Iftar Party?

A Political Iftar Party in Mumbai

Come Ramadan and every political party – be it right-wing, left-wing or middle-wing – float a new (political!) party with a limited life: Iftar party. Its life expectancy is that of a month! As soon as the Eid-moon appears over the horizon, Iftar party packs off and goes into hibernation mode for the next eleven months! Unlike other political parties (whose target audiences are broad), their main target audiences are those Muslim dullards who confuse personal welfare to that of the community’s welfare! It thrives on Jinnah’s Muslim League agenda: divide, sympathize, rule and attain personal clout!

Did you say Iftar party? Are you still confused that the holy word Iftar has been joined with that of an unholy entity called Party? Don’t be. The marriage between the two is a unique union of strange bedfellows. What emerges from this union is an unholy alliance for an unholy purpose: to woo Muslim masses on every count! The moment anybody utters the term Iftar party, the image that conjures up in mind is that of a political party which has come into existence just to exploit religious observation of the Muslims. There is no other Party in the world whose sole motto is so narrow and totally based on negativity. In Iftar Party’s manifesto everything else dominates over the true spirit of Iftar. But how can Iftar, a sacred act of the Believers, be connected with politics or vice-versa? Iftar is an Arabic word which is derived from the root word fatrann. It signifies breaking of the fast. What a political party has to do with the breaking of the fast? Political parties have their own system of interpretation. Let’s try to unlock their interpretative code!

Perhaps a politician’s limited brain with unlimited mischief thinks that the Iftar Party gives him an opportunity for future capitalization among the Muslim masses. It gives him the ultimate advantage of mixing with the Muslims where he can flex his political muscles without any opponent present in the ring! It provides him a pleasant platform to talk about the confluence of Ganga-Jamni tehzeeb (existence of pluralistic society) although his main aim is to garner Muslim votes. It is an attempt to showcase who is who of the politics. It is a race to boost public image of the politician where parameter of power is measured on the basis of cash flow. It is a public relation exercise where each and every object of presentation (read flashbulbs, chairs, tables, plates, delicacies etc.) is chosen carefully after close scrutiny. It acts as an ointment to pacify old wounds of the Muslims! Iftar Party is like a fisherman’s net whose sole function is entrapment!

An Iftar Party is a place where Jinnah comes alive: untouchable Jinnah caps suddenly become touchable. A politician’s favourite Nehru cap is replaced by the Jinnah cap!

Unfortunately some of the self-appointed messiahs of the Muslims who grace Iftar Party happen to be Muslim Ulemas. It is altogether a different matter that most of them are hired. Beware, we are living in an age of hire and fire!

Muslims, beware! Don’t be seduced by the aroma of the political food because it contains ingredients which can impair one’s independent way of thinking! Those who visit political Iftar Party tend to confine themselves to pigeon-holes!

As Ramadan readies to depart, there is a sudden surge in political Iftar parties. It would be worth recalling what Dr. Mustafa Kamal Sherwani has recently written on political Iftars in the form of a beautiful poem:

Count all the known ‘BEARDS’ with utmost care,

Seduce them all into our Party’s voting share.

Give them the title of ‘ULEMA’ of high esteem,

When they come, like a beeline, it must seem.

Manage to make them sit in separate rows,

To send a strong message to our foes.

For us, all of them are a great asset,

Their every motion must be recorded in cassette.

The ‘LONGER BEARDS’ must occupy central places,

From all sides, the media must cover their faces.

On this gullible community is resting our hope,

To blunt its mind, these ‘IFTARS’ are a dope.

With round caps on, like them, you must look,

To trap these ‘FOOLS’, it is the best hook.

Ramadan: Economic Blessings for Mumbai

Iftar Time: Shopkeepers break their fasts on Mumbai's Mohammed Ali Road

Mumbai: For Indian Muslims, the holy fasting month of Ramadan is not only about piety but about economic blessings as well.

“Ramadan is a month when Allah’s bounty showers in abundance. Be it the reward of prayers or reward of trade”, Ismail Khan, a trader says. “Show me just any other Islamic month in which Muslims are much more economically empowered than in Ramadan.”

Many traders and eatery owners in India’s economic capital feel that Ramadan is a month of balance where “giving” charity and Zakat (Alms-giving) always match up by “receiving” the proceeds of booming business.

“Thanks to Allah, Ramadan is a month in which even we earn decent amount of money”, says a jubilant Fayyaz Shaikh, a small-time labourer in a bakery. “There are plenty of dishes on my dastarkhawan (dining carpet) at the time of iftar. That rarely happens for rest of the year.”

Muslims constitute at least 18 percent of Mumbai’s 140 million strong population.

Many see such Ramadan prosperity as a reward of piousness from Allah.

“If Muslims start following the spirit of Ramadan in the rest of the eleven months, their economic woes will disappear,” said one preacher, requesting anonymity. “Allah has promised it in the Holy Qur’an.”

Every Ramadan, eatery shops come up with new delicacies. The moment one delicacy becomes famous, experimental cooking comes into the picture. “Each chef will follow his own ingredients to make the same delicacy. So we have the ultimate advantage of different tastes. Where on earth will you get so much variety in a limited geography?” asks Shariq Ejaz, a resident of Mohammed Ali Road, a long narrow artery which connects south Mumbai to the north. It is named after freedom fighters Maulana Mohammed Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali who had joined hands with Mahatma Gandhi to launch Khilafat (Caliphate) movement in 1921 against the dismissal of Turkish Caliph by the British.

The historical Khilafat House – from where the movement was launched – is still intact on Mohammed Ali Road.

It was the first major instance of Hindu-Muslim unity after the 1857 war.

Thousands of Muslims from the northern states of UP and Bihar visit Mumbai, the financial capital of India, to do brisk and timely business in the holy month of Ramadan. “Every Ramadan, I come all the way from Agra (in UP) just to sell skullcaps here,” says Sufiyan Ansari, a trader who has camped in a makeshift shop on the famed Mohammed Ali Road. “Travelling to make halal-earning is not forbidden in Islam. And when you do the same in Ramadan, the reward from Allah is manifold,” he notes. “When politicians can come all the way from Delhi to Mumbai just to attend iftar parties, why can’t a Muslim trader camp here to eke out a living?”

Mohammed Ali Road Ramadan greatly contributes to Mumbai’s booming economy. “The scene on Mohammed Ali Road is an economy in motion. There is no other religious observation apart from Ramadan which contributes greatly to Mumbai’s buoyant economy”, boasts Danish Ahmad, a student of economics.

“Although Muslims eat only one full-meal but still there is so much revenue generation for the economy.”

The mood on the bustling Mohammed Ali Road resembles that of a carnival. Even curious non-Muslims make a point to visit it in Ramadan. “Mohammed Ali Road has so much to offer in terms of variety,” Naresh Shah, a businessman, says. “I come here to fulfill my culinary cravings for delicacies specially prepared for Ramadan.”

As day turns into dusk and iftar time draws closer, the faithful disperse quietly to break their fast. Life comes to a standstill on the otherwise bustling street as the sonorous voice of the muezzin calls for prayer from the tall and symbolic minarets of Minara Masjid.

The aura of festivities rekindles once Tarawih (Special night prayer) prayers are over. It continues till the loudspeakers of Minara Masjid buzz again for Fajr (morning) prayer.

“Ramadan spirit inculcates unity and it can be used to narrow communal protocol”, says a Mumbai-based Hindu journalist. “There is no better place than Mohammed Ali Road to witness this phenomenon.”

'It's been a Black Year for Me'

Shakeela Bano: Malegaon Blast Victim's Widow

Malegaon: A strange calm greets you as one enters lane number two in centrally located Nayapura, a Muslim mohalla consisting of sixteen lanes. A knock on the door of Shakeela Bano – widow of the blast victim Rafique Ahmad – is answered with pure curiosity. “Who are you? And why are you here?” inquiries her 12 year old son. Before I could reply, his intuition recognizes me. “Come inside”, he says with utmost respect. A neat mat is laid out in one kitchen-cum-bedroom house.

A grief-stricken Shakeela Bano (36) prefers to sit on naked floor. Her life, it seems, has been as disorganized as her scattered kitchenware.

Without any formality Shakeela Bano pours her heart out, “As Malegaon readies to observe first anniversary of the deadly bomb blasts as Black Day, the year gone by has been a black year for me.”

Her empty eye sockets moisten. She tries to withhold her emotions but as they say eyes can never lie. A stream of tears tickles down her face as she recalls September 8, 2006.

“Every Friday, we used to eat lunch together after the namaaz. On September 8, 2006, when the news of the bomb blasts reached me, I was shocked because my husband had gone to the Bada Qabristan mosque”, she says.

“It was only in the evening”, says Shakeela Bano, “that Maulana Javid Milli, Imam of Noorani Masjid, informed us that my husband is dead.”

“My world died on that day”, she sobs uncontrollably.

Her husband might be dead but he is still alive in her memory.

“I remember my husband each moment. It seems it was only yesterday that we ate together”, says a heart-broken Shakeela Bano.

Rafique Ahmed was a small-time tailor, sole earner of the family. Shakeela Bano has four kids, eldest is in class 10.

Nine Muslims have been arrested by Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) so far accused of masterminding the September 8, 2006 blasts that killed 31 people and injured more than 300. Almost all victims were Muslims. Interestingly, the case was handed over to CBI on the day when ATS had filed the chargesheet.

Shakeela Bano believes that all accused are innocent and “real culprits” have not been caught.

“Ek Mussalman doosre Mussalman ko kyon Qatal Karega? Kya Hum Pakistan mein rah rahein hain?” Why would a Muslim kill a fellow-Muslim? Are we living in Pakistan? She questions.

She sympathizes with the wives of the accused, “In both cases it is women who are suffering although for different reasons. I deeply share their grief.”

Shakeela Bano terms one lakh compensation from state government as “meagre.”

“At other places, the amount of compensation was much higher so it’s natural for us to feel discriminated”, she complains. She has bought powerlooms worth rupees one lakh and has given them on lease.

“It is my sole source of income”, she says.

“Life has been a vale of tears for us ever since my son passed away on that fateful day”, says Shakeela Bano’s elderly mother-in-law, despair writ large on her wrinkled face.

Shakeela Bano’s youngest daughter Saima has just enrolled in Kindergarten (KG). She plays cheerfully in the house. “My Papa”, says a tender Saima hinting at the door curtain, “will come back. He has gone just to fetch some sweets.”

A quite descends on Saima’s innocent utterance. Shakeela Bano wears a disgruntled look. “How would I tell her the truth?” asks a confused Shakeela Bano.

That’s the dilemma of a young Indian mother.

India at 60: Muslims Feel Left Behind

A Kashmiri girl participates in a programme to commemorate the 60th Independence Day at Srinagar’s Baskhi stadium on Wednesday

New Delhi: As the Indian tricolour unfurls on the historic 17th-century Mughal-built Red Fort in New Delhi marking the 60th anniversary of independence, many Muslims believe Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s dream of ending “inequality of opportunity” remains a dream.

“Nothing has changed in the last 60 years in the sense that in 1947 my grandfather was a powerloom laborer. Sixty years have elapsed we are still the same,” Sajid Khan said on Thursday, August 15.

At the stroke of midnight on August 14, 1947, Nehru delivered his famous speech Tryst with Destiny.

“It is a fateful moment for us in India,” he said eloquently, speaking of an “unending quest” and future.

“The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity.”

While India has since became a heavyweight political, military and economic power, some sections of its society remain lagging behind.

“I don’t understand what you are saying,” Khan said when asked about India’s nine percent economic growth rate.

“I measure growth in terms of equity. Where is equity? We are not even paid the minimum wages fixed by the government,” he lamented. “Independence means nothing to me.”

In a speech from the ramparts of Red Fort to mark the independence anniversary, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh listed poverty, malnutrition, unemployment and agrarian strife among the challenges ahead.

“We need at least a decade of hard work and of sustained growth to realize our dreams. We have to bridge the many divides in our society and work with a unity of purpose.”

Aftab Ansari, a hawker selling plastic Indian flags in the streets on the eve of Independence Day, is no less disgruntled.

“What Freedom and what Independence? I only sell patriotism once a year to my fellow countrymen,” the 17-year-old said.

Insecure

Many Indian Muslims feel insecure in their home country. “Indian Muslims are going through a terrible phase,” Javed Anand, the co-editor of Communalism Combat, said. “Fifteen percent of India’s population still feels insecure. The findings of Sachar Committee report have been really shocking.”

The Sachar Committee looked into the socio-economic and educational backwardness of Muslims in the country and suggested various remedial measures. The recommendations included setting up educational facilities, modernization of madrasahs, creation of job opportunities and steps to increase the community's representation in public services.

Anand is skeptical the findings would be implemented.

“Unfortunately, track record of the ruling government has not been very reassuring,” he recalled. “It is behaving like any other previous government. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”

Mufti Mohammad Ismail, the chief of a newly floated political party called Indian Muslim Congress, regretted what Indian Muslims have come to. “Muslims ruled India for almost 1000 years. It was our culture and heritage,” he said.

“There was a time when we were rulers and used to sit on thrones. Today things have come to such a pass that jail is the only place where we outnumber other communities,” Mufti lamented.

“We fare poor economically. Eighty percent of Muslims are living below the poverty line. There was a time when we were the leaders in academics but now we are being led by others.”

There are some 160 million Muslims in Hindu-majority India, the world’s second-largest Muslim population after Indonesia.

Muslims complain of decades of social and economic neglect and oppression. Official figures reveal Muslims log lower educational levels and higher unemployment rates than the Hindu majority and other minorities like Christians and Sikhs. They account for less than seven percent of public service employees, only five percent of railways workers, around four percent of banking employees and there are only 29,000 Muslims in India’s 1.3 million-strong military.

Mufti Ismail said Muslims were the true champions of India’s struggle for independence. “When British came here, it was the beginning of the age of slavery. We had been fighting for the independence of India since 17th century,” he said.

“Hindus joined us only in the 20th century.”

He complained that Muslims are not being given their respective rights.

“The descendents of the last Mughal King Bahadur Shah Zafar are begging on the streets of Kolkata. The family members of the martyred Tipu Sultan are rickshaw-pullers today. “The widow of Abdul Hameed, who sacrificed his life in defence of the country, is on the brink of committing suicide. These are the people whose families have fought for the Independence of India. Government’s indifference is a class apart.”


Self-criticism

But Anand, the co-editor of Communalism Combat, also reserved harsh words for Muslim politicians. “Muslim legislators are busy wasting their time in raking up fastidious issues which don’t have anything to do with the progress of Indian Muslims,” he said. He cited the recent attack on Bengali writer Taslima Nasreen, infamous for her anti-Islam writings, at a press conference last week in Hyderabad.

Television footage showed Muslim state lawmakers and activists hitting Nasreen with flowers and threatening to lob chairs.

“At a time when institutional bias has crept in our system, Muslim legislators are making a mockery of themselves,” said Anand.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen leader-cum-legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi has been accused of “intimidation” after suggesting Nasreen could be killed if she returned to Hyderabad, a claim which he has denied.

“Muslims have become victims of the promises made by professional mullahs acting as agents of political parties,” an angry Shamim Tariq, a researcher and columnist, said. “Muslims should be aware of the enemies within. Right-wing Hindu parties and ideologues pale in comparison to the enemies within,” he argued.

Tariq spoke of two sects of enemies within.

“One is religious and acts as the mediator of political class and other is irreligious lot which takes pride in attacking Islam.”

Confused Youth

Navaid Hamid, a member of the National Integration Council of the central government, said young Indian Muslims were looking for direction. “Young Muslim generation feels excited due to the pace of development,” Hamid said. “At the same time, they strongly feel that they are being sidelined in governance; so there is a sense of confusion: what to do now?”

Hamid said young Indian Muslims have a strong desire to be part of the nation to serve this country.

“They feel that there should be equal share of opportunity in every walk of life. More than 55 percent of India’s population consists of youths and they are the big asset for the country.”

“The Muslim community should be utilized for a strong, vibrant nation and a pluralistic society.”

Hamid warned that young Muslims are being targeted for no fault of their own. “Whenever some terrorist activity happens in the country, fingers are pointed towards them. There is an atmosphere of fear and mistrust. This is very harmful for any harmonious and pluralistic society.”

Hopes

Ilyas Siddiqui, a historian, believes that self-help is the best help.

“Sixty years ago, our own struggle and striving was beneficial for us,” he said. “Even today we should follow the path of self-help by way of the concept of civil society. This is the biggest principle. There is no need to be dependent on anybody not even government.”

Mufti Ismail has his hopes in secular-minded Hindus.

“In India, the world’s largest democracy, there are a number of secular Hindus who genuinely strive for the welfare of the Muslim community,” he said. “They believe that India cannot progress as long as its largest minority is lagging behind. They know that such progress will be a lop-sided progress and not a real progress,” added the Muslim politician.

“We must strengthen their hands.”

Freedom is Not Free

Taslima Nasreen: Symbol of Secularism Extremism

A nobody has been made into a somebody. Political Muslim passivity suddenly got an active voice thanks to the emotive goons of the MIM (Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen). I want to congratulate Akbaruddin Owaisi, the chief mentor of the MIM, for defending his men of muscle after causing mayhem. Muslim honour has finally been preserved!

A C-grade writer has been given an A-class status!

What's Taslima Nasreen's claim to fame? It's Shame (Lajja means Shame). Taslima Nasreen is a Bangladeshi writer whose controversial novel Lajja appeared in February 1993 soon after the demolition of Babri Masjid. The theme of the novel was 'persecution of Hindus' in Bangladesh. It was banned five months later by the Bangladesh government for 'disturbing the communal peace' of the country.

Much ink has already been spilt on Lajja for different reasons. The issue which I intend to raise here has not been touched by our so-called secular-liberals. Lajja is a "novel", writes Taslima in the Preface, "and all the characters in the narrative are the product of my own imagination, and any resemblance they bear to actual people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental." Then she goes on to say that "I have also included in the text numerous incidents, actual historical events, facts and statistics." (Emphasis added).

Can facts be presented in the guise of fiction? It has been the tradition of anti-Islam writers to depict actual history in the guise of fictionalised fantasy. It gives them a real sense of 'freedom' to mix-match facts with fiction at their own convenience. You raise a slogan of 'communal bias', they will raise an eerie wail of fiction! It is the safest route to historical distortion and literary escapism. It is an act of literary cowardice.

At the backdrop of the post-Babri riots in Bangladesh, she mentions the Holy Qur'an in Lajja in such a subtle way that it can be inferred that Islam is essentially an intolerant religion and permits killing of innocents. In recent years, she has poured her venom against Islam in general and Muslims in particular in the form of articles. Her last such article appeared in Outlook (January 22, 2007) provocatively titled 'Let's Burn the Burqa'. Interestingly, after the protests that freedom can never be absolute, the title was later changed to 'Let's Think Again About The Burqa'!

Lajja is the best example of Taslima's hypocritical approach. In Lajja, she claims to continue her battle against "religious persecution, genocide and communalism" because "religious fundamentalism is not restricted to Bangladesh alone and it must be fought at every turn." (Emphasis added).

But alas, she has never ever spoken a single word on Muslim genocide of 1992-93 in Mumbai and State-sponsored pogrom of 2002 in Gujarat. All these years she has carefully chosen the 'freedom' of silence.

MIM legislators' attack on Taslima is an advertisement of political fanaticism. Akbaruddin Owaisi's justification of the attack smacks of political conspiracy keeping in mind that MIM is an ally of the ruling UPA (United Progressive Alliance) at the centre. Was it to 'appease' Muslims of Hyderabad since the image of the ruling class is at stake after the Mecca Masjid Blasts?

Also, one interesting aspect of the entire episode has been missed by the mainstream media. Hyderabad Press Club is just two kilometres from the police control headquarters. The organisers of the book release function did not make adequate security arrangement knowing well the Muslim sensitivity towards the writer.

As senior journalist Syed Ali Mujtaba questions, "Why didn't the organisers make enough security arrangement to check unwanted people coming to their function? Why such people were allowed to enter their premises in the first place itself? It makes me to speculate that this could be part of a set piece devised by the author and the organisers of the function to gain publicity and mileage. They must have anticipated this may snowball in this way and once that happens and actually that happened, Taslima would be in the limelight again…the author has scored in maligning Islam and its followers once again."

Taslima Nasreen calls herself as a 'reformer' although her attitude has been that of an anti-Islam writer. She wants Muslims to stop reading Qur'an since she thinks that it's a flawed book and a 'revision' is a must!

When Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, an English convert to Islam, translated the Holy Qur’an, he said in the introduction that the Qur’an was that “great symphony which moved men to tears and ecstacy.” No wonder Encyclopedia Britannica observes that the Qur’an is “the most frequently read book in the world.” The Qur’an makes an irresistible appeal to all, irrespective of caste, creed or colour to produce the guidance it has produced in the Qur’an.

Taslima has been churning out cheap 'pedestrian literature' all these years. A cursory look at some of her book titles will suffice: Nimontron (Invitation), Bhromor Koio Gia (Tell Him The Secret), Amar Meyebela (My Girlhood), Utal Hawa (Wild Wind), Forashi Premik (French Lover).

Taslima Nasreen is a continuation of the Salman Rushdie syndrome. The present-day sufferers of the Rushdie syndrome include Ayan Ali, Irshad Manji, Waraq and a few others who have made a habit of writing on Islam without understanding its true essence. Hurting the religious sentiments of the Muslims is their full-time profession. Muslims worldwide must not fall prey to the Rushdie syndrome. There were enough Rushdies at the time of the Prophet Muhammad as well. His patient behaviour and compassion had compelled many bete noires to 'revert' to Islam in the end.

A book must be fought by book and not by bouquet: It has been an Islamic tradition of books fighting books. The most celebrated example is that of Imam Al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd in the early 11th century. Al-Ghazali fired the first salvo with his monumental book The Incoherence of the Philosophers. Ibn Rushd, belonging to rationalists' philosophers, replied with The Incoherence of the Incoherence. The battle went on for centuries leading to 'The Incoherence of the Incoherence of the Incoherence' to the 'nth degree' — ending when the victory was finally conceded to Al-Ghazali on the basis of his arguments.

MIM attack was a clash between political and literary extremism making its subject a mute sufferer. 'When two elephants fight', goes the Malay proverb, 'it is the grass that gets trampled.' The voice of a common Muslim was subdued in this clash. Freedom of speech, thus, belongs to the powerful. "Freedom of expression", writes Ziauddin Sardar "belongs to those with secular power, or access and opportunity within the secular structures of power. That's the problem with secularism. As the preeminent truth and doctrine of the West, it renders insignificant and makes invisible all that is outside its purview, all the possibilities and the potentials outside its framework of power. Secularism masks the will to power; and like all authoritarian ideologies, it nurtures homicidal tendencies."

Islam is not a religion of ridicule but a religion of reason. "Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord" says the Holy Qur'an "with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knows best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance." (16: 125)

Mumbai Case Not Closed: Muslims

Members of Memon Family outside TADA Court

New Delhi: Although India’s special TADA court has completed sentencing in the 1993 Mumbai blasts, which killed 257 people and left 800 injured, prominent Muslims and human rights activists believe the case is not yet closed and that “real” justice is not been served.

“There is a widespread feeling that there are two standards of justice operating in India,” Javed Anand of Muslims for Secular Democracy said.

“Perpetrators of the bomb blasts have been effectively addressed while 31 police officials found guilty of overt communalism towards Muslims are still enjoying freedom. Some of them have even been promoted.”

The Terrorists and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) court finished this week delivering judgments in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts in a year-long judgment delivery process that saw at least 100 accused being convicted.

The court has slapped death sentences against 12 culprits, including Yaqub Memon, the brother of the alleged main plotter and fugitive Tiger Memon.

“The court gave death sentence to Yaqub for distributing funds and assisting acts of terror,” chief public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said.

An accountant by profession, Yakub is the most educated member of Memons, a prosperous Muslim family.

Twenty other defendants have received life terms, including his brothers Essa and Yusuf and sister-in-law Rubina.

Rubina, the first woman to be sentenced to life in the case, is accused of allowing her car “be used to carry explosives.”

They can appeal their punishments and India’s Supreme Court stipulates that the death penalty be used only in the “rarest of rare cases.”

Death sentences are regularly delayed indefinitely or commuted by the President.

Eight members of the Memon family stood trial. Four were held guilty while three were acquitted. Abdur Razzak Memon, the father who was out on bail, died in the year 2001.

Dawood Ibrahim, an underworld don, and Mustaq Memon, better known as Tiger Memon, are believed to be the masterminds of the serial blasts. Both have been on the run since 1993.

The serial blasts were seen as the direct effect of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodha on December 6, 1992 and the anti-Muslim riots that followed in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India.

The Memons had surrendered in 1994 amid leaks of a deal with the government that female members would only be questioned but not arrested and males would be arrested and helped to get bail.

None of the Memon family members is known to be part of the underworld except for Tiger.

Interestingly, Sanjay Dutt, a leading Bollywood actor, has been sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment for illegal possession of an automatic AK-56 rifle in 1993, two months before the serial blasts.

Blind Justice

Muslim leaders and rights advocates insist the 13-year trial is not the end of the problem, pressing for the implementation of Sri Krishna Commission report.

“The Congress government has been in power for eight years in the state of Maharashtra and there has not been a word on this subject,” said M.J. Akbar, a senior editor and follower lawmaker.

Sri Krishna Commission was set up in 1993 to probe the 1992-93 Mumbai riots.

Official figures indicate 1100 people were killed in Mumbai alone, although independent sources put the figure at more than 2000.

Justice B.N. Krishna, a sitting Mumbai High Court judge, was appointed to head the commission after many judges had turned down the offer.

The commission submitted its report on February 18, 1998, after examining a total of 502 witnesses and 9500 pages of evidence.

It indicted 31 “extremely communal” and “trigger-happy” police officials. The government of Shiv Sena a right-wing Hindu party, rejected the commission report claiming it was “politically motivated.”

When Congress government came to power, it set up a special task force to implement the report.

No appropriate action has been taken against the police officials named in the report. R.D. Tyagi, a senior police official accused of shooting nine innocent Muslims, was later promoted police commissioner of Mumbai.

Anand of Muslims for Secular Democracy says Mumbai stands as an example of double-standard justice.

“Sri Krishna Commission report talks about cause (Babri Masjid demolition and the riots that followed) and effect (Mumbai serial blasts of 1993) theory.”

He said no action has been taken against people like Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and former member of the legislative assembly Madukar Sarpotdar who openly advocated violence against Muslims in the 1992-93 riots.

“In Mumbai riots, there is no indication of serious effort on the part of the judiciary as well as the executive.”

Same Terror

Teesta Setalvad, a prominent social rights activist and co-editor of Communalism Combat, believes there can be “no peace without justice.”

“The bomb terror of March 12, 1993, must be recalled with the same horror as the mob terror of December 6, 1992, in Ayodhya, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives all over the country,” she said.

“The soul of Mumbai was forever scarred with the brute mob violence that held us to ransom from December 8 to January 20, 1993,” Setalvad said.

“Mobs stalked streets that were likened to Nazi Germany (by jurist NA Palkhiwala and Justice Bakhtawar Lentin of the Mumbai High Court). The Mumbai police connived with mobsters in mass arson, murder and even rape. Worse still, our political leaders watched as Mumbai burned.”

The prominent social rights activist quotes Justice B.N. Krishna who said the bomb blasts “were a reaction to the totality of events at Ayodhya and Mumbai in December 1992 and January 1993.”

Ms. Setalvad had recently sought information from government regarding the status of the cases against the “guilty” police officials under the Right to Information Act (RTI). She terms the revelations as “shocking and disturbing,” noting that not a single police officer has been properly charged.

In all her RTI findings, only one guilty police constable was dismissed from the service. Others have been exonerated in departmental enquiry.

The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday, August 1, sought a comprehensive affidavit on the alleged lapses by the Maharashtra government in taking action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai riots.

It asked the petitioner, the action committee for implementation of Sri Krishna Commission, and others to file the affidavit within six weeks.

“If there is complete failure of justice, it will certainly be looked into,” said a division bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan.

Navaid Hamid, secretary of the South Asian Council for Minorities, commended the move.

“The Supreme Court has done a commendable job,” he said, believing that justice for the Muslim victims of the Mumbai riots can still be served.

'Whose Law and Whose Order?'

Bombay 1992: "Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood"


Now that 'judicial justice' has finally been delivered after 15 years of persistent pregnancy in the infamous Bombay serial blasts, it must be termed as post-mature judicial delivery! Judicial potency to convict accused on the basis of 'prima facie evidence' is unquestionable, but its potency gets punctured when it comes to analyse 'cause' and 'effect' theory (as explained in Justice Sri Krishna Commission report) on a mass scale.

The cause was callous and chaotic. The effect was conceited consciousness.

And its aftermath — a chartered accountant's belief in India's judicial system being shaken. Shaken after 13 years of incarceration.

Why did it took so long to decide whether the surrendered Memons — Yakub, Abdul Razak, Hanifa, Suleiman, Rubina, Essa and Yusuf — were guilty or not? The Memons surrendered believing in the government 'deal' that the female members will only be 'questioned but not arrested' and the male members would be 'arrested and helped to get bail' since 'none of the Memon family members was part of the underworld except for Tiger Memon'. Yakub and his other family members had no 'clue that Tiger was planning the serial blasts'.

The demolition of Babri Masjid and the riots that followed was the 'cause'. Bombay serial bomb blasts were its 'effect'. This is not to glorify the gory incident that left 257 people dead. This beginning of the serial bomb blast culture has done more harm to the Indian Muslim than anybody else. He has become a permanent suspect in the eyes of the security agencies. He is still reeling under its aftermath. In Malegaon and Hyderabad, it has made him a 'victim' as well as a 'suspect'. The Indian Muslim is perhaps going through the identity-crisis phase!

Justice is not a word but a complete sentence. The Indian Muslim has only heard the word 'justice' and yet to see the completion of the sentence. Time and again, he has been promised by the so-called 'secular' Congress party that the sentence will be completed by implementation of the Sri Krishna Commission report.

But alas, the report and the commission have become his fate. In each and every election, he has been put on an oxygen mask of implementation by the 'secular' souls. The oxygen mask has always been removed before he could breathe the air of implementation.
Perhaps, he should realise that oxygen masks are made for temporary use!

Deliberate State neglect and the Muslim politician's indifference towards the implementation of the Sri Krishna Commission report has made him to split the word 'justice'. Justice means just ice. Justice is like the ice that melts before he could quench his thirst.
The 'outbursts' witnessed in the TADA court are a true reflection of his anger against the establishment which believes that justice is a one-way street. (Zakir Hussein Shaikh on his death sentence: "Musalmano ko aisi hi phaasi ki sazaa milegi. Hamare ghar dukaan, loote gaye, phir bhi humko phaasi mili. Yeh kaunsa insaaf hai?" This is wrong. Muslims will always be hanged. Our houses and shops were looted but we are still being given the maximum punishment. What kind of justice is this?)

The police practised state genocide under the watchful eyes of the establishment and let other politicians indulge in the naked dance of communalism that included riots after riots. And there is nothing unique about it because it has been going on since 1961. "For all my adult life," wrote M.J. Akbar in 1990, "across two decades of reading, observing, trying to understand, trying to write, it has been one long sequence of riot after riot after riot: of the single dreams of young women charred by the brutality of an irresponsible destiny: of mothers punished with the death of their children: of fathers broken, battered because they bowed their heads to Allah".

Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh, recently offered the oxygen mask of implementation once again: "I will take action".

Against whom? Against himself? That will be some cleansing of the political conscience!

Yakub Memon, an educated Indian Muslim (a practising chartered accountant) did not blame Justice Kode. "I forgive him," he said. That must be a good news for the judiciary. An Indian Muslim might have forgiven the Justice; but justice is still a far cry for Hajirabi Qureishi whose husband and eldest son was dragged by Shiv Sainiks and are still missing since January 10, 1993.

‘Not Many Academics in the U.S. Believe in the Clash of Civilization Theory’

American journalist Amar Bakshi is a man with a mission. After spending a month in UK, he is in India for his project ‘How the World Sees America’ (www.washingtonpost.com/america). Here are some excerpts from the interview. Posing Lensman: Amar Bakshi trying to show his 'shooting' skills!


Q: Tell me about yourself and your project briefly.

A: I have been working as the editor of PostGlobal for the past year which basically connects editors around the world to answer questions twice a week hold by David Ignatius and Fareed Zakaria. I have just graduated from Harvard University, majored in social theory and documentary video. I did features on Zimbabwe looking at media propaganda. And as I was there I became interested in the way Mugabe regime consolidates its power. As soon as I graduated, I started working for the Washington Post. It was an interesting theme to explore; how America is perceived and why different pockets of the world harbours so much resentment and so much hope for the United States at the same time. I think this love-hate relationship is very complex one. I came up with the idea when I was in Zimbabwe.

Q: It’s almost been two weeks that you are in India. Can you share your experiences?

A: I think, India so far, has been very personal experience for me. First couple of days I interacted with my grandmother and really looked at her for the first time. I explored what America meant to her and done to her, having her family migrated there, the opportunities that opened up for me and the loss in some way that it caused to my family rooted in India. So far as I have been to Delhi, Gurgaon, Chennai, Mumbai and I am trying to get away from big cities to get a sense of what it feels to be in less urban parts of India. I think the sense I had is America here has great ideas and stands for things that many Indians hold dear to both the cultures. But certain actions rubbed against that idea come across as critical…I think that there is a lack of citizenship and communications from Americans and Indians. And I do think that the second and third generation of Indian Americans can play an important role in bridging that divide.

Q: How do you perceive Indian Muslims as compared to Muslims in the United States & elsewhere?

A: I have interacted with Muslims in England. And this is the first time that I am interacting with Indian Muslims. But I should say that among American Muslims that I interacted with [In Coney Island,New York], there was a real sense of fear that they couldn't necessarily trust their own government. I think the same sense is very much in Britain [in Blackburn and parts of London]. And I am not sure yet what the sense is here. In terms of the views of the America, I think in UK there was more open hostility to United States than I saw here. And in terms of American Muslims there is a real sense of wanting to belong properly and I think its sad as to what happened post 9/11; deep concerns of pure alienation.

Q: What kind of reactions do you come across as an American on your visit to UK and India as far as Anti-American feeling is concerned.

A: I don't think I have experienced Anti-American feelings yet. I think the real way I experienced being American is the source of pride people have that I don't speak Hindi and I am not rooted in India and yet I am brown and look like that I could be an Indian. I am confused about my identity. I think the way my family tried to Americanize me; it had some unfortunate consequences so there is a desire to reconnect. I want to retain my Indianness and I want to be a 'global American'!

Q: Do you think that Indian Muslims living in a secular country like India could be an ideal example for rest of the Muslim world, leaving aside isolated incidents as to what happened in Glasgow recently?

A: I really don’t know since my interaction with Indian Muslims has been minimal so far.

Q: What do you think of American foreign policy towards the Muslim world?

A: I understand those perceptions outside America that it is conspiring to target the Muslim world. If you were in America, say Washington DC, people and policy makers would say that this is an attack on terrorists and no one would say that this is an attack on the Muslim world. And, you know, the goal of American policy should be to go after few extremists and do whatever to capture them and the fact that U.S. is perceived as fighting is Islam is very unfortunate.

Q: Don’t you think that America might be winning war on the battlefield but losing battle for hearts and minds?

A: I wouldn't say losing battle on the battlefields. I would say that it is unnecessarily extending on the battlefield. There is a very much perception outside America that America is doing this to dominate the Muslim world. There is resentment in America as well. And you must remember that there is right now a fundamental difference between American government policy and what American people want. American government does not necessarily stand for what majority of Americans want.

Q: In Iraq war, there have been many civilian deaths. As per one study published in The Lancent, at least 6, 50,000 innocent civilians have been killed since the invasion of Iraq.

A: Nobody is pleased about that in America. In no way Americans approve of as to what happened in Iraq. There are many many people who abhor it, I would say a tremendous number of Americans hate it. Now the question is what we are going to do about it now that it has happened. And that’s what Americans are grappling with, and it’s very tragic. Majority of people believe that we should not have entered Iraq in the first place. Now that we have, what will be the complications if we pull out? These are some of the questions being raised by the Americans.

Q: What do you think of American mainstream media as far as the Iraq invasion is concerned? I mean almost the entire American media was gung-ho about the invasion. You had columnists like Thomas Friedman hell-bent on attacking Iraq. Isn’t it a classic case of Yes-Man-Journalism?

A: Although I am not a media expert but I agree. It was a big think in the US. How media lied down. And this project is trying to bring together viewpoints from people all across the world. It will be great to find out how America is perceived outside. It will give Americans an insight as to what people think of them and their government. There was so much turmoil in the U.S. media. But now the media is moving very quickly especially this project. We want more voices articulated on world views and people who don’t find an avenue to express their feelings; this project is a good platform to share their ideas.

Q: Will your project have some kind of imapct on the U.S. foreign policy?

A: U.S. government is a very complicated thing. I mean who will have effect and how… but as far as Americans are concerned, they will get to know what people think of their government . It gives a little bit of sense to the reader & viewer what other person is like. For example, once they see people working in BPO industry (call centres), they probably would understand them better and might not shout at them.

Q: How is Samuel Huntington’s theory ‘clash of civilizations’ viewed in the U.S.?

A: I don't think people take it too seriously, especially At Harvard University, many professors and academics don't believe in it at all. I mean there are bunch of interests not known and is not considered but in terms of fundamentals I don't really agree with the theory.

Q: Can media play an important role in bridging the gap between the U.S. and the Muslim world?

A: Media definitely plays an important role in bridging this gap. I think the media should encourage human interactions as well, dialogues. This project is all about creating dialogues.

Malegaon Municipal Elections: The Stalemate Continues

Stalemate Continues: Malegaon Municipal Corporation Building

The prolonged curiosity as to who will head Malegaon Municipal Corporation continues. IMC (Indian Muslim Congress) popularly known as the Third Front – the single largest party with 26 seats poised to form the government with the help of once ‘untouchable’ Shiv Sena – has developed cold feet after the intense pressure from the ‘high-command’. The alliance of ‘bitter arch-rivals’ (Congress-Janata Dal) is observing silence for the time-being after initial attempts to the sharing of the posts did not succeed.

A 37-seat majority is required to rule the 72-seat civic body.

Third Front being the largest party had staked the claim that it will form the government with the help of the Shiv Sena. With the support of 7 seats of Shiv Sena and 2 seats of NCP and 2 independent candidates, IMC easily reached the magic figure of 37. But with the pressure from the ‘higher-command’ and the NCP’s refusal to sit with the Shiv Sena, this ‘developmental’ alliance hangs in limbo.

The success of Third Front did not go well with the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular). To keep IMC away from the throne, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) had done the unthinkable: to form an alliance!

Dismayed by the wave of the Third Front, Janata Dal (Secular) – the largest party in the last election – has filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court alleging that the election was won by provoking ‘religious sensiblities’!

And now comes the twist in the tale: If an IMC-office bearer is to be believed, Third Front has been ‘forced’ to be in touch with the Congress ‘high-command’ to ‘pressurize’ local Congress leaders to behave in a ‘democratic way’. An IMC-Congress ‘secular’ alliance is what the ‘higher-command’ from both the sides (read Jamiatul Ulama Hind) seems to be dictating thus carefully avoiding the prevailing ground realities in Malegaon.

One more option being put forward is a tri-party alliance involving Third Front, Janata Dal (Secular) and the NCP to ‘isolate’ Congress.

The message of the voter from Malegaon is loud and clear: change. So every single political party wants to go with the wave of ‘change’. In that scenario it has added to the woes of the Third Front in choosing its political partners.

One source reveals that if the politics of ‘pressurizing’ continues, then the Third Front might opt to sit in the Opposition. And that will be the least ‘controversial’ thing to do.

The success of the Third Front brought an end to the Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress rule of almost 50 years.

The execution of the ‘Assam formula’ in Malegaon began just three months prior to the elections but yet it created a stir among the masses. Assam formula signifies the politics of inclusiveness; people from all faiths come together to work for the betterment of society. Development and not ideology is its subject-matter.

The replication of ‘Assam formula’ in Malegaon reflects the mood of the masses. People wanted change because they were fed up of the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) rule. Third Front born on the slogan of ‘reformative politics’ capitalized this urge for change.

Meanwhile the heightened suspense as to the plump post of mayorship continues. Politics is the art of the impossible. Who masters this ‘art’ will be revealed on June 15, the day elected candidates choose their mayor.

Hyderabad Blasts: Malegaon Syndrome Travels South

Holy Terror: People gather outside Mecca Masjid after the blasts

It was a blast from the recent past. The past was replicated with pure precision and exemplary execution. Past-precision is a lesson for those who are in the security business. It demands the attentive attention of capricious crooks (read not so-intelligent intelligence-wallas) to study the intricacies of the operation. Venerable vigilantes are taught not to allow history to repeat itself.

Sadly, history was (deliberately?) allowed to repeat itself in Hyderabad.

Malegaon syndrome travelled to South for the very first time.

RAW (Research Analysis Wing) proved to be really raw. Our ‘expert’ interceptors (now singing Aladdin’s magic phrase ‘Khul Ja SIM SIM’), did not behave like seasoned seismologists in predicting the unpredictable, so the doctrine of pre-emptive strikes (elimination by encounters) was not employed this time!

ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad) was too busy proving in Supreme Court that it does not stand for Acquired Teasing Syndrome for the Muslim community!

So we were left with only R.K. Laxman’s common man to protect us!

Security agencies that have just come out of their hibernation mode are sniffing out the same old and ‘standard pattern’ once again. Our always hyper National Security Advisor (who recently panicked that terrorists are investing heavily in the stock markets without any substantiation) must introduce a new and broad pattern of investigation instead of selective intimidation.

The theorists of the old and standard pattern suggest that whatever happens in India (Prime Minister’s sneeze included!) is the ultimate outcome of the designs made on the other side of the border. And designs are implemented by the educated Muslim youths of the country. Isn’t it a unique case of remote-control governance? What more, deadly designs direct these youths to kill their co-religionists in mosques!

Believers are being killed by the believers. So is it safe to assume that the devotees at Akshardam temple were gunned down by their co-religionists? Or should we conclude that the 7/11 train blasts were the handiwork of Hindus? What would be the reaction of the Hindu mass, if we extend believers versus believers theory in the Varanasi temple blast?

Investigators who are relying heavily on SIM card registration must know that today’s hi-tech terrorists are smart enough not to leave any thick trail of evidence. And fabricating documents is not a big deal these days as has been shown by many investigative reports by various newspapers. So why would terrorists register SIM cards in their real names? Therefore, SIM card registration in a Muslim name may be an attempt to disguise the investigators.

Time is ripe for India to come out of its conditioned mentality. Investigators must break their mental blocks. Indian law enforcement agencies suffer from the fatal disease of prejudice. India is once again going through the ‘siege within’ phase. Today’s India is reminiscent of the 1980s when it was being torn apart by sectarian violence. ULFA and Maoists are threatening the entire North-East. Naxalite movement and Peoples’ War Group (PWG) have become a household name in South India. The North-West shudders at the mention of police encounters. In the North, Kashmir narrates an all together different story.

So, internal vigilance is more important than the external outlook. India’s lop-sided policy is obsessed with the external element only. As M.J. Akbar wrote, “Vigilance needs three eyes, only one of which looks across the border. Two must look within.”

The Myth of Muslim Appeasement

Time to Reflect: Are Muslims really 'appeased?'

Well, here we are again
down by Paddy's ravaged fence
reflecting in the murky waters
from which we are about to drink.
it sickened us once, remember?
left us lying in our beds
comatose almost
aware of pain and nothing more
we longed for death's largess.
that wish denied
we struggled up in feverish state
astep, astep with phantom shapes
and fell at last upon the bank.
looking down ourselves look back
likenesses wrinkled by the wind
then lips to mirrored lips we drink
till no water's there
nor images, nor we.

(Alberto Ceras)

Yes, I have been appeased. The mischievous phrase of ‘Muslim appeasement’ has been literally bombarding my ears ever since I was born. Constant repetition has turned into the bedrock of solid belief. Belief breeds guilt and guilt takes you on a journey of shame. The silence of self-proclaimed secularists over this charade conveys that they too have been administered the injection of ‘Muslim appeasement’ into their veins!

The term ‘Muslim appeasement’ was coined for the very first time in 1888. Many orthodox Hindu historians term the 4th Congress session of 1888 in Allahabad (under the chairmanship of Badruddin Hussain Tyabji) as the birthplace of ‘Muslim appeasement’ although the resolution passed in the session was not at all communal in nature. It simply declared that ‘the Congress shall not discuss any fresh subject or pass any fresh resolution which the Hindu or Mohammedan delegates as a body oppose unanimously or nearly unanimously’.

One need not be a sage to interpret the sagacity of the above resolution. It was purely based on the fundamental premise of unity but yet the biased historians with a communal bent of mind interpret it as though only the Muslims have been given the veto power!

Can a building with a hollow base withstand the vicissitudes of time?

Common sense kills the theory in its conception.

Proponents of this theory also maintain that Mahatma Gandhi was the chief ‘maulana’ of Muslim appeasement and Nehru, acted as his obedient ‘mulaazim’. Gandhi's absolute support to Khilafat Movement of 1921 spearheaded by Ali Brothers is cited as the best example of Muslim appeasement in the pre-Independent India. Gandhi’s assassination by a Hindu fanatic Nathuram Godse was possibly the first reaction of the majoritarian nationalism against the ‘perceived’ appeasement of Muslims.

Even Nehru’s broad humanism and practice of secularism did not go well with the communalists. His genuine concern for the protection and rights of minorities by way of constitutional guarantees enshrined in Article 29 (protection of interests of minorities) and Article 30 (right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions) of the Indian Constitution is also looked at as a classic case of ‘Muslim appeasement’.

The contentious issue of Haj subsidy is also put forward to prove the theory of Muslim appeasement. (Now that the Supreme Court in its interim order has granted subsidy not only to the Muslims going for the Haj, but also to the Hindus going for pilgrimage to Mansarovar, the controversy can put to the rest for the time-being). The total amount of Haj subsidy is always exaggerated. Last year, government reportedly spent 450 crore, but the figure quoted in some newspaper reports was more than 2 billion rupees!

The smooth functioning of Darul Qazas (Islamic Courts) in matters relating to marriage, divorce, succession, etc. has caused severe stomachaches to the communalists. They are of the view that these courts function as a ‘parallel judiciary’ alongside the Indian judiciary. This assumption is based on a mentality devoid of taking anything positive. The numbers of backlog cases are so overwhelming in courts that, according to one estimate, it will take at least 300 years to dispose them off! Interestingly, Bombay High Court has recently encouraged out-of-court settlements by initiating Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) method.

Doesn't ADR fall under the purview of ‘parallel judiciary’? And if not, why apply a different yardstick to the Darul Qazas?

Muslims have also been ‘appeased’ by way of commissions, reports and documentations. From William Hunter (1870) to Rajinder Sachar (2006) the conclusion of each and every commissioned study was almost the same: there are “serious imbalances and inequities in respect of the representation of Muslims in all public employments, top priority should be given to the adoption of measures to rectify this situation”.

In 1998-99, National Commission for Minorities (NCM) submitted a report in which it was specifically recommended that “in all public employment under central government there must be at least 15 per cent representation of the minorities with a break-up of 10 per cent for the Muslims and five per cent for the other minorities taken together; and this should be ensured by adopting suitable measures and issuing mandatory guidelines to all governments, public-sector undertakings and concerned recruiting authorities”.

There was a long silence of almost 7 years until a bureaucrat-turned-Prime Minister decided to show his ‘concern’ for the Muslim minority in the form of Sachar Committee report. Alas his ‘concern’ did not translate into enough cash in the Union Budget of 2007-08. In a letter dated November 24, 2006, the Prime Minister’s Office directed to the finance ministry that “wherever possible, 15 per cent of targets and funds be earmarked for the minorities in the schemes included in the Prime Minster’s 15-point programme”.

What happened? A lot of nothing.

Finance Ministry completely ignored the directive.

The Budget is the mirror of any ruling government. The health of any government is not measured by the amount of promises it makes but by the quantum of delivery. Budget clearly reflects the true intentions of the ruling class. A lot was promised to the Muslim community in the light of the Sachar Committee report. But sadly government has merely paid a lip service.

Union Budget (2007-08) was a major disappointment for Muslims. Government's duplicity was a class apart. After acknowledging that only a ‘modest’ contribution of Rs 16.47 crore was made to the equity of the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC), Finance Minister (FM) continued, “following the Sachar Committee report, NMDFC would be required to expand its reach and intensify its efforts”. So a paltry sum of Rs 63 crore was added to its share capital. And Rs 108 crore was allotted to the districts with a concentration of minorities. FM did not mention the actual number of those districts to avoid the embarrassment. There are a total of 155 such districts. You need not be a mathematician to figure out that only bureaucratic leftovers will be bestowed to the minorities depending on the benevolence of bureaucrats.

Did you notice something? Get used to read between the lines:

Out of the Union government's total expenditure of Rs 680,521 crore, the total allocation for minorities (it includes Sikhs and Christians too) is less than Rs 320 crore. The total number of minorities in India is 200 million (Muslims 150m, Sikhs and Christians 50m).

Rs 320 crore for 200 million people? Can you sense some discomfort here?

While Rs. 3,271 crore was allotted to only Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Does that mean the ‘appeasement’ of Scheduled Castes and Tribes?

We, Muslims, have always been appeased on paper and not in practice. The so-called secularists love to beat the Muslims by the stick of ‘appeasement’, but nobody debates Muslim appeasement-on-paper versus Muslim appeasement-in-practice.

The ‘committee’ culture (which has become a political trend) to find out the socio-economic plight of Muslims must be stopped forthright. Documentation in the form of reports and commissions has become our destiny. Muslims have been stuck in this static phase for decades. We must rise from the deep reverie of indifference. It’s high time that we, as a community, invoke the word implementation in the world’s largest democracy.

9/11: The Unofficial Version

WTC on September 11, 2001: Official Terror?

With a plethora of documentaries on the controversial subject of 9/11, Loose Change is the only documentary that stands out in terms of content, research and presentation. Directed by the young Dylan Avery, who was rejected twice by Purchase College’s Film School, Loose Change is a chilling narration of a ‘cold and calculated genocide’ that puts Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 to absolute shame. The documentary puts together the missing links and tries to deconstruct the mystery of 9/11 in just 1 hour and 22 minutes. It comprises of a narrator speaking over news footages from CNN, NBC and Fox News, still photographs and documents relating to the 9/11. Let’s analyze 9/11 conspiracy theory in the light of Loose Change.


Buildup to the 9/11

‘You may recognize the present without the knowledge of the past, but you cannot understand it.’

(M.J. Akbar in Kashmir: Behind the Vale)

The mystery of 9/11 is buried deep in the suspicious motives of the past American governments.

March 13, 1962: Operation Northwoods: a plan put forward by L.L.Lemnitzer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs Staff during the Cuban Missile Crisis to employ fake terrorist attacks in and around Guantanamo Bay as a pretext for US military intervention in Cuba. Plans included switching real commercial planes with drone planes.

August 1997: Phoenix Emergency Response to Terrorism depicts World Trade Centre on its cover.

1999: North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) begins conducting exercises simulating what the White House says was unimaginable at the time. Imagined targets included the World Trade Centre and Pentagon but the drill was not run after Defence officials said it was ‘unrealistic’.

September 2000: Project for the New American Century, a neo-conservative think-tank, released their report titled ‘Rebuilding America’s Defences’ in it they declared “The process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a log one, absent some catastrophic event – like a new Pearl Harbour.” Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Jeb Bush and Paul Wolfowitz were its members.

October 2000: Pentagon conducts first of two training exercises which simulate a Boeing 757 crashing into the building.

April 2001: Five months before September 11, 2001, NORAD responsible for defending American airspace wanted to test their ability to prevent a hijacked airline from being crashed into the Pentagon.

June 2001: Department of Defence initiates new instructions in case of hijack. It must get permission from Secretary of Defence.

July 24, 2001: Just six weeks before 9/11, Larry Silverstein, the man who owned World Trade centre, signs a 3.2 billion dollar, 99 year lease. Lease included a 3.5 billion dollar insurance policy specifically covering acts of terrorism.

September 2001: Just 5 days before 9/11, Put Options (Put Option, a financial instrument, gives the buyer the right to sell a stock at a fixed price by a certain date. People buy Put option in the belief that a stock’s price is about to fall. Most Put Options expire after 90 days, so an investor typically buys them shortly before he expects the stock’s price to drop) trade rose on American Airlines, Boeing and United Airlines.

September 2001: Heightened security alert was lifted just days before the 9/11. Bomb sniffing dogs were abruptly removed.

September 11, 2001: A number of top Pentagon officials suddenly cancelled travel plans for September 11 apparently because of security concerns. San Francisco Mayor Willie Brow receives a phone call from Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor warning him not to fly. On the same day NORAD was in the middle of a number of military exercises:

“September 11 was Day 11 of Vigilant Guardian, an exercise that would pose an imaginary crisis to North American Air Defence outposts nationwide.”

(Lt. Col. Dawne Deskins)


Pentagon (Flight 77)

“Here we are talking about plastic knives, and using an American Airlines flight filled with our citizens, and the missile to damage this building, and similar (inaudible) that damaged the World Trade Centre.”

(Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld in an interview with Parade Magazine on October 12, 2001 from inside the Pentagon)

The documentary opposes the official explanation of Flight 77. It alleges that the path of destruction left could not have been that of a Boeing 757. The size of the hole in the Pentagon could not possibly have been made by a Boeing 757. The nose of a Flight 77 which is composed of light-weight carbon, could not have inserted 9 feet inside the Pentagon. And if Pentagon was indeed hit by Flight 77 then why the windows next to the hole were completely intact? Lack of debris, landscape damage, and the recovery of too few parts hints that the Pentagon could have been hit by something else: a cruise missile. According to official version intensity from jet fuel vaporized the entire plane but yet investigators were able to identify 184 bodies out of 189 people died in the Pentagon! It is scientifically impossible that 12 tones of steel and titanium were vaporized by kerosene. The flywheel lying at the site seemed too small to have been part of the aircraft’s engine turbine. Official explanation had it that wheel was part of the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) of Being 757 but many experts believe that it was part of US Air Force E-3.

The documentary quotes April Gallop who was inside the Pentagon:

“I never saw a plane. The story is to brainwash people”.

A number of personnel working in Pentagon complained of smelling cordite which is a compound used in making ammunitions. Cordite and jet fuels have two distinct smells.

The entire episode was shot on a film from Sheraton hotel which is just 1.6 miles from the Pentagon but FBI officials came and confiscated the videotape. Only five frames were released to the public and none of them show Boeing 757. And finally why do satellite photos taken 4 days before 9/11 show a white marking in the front lawn exactly where the Pentagon was hit?


World Trade Centre - North Tower (Flight 11) & South Tower (Flight 175)

“There were explosions going off everywhere. I was convinced that there were bombs planted all over the place and someone was sitting at a control panel pushing detonator buttons. There was another explosion. And another. I did not know where to run”.

(Teresa Veliz, working on the 47th floor of the North Tower when Flight 11 hit)

The documentary supports controlled demolition theory of the destruction of the World Trade Centres 1, 2, and 7. Tower 2, i.e. South Tower was the first to collapse: it collapsed in just 9 seconds. North Tower followed suit 29 minutes later. It went down in 10 seconds. Later in the evening around 5.20pm Tower 7, a 47 storey building collapsed. Official theory: Falling debris created internal fire which ignited several fuel tanks inside the building. This is the very first time in history that 3 buildings have collapsed because of the fire. There are many instances of fires in the high-rises but only one will suffice: On October 17, 2004, a 56-storey building in Venezuela burnt for 17 hours spread across 26 floors, reaching roof but yet it did not collapse.

So what made the WTC to collapse in seconds? Can 200 thousand tones of steels be brought down by 10 thousand gallons of jet fuel?

In a letter to National Institute of Standards & Technology, Kevin Ryan of Underwriters Laboratories wrote about the steel used in the WTC:

“…that the time temperature curves for this standard requires the samples to be exposed to temperatures around 2000F for several hours… even unfireproofed steel will not melt until reaching red-hot temperatures of nearly 3000F… this was not certainly due to jet fuel fires of any kind, let alone the briefly burning fires in those towers”.

10 days after writing this letter, Mr. Ryan was fired from his position.

It certainly violates the laws of physics.

The documentary refutes the official version and cites as evidence eye witness reports from a janitor, firemen and other people near the building; many of them heard explosions:

“I was taking firefighters up in the elevator to the 24th floor to get in position to evacuate workers. On the last trip up a bomb went off. We think there were bombs set in the building”.

(Louie Cacchioli told People Weekly on September 24, 2001)

15 hours of the radio transmission of firefighters support inside explosion theory: Many of them can be heard talking about “explosions”.

Columbia University registered a 2.1 earthquake at South Tower and 2.3 at North Tower. According to Won-Yong Kim, a seismologist, “these blasts are caused by 80000 pounds of ammonium nitrate and cause local earthquakes between magnitude 1 and 2”.

‘Molten steel’ found at the basement’s support column also raises some disturbing questions. How come the heat generated from jet fuel travel 70 feet below the surface, in an oxygen-starved environment?

Further if one looks at all the videos of the WTC with a magnifying glass, it can be easily observed that right part of the North Tower shakes just 12 seconds before the collapse. Ben Fountain, a financial analyst who worked in the WTC told Peoples Magazine that in the weeks before the 9/11 there were numerous ‘unannounced and unusual drills’ where sections of both the towers were evacuated for ‘security reasons’.

Flight 93

“Michael R white (Mayor) said the plane had been moved to a secure area of (Hopkins) Airport, and was evacuated. United identified the plane as Flight 93”.

(WCPO-TV, Cininnati, 11/9/01, 11:43:57)

The documentary questions the so-called ‘crashing’ of the Flight-93 at Shanksville. Evidence garnered by the film shows that there were no signs of a plane-crash: No debris, No smoke, No fire. The documentary quotes Houston Chronicle:

“It looked like somebody just dropped a bunch of metal out of the sky… I stopped being a coroner after about 20 minutes, because there were no bodies there… I have not, to this day, seen a single drop of blood. Not a drop”.

(Wally Miller, Somerset County Coroner)

Then what happened to Flight 93?

Documentary quotes a local radio at Ohio reported that a Boeing 767 out of Boston made an emergency landing at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and passengers were evacuated and taken to an unused NASA research Centre. It cites eye-witness accounts and photographs as evidence. The film completely debunks phone-calls as ‘fake’, because it is practically impossible to make calls at such an altitude. A.K.Dewdney conducted research whether it was possible to make phone-calls while flying. He flew at an altitude of 32,000 and the success rate of calls was just 0.006 percent! It was only in July 2004 that Airlines installed new technology that enables smooth talking on phones while flying.


In the End

What about Black boxes and data recorders?

According to the FBI, black boxes were destroyed except that of Flight 77 (FBI director Robert Mueller said it contained ‘nothing useful’) but yet they found the passport of an alleged hijacker Satan Suqani on American Airline Flight 11 in the rubble!

Out of 19th hijackers, 9 hijackers turned out to be alive.

And what about the Osama Bin Laden confession tape which US released said to be found in Jalabad, Afghanistan?

If one carefully observes the video, it becomes abundantly clear that the man in the video looks like Osama Bin Laden and if one compares it with other videos of Osama, the contrast is obvious. According to FBI website, Osama is left-handed, yet in the video he writes with his right-hand! Also he is wearing a gold ring specifically forbidden for men under Islamic law!

And finally why would US government do such a thing?

According to the documentary 9/11 was a government orchestrated game-plan just to benefit a group of select individuals:

On December 6, 2004, Larry Silverstein received 2.2 billion dollars insurance claim. 2.5 million dollars in profits were made during trading Options in the stock of United Airlines. CONVAR, a German company assigned to restore data from computer hard drives has this to say:

“There is a suspicion that some people had advance knowledge of the approximate time of the plane crashes in order to move out amounts exceeding 100 million dollars. They thought that the records of their transactions could not be traced after the main frames were destroyed”.

Documentary claims that the WTC was one of the largest gold depositories in the world. Gold worth 230 million dollars were recovered in November 2001 from the ground zero. 950 million gold bars were held by America’s leading banks.

And do remember what Osama Bin Laden said:

“The U.S. government has consistently blamed me for being behind every (attack). I would like to assure the world that I did not plan the recent attacks, which seems to have been planned by people for personal reasons (Emphasis Added). I have been living in the Islamic emirate of Afghanistan and following its leader’s rules. The current leader does not allow me to exercise such operations”.

(Statement issued to Al-Jazeera within days of the 9/11 attacks)

The documentary ends on a bold message:

“America has been hijacked not by Al-Qaeda, not by Osama Bin Laden, but by a group of tyrants ready and willing to do everything that will keep their stranglehold in this country”.

The message of Loose Change is loud and clear: the truth is there, it may just be hidden behind closed doors. Loose Change opened the doors slightly; now let’s open those doors entirely.

The Agony and Ecstasy of Malegaon’s Weavers

A Labourer in a powerloom factory

Rhetoric vs. Reason

Now that Malegaon has finally been declared as MIDC D+ zone, the flirtations of Maharashtra government with the imagination of weavers are over. The burning issue of D+ zone had been there on the platter for quite sometime. If Mr. Ramesh Jamtani, Advisor (Industry), to Planning Commission, is to be believed Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Maharashtra took almost two months just to sign a readymade document!

We Muslims have always been short on reason and long on rhetoric. Instead of digging into the details as to what MIDC D+ holds for Malegaon, the unimportant debate of ‘whodunit’ has become dominant amongst masses. Striving hard is a Muslim’s duty. Taking credit is a politician’s specialty.

My point is simple: How many of you know that there is a sub-category in D+ zone? There are three types of categorization in D+ zone: Mini Industrial Area, Major Industrial Area and Growth Centre. Does ‘Mini Industrial area’ means that weavers will get less subsidy as compared to ‘Major Industrial area’? In what way ‘Growth Centre’ differs from ‘Mini Industrial area’?

In a ‘Mini Industrial Area’, one can avail off the subsidy in the prescribed area only which is selected by the MIDC. While in a ‘Growth Centre’, the entire area will fall under the cover of subsidy no matter where it is located. The devil is in the details. Icchalkaranji enjoys the status of a ‘Growth Centre’. Malegaon too should enjoy the same status otherwise it will be considered as a political ploy just to please illiterate weavers.

These are pertinent issues which require reason rather than rhetoric.


Subjugation vs. Supremacy

The entire setup of Malegaon’s powerloom industry is such that the weavers are in a catch-22 situation. All raw materials needed for the powerloom industry are procured from different yarn mills located all across the country except one mill. Viz. Malegaon Spinning Mill. To facilitate the inflow of raw materials, various traders and intermediaries have sprung up thus adding to the cost of the raw materials. The grey-fabrics manufactured on Powerlooms are semi-finished goods and require further processing. These semi-finished goods are sold at various processing centres mainly at Pali, Jedhpur, Balmer and Balotra in Rajasthan, Mathura in UP, Kolkata in West Bengal, Surat and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Mumbai etc. To facilitate this outflow, intermediaries enter in the picture again.

Weavers are heavily dependent on raw material merchants and traders for purchase and sale of their goods. The weak weaver with low purchasing power is always caught in this vicious cycle of exploitation. The concept of price-control mechanism does not function in Malegaon. (That reminds me of TRAI – Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or SEBI – Securities Exchange Board of India. Both government bodies work as a watchdog). Middleclass/poor weavers are literally forced to make payment within a stipulated time. If weavers don’t make payment within the specified period as directed by the traders, they have to pay interest on the principal amount. (Interestingly interest is mischievously called LP. i.e. Late Payment. LP is a typical Malegaon jargon.)

Tanweer Fazal sums up the Malegaon’s weaving community thus:

“That Malegaon is a town populated by weavers has not helped. Call it the darker side of globalisation or sheer governmental apathy, weavers across the country are seeing the dwindling of their businesses. Most of them happen to be Muslims, Ansaris or Julahas, as they are called. Dearth of government orders, shortage of yarn, inadequate marketing and credit facilities, erratic power supply and stranglehold of Marwaris and banias have contributed to their impoverishment. It is this everyday brutality of deliberate state neglect and unrelenting suspicion that violates their dignity.”


A Blueprint for Future

A whopping 358 crores has been proposed for the development of country’s powerloom sector in the 11th Five Year Plan. Out of 358 crores, a major chunk (250 crores) will be spent on Modernized Group Workshed Scheme. This scheme specially suits the weavers of Malegaon. Under the scheme industrial clusters with potential will be targeted to attain economies of large scale for business operations. The benefit under the scheme includes 40 percent unit cost of construction or Rs.120 per sq.ft. whichever is lower. Under Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), the government is even willing to delink 20% Credit Link Capital Subsidy (CLCS) from interest to suit the religious requirements of Muslims. One of the worrying factors for weavers is that TUFS has been revised but the norm for powerloom sector will be automatic looms and not the existing semi-automatic looms. This issue needs to be addressed seriously. If we don’t lean towards modernization soon, powerlooms will be a thing of the past.

Central textile ministry is even offering for Market Development Assistance and Exposure Visits. A total of 30 crores have been proposed for the same in the 11th Five Year Plan. This includes organizing exhibitions, buyer-seller meet and promotion of the goods prepared on powerlooms. The basic objective is to showcase powerloom products to the consuming industry and to enable powerloom weavers to receive consumer feedback and produce the products as per the requirements of the consuming industry. The Exposure visit aims at changing the mindset of the weavers and encourages them towards modernization.


The Road Ahead

With 1, 25, 000 plain shuttle looms, weavers of Malegaon must come forward to face the onslaught of modernization. No community can progress unless it is economically empowered. D+ zone is the best opportunity for weavers to free themselves from the imposed economic bondage of greedy merchants. For how long we will operate obsolete and outdated looms? Change is inevitable and embracing change is in the interests of weavers. If we are not ready for the change yet, then we must be ready to sell our powerlooms as scraps. And that is the most painful thing for a Julaha (weaver).