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Author Archives: Guest Post
Nine styles of writings
By Amir Khusro From his book Rasail al-Ijaz From the beginning of my youth, I had the desire that I should produce among my fellow writers an epistle, more embellished and rhetorical, and more attractive than the cheeks of the … Continue reading
Celebrating Bihar’s Birth: Will It Help Remove The Tag Of Bihari?
No amount of parade and celebration on July 14, the 1789 French Revolution day, can perhaps remove the expression ‘French leave’ from the English dictionary (or filer à l’anglaise, that is, ‘English leave’ from the French vocabulary). Similarly no grand function and musical programmes on the occasion of Bihar Diwas on March 22 can perhaps prevent senior students in the campuses outside the state from poking fun at their juniors from Bihar. They may still be addressed as Harries in their hostels in Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh. It was in 2010 that the Nitish Kumar government celebrated this occasion for the first time. Many people would argue that it took 98 years for the state to realize that this is something to observe. They would attribute this to the lack of Bihari sub-nationalism, which has kept the state backward. The slur ‘Bihari’ started causing discomfort to many educated Biharis, both Hindus and Muslims. Even if Bihar gets developed the slur Bihari would not lose its meaning. Continue reading
India In 2011: Some Highlights
By the end of 2010, with a population of over 1210.2 million, India alone accounted for 17.5% of the world population, whereas China accounted for roughly 19.5% of the world population. The population of India is almost equal to the combined population of U.S.A., Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan put together (1214.3 million)!Pondering deeply into the facts, one can see a quite alarming sign that there has been a steep decline in child sex ratio. In the 0-6 years age group, the population comprises of 52.24% male children as opposed to 47.76% female children. The utterly distressful fact is that there are only 914 girls for every 1000 boys in the age group of 0-6 years. This figure is the lowest in recent Indian history. Except for only 7 states, rest everywhere there has been a noticeable decline in the child sex ratio. The reasons for such a low sex ratio range from illegal abortion of female child, to female feticide, to female infanticide. Thanks to the desire for male child. Continue reading
Islam Is Not Just “Rituals”
Of course namaz and fasting are important institutions in Islam and their performance is a farz on the Muslims. But should they be treated as mere rituals? Or is there a wider meaning to them? Unfortunately, the JUH pronouncements seem to reinforce the centuries old ritualistic notion that restricts Islam to a mere belief in “five pillars” namely, faith in Allah and Prophet Muhammad, the five times prayers, the Ramazan fasting, the Hajj and the concept of Zakat. Identity markers such as a long beard for men and the hijab or burqa for women also form part of this superficial characterisation. The question is: could this have been the concept of Islam that was propagated by our beloved Prophet? Islam is actually a system of moral and legal codes which proposes to regulate society on the universal principles (termed maroof by the Quran) of justice, fairness and equity through the institutions of prayers (salaat or namaz), fasting (saum), Hajj and zakat (compulsory tax). Continue reading
What Makes Mr. Advani Sad?
Mr. L.K. Advani, once again, describes December 6, 1992 as a saddest day of his life, not because Babri Masjid was pulled down on that day, but this day damaged the credibility of his party. Mr. Advani is not apologetic over demolition of Babri Masjid. He is not apologetic over putting blot on India. He is not apologetic over the death of thousands of Indian citizens because of his Rath Yatra and the seed of hatred he sowed between Hindus and Muslims. He is not apologetic over Gujarat genocide of 2002. He is not apologetic over damaging thousand years of communal harmony. He is not apologetic over damaging of Indian economies following brutal attack on minority communities across India. He thinks giving reservation to Muslims or allowing them to open their schools and institutions is not in the interest of the country, while he forgets Muslims’ progress is also India’s development. Continue reading
Women Empowerment: A Different Perspective
Here is the paradox. In one hand, we have ladies leading our countries and on the other hand, we are not even letting others see the face of the earth. Based on the declining sex ratio, a recent study has predicted that by 2020 India will experience twenty percent more males than females! This is the worst possible discrimination that we can inflict on women. We are denying them their right to be born! recently there has been considerable debates about ‘can Islam liberate women or not’, but the outcome, as usual, is blurred. Though the scriptures give a certain degree of rights, the practice of the followers i.e. the Muslims are significantly different from the scriptures. Although every society has had its share of discrimination against women, the west seems to be swiftly embracing the changing landscape of women’s participation in nearly all spheres of life, although with some if’s and but’s. Continue reading
Height Of Absurdity: Take Education Sportingly, But Treat Sports Like War
India has, of late, joined the leading nation of the world in making school education somewhat easy and simple. These steps are largely appreciated as unnecessary pressure on children was wreaking havoc among them and reportedly driving many teenagers to suicide. But may one ask as to what has prompted sports to become more serious than war––not to speak of education. After all games are best form of entertainment and people play or watch them to get relaxed. But, in this age of capitalism sports are causing more tension and rancour not only in the mind of players, but all those involved in it as well as those who watch it in the field or television sets.he corporate bosses, The match-fixers and betting mafia, who actually play the matches without taking to the field, have made the whole business extremely nasty, especially in the sub-continent. Continue reading
Am Not An Expert On Minority Affairs, Al-hamdu lillah
Thanks to God Almighty, I don’t have the latest data on Indian Muslims. I don’t have the statistics about each constituency and the population of Muslims in it. I do not have the data about the Muslim MPs and MLAs who have fought and won or lost elections so far. I don’t know which constituencies witnessed the splitting or non-splitting of their votes and how and why. Praise be to Allah that I don’t know which place can I get these and many more data from. I don’t know which places I should contact for the most reliable database on Indian Muslims. Al-hamdu lillah I don’t know the individuals who are an authority on this subject and whom I should never seek any information from. Luckily I am not sure about the total budget earmarked by the Government for the development of minorities and am not able to organize any conventions for protesting against the unutilized budgetary allocations. Continue reading
No Head-I-win-tail-you-lose Situation For Muslims
The campaign to wipe out the last Muslim Empire, (which had Germany as an ally), ended in disaster and the Allied forces had to retreat yet the West still recalls the day. It caused, according to one estimate, 1.25 lakh casualties. Western tourists make it a point to visit the place. So they do not only celebrate their victories but also make a serious introspection of what led to their defeat,and that too even 95 years later. Take the case of Muslims, especially of the Indian sub-continent. They tend to learn nothing or very little from reverses. They just believe in glorifying their past and are seldom prepared to re-assess historic mistakes, committed advertently or inadvertently. These Muslims seem to have no time to examine that by their action, some of them inadvertently, drive many non-Muslims or even ‘non-practising Muslims’ further away from Islam. Continue reading
A Plan For Minority Development
The Community should study the Sachar Committee report deeply, analyse the findings and realize the importance of education. The Community should focus its attention single-mindedly on Education and avoid frittering its energies on such non-profitable issues as Salman Rushdies, Taslima Nasreens, Danish Cartoons, Processions, Litigation on Beards etc. These are temporary and passing irritants. Education is the panacea ! Special attention needs to be paid for women’s education. Though a few misinformed moulvis might have given stray fatwas on girls education, by and large the religious leadership of the Muslims has been always in favour of providing education to Muslim girls. Today most of the responsible imams and khateebs in mosque are emphasizing the need for education, both for boys and girls in their Friday sermons albiet with safeguard for their modesty and physical safety. Continue reading
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