Time for Muslims to deal with the Modi phenomenon

Indian PM Narendra ModiWhichever way you look at it, there’s only one story — one man has overshadowed every thing and everyone in Uttar Pradesh.

Laptops, pension for women, metro, expressway, free uniforms and much more, nothing mattered to the voter of UP. Akhilesh, Mayawati or Rahul, no one mattered to the voters.

They wanted only one thing. They want to strengthen the hands of the Prime Minister.

They want him in spite of Notebandi, they want him in spite of LPG and petrol price hikes, they want him in spite of expensive banking and rail travel. They want him even in the absence of tangible benefits his three-year government could have delivered but failed. But that doesn’t matter anymore. They want him more and more. His failures simply don’t matter. Continue reading “Time for Muslims to deal with the Modi phenomenon”

Indian Media has a Responsibility

This is a recent debate on Zakir Naik on NDTV, a supposedly balanced news channel. While it’s ok to question his ideology but to let Tarek Fatah join the discussion will only mislead the common public. Tarek puts India in the same league as Pakistan with his emotional outbursts.

Indian media needs to be careful when it invites people like him. He may comes across as a liberal but is a confrontationist.

मीम-भीम गठबंधन: भारतीय राजनीति नए तजुर्बे की तैयारी में।

bsp-aimimअसदउद्दीन ओवैसी की पार्टी AIMIM का उत्तर प्रदेश विधानसभा चुनाव 2017 मायावती की पार्टी बसपा के साथ गठबंधन कर लड़ने के नाम भर से समाजवादी पार्टी के मुस्लिम नेताओं के पसीने छुटने लगे हैं। सपा वरिष्ट नेता आज़म खान साहेब का प्रधानमन्त्री नरेंद्र मोदी पर कल का बयान इसी बौखलाहट का ‘सपा-बीजेपी’ ‘आंतरिक गठबंधन’ का हिस्सा हो सकता है।

भले बिहार में ‘मजलिस’ कुछ खास नहीं कर पायी हो और बिहार चुनाव लड़ने से मुस्लिम बुद्धिजीवी वर्ग का कुछ हिस्सा ‘मजलिस’ पर थोड़ी देर के लिए ‘बीजेपी’ के साथ ‘सांठगाठ’ का आरोप मढें हों पर सचाई ये भी है अगर मजलिस ने 24 सीटों पर लड़ने का एलान नहीं किया होता तो महागठबंधन मुसलमानो को ’33’ सीट किसी हाल में नहीं देती।उदहारण बिहार विधानसभा के तुरंत पहले हुए एमएलसी का चुनाव था जब लालू यादव की पार्टी राजद ने 12 सीटों के अपने हिस्से में से एक सीट भी मुसलमान को नहीं दिया था और 8 सीटें यादवों को दे दीं थीं। जदयू ने भी बड़े भाई के पदचिन्हों पर चलते हुए अपने 12 सीटों में से सिर्फ एक सीटिंग सीट मुस्लिम उम्मीदवार को दिया था।महागठबंधन, सपा, बसपा जैसी पार्टियां ही नहीं बल्कि ‘नौटंकी बादशाह’ अरविन्द केजरीवाल की नयी नवेली पार्टी भी बहुत अच्छी तरह से जानती है की बीजेपी को हराना है तो मुसलमानो को झक मारकर इन तथाकथित ‘धरनिर्पेक्ष’ पार्टियों को वोट देना होगा। Continue reading “मीम-भीम गठबंधन: भारतीय राजनीति नए तजुर्बे की तैयारी में।”

I am an Indian and I am a Muslim

From being addressed as a traitor, to a Pakistani, and of course the usual ‘terrorist’ tag, thanks to the hatred some of my countrymen have against Muslims; I bear it all each day. Twitter, day in and day out is filled with hate messages from the hardliners who demand a certification of patriotism from me, just because I am a Muslim. Feels sad. But then, that is what it is! Just a mere ‘feeling’. I pull up my socks again and get out there on the virtual battlefield to fight my Indianess. I really do not need to do so but I still choose to do it.

It amuses me that individuals with no claim to fame of contributing anything for India indulge in dirty name callings when I raise my voice against intolerance. The usual is, people like these need to be sent to Pakistan. Hell, no! Why should anyone have the right to decide on my choice of country? Why should anyone have the right to question my belongingness to India? And most importantly, why should anyone have the right to dictate terms to me! Continue reading “I am an Indian and I am a Muslim”

How AIMIM is Challenging the Traditional Turf

An AIMIM meetThe outcome of the recent assembly elections in Maharashtra is surely a sign of changing times. Against odds, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen won three seats. The result meant that Owaisi brothers have finally succeeded in expanding the party’s base outside its stronghold in Andhra Pradesh.

Fighting elections in the name of religion is nothing new in India, neither is the exploitation of a persecution complex in minorities. What’s new is the emergence of a Muslim led and governed party. It reflects the level of dissatisfaction of the Muslim minority with mainstream political parties.
Continue reading “How AIMIM is Challenging the Traditional Turf”

Indian Muslims and Elections 2014: Some Issues

THE LOK Sabha elections 2014 are different from all previous elections. This is mainly due to the fact that the BJP, the principal opposition Party in the existing Parliament, has nominated Mr. Narendra Modi as its PM candidate, a person who has the blotch of the 2002 Gujarat riots on him as he was CM then and when over 2000 Muslims were killed.

Whatever the Courts may say on technical, legal grounds, the perception remains among a considerable section of Indians and especially among Muslims, that Mr. Modi not only failed to stop the massacre of Muslims, rather he connived in it. Thus, his nomination as PM candidate filled the Muslim community with fear and apprehension and created a divide not experienced even in the elections after the Babri Masjid demolition. His speeches in the previous Assembly elections in Gujarat and during these elections have only given strength to that perception. Adding fuel to the fire are the statements of his close aides, Mr. Amit Shah, who exhorted voters in Muzaffarnagar, scene of recent communal riots, to cast their votes as ‘revenge’, and Mr. Giriraj Singh, saying that those who don’t vote for Modi will be sent to Pakistan; the statements of his opponents, like Mr. Abu Azmi, saying that Muslims who do not vote for the Samajwadi Party against Modi are not true Muslims and their DNA should be tested, have only complemented the aforementioned statements.

Continue reading “Indian Muslims and Elections 2014: Some Issues”

Alarming Rise of Torture Based on Religion

Interface on Muslim MinorityPEOPLE’S Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), Varanasi and Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), New Delhi, with the support from European Union and Dignity Danish Institute Against Torture organised “Interface meeting with the Parliamentarian, policy makers and political parties, on the issue of Muslim minority in Uttar Pradesh” on December 9, 2013, in Speaker Hall, Constitution Club, New Delhi.

“Attacks on Hindu and Christian communities in Pakistan and Bangladesh and targeting of Muslim and Christian communities in India are being increasingly used as a political weapon by the communal and fascist forces”, said Lenin Raghuvanshi, General Secretary, PVCHR. A documentary, ‘Muslim & Police: A Perspective’, prepared on the basis of interactions for almost three months at the grass root level with the members of Muslim community in various Muslim dominated districts of Uttar Pradesh was screened during the event.

A book “Repression, Despair and Hope: Mapping of Police torture in four districts of Uttar Pradesh and Strengthening Human Rights Institutions” on 1500 cases of human rights violations after comprehensive fact finding exercises in the last 3 years was also launched. These cases relate to police torture and communal violence which have affected the minority Muslim community most in Uttar Pradesh.

The following resolution was made during the event-The role of judiciary in condoning police atrocities and in not allowing the state to withdraw false cases lodged by police against persons declared innocent by a judicial commission (Justice Nimesh Commission).

  • Ratification of UNCAT and enactment of Prevention of Torture Bill.
  • Enactment of Communal Violence Bill immediately.
  • Immediate established of rule of law and appropriate pro-survivors rehabilitation and relief to survivors of survivors pf communal riots in Muzzafarnagar, U.P.

Time to Vote for Good Governance

Politics is a strange world. Sworn enemies suddenly become friends in the name of seat sharing, and those holding membership for years suddenly realise that they have ideological differences with the party.

While in school we read about people like Nehru and Azad. The kind of passion and vision they had for their country. One reason could be their own involvement in the freedom struggle. For them it was country first.

As we close in to celebrate our 67th Independence Day, a lot has changed, including the politics in India. There is more polarisation than ever. The three Cs (Communalism, Castesism & Corruption) have changed the political landscape in India. It’s in this changed atmosphere that Indian Muslims are finding it difficult to raise awareness about genuine issues that affect them. Continue reading “Time to Vote for Good Governance”

Secular forum condemns attack on Agnivesh

agniveshTHE All India Secular Forum has strongly condemned the recent attack on Swami Agnivesh by communal forces in a meeting organised by Garima Abhiyan in Bhopal. The meeting was called to make the members of Balmiki community take a pledge that they will not be carrying the night soil (human excreta) on their heads.

Agnivesh was attacked when he came forward to touch the feet of an old lady from Balmiki Community. The gesture was to recognise the dignity of all the humans being equal. In a way it was to challenge the prevalent practices which derive their origin from caste system.

The government has already come with legislation banning this dehumanising practice, which takes away the dignity of section of society. Agnivesh was attacked as he staunchly opposed this practice. Communal forces led by VHP are believed to be behind it.

Gujarat verdict and the Communal Violence Bill

THE recent verdict by the Gujarat court on the case of Naroda Patia is, to say the least, revolutionary, in its content. This verdict has brought a new confidence in the minds of victims and activists about judiciary in secular India. The Judge Jyotsna Yagnik has enhanced the prestige of judiciary, especially through her observation that communal riots are like poison in secular India. One rarely hears such a remark in written judgements these days.

It must be admitted that it is after a long time, and almost for the first time in independent India, such severe punishments have been meted out to the perpetrators of the communal violence. Both, Dr. Kodnani who subsequently went on to become minister of women and child development, ironically after killing 35 women and 30 children brutally, and Babu Bajrangi, were confident that they would be fully protected by their bosses.  Babu Bajrangi had boasted of this in a sting operation carried out by Tehelka on the eve of last Assembly elections. Continue reading “Gujarat verdict and the Communal Violence Bill”