The Identity Crisis of a Modern Muslim

Reply Aicha

OK, but let me tell you, the Memon Jamaat is happiest extending sympathy...

Reply Stuka

Yup - have been to Habitat - saw Shobha Mudgal there, also Aditi Mangaldas (whom I seem to keep mentioning...)

The head shaking at IIC was probably to the taal. Actually, watch any group of Southies at a concert and a lot of them usually beat out the taal with their hands.

Veeresh:

Here is another category of Muslim Girls:

Chowk inhabiting, secretly in love with RSaxena, Muslim Girls ;)

AnNy:

``stuka and ali1:

you both should kill yourselves``

:( Arrey, hamney aapka kya bigaara hai. In fact, I have noticed a big improvement in my discussion with Ali#1. Nowadays, we predominantly insult only each other, as opposed to insulting communities, religions and nations. Better situation right?

semipreciousme - thks i`ll def stick to food then !!

Zafar

``llow me to accept your sympathy on behalf of the Memon Jamaath. You were offering, no?``

No - i wasnt!! Actaully what is the difference? we are all human beings - some sub(`s) do exist but we shall not talk of those creatures. Anyways if teh Jamaath is happy being who they are they are then why rock the boat !

rdesi,

Thanks for the info! In the last two years I`ve only been going to dance performances put on by the Lotus dance studio; they have some amazing dancers, but I`m looking to find some performances by dancers/troupes from the Subcontinent...are you by any chance near Oak Tree Road?

Also, haven`t seen a vocal performance since Abida Parveen and that was a closed community performance...I know that the World Music Institute books some excellent musicians....

anNY

Do you really think Ali and Rsax are brothers?....oh...that would explain many things...and if they killed themselves, surely some of us would be a little sad, hain?

Maybe they should take up knitting or bread making....its quite relaxing...

CutandPaste

What is so great/terrible about a leader in Pakistan being killed that you have to paste in 10 boards?

Zafar:

I once had to sit through a Bharat Natyam performance at the India International Centre. It was the most boring one hour of my life. Since the performance wasn`t doing much, I was watching people in the audience.

Everyone kept shaking their heads in this jerky way, going with the beat I guess. The audience was predominantly Punjabi, so I guess they weren`t understanding anything either. Just pretending to be all cultured and all...typical IIC behavior.

BTW, have you had a chance to go to the new Inida Habitat Centre? (New is a relative term, anything that occured after I left is ``new``)

Veereesh,

#492

Perhaps you might want to add these categories?

Muslim Girls Who Are Physically Masculine Because They Advocate For Equal Rights

Muslim Girls Who Are Kanjars and Oreos Because They Can Write Complex Sentences and Advocate For Equal Rights

oh wait...your list was critiquing stereotypes...

Oye Ali

You live in Boston? BTW, your father being a jamadar in Pakistani Army does not qualify you as one of ``military background``

In reply to cutandpaste : the Asia Times article is mostly garbage.

Firstly, Jamaat al-Fuqra is/was active in the US, and of course, had links to Pakistan, but as far as is known, was not active in India.

E.g.,

http://www.milnet.com/milnet/tgp/data/jamat.htm

Secondly, this org. has been in the news recently in the US, with law-enforcement investigations goin on, in California, Colorado and in Virginia. Do a search on ``Fuqra`` in google, for instance.

From Dec 10, 2001 (Colorado):

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/den/news/7newsinvestigates/stories/7newsinvestigates-112148720011210-181238.html

Dec 25, 2001 (California) :

http://www.dailynewslosangeles.com/socal/terrorist/1201/25/terror15.asp

Dec 21, 2001 (Virginia)

http://www.kfwb.com/news/nat/n122101.html

One would think that Pakistani spooks attempting to plant their theories in the press know how to search the web.

-Arun Gupta

In reply to cutandpaste : the Asia Times article is mostly garbage.

Firstly, Jamaat al-Fuqra is/was active in the US, and of course, had links to Pakistan, but as far as is known, was not active in India.

E.g.,

http://www.milnet.com/milnet/tgp/data/jamat.htm

Secondly, this org. has been in the news recently in the US, with law-enforcement investigations goin on, in California, Colorado and in Virginia. Do a search on ``Fuqra`` in google, for instance.

From Dec 10, 2001 (Colorado):

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/den/news/7newsinvestigates/stories/7newsinvestigates-112148720011210-181238.html

Dec 25, 2001 (California) :

http://www.dailynewslosangeles.com/socal/terrorist/1201/25/terror15.asp

Dec 21, 2001 (Virginia)

http://www.kfwb.com/news/nat/n122101.html

One would think that Pakistani spooks attempting to plant their theories in the press know how to search the web.

-Arun Gupta

http://atimes.com/ind-pak/DB01Df01.html

Daniel Pearl kidnapping plot thickens

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - The kidnapping mystery surrounding the Wall Street Journal`s South Asia bureau chief, Daniel Pearl, is still unresolved after more than a week. Insiders in Pakistani intelligence agencies say the case is not as simple as it appears. But the theories emanating from these agencies have one thing in common: that the kidnapping is an Indian ploy to provide American detective agencies, which are already established in the country, with a chance to discover all the strings of the Pakistani secret underworld as they investigate the case.

Sources say that in the past few days the course of investigation into Pearl`s kidnapping has suddenly changed, and all fingers are now pointing toward outfits that are little known but have been operational in India. One of these organizations, Jamiatul Faqurah, is alleged by India to have carried out terrorist activities, and now, strangely for the first time, its connections to underworld Muslim groups have been established by the United States.

After Pearl`s kidnapping, the first suspect was Harkatul Mujahadeen, an organization banned by the US several years ago. However, aware of the entire structure of this militant group, Pakistani investigators did not pursue the idea. Pakitani intelligence agencies have inroads into all Pakistani militant groups, and believe that had Harkat or any other known militant group kidnapped Pearl, they would have found a clue no matter how secretly the kidnapping was carried out.

Just three days after the incident, Pakistani intelligence agenicies reported to the country`s leadership that no Pakistani militant group was behind the incident. They could find no suspect nor match the modus operandi with those of militant groups operating in Pakistan. The way Pearl was snatched, and the way the kidnappers` demands were made known via email, are not characteristic of Pakistani groups.

The intelligence agencies have therefore concluded in their reports that the kidnapping was a plot hatched by an Indian agency or proxies infiltrated into militant organizations. The motive? To imply that Osama bin Laden`s al-Qaeda network is operating in Pakistan. Once this became recognized, the US would conduct an operation that would not only eliminate Pakistani underworld groups but also discover and destroy their links in India.

This thesis presented by Pakistani intelligence agencies is given weight by several events. Initially, it was stressed that Pearl was staying in Karachi near the beach in a rented property, along with his wife and an Indian friend. He was investigating cyber-crimes and militant organizations. He met with some senior US officials at the US consulate in Karachi, and was not seen again. His kidnapping was registered at Clifton Police Station in Karachi.

However, in the past few days it has emerged - or been claimed - that Pearl managed to meet some senior members of Harkatul Mujahideen in Rawalpindi, who promised him they would arrange his meeting with Shiekh Mubarrak Jillani, a leader of Jamiatul Fuqarah. Jamiatul Fuqarah is said to be operative in Kashmir. It was also implied that Jamiatul Fuqarah has links with some underground groups in the US. The theory then changed to Pearl being kidnapped not in Karachi but in Rawalpindi, and that an organization like Jamiatul Fuqarah was behind the kidnapping.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Pakistani agencies then conducted raids in Rawalpindi, searching for Shiekh Mubarak. Mubarak put an end to that by appearing before the senior superintendent of police in Rawalpindi last Wednesday.

The implication that Jamiatul Fuqarah was involved in Pearl`s kidnapping is strange, because the group has never been accused of conducting terrorist activities in Pakistan. However, New Delhi has blamed the outfit for many incidents that have occurred in India.

Pakistani intelligence sources say that the kidnapping is likely to be a blow for Pakistani secret services` operations in India. There are many such operations, designed to keep India entangled in its internal affairs to the extent that it would not bother to attack Pakistan. Many of these operations were hatched during General Zia ul Haq`s tenure, with the intention of encouraging Indian separatist movements of any hue, Muslim or non-Muslim.

The Sikh Khalistan movement and the Muslim Kashmiri movement are now widely known, but there are other militant structures that the Indian intelligence agencies know about but have not managed to crack. One of them is Dawood Ibrahim`s underworld mafia in Mumbai, which now draws its support from across India.

However, the most important underground structures include Sufi outfits. Traditionally, the Sufis have always kept themselves apart from worldly affairs, preferring to focus on spritual matters. But Zia ul Haq`s spies traced and cultivated some Sufi groups which had a tradition of combat and which struggled against British colonialism. One such outfit is Mian Mir (named after a famous Sufi saint) of Lahore, which has followers in India. These days, the custodian of Mian Mir`s tomb is none other than Skeikh Mubarak Jillani, now under investigation for the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl.

Sources say that many of the facts of the kidnapping are yet to unfold, but they are likely to make life difficult for the Pakistani secret agencies, both inside and outside Pakistan.

Reply Semipreciousme # 488

“….btw, how’re the refugees’ protests going down with the public?…why do i get the feeling that a lot of them would be glad to see them deported?….”

Your feeling is exactly right.

This all flows from the fact that Australia is an island continent – and the public is used to the idea that the Government controls who enters the country, and can usually do this pretty well. (Everybody, except Aust and NZ citizens, needs a visa to enter Australia. There is a lot of support for this policy – when it was suggested that they drop the visa requirement for countries unlikely to produce economic migrants – USA, Canada, Japan, etc. – the idea went over like a lead balloon.)

So…when you have a boatload of people arriving (and the numbers are truly miniscule, certainly compared to the numbers of asylum seekers in other developed countries) the reaction is out of all proportion to the numbers – it is the fact that they actually GOT HERE WITHOUT THE GOVERNMENT’S CONTROL that unsettles the public.

The mandatory detention thing is a blatant attempt to make people think twice before entering Australia unofficially (don’t know the proper word) – essentially, the Govt thinks that if it makes that route harder, fewer people will take it. (I don’t know if this is working.)

Oddly enough, Australia’s resettlement program for refugees is pretty good – that is to say, a fair number are accepted and resettled in the country, once their claims for asylum are reviewed. (The Government complains that the courts are “unduly lenient”. Hence it’s attempts to process refugee claims outside of Australia, where the applicants have no access to appeals in Australian courts. For more on this, look up Australia’s famous “pacific solution” where we warehouse asylum seekers in some of the poorest countries in the world.)

The protests of the refugees against mandatory detention are getting a mixed response from the Australian public. There already exists a block of opinion against mandatory detention – and which also supports resettling refugees here. (Of course there is also a block of opinion against this.) Generally asylum is supported in theory, but there is a feeling that “we are doing them a favour by accepting them” – and so when asylum seekers demonstrate as if asylum is a right (which it is, btw, under the law) it is at odds with this perception in the receiving country.

The most recent protests – involving threats to commit suicide and self mutilation (sewing lips together as a part of a hunger strike) – have gone down very badly, especially as some children were apparently coerced into sewing their lips together. The group of refugees which were involved in this were from Afghanistan.

The Government’s position on them is: “they were seeking refuge from the Taliban. The Taliban have been overthrown. Therefore they will be safe if they return to Afghanistan. If they still want to stay they are clearly not valid asylum seekers but economic migrants trying to sneak into the country the back way.” The public seems to agree with the Government on this one. This seems to have resulted in a certain desperation among the Afghan boat people – hence the protests.

Those poor Afghans. They probably sunk life saving/burrowings into this shady boat trip – and got here to find a Government that was a lot harder than they had been led to believe. And while the Australian Government is putting its back into setting a tough precedent and “sending a message to people smugglers” etc. – its these poor people who are caught in the middle.

Reply anNy # 490

“LOL..aap paan khatae hain? white white pointy jootae pehantae hain?:)”

Sorry to disappoint, Q-ben, but oon gujju nathi choon.

“…we have just one dancer (i think), sheema kirmani who does the Bharatha Natyam..pls excuse me if i think its quite silly and highly boring to have to sit through...”

Next time you’re in Bombay try and see some good Bharath Natyam. It WILL change your mind.

Reply Aicha # 493

“heyyy wait a sec - this works both ways you know : ) “

Allow me to accept your sympathy on behalf of the Memon Jamaath. You were offering, no?

Pak Hindu leader wins ballot battle, falls to bullet

VIVEK DESHPANDE

NAGPUR, JANUARY 31: A PROMINENT leader of the Pakistani Hindu community, Sudham Chand Chawla, who successfully fought a legal battle to ensure voting rights for Pakistani minorities, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Pakistani city of Jacobabad on Monday.

This was revealed by relatives of the slain leader to mediapersons here.



Pakistani newspapers such as The News and The Dawn carried the news of the killing which largely went unnoticed in India. A pall of gloom descended on the Chawla residence here when his relatives heard it on BBC Radio the same night.

According to his brother Jagdish, who resides here along with three other brothers, Chawla was scheduled to meet the Jacobabad collector in connection with the electoral rolls when he was shot dead.

The Pakistan Supreme Court had restored voting rights to minorities a fortnight ago following Chawla’s sustained efforts.

‘‘Some Muslim organisations, too, helped him in his endeavour but the fundamentalists probably didn’t like it and hence killed him,’’ he said.

Chawla, 45, was president of the Hindu General Panchayat and the Jacobabad district chief of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). He was one of the prominent Hindu leaders and was popular among Muslims too.

Thousands gathered at his residence and Jacobabad observed an impromptu bandh when the news of his death spread. Hindus staged a highway blockade which was eased after the administration promised to nab the culprits.

‘‘Sindh traders observed a three-day bandh to protest the killing,’’ Chawla’s son Santosh said. Sudham Chand, who owned a rice mill, is survived by his widow, a son and a six-month-old daughter in Pakistan and three sons, Santosh, Manoj and Inder who moved to Nagpur a few years ago.

One of his brothers Kanwarlal is in Jacobabad while four brothers, Jagdish, Ashok, Kishor and Daulat, had left Pakistan 25 years ago to settle down in Nagpur. Sudham Chand was the eldest. His mother, too, is here for the past one year while his father is dead.

According to family members here, Chawla had moved the Pakistan SC three years ago seeking restoration of voting rights to minorities.

‘‘He was helped by people such as former speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly Elahi Bukhsh Soomro,’’ Jagdish said. ‘‘He also valiantly fought for restoration of land which rightfully belonged to the Hindus,’’ he said.

Sudham Chand was elected a corporator in Jacobabad first in 1983 and then in 1987. In 1990, he bacame president of the Jacobabad PPP and in 1994 became its district chief. In 1996, during Benazir Bhutto’s reign, he was named the chief of Upper Sindh unit of the PPP, according to family members.

‘‘His killing has created a feeling of insecurity among Pakistan Hindus and the Government of India should do something about it,’’ Jagdish said.

Re harimau 487

Padmini is in NJ and apparently very sick, cancer or something like that. Kamala is also believed to be in NJ. Hey thanks to the old Bell Labs and its heavy southie employment, they all gravitated there.

Actually, the true dance teachers are still back. The ones here are either those who studied under them and/or charlatans. I know of a mediorcre music teacher who transformed herself into a dance teacher because of the fees she could command and the general stupidity of the parents. The fees for the arangetram can go up to 10 grand. Oh do I smell some kitchen and bathroom remodelling in here? :)

Zafar 484

heyyy wait a sec - this works both ways you know : )

aicha