Indian Muslim -Pre and Post Independence

I have tried my best to give a fair view of the contribution of Muslim in Indian struggle of freedom and post-Independence .However, if anyone can make contribution to this ,he is most welcome and will be appreciated. I am also open to any constructive criticism as many may not agree with my views and they are welcome to air their comments which is welcomed.
The new generation of Indians is hardly in know of the role played by minorities in our freedom struggle. They think only majority community fought for it. In case of Muslims partition made them culprits for dividing the country Firstly all Muslims were blamed for partition and secondly it was thought they played no role in the freedom of the country. It is this view with which the whole new generation has grown. Even Maulana Azad’s role has been obscured and our textbooks on history of our freedom struggle either totally ignore him or mention him just casually.
In fact besides majority community all other minorities have played important role in freedom struggle. The Sikhs (Sikhs are a minority with a distinct identity and they resent being clubbled with Hindus) played glorious role and who can ever forget the supreme sacrifice made by Bhagat Singh. He has become an icon of Indians’s hearts. Besides Bhagat Singh Sikhs played glorious role right from beginning. Who can ever forget Ghadar Party which was formed mainly by Sikhs and they went to Canada and America to fight for India’s freedom.
The role of Dalits also has been ignored by and large and also that of tribals from different parts of India. While much light has been thrown on the role of Mangal Pandey (recently a film also has been made on him), a Brahmin, one hardly finds mention of various Dalit leaders who also played role in 1857 war of independence. The Christians and Parsis too were in the forefront of freedom struggle. Who can forget Dadabhai Naoroji and Phirozshah Mehta besides others?
But today we find hardly any mention of these persons who never hesitated to throw themselves in the struggle for freedom of our country. But our school textbooks hardly mention them. If the role of these communities is not highlighted what of Muslims who are thought to be culprits for dividing the country. And during the NDA rule even Father of the Nation Gandhiji role was sought to be de-emphasised.
I would like to deal with the role played by Muslims in freedom struggle, as this is important for de-communalising thinking of our people today. However, before we proceed further I would like to point out that while it is important to discuss the religious identity of people who fought for our freedom it is not our intention to communalise the role of those individuals in history. Those Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Muslims and Hindus fought for freedom as they loved their motherland and not simply because they belonged to this or that community. Yet in the Indian subcontinent since nineteenth century religious identity became main identity as the British rulers divided us on the basis of religions and each individual despite his/her patriotism also considered himself/herself as belonging to this or that community. It is for this reason we have to talk of role of minority communities in freedom struggle.
Unfortunately the minority communities have been marginalized in every respect including in respect of their role in freedom struggle. The history of freedom struggle as also that of medieval period is being written today from majoritarian perspective. It thus becomes necessary to emphasise the role of minority communities. While Mangal Pandey, a Brahmin’s role is glorified in the 1857 war of independence (recently a film also has been made on him) the role of dalits has been completely ignored or if at all mentioned, it is mentioned only on the margin. The tribals also played important role but hardly mentioned in history books.
Who can ever forget the role of Sikhs (though Sikhs are often clubbed with Hindus but Sikhs themselves resent being so clubbed) in freedom struggle. The Ghadar party mainly consisted of Sikhs and Ghadar Party played very important role. The members of Ghadar Party migrated to Canada and United States in early twentieth century to fight for India’s freedom.
The Namdhari Sikh movement, which came to be known as Kuka movement and consisted of lower caste Sikhs from artisan class and poor peasant started after occupation of Punjab by the Britishers posed a great threat to the British rule and challenged the role of Sikh elite including the Mahants of Sikh temples. It was the first radical challenge to the British rulers in Punjab. On the other hand the Punjab Unrest of 1907 which was spearheaded by Ajit Singh Bharat Mata Society or alternatively called Anjuman-e-Muhibban-e- Watan (i.e. organisation of the lovers of the country) was a secular, political struggle of the peasantry against the destructive economic policies and laws of the British Government.
Similarly, our history of the freedom struggle ignores the role played by lower class Muslims led by the orthodox ulama. The Muslim masses were mostly from artisan classes and belonged to poor peasantry. Most of the ulama came from these sections of Muslim society and they fought British rule tooth and nail. When Indian National Congress (INC) was formed in 1885 Maulana Qasim Ahmed Nanotvi (who was founder of Darul Ulum, Deoband)(though is son Hifiz Ahmed issued the fatwa but for unknown reqsons the credit was given to Maulana asim Ahmed Nanotvi) issued a fatwa urging Muslims to join INC to fight against British rule. He also got fatwas issued by several other ulama on similar lines and published them in a book form called Nusrat al-Ahrar (help for freedom fighters) and as a result of his efforts large number of Muslims joined INC.Here I would also like to mention that Maulana Nanotvi, Maulana RasheedAhmad Gangohi & Haji Imdaadullah sahab participated in an active manner in 1857 uprising which was the first struggle of freedom from the British rule.
It is true Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, an ardent advocate of modern education among Muslims and founder of Mohommedan Anglo-Oriental College (MAO) opposed Muslims joining the Congress but it was because of his priority to modern education rather than politics and not because of lack of patriotism. Also, he was representing the interests of upper classes of Muslims i.e. ashraf whereas the ulama in north India represented interests of lower class Muslims know as ajlaf.
But realities in western India were quite different. There Badruddin Tyebji, the retired acting Chief Justice of Bombay High Court urged upon Muslims to join INC and himself joined it with three hundred Muslim delegates and was elected President of INC. It is interesting to note that three presidents of INC were from minority communities in those days. Badruddin Tyebji, a Muslim, W.C. Bonnerjee, a Christian from Bengal and Phiroz Shah Mehta, a Parsi. Dadabhai Naoroji was a critic of British economic policies and was devoted to the cause of India’s welfare.
The ulama, particularly of the Deoband School, were greatly devoted to the cause of Indian freedom. Maulana Mahmudul Hasan of the Reshmi Rumal (silk kerchief) conspiracy fame was stauch supporter of freedom movement. Another important name in this respect is that of Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi. Prof. Barkatullah also played key role in fighting the British in those days.
In fact a provisional Azad Hind Government was formed in Afghanistan with Raja Mahendra Pratap as President and Prof. Barkatullah as Prime Minister. The Ulama urged upon Muslims to migrate from India to Afghanistan as they had declared India as Darul Harb under the British rule. Thousands of Muslims migrated and faced great hardships. Though it was not a wise decision but that is a different matter. What we intend to show here is that Muslims played very important role in freedom struggle.
Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi was very enthusiastic fighter and when he was forced out of Afghanistan by the Afghan King he migrated to Russia through Central Asia and witnessed revolution in Russia and was greatly influenced by Russian revolution. Another very important figures are Ashfaque ullah khan (of Agra and associate of Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh) Maulana Hasrat Mohani who stood for complete freedom along with Tilak. He was great admirer of Tilak and opposed the Congress policy of Home rule in those days. He used to publish an Urdu magazine, which was confiscated by the British along with his press and his valuable books were also destroyed by the British police.
Mention must be made here of Maulana Husain Ahmed Madani, the then President of Jam-Ulama-I-Hind who was an important ally of INC and was totally opposed to the partition of the country. He opposed two nation theory and wrote a book Muttahida Qaumiyyat aur Islam (Composite Nationalism and Islam). It is a seminal contribution by the Maulana. He argued against separate nationalism and quoted from the Quran to support his contention. He gave example of the Holy Prophet who migrated from Mecca and set up a composite city state in Madina with Muslims, Jews and pagan Arabs constituting one political community described as ummah wahidah. All communities were given full freedom to practice their religion and charged with responsibility to protect Madina from outside attack.
Many other Muslim leaders, besides Maulana Azad, who played an important role in freedom struggle and stood for united nationalism, were Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Sarhadi Gandhi), Hakim Ajmal Khan, Dr. Ansari, Rafi Ahmad Qidwai and others. We must also mention the role of Ali Brothers i.e. Maulana Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali who play key role in Khilafat movement along with Mahatma Gandhi and also their mother Bi Amma.
We cannot mention the role of several others in this article for want of space. But it becomes obvious that Muslims played very important role in freedom movement and also opposing two -nation theory propounded by a small minority of Muslims belonging to upper class. Large number of Muslims belonging to artisan classes, poor peasantry and backward caste Muslims, particularly the All India Momin Conference vehemently opposed partition of the country. It would, therefore, be wrong to blame all Muslims for partition of the country. Vast number of Muslims made great sacrifices for the cause of freedom of their motherland.
Not only during freedom struggle, but after Indian gained Independence many Muslim soldiers have made supreme sacrifice to defend the honor and integrity of our country. Who can forget the great Hav Abdul Hamid PVC who laid down his life in the battle against Pakistan army aggression.
But today it was surprising when some senseless journalist makes comments that our country LOC is guarded by a “Muslim “  (Muslim general, Lt Gen S A Hasnain, now controls LOC4 Dec 2010 – Muslim general, Lt Gen S A Hasnain, now controls LOC)
. This irresponsible statement by the so called intelligent journalist of Times Of India does not know that Lt Gen S Atta Husnain is a well decorated soldier and a respected one at the highest levels in the Indian armed forces. I would like to ask this question to did he had the guts to write that a muslim is the figure head of our country when such statesman like Dr Zakhir Hussain, and Dr APJ Abul Kalam were the country’s President??

Role Of Fatwa In Indian Freedom Movement

It is an established fact that the Muslims after their settlement in India adopted it as their home and considered it their duty to work for socio- economic and cultural development of the country and general welfare of the people. In fact, they took part in the freedom movement with the same sense of duty and worked whole-heartedly along with their country-fellows to achieve the desired goal of the freedom of their homeland. The different sections of the Muslim society, including ulama, utilised their respective resources for this purpose.

As torchbearers of the Muslim community, the ulama employed various methods to serve the cause of the freedom movement. Apart from actively participating in different programmes of the movement which were going on in those days under the leadership of Gandhiji, they did their best to make the movement successful through their speeches, writings and issuing fatwa for creating awareness among the Muslims about the Britishers or in support of the crucial programmes of the freedom movement.

The fatwa (pl. fatawa), as it is well-known, is exposition of the Shariat's point of view by a mufti or a learned jurist with regard to any emergent problem in response to a legal query (istifta) by any person or on his own. As a matter of fact, the institution of ifta (writing or issuing fatwa) is an integral part of Islamic juridical system and has important role in guiding the ummah in emergent problems or new situations. It is pertinent to explain here that the fatwa issued by the competent legal authority about any issue is given much importance by the common Muslims, because it is believed that a fatwa is a declaration of the Shariat's point of view expressed either in the light of the Quran and Hadith or through interpreting their text. As such it is considered binding as a provision of the Shariat, though, of course, a mufti individually can not force any one to follow his fatwa. It can not be denied that in recent times, some of the fatawa issued by certain muftis in haste, without thorough examination of the concerned cases, have undermined the dignity of this great institution of Islam.

The issuing fatwa is not an easy job as it is generally thought. It requires extreme care and utmost regard for the well-defined principles of the ifta. As a matter of fact, issuing fatwa or delivering legal verdict about different issues or cases has a very old history in India. In the modern media, the fatwa is sometimes dubbed as document which negates democratic principles, serves the sectarian approach and undermines the rights of women and non-Muslims. It has been forgotten that it was the fatwa which had set into motion the struggle against the Britishers who had established their control over India and had snatched the rights of the Indians to rule over their country. There are enough evidences to suggest that fatawa of the Indian ulama had mobilized the Muslims to render services and make sacrifices for the sake of their homeland and had boosted the cause of the freedom movement in its several stages.

In the history of the freedom movement in India, the fatwa of Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlawi, issued in 1803, has crucial importance as it declared India of that time as Darul Harb and thus prompted the Muslims to start struggle against the Britishers and permitted them to wage war for bringing change in the situation.

In fact, it was the starting point of the freedom movement in a practical way, though it is rightly said that the ground for the movement was actually prepared by the writings of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (d. 1762 CE) about the political situation of India in the 18th century. The historic fatwa of Shah Abdul Aziz was endorsed by many ulama of that period, including Qazi Sanaullah Panipati, Shah Rafiuddin, Shah Abdul Qadir, Shah Ismail Shaheed, Shah Muhammad Ishaq and Mufti Ilahi Bakhsh. It is noteworthy that the fatwa of some of these ulama had clearly declared that in the present situation it had become obligatory for the Indian Muslims to wage jihad against the Englishmen to change the situation of the country. This edict had certainly given legal sanction for the same to check the enslavement of the country and its inhabitants and had also awakened the people to prepare themselves for further line of action. During the subsequent period, the fatawa continued to be issued by the contemporary ulama in support of the different programmes of the freedom movement. Quite obviously, the fatawa that were issued with the signature of a large number of ulama proved to be more effective. Some such fatawa belonged to the pre- and post-first war of independence. Just before the painful event of 1857, when the Britishers were exhausting their energies to gain full control over Delhi and were damaging the life and property of those who were resisting it, a fatwa was issued with the signature of 31 ulama of Delhi, which declared jihad farz-i-ain for the Muslims of Delhi and farz-i kifayah for those of adjoining areas. The signatories to the fatwa included Sayyed Nazir Husain, Maulana Rahmatullah Kairanwi, Mufti Sadruddin, Mufti Ikramuddin, Maulana Abdul Karim, Shah Abdul Ghani Mujaddidi, Mufti Rahmat Ali Khan and Maulana Ilahi Bakhsh.

It is well-known that after 1857, the main target of revengeful action of the British government were Muslims, as they had led the first war of independence and had posed great challenge to the rising power of the Britishers. In this situation, some of the ulama, including Maulana Kifayatullah of Muradabad reinforced the above edict to motivate the Muslims for struggle against the oppressive Government.

Another important fatwa issued by Shaikhul Hind, Maulana Mahmud Hasan in July, 1920 is related to non-cooperation with the British Government, which was actually an important part of the freedom movement to put pressure on it. The fatwa of the Shaikhul Hind declared it unlawful for the Muslims to join the government service, especially in police and army and to cooperate with it in any way. The fatwa endorsed by a large number of ulama in the meeting of the Jamiatul Ulama (held at Calcutta in September, 1920) was printed with the signature of 474 ulama and distributed in different parts of the country. It contributed a lot to make the programme of non-cooperation more effective as many Muslims following the dictates of the fatwa left the government jobs, discarded the military service and returned the government awards and titles. Moreover, echoing the same edict, a resolution supported strongly by Ali brothers, was passed in the Khilafat Conference session of September, 1921, (held at Karachi) openly declaring the police or military service of the British government unlawful (haram). Subsequently, the resolution was compiled under the fatwa format by Shaikhul Islam Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani and was signed by him along with Maulana Nisar Ahmad and Peer Ghulam Mujaddid. It was also sent in the printed form to several parts of the country, which generated more heat in the freedom movement as the non-cooperation had become a mass programme among Muslims due to the impact of the fatwa. The situation was quite alarming for the government which took steps to suppress the rising impact of the fatwa by seizing it and arresting the compiler and supporters of the same. It was the same fatwa on the basis of which the famous Karachi case of inciting sedition was started against the above prominent freedom fighters who were put to trial and finally awarded punishment of two years rigorous imprisonment. Instead of bringing any setback to the movement, these repressive measures spread the message of the fatwa far and wide and strengthened the people's resolve to go ahead on the path of the freedom.

In addition to the non-cooperation programme, the salt satyagraha movement started by Gandhiji in March, 1930 against the anti-people salt law of the government also proved to be more effective to air the feelings of resentment and anger against the Britishers and exhorted them to work more vigorously to relieve the country from their oppressive and unjust rule. The Muslims, including ulama, actively participated in this historical satyagraha, and worked hard to give it wider acceptance through their speeches and writings. Some of them, like Mufti Atiqur Rahman Usmani, are reported to have given a verdict that no government has right to levy tax on items like water and salt and that it is permissible to make struggle against a government which dares to do it. Such fatwa had led to create more awareness among the common Muslims for participation in the satyagraha.

It is well-known that the freedom movement and the Khilafat Tahrik were interlinked. They got support and strength from each other. The whole-hearted support of Gandhiji to this Tahrik had made it an all India issue. Consequently, the Khilafat Tahrik had given great strength to the Hindu-Muslim relationship and their unity which was obviously the most powerful source for the country to achieve the lofty goal of freedom from the foreign rule. The Indian ulama, as is well- known, had been in the forefront in the Khilafat movement led by Ali brothers. Though I could not come across any formal fatwa issued in support of this movement, but it could not be overlooked that this Tahrik itself was started on the basis of the well-considered opinion of the Indian ulama that according to the Shariat at that time no one was legitimate Khalifa of Muslims except the Sultan of Turkey. So, the Muslims all over the world were required to raise this issue and work for restoration of his Khilafat. Moreover, just about one month before the formation of the Khilafat Committee in India, in a public meeting of Anjuman Muaiyyidul Islam held in Farangi Mahal (Lucknow) in February, 1919 under the chairmanship of Maulana Abdul Bari Farangi Mahli, it was resolved unanimously that a fatwa giving details of the rules of the Shariat about the institution of Khilafat be prepared and after being signed by the ulama of the Arab and Islamic countries be sent to the Governor General.

Another well-known matter which was juridically examined by the ulama in course of the freedom movement was joining the Congress party by the Muslims and working in coordination and cooperation with the Hindus to bring freedom to their country. Some of the ulama of the period put their seal to it by their fatawa to remove any misgiving, if found in this regard. The fatwa in support of joining the Congress party had been issued by the famous freedom fighter Maulana Habibur Rahman Ludhianwi in 1888. It was published with the signature of about 300 ulama and distributed in different parts of country. This fatwa, though confiscated by the government like other important fatawa, had also served the cause of the freedom movement, because it is generally accepted that among the political parties of that time the Congress was playing the leading role in this movement. In the same way, many ulama of the period stressed the need of the Muslims jointly working with the Hindus against the Britishers who had subjugated their country and had enslaved them. What is important in this regard is that some of them openly declared that there was no bar from the Shariat for Muslims working with non-Muslims for a good cause.

In brief, it is quite clear from the above details that many important programmes of the freedom movement were supported by the ulama and given wide acceptance among the Muslims through their fatawa. This was actually an important part of the multi-dimensional role of the ulama (especially those belonging to Darul Uloom, Deoband) in the freedom movement which is generally overlooked by the historians and writers of the modern period. The real importance of their fatawa lies in the fact that they contributed to build up the opinion of the common Muslims against the Britishers who had adopted repressive policies towards the Indians particularly Muslims and under whose rule their life and property was insecure and their religious and political rights were in peril. Besides, these fatawa led to make them more active and dutiful with regard to the struggle for freedom of the country. The Britishers, as also became clear from the above deliberations, were themselves fully aware of the inherent impact of the fatwa and had tried their best, though unsuccessfully, to suppress it by seizing copies of different fatawa and subjecting their authors, printers and propagators to harsh and humiliating punishment. It may be also added here that the fatawa referred to above in relation to the freedom movement are merely a fragmented part of huge fatawa literature of the same nature available in the well-known Fatawa-collections, records of Darul Ifta of different madrasahs and treasures of private libraries. These are required to be brought out, studied thoroughly and compiled systematically to assess their quantum and to find out the real role of this hitherto-neglected literature produced by the Indian ulama.

Lastly, it can not be missed to point out that the ulama, who prepared the above fatawa and took care of their distribution in printed form among the people to make them more effective, were mostly products of the madrasahs or institutions of Islamic learning. This strongly supports the view that they are not only assets to the Muslim community, they are also rendering (as they did in the past) many services (khidmat) to the country  the noblest being promotion of learning, reform of moral life and socio-cultural upliftment of the people. Their good works, undoubtedly, cannot be obliterated by the ongoing hateful campaign and adverse comments about them in a section of modern media.

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P.S.->This article was written as per the views of Professor Islahi who teaches in the department of Islamic Studies, AMU

Muslim In India - An Overviw

Muslims in India - An Overview
The Muslims entered Sind, India, in 711 C.E., the same year they entered Spain. Their entry in India was prompted by an attempt to free the civilian Muslim hostages whose ship was taken by sea pirates in the territory of Raja Dahir, King of Sind. After diplomatic attempts failed, Hajjaj bin Yusuf, the Umayyad governor in Baghdad, dispatched a 17-year-old commander by the name Muhammad bin Qasim with a small army. Muhammad bin Qasim defeated Raja Dahir at what is now Hyderabad in Pakistan. In pursuing the remnant of Dahir's army and his son supporters (Indian kings), Muhammad bin Qasim fought at Nirun, Rawar, Bahrore, Brahmanabad, Aror, Dipalpur and Multan. By 713 C.E., he established his control in Sind and parts of Punjab up to the borders of Kashmir. A major part of what is now Pakistan came under Muslim control in 713 C.E. and remained so throughout the centuries until some years after the fall of the Mughal Empire in 1857.
Muhammad bin Qasim treatment of the Indian population was so just that when he was called back to Baghdad the civilians were greatly disheartened and gave him farewell in tears. There was a Muslim community in Malabar, southwest India as early as 618 C.E. as a result of King Chakrawati Farmas accepting Islam at the hands of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The Muslim presence as rulers in India dates from 711 C.E. Since then, different Muslim rulers (Turks of Central Asia, Afghans, and the descendants of the Mongol - the Mughals) entered India, primarily fought their fellow Muslim rulers, and established their rule under various dynastic names. By the eleventh century, the Muslims had established their capital at Delhi, which remained the principal seat of power until the last ruler of Mughal Dynasty, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed in 1857 by the British. A few British visitors were given permission by Akbar to stay in Eastern India more than two centuries before. The British abused that privilege, and within a few decades the British began to collaborate with Rajas and Nawabs in military expeditions against the Mughals and Muslim rulers of the east, southeast and south India. After two centuries of fighting, the British succeeded in abolishing the Mughal rule in 1857.
Muslims were a minority when they ruled major parts of India for nearly a thousand years. They were well liked generally as rulers for their justice, social and cultural values, respect for freedom to practice religion as prescribed by the religion of various communities, freedom of speech, legal system in accordance with the dictates and established norms of each religious community, public works and for establishing educational institutions. In their days as rulers, the Muslims constituted about twenty percent of India's population. Today, Indian Muslims constitute about fifteen percent of India's population, about 150 million, and they are the second largest Muslim community in the world.
The region now part of Pakistan and many other parts of India were predominantly Muslim. After the British takeover in 1857, many of these areas remained under loose control of Muslims. When the British decided to withdraw from India without a clear direction for the future of Muslims (former rulers), a political solution was reached for some of the Muslim majority areas. This resulted in the division of India and the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
Among the famous Muslims scientists, historians and travelers who visited and lived, though briefly, in India were Al-Biruni, Al-Masu'di, and Ibn Battuta. Their writings illuminate us with the Indian society and culture. Al-Biruni stayed in India for twenty years. Ibn Battuta, an Andalusian who was born in Morocco, served as a Magistrate of Delhi (1334-1341) during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Tughluk. It is conceivable that Ibn Battuta description of Muslim India inspired Ferdinand and Isabella who had taken over the last Muslim kingdom of Granada, Spain in 1492. That same year Columbus received the permission in the Alhambra palace (of Granada) and made his famous voyage bound for India in search of gold and spice but he landed in the Americas.(kind courtesy Dr A Zahoor)
When I set about writing this piece, I called for responses from Indian Muslims of various backgrounds. Sadly, the responses did not flow. They trickled in from a few corners. This in itself was a pointer, indicating that possibly, Indian Muslims are not overly enthusiastic to voice their outlook on issues.
So do Indian Muslims wish to keep their opinion under wraps?
Interestingly, though I asked for responses from Indian Muslims, I received replies from a section of Indian Hindus, cautioning me of the fact that Indian Muslims always have a hidden agenda to promote Islam. However, does not RSS and VHP and other groups promote Hinduism? Many will say that I am being a Muslim Fundamentalist or supporter or sympathizer but here I would like to clarify that though born in a Muslim family I had the proud privilege of commanding and leading one of the elite battalions of Indian Armed Forces in various operation with great success and had taken bullets in my body for defending the in the nations border from external and internal threats.
Really!
This got me thinking. Not about possible hidden agendas, but on how few of us deeply understand that there is a core set of principles inherent to every religion that remains the same across the board, so to speak. These tenets include respect for life, and as a corollary, the promotion and preservation of peace.
But sadly, political events such as Kargil adversely impact fragile communal relations. In the post-Kargil charged atmosphere, right-wing Hindu associations and some political parties insisted on pressing on with Nationalism is Hinduism campaigns and ended up nullifying any progress in cross-cultural efforts aimed at building bridges between communities.
For the majority Indian populace, the Kargil episode evokes a bias against Pakistan which snowballs to an intense dislike for Islam, thus increasing anti-Muslim prejudices. The fallout is frequent rioting as tensions run high and sensitivities are easily inflamed.
As every secular-thinking Indian laments the situation, it may help to take note of similar circumstances in a supposedly modern and liberal nation, USA.
Post 9/11, both a curiosity about and prejudice against Islam rose considerably in USA. Bearing in mind that 9/11 was possibly the first major terrorist act on American soil, this change in the attitude of the Christian-Jewish majority mirrors in a sense, the Hindu bias against Muslims. Hypothetically, if such citizens in USA were to witness continued terrorist activity in their country perpetrated by Islamic terrorists, one can only imagine that they would sooner or later develop preconceived notions about every Muslim they interact with.
A misunderstood solidarity
Just like Indian Hindus, these people would forget that a few terrorists cannot stand for the majority of the Muslim community. They would forget that as Indian Muslims feel bad both whenever a civilian is killed or abused as a result of terrorist activities as well as, as a result of counter-terrorist Army activities in Jammu & Kashmir, Muslims across the world (even enlightened non-Muslims) feel strongly for the death of every innocent civilian in Iraq, or Afghanistan or even Lebanon, for that matter. Sadly, the approach of politicians whether in India or in USA often breeds disrespect and misunderstanding among the less-informed populace.
Author of Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror, Mahmood Mamdani was asked to explain the origins of the title of his book. In response, Mamdani said that when Bush speaks of good Muslims and bad Muslims, what he means by  Muslims is really pro-American Muslims and by  Muslims he means anti-American Muslims. Once you recognize that, then it is no longer puzzling why good Muslims are becoming bad Muslims at such a rapid rate. You can actually begin to think through that development. If, however, you think of good and bad Muslims in cultural terms, it is mind-boggling that in one week, you can have a whole crop of Muslims - cultural changes do not usually happen with such rapidity! But if you have the aerial bombing of Falluja and the targeting of civilian populations accused of hosting Muslims, then you harvest an entire yield of bad Muslims at the end of the day, and the whole phenomenon becomes slightly less puzzling.
Mamdani speaks of army action outside of America, yet the Indian context is related to events within a country. It boils down to the fact that irrespective of India being a democratic country, every Indian Muslim must support Indian Government action (central and state) in every instance. But the Godhra Gujarat riots are a perfect example of the futility of reposing blind faith in the ruling state government, as called for by the majority community, even in cases where state policies are skewed in favor of the majority populace.
Further, Muslim solidarity with their religious brethren across the world should not be misunderstood as a desire for more terrorist activity. It may simply imply that they hold a different perspective insofar as the resolution of a crisis is concerned.
Further, Mamdani has also pointed out that as opposed to differentiating between good and bad persons, or between criminals and civic citizens, who both happen to be Muslims and Hindus, the debate has turned to good Muslims and bad Muslims. Sounds familiar?
Mamdani concludes by saying that Terrorism is not a necessary effect of religious tendencies, whether fundamentalist or secular. Rather, terrorism is born of a political encounter.? Thinking of the supposedly separatist movement in Jammu & Kashmir which is fueled by cross-border terrorist outfits, ostensibly to redraw political boundaries, one can see the logic in this statement.
For more reading, refer:
http://sipa.columbia.edu/academics/directory/mm1124-fac.html
http://www.asiasource.org/news/special_reports/mamdani.cfm
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375422854/102-9492025-1167350?v=glance...

 

Slur Campaign against Indian Armed Forces in Kashmir

Indian armed forces which has been doing a wonderful job in Kashmir ,has off recently been targeted by slur campaign by group of people in Kashmir.Here for the information of general public, I would like to clarify one thing before I view my thoughts on the subject, INDIAN ARMY IS NOT SECURITY FORCES BUT ARMED FORCES.

Since the time India gained Independence from the British rule,Indian army has been serving in Kashmir with great dedication and self sacrifice.Many soldiers , since the time of Maj Somnath Sharma PVC, have laid down their lives in defending Kashmir ,both from internal elements and external threats (from 1948 to kargil operations).

Many a times we hear that in  certain place Indian army soldiers have raped women during cordon and search operation and  media like a stupid fools blow it out of proportion without even investigating in details about it.This they just do so that there is a good TRP rating for their channel.But they dont understand that they are doing more damage to the nation indirectly.Like what they did during 26/11 attack in Mumbai.Stupid media like a small baby who has got a lollipop in their hands and gets excited, they were relaying live coverage of the attack,without realising that people sitting across the border also view television.They indirectly helped the terrorist to locate the point of entry of our soldiers,because of this idiocy by media ,Indian army lost a gallant soldier Maj Sandeep Unnikrishnan.

Now coming back to kashmir  issue, 99.9% of case reported of so called rape and moletation when enquired in details turned out to be false and the cases were instigated by the seperatist leaders and hurriyat conference leaders to malign the reputation of our armed forces.

The present so called raped case by armed forces in kashmir turned out to be a big hoax and the preliminary medical report issued by assistant surgeon, District Hospital, Kulgam, who examined the victim, Rukaya Banoo wife of Mohammad Latief Bhat resident of Manzgam Gujardhar in Kulgam district stated that, the woman had no marks of violence or resistance on any part of the body, including her private parts.The Kulwama "rape' story developed fast, it was pushed along by herd mentality, running stories without confirming facts is doing a lot of damage to India's stabilization of Kashmir.

Allegations of rape in the past have proven false, baseless and often motivated by separatist elements in the valley run from across the border in Pakistan by its intelligence agency, the illustrious ISI, on behalf of the Pakistani Army.

The Chief Minister of the State known to often get into trouble by shooting his mouth off decided to add fat to the fire with his ill-considered statement, "...the guilty won't be spared either Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) or no AFSPA".

I hereby quote the statements of  Army by General Officer Commanding of the Army's 15 Corps, Lt General Syed Atta Hasnain, which were never reported by the media as afterthought:

“I want to make it very clear that this is an allegation and if there is any truth in this, then it’s a criminal act against which strict action must be taken,”  “I want to clarify the combat uniforms are worn by (militants), they also carry radio sets and pouches. There are already different versions of the same story. The lady (the victim) first said she was abducted by civilian individual and even mentioned his name. No reference was made to army or security forces and this obviously proves that there are inimical forces that want to create a situation for the state government and the army which is going to be negative,” he said, adding, “This is why I want to appeal Awam (people) and media to trust us. We will do a dispassionate investigation into it and if there is any truth at all (into the allegations), we will take stern action against the culprit.”

“Incidentally, I have a copy of FIR with me and there is no mention of army in it,” he said, adding, “We are aware that not only the army, but (militants) also wear combat uniforms. We conducted an operation against militants a fortnight ago in the same area and the militants are under pressure. Therefore, this was something not unexpected at all. I was expecting it which is why I appeared before you (media) with total transparency.”

“We have a very strong presence of people around that area not in the area. First of all I want to tell you that people from the unit are at the moment with police. We are accompanying them to ensure that any query pertaining to army is answered on the spot. Secondly, army is disciplined force and it is almost impossible that two individuals remain away with weapons from a camp for 48-hours.” 

Also before I end I would like to give a classic example of the so called rape of Kashmiri women. I had the proud privilege to serve in the elite Indian armed forces in Kashmir for a long period of time at various ranks. During one such operation in the general areal of Dharmuna  in Badgaun district,, I was talking to the village elder and was requesting him to move the civilian population to safety before we start our operation. within few minutes of our troops reaching there, and middle of my talk with the village elder, I saw a commotion on one side.I asked my troop  as to what is the matter and he informed me that this women wants to meet me and he was not allowing her to come near me as in kashmir women  are more dangerous then men(because they carry Kangri beneath their dress and can throw the burning wooden coal of Kangri on someone's face)

I instructed my troop to let her come near me, and when she came near me , she said she had been raped by my guys, which literally shook the ground below my feet. We had just reached five minutes ago and here was a complain of rape against my own men.

I controlled myself and asked her what happened. She informed me "sahab hum aapse milna chahte the par yeh aapka aadmi hai, mera haath pakar kar bahar kar diya issiliye mera rape hua hai".She ment that my troops holding her hand and pushing her away from me, as per her was so called rape done on her.

On hearing her words , I understood the matter and called her near me but before I could tell her anything and stop the Village Head, he slapped her hard and told her " if that was rape then this is known as gang rape"

Now my earnest request to the stupid media and their reporters that before you try to malign the name of Indian armed forces in so called rape case and report it in a sensation way, please do get your facts verified before reporting and do'nt just report for the heck of reporting as it will cause more damage to the country and indirectly help the separatist to propagate false propaganda against army .

JAI HIND

Unaccounted wealth at Satya Sai baba ashram

Money and skeletons keep tumbling out of YAJUR MANDIR of Satya Sai Baba Ashram.The question arises, was the govt dept sleeping till now and why they had not asked before the source of such immense unaccounted money at the ashram.Many claim that The self styled godman Satya sai Baba may have had a foreign bank account also which no trustee of the ashram has got information about. Here I would also like to mention that,the self styled Godman Satya Sai Baba held immense clout amongst various section of people,right from politicians to sportsman (including Sachin Tendulkar) and many socialites and media persons.
In the ongoing raid at Yajur Mandir Rs 59 crore worth of cash, gold and silver have been found so far in the three rounds of counting of the wealth taken out from Yajur Mandi, the personal residence of spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh.
In the latest round of inventory taken up on Monday at Yajur Mandir in Prashanti Nilayam, Anantpur district officials found ornaments, cash and other valuables.

The inventory, the third in a month, yielded 34.5 kg of gold, 340 kg of silver and Rs.1.90 crore of cash till Monday night. The counting resumed Tuesday morning in the presence of Sathya Sai Central Trust officials.

Anantapur district collector Durgadas told reporters last night that the counting began at 10.45 a.m. Monday and lasted nearly 12 hours. The jewellery, cash and other valuables were found in six rooms, which were not opened in the earlier rounds.

The officials found gold bangles, earrings, silver mugs, silver cookware, plates, spoons, puja material, expensive saris, shirts, trousers and other gift items.

The officials believe there might be more rooms and closets which were not searched earlier and might yield more treasure.

The third haul is likely to raise further doubts about the functioning of the trust, which manages the affairs of the vast spiritual empire of Sathya Sai Baba.

The trust, which had opened the spiritual guru's personal chamber June 16 for the first time after his demise April 24, found Rs.11.56 crore, 98 kg gold and gold jewellery, 307 kg silver articles.

It also claimed to have completed the inventory of all the articles.

However, two days later seizure of Rs.35 lakh by police while being transported from Prashanti Nilayam to Bangalore triggered a huge row with a section of devotees alleging that the trust members were involved in financial irregularities and that huge amounts of cash and gold were shipped out of Baba's ashram.

Though the trust clarified that the cash was donated by a group of devotees for building Baba's "samadhi", police have still not solved the mystery behind the unaccounted money.

Following the row over the seized cash and the allegations by devotees, the government stepped in. The district officials inspected the rooms adjoining Yajur Mandir July 3 and found silver and gold articles worth over Rs.76 lakh.

The second and third round of valuables have proved wrong the initial claims by the trust that there were no more rooms left to be inspected, say officials.

In the three rounds of inventory so far, nearly Rs.59 crore worth gold, silver and cash has been recovered from Yajur Mandir and adjoining rooms, say officials.

More cash, gold and silver is being found at a time when an expert committee appointed by the state government is evaluating the report submitted by the trust July 10.

The report was submitted by the trust after the government issued a notice, asking it to provide all details of its finances, activities, revenues, background of the trust members and officials and future plans.

After evaluating the report, the government is likely to take a decision on whether to take over the trust or set up a mechanism to monitor the trust in view of the demands made by a section of devotees.
I hope after this the Govt wakes up and start assessing the actual wealth hidden at all the so called ashrams run by self styled swami's and "godman" and take appropriate action against them.

Hillary Clinton visit to Chennai

 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a closed door interaction with the members of Working Women's Forum (WWF) here Wednesday night, excerpts of which were released here Thursday, Clinton said: "I want to thank my friend and your friend, a wonderful woman who is viewed as a leader around the world, Jaya."

Appreciating the self help group and panchayat members for their work in promoting democracy, Clinton said, referring to the chief minister: "This is a woman who has worked so hard. And all of you will have to decide how you can follow her model, so that you not only help yourselves and your families but you spread the word about microfinance, about bank accounts, about starting businesses, about getting health services, about empowering the women of this state, and giving everyone a chance to live up to your god-given potential."

Clinton, who arrived in New Delhi Tuesday and flew down to Chennai for her maiden visit the next day, said she is honoured to celebrate the accomplishments of WWF in bringing micro-credit, healthcare and other services.

Stressing her belief in self help movement, Clinton said: "I have seen the results with my own eyes. From Bangladesh to India to South Africa to Chile and Nicaragua and Latin America, I have seen women's lives change, as we heard from the wonderful story earlier. Every one of you has a story, and I applaud you for what you have done to help yourselves."

She said Goldman Sachs, a global financial company, has decided to support a training programme through the Indian School of Business to help self-help groups bring even more knowledge and skills about how to take their businesses from the very local village level to the cities and the rest of the world.

Clinton said the US and the Indian government will establish a regional training programme at the Asia University of Women to spotlight the success of the panchayat programme, and train more women to be local leaders.

Education System Today Making students Man or Machine

Education is a combination of Academics (subject knowledge) and Values (morals and ethics).

Education is one of the most important factors that lead to the development of a country and society as a whole. In case of a developing nation like ours a proper education system plays a vital role in the growth and prosperity of the people .While we talk about the Indian education system we can easily divide it into three parts namely primary, secondary, and post graduation, where most people pursue the primary and secondary level of education the post graduation level is not very widely pursued for with the number of students growing by the day the need for larger amount of schools and colleges becomes all the more integral.

Bearing this in mind there have been more and more universities and schools erupting in the country but the quality of education deters. Though our country boasts of higher level education in world renowned universities like the IIM’S and the IIT’S it lacks quality education as far primary and secondary level education is concerned.

Today children are being forced to read, read and re-read to get more marks, but very few teachers and parents are bothered to know how much knowledge the child has learnt from the lessons. They know every formula and definition, but don’t understand the concept. They can answer 1000s of objective questions, but do not realize what the objective behind studying them is? They know the equations, derivations and algebraic expressions, but don’t know how, when and where they can explicitly use them.  We are only at consuming the food up to the limits, but isn’t it necessary to get digested such that it can be useful to our body? Simply getting marks will not help in future unless it is combined with good subject knowledge. It may  matter in today’s world if the marks are 90 or 80 but it would surely matter much more in future, if we understand the subjects and know the concepts or not.

One side we are not sure of the purpose of the Academics we are studying, but on the other side there is no scope today to learn Moral or Ethical Values. Parents earn money by hook or crook to educate their children, they bribe them for every work they say, they give rewards for doing well in exams etc. Most of the schools are also busy in making money that they 

began ignoring their main purpose itself.

Living in between such kind of parents and studying in such kind of schools, can we expect the children to grow up morally and ethically? I wonder how many today even know what they mean? That is the reason we have doctors who deny to treat a dying patient unless they pay the money, we have scientist who use their valuable knowledge in making dangerous products that even challenge the existence of man, we have lawyers who don’t mind which side they are, as long as they are well paid … so on and on in every field, in every capacity. One of the major setback in today’s world is the way we are giving Education to the next generations. I do not worry much about illiteracy or ignorance they can be dealt with. But what makes me more concerned is the existence of academicians without knowledge and genius without morals.

“We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one's own feet” – Swami Vivekananda

Do we have any answer for this? Last time I heard Literacy percentage in India was 66% by 2007. What would be the percentage of EDUCATED people if we consider the words of Vivekananda as the definition of Education? How many are really educated and are using their education for the benefit of people, society and the country ?? Do we realize what is EDUCATION infact?

Education is said to be man-making …. But today are we making MEN or MACHINES ??? machines that can work for hours and earn profits for the employers, which can earn money for family and for their survival.  I wonder would it be ever possible to teach this machine how to LIVE ?