the series of the vicious campaign

which would be defined by the hawks as ``constructive engagement`` is the

aforesaid so-called UP government ordinance, to bring in qualitative &

quantitative improvement in madrasa education should be seen.

Are we so naive? Do we still could imagine (not believe) that the BJP or for

that matter the Sangh Parivar could think something constructive for the

Muslims?

At the time while there are two hardcore hawks sitting in the cabinet

occupying two important ministries namely Home & HRD, who are doing

everything possible at their command to kill the aspirations of Muslims,

design, develop & implement long term plans which could harm the Muslims,

can we believe that the present government is sincere about our issues. A

big NO.

Let`s look at the new ordinance & how the so-called Madrasa Education Board

(MEB) is going to be constituted.

Prior to this ordinance one needs to know that in 1994, the Union Government

(not the state Government) launched the scheme promoted by HRD Ministry

where the govt assists madrasas with one or two teachers of modern subjects

like science, Maths and English. Many universities now accept the

certificates issued by such madrasas. In UP alone 700 madrasas are covered

under this scheme while in West Bengal And Assam, there is the

Madrassa-e-Alia stream which include most of the subjects taught in

mainstream schools and is recognised by universities.

In these schemes, there is nowhere an interference nor the authority of the

madrasas is tampered with. This experiment at the best could be revitalized

& reviewed to make it more constructive & result oriented.

The recent ordinance says the Arabic & Farsi Education Board will be

dissolved and merge with MEB.

What would be the shape of the MEB?

1. Headed by - noted educationist having long experience in traditional

madrasa education.

The track record of the BJP is dubious. For them the best available

historians in the country are those who were long time clerks, but

affiliated to the VHP, were brought in to head the NCERT & The Indian

History Congress. Both the gentlemen created a havoc with the fullest

support from the HRD Minister by changing the curriculum & re-writing the

history. The internationally recognised historians of our country are

described by our HRD Minister as intellectual terrorists who are more

dangerous than the Taliban.

One can imagine a person chosen by the Sangh Parivar to head the MEB & his

credibility who will only serve to achieve the objectives of the Hawks as

mentioned above.

Mind well you will have no choice & no say at all.

2. Director - Minority Welfare.

Not necessarily be a Muslim and not even necessarily be a secular Hindu as

well. A person within the bureaucracy having affiliation to VHP & BD would

be the best choice for this post.

You have no choice & no say at all.

3. One member each from Sunni & Shia sects to be nominated by UP

legislature.

This will be the political appointment. We have persons like Syed Shahnawaz

& Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to fill these slots. However, this move seems to be

initiated to create more frictions between these two sects rather than

justify the sectarian balance.

You have no choice & no say at all.

4. Principal of Government Oriental College Rampur.

This is little amusing. However, the person can be retired & replaced with

anybody who subscribe to the hidden agenda.

You have no choice & no say at all.

5. Registrar.

A typical babu, sitting behind the desk who could be

easily dictated & directed or well briefed prior to his appointment.

The scenario is crystal clear & one can understand the deceptive nature of

this political announcement.

Showing optimism & giving a benefit of doubt to the Rajnath Singh government

will be suicidal & shows a complete mental block syndrome.

In the meantime, there are reports that the community is opposing this move

with its leaders describing it as an interference in the religious affairs.

Lastly, asking the Ulemas whether they are pleased or amused with this

decision is an act of over smartness. It is derogatory, as their own brother

is taking a dig at them at this crucial juncture.

Surely, the Ulemas are more wise than those who pose such questions to them.

They are perfectly capable to understand the design, so, are not pleased or

amused but surely, they are concerned for the developments taking place & of

course for those too, who enjoy by taking a dig at them.

However, the question of modernization & reform at the Madrasa education is

still valid & need an urgent attention.

There are some attempts & efforts underway towards this direction. There are

some institutions, NGOs & individuals working hard for this. There are some

Madrassas already initiated applying modern education.

All these attempts & efforts could be only successful when the community,

whole heartedly support these endeavours without asking silly questions. We

discuss the pathetic condition of Deeni Madaris but we do not accept our

responsibility towards it.

How best they can be supported, how best we can contribute to it from our

hard & halal earnings. It is a gigantic task & deserve equally huge

mobilization – resource & thought as well. Unfortunately this does not come

under our priorities but we still reserve our right to question somebody’s

wisdom.

Let us do it together, sincerely & religiously because it is our & only our

problem & we only should solve it – I am sure, we can – Inshallah.

May Allah purify our thoughts.

Jazakallah.

Ras

Regardless of Harimau`s lovable reply, the answer is yes and no. In urban areas, castism barely exists, in rural areas of the cow belt,mutual contempt rather than hatred, exists below the surface.

Ref Ras Siddiqui #: 1

[I hope that caste relations in India have improved since then.]

No. And we still have separate water carriers in our railway stations calling out ``Hindu pani`` and ``Mussalman pani``. So go feed your fantasy of India with that bit of info.

Next time you have the urge to visit Pakistan, let me know. I will stand surety for an Indian visa for you so you can hop across the border and find out for yourself what goes on in India.

Moslems? Mahrattas?

I can bet my ample butt this one was cooked up in some kitchen in Birmingham or Southall by some jobless Paki youth with little else to do.

SM

Layman

``Am fascinated by the name of the place RamAllah in Palestine. Anyone know how that name came about?``

I don`t know how far is it true, but my late grandfather would always insists that the Ramayana actually took place somewhere in the middle east. He would site the name of the places located there as example and would also site the example of Lanchershire or some such place in UK. He would say the name is quite close to Lanka. There was some book he had read that had made him think on these lines.

Mona

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