BOOK REVIEW: Mahatma Gandhi, more or less, lived an Islamic life

By Zia Haq

No part of Gandhi’s life has escaped scholarly attention in a corpus of a little over a century. Literature on him is abundant.

Two lines, in my opinion, stand out as the profoundest words ever spoken on the Mahatma.
First, Einstein, in 1944, said generations might not believe that a great man like Gandhi ever “walked upon this earth”. Second, Orwell’s 1949 piece on Gandhi opens with a rational probe: “Saints should always be judged guilty until proved innocents…” In the end, Orwell gracefully exonerates Gandhi: “…how clean a smell he has managed to leave behind.”

A fair amount of questioning of Gandhi’s ideas has gained currency among western writers, who see him as self-conceitedly left-leaning, and as disavowing industrial progress for bucolic poverty. “The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed,” Mahatma Gandhi famously said. Some of Gandhi’s greatest challengers were, however, compatriots of his time – Jinnah, Savarkar and Ambedkar.

With his new book, “Faith and Freedom, Gandhi in History”, Prof. Mushirul Hasan, the internationally renowned historian and former vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, turns his gaze to an intriguing aspect of Gandhi’s life and legacy: his engagement with Muslims. Intriguing, because Gandhi’s overly ‘drift’ towards Muslims is said to have cost him his life, when a Hindu militant assassinated him in 1948. Why could Gandhi not mitigate the ferment of Muslim nationalism that culminated in the creation of Pakistan?

Hasan acknowledges Gandhi’s immense love for Muslims. Once, in jail, he anxiously stuck his neck out – you may choose to ignore the pun — for a glimpse of the Eid moon, along with some Muslim inmates. Gandhi enjoyed great personal rapport with Muslim leaders but, Hasan argues, he had a “limited or a specific understanding” of Islam. It was shaped by his early experience of the mercantile South African and the Gujarati Muslim community. His approach would later lead him to a “dead end”.

What made Gandhi ‘Gandhi’ was his faith, the bedrock of his ideas. His ‘moral heroism’ was inherently anti-secular. So, for him, the unhindered rise of Islam had to do with its normative messages of “equality, tolerance and simplicity”, as found in the chapters 5.48 and 11.118 of the Quran, which also enjoins People of the Book to work for common good (3.64). This is exactly what Gandhi’s faith told him; his concepts rooted in religious scruples. Where else have some of the greatest ideas of mankind, such as justice, compassion and righteousness, come from, but religion?

Much as he was a bulwark against colonial nationalism, Gandhi could not assuage inter-communal rivalry because of one community’s suspicion of being dominated by the other. As one who views the world not from the “prism of faith” and opposed as he is to Muslim sectarianism, Hasan explores these as Gandhian infirmities.

However, if Gandhi failed in successfully repressing Muslim nationalism, it is because Hindu fundamentalism had also been concomitantly rising. The Mahatma’s battle was spiritual; Jinnah’s and Savarkar’s were temporal.

Savarkar felt Hindus were losing out and Ambedkar succeeded in pulling Dalits out of Hinduism’s fold, much to Gandhi’s annoyance. Gandhi could not prevent the Partition – he supported a newly formed Pakistan’s rights – not because of his flaws, but that of others. This concession has to be made for whom Romain Rolland called “a mortal demi-god”.

An essential Everyman historian, Hasan writes history with flourish. “Faith and Freedom” is a tale told to make history vivid, amid his fine intellectual tradition suffused with secularism, in the Western liberal sense.

Hasan’s speaks from a position of western liberal secularism, where religious values are derided. That makes Gandhi’s relationship with Muslims posthumously look like a disaster in parts. That western concept of secularism does not work for India.

(Courtesy: Hindustan Times)

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Uniting the nation: Asghar Ali Engineer’s struggle for preservation of plural ethos

By Ram Puniyani

The events of last over two decades have shown us, more than before that the efforts of dividing the nation by communal forces have been a major obstacle to social peace and process of development. In India while the communal violence began with the Jabalpur riot of 1961, it is from last couple of decades especially from 1980s that the divisive politics has tried to drive a wedge between different communities along religious lines. The regret is that it is only few social workers and scholars who took this issue in all its seriousness and Asghar Ali Engineer can be counted amongst those few. He also spent major part of his social efforts to fight against the ideology and machinations which led to communal violence and the victimization of minorities, time and over again, year after year.

Engineer was a student when Jabalpore riots took place. It clearly left a deep mark on him. The imprint of this tragedy got reflected in his social engagement with the issues related to communal violence and communal politics all through. His talks and articles reflect about the impact of Jabalpur violence, its impact on nation and its influence on the conscience keeper of the nation, Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru. Engineer’s work on the issue of communal violence, communal ideology and communalization of society spans on a vast canvass and will easily fill volumes.

His work, to be referred below, shows that he took a serious interest in understanding the dynamics of communal violence, he must have spent days in and days out, investigating the communal riots, their aftermath and their impact on the social and political affairs. He can easily be credited with being the major scholar-activist who pioneered this area of investigation. He spent enormous energy to investigate and analyze the communal violence in India. He can also be regarded as the foremost scholar-activist who not only commented on the issues related to communalism, but also gave his forthright opinion on the range of those, against the heavy odds. He has been criticized by the communalists of both the religions for his opposition to the politics of violence in the name of religion.

This article takes an overview of his work in the area of communal violence investigation and his contribution to campaigns for promotion of secular values. It is based on understanding his work from the vantage point of a close working relationship with him as a friend and associate. I have also tried to take the overview of his massive contribution from the point of someone who not only witnessed his work from close quarters, with awe admiration and some criticism, but also tried to learn from him to give direction to my own work.

Communal Violence

The communal violence of Jablapur (1961) shook Engineer very deeply, the very concept of violence in the name of religions was anathema to him as he was steeped in the spirituality of Islam right from his childhood. He was taught that Islam does not preach violence, and no religion teaches violence, so why this violence in the name of religion. This is the point when he decided to devote his life to promote communal harmony. It was an event which was to shape the course of life and work. He not only intervened after the events of communal violence to douse the fire of the violence but made it a central part of his initial life as an activist to investigate the acts of violence in depth. Starting from Biharsharif riots to Gujarat carnage, he spent time in unraveling the truth of the violence mostly by field studies. His reports on these events are a landmark in the area of riot investigation, in understanding the underlying machinations of this phenomenon. Biharsharif was a stronghold of CPI due to its following amongst the Bidi workers. Dr Engineer could unravel that RSS in order to spread it hold in the area, used the dispute between Yadavs and Muslims over the land for cemetery, to instigate the violence (1981).

Godhra witnessed riots on and off during 1980-81. Engineer investigated these riots as a part of a team. The conflict here was mainly between Sindhis and Ghanchi Muslims. While Sindhi immigrants were looked down by other Hindus, for various reasons but those Hindu groups supported them against Muslims. The material reasons of poverty of Ghanchi Muslims and growing demands of Sindhis for facilities was the root cause of the trouble which assumed religious color. The report pointed out that rumors played a lot of role in this violence.

Engineer also studied the Ahmedabad violence of 1982. Extensive field investigation was done for this. In this case the poor Muslim locality of Kalupr and Daryaganj face the brunt of the violence. An incident over kite flying turned into stone throwing and violence. Just prior to this VHP had started its work in these areas and prepared the ground for the skirmishes. VHP virulently talked against the conversions of Harijans to Islam. The communal forces resorted to heavy propaganda, especially through distribution of leaflets in the area. These leaflets used a communal version of history, demonization of Muslim kings, and emphasis on singing Vande matram, and opposing those who kill cow. Some people drew the attention of Gujarat government to this virulent propaganda, but there was no response to those appeals.

Pune and Sholapur were in the grip of violence in 1981-82. These were precipitated in the aftermath of Ahmedabad violence and VHP as usual had been at the forefront of spreading the communal venom. It was a period when VHP had launched a Jan Jagaran (People’s Awakening) campaign all over India. This campaign was based on demonization of Muslims as foreigners, beef eaters, etc. This was also a riot which took place in the aftermath of Meenkshipuram conversion of dalits to Islam in 1981. Dr. Engineer makes a very pertinent point while relating the communal violence to the core issue of atrocities on dalits. He points out, “VHP is raising the hue and cry of conversions of Harijans in Meenakshipuram so that people do not pay attention to the screams of dalits burning in the pyre of discrimination.” (Communal Riots in Post Independence India, P 265)

The aggressive campaign of VHP intimidated the Muslims. VHP took out a procession with portraits of Golwalkar and Manusmiriti, along with those of Gandhi and Ambedkar. The procession tore down the hoardings with Muslim names, including the one of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and shouted anti Muslim slogans. The procession changed its permitted route and entered Muslim locality, attacked Muslim hotels and shops were stoned.

In Sholapur also situation was similar. Here they propagated the myth of rising Muslim population to provoke the people. Here also trouble began with VHP procession on 15th Feb. 1982. The procession when it came near Punjab Talim Mosque, it started giving anti Muslim provocative slogans. There was attack on small shops owned by Muslims after which Muslims were attacked.

Meerut riots have also been a big sore on our polity. Meerut a city with great syncretic traditions also suffered the violence. Here the main goal was to co-opt the dalits, to give them liquor etc and to use them for violence against Muslims. Here the riot had more political reasons than economic ones. The riot was instigated on the issue of some piau (where one gets water to drink). One Muslim advocate and another trust were involved. Tension mounted in April 1982 and the provocative propaganda was stepped up. Biased attitude of police and communal slant of newspapers added to fuel to the fire. Similarly Vadodara Hyderabad and Assam riots were also studied by him.

His major observations have been that a small incident is taken advantage of by communal forces, the rumors add havoc to the situation and communalized state apparatus, police in particular, plays a partisan role, worsening the plight of minorities.

Apart form these riots of Mumbai 1992-93 (Report of EKTA Samiti, 1993) Gujarat carnage has also been studied by him (Sowing Hate and Reaping Violence, CSSS 2003). The studies by him have been used as a base by many a scholars to make interpretations and conclusions about the phenomenon of communal violence. He does interpret every riot on its ground and the specificities of the particular violence are well reflected in his studies and reports. Another aspect which emerges from his studies and reports is that gradually the intensity of communal violence is worsening, and it did peak in Gujarat violence. He has vividly presented the failure and complicity of police machinery in this violence. It seems that the deeper process of communalization has been going up in last three decades. And now even the other minority Christians have also been brought under the chopping block of communal forces.

He also draws our attention to the fact that these episodes are not sporadic or spontaneous. There is a deeper motive behind these. There is a good deal of planning in such episodes. His other studies-reports show that popular perceptions about minorities lay the base for violence, the propagation of myths and biases against Muslims and Christians make the job of the communal group easier. What is undeniable is that communal forces take advantage of every conceivable opportunity to strengthen them, first by instigating the violence, then perpetuating it and in the process they increase their political power.

Apart from his own book-reports on the violence he has edited several volumes on the issue Communal Violence in Post Independence India, Communal Violence after Independence, Bhivandi Riots, and Communalism and Communal violence to name the few. He continues to chronicle the communal riots on regular basis and these are published as Issues in Secular Perspective, the January issue of this periodical carries his compilation and analysis of Communal Riots of the year past. ( Also posted on CSSS-ISLA.COM)

Communalism-Secularism

Activist’s scholars in India have faced a challenging task of understanding, defining and intervening in the situations related to communal violence. How does one understand the phenomenon of communalism in Indian society? Why India is plagued with this problem? These must have been the issues dogging his mind when he began his parallel study of Indian history and analysis of contemporary issues.

While unraveling the Indian history, the communal interpretation of which is major component of communalization of social thinking, he focused on overcoming the communal interpretation of history and presented the view of looking as history of kings as battles for power and wealth. He understands lives of people as an ongoing journey of interaction, some frictions and major synthesizing tendencies resulting in syncretic traditions. His major book on this, Communalism in India (Vikas, 1995) gives a good reflection of his thinking on the issue. He tried to evolve his workshops with different sections of society on these lines. Later he came out with many articles and books on this issue.

In his work the medieval history is presented not as a battle between Hindu and Muslim kings but as battles between kings for power and wealth. He draws heavily from original sources and from the works of national Historians. The issue of temple destructions, Jijia, policies of Muslim kings, spread of Islam and other aspect of social life during that period gives a good reflection of those times and is an effective tool in breaking the myths and misconceptions in peoples mind about it. The traditions of Sufis, Bhakti saints and their emphasis on values of love and amity is brought out effectively. The mixed traditions of society do convey that Hindus and Muslims were good companions and religion was not the cause of discord, the social interests were, and sometime surely these interests did come in the garb of religion. But communalism as a political phenomenon was introduced here after the coming of British rule.

He takes up the vexed issue of role of Muslim leadership in freedom movement and the role of communalists, Muslims and Hindus both in aggravating the communal violence even in pre-independence India. He handles the issue of partition of the country very delicately to focus that the main responsibility of partition lies on the head of British, while Congress leadership and Jinnah’s obstinate nature added to the issue. He seems to agree more with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on this point that partition could have been prevented had Maulana’s suggestion of sticking to Cripps Mission proposals been accepted.

As a part of dispelling myths about Muslim minorities he has written on the ‘Role of Muslims in Freedom struggle’. Fascinated by the approach of Gandhi in politically uniting different communities and emphasizing on non-violence and peace he has also compiled volume on Gandhi and communal harmony. His fascination for Gandhian approach to communal problems is seen in his work all through. His sense of Gender justice is very strong and he has shown how Islam gives equality to women, and highlights how women are the worst victims of communal violence. The list of his contributions and web site gives and ample insight into his concerns and how he has handled them in a humane manner. His regular publication, Secular Perspective has a good circulation and is reproduced in many a websites and newspapers across the globe.

Secular Intervention

It is difficult to decide as to which aspect of Engineer’s work is more important than other. There is a deeper integration in different facets of the work and one can see the deeper connection between different facets of his work.

His intervention in social issues began with his concern for communal harmony. His urge to study and understand the communal problem began with the tragedy of Jabalpur violence, later his study led him to intervene and undertake the campaigns and awareness work to promote communal harmony work. In Mumbai from late sixties he brought together like minded friends in to groups, Awaz-e-Biradaran. This group started talking about communal problem and raising the awareness about need for harmony through taks in schools and colleges. As Engineer had deep interest in Urdu literature also, he did come in contact with prominent writers who also got involved in helping in the harmony work. With outbreak of Bhivandi riots, 1970, he camped in Bhivandi, along with Balraj Sahni the renowned actor, for two weeks, going to villages and talking to the victims and helping them. His group also involved prominent writers to issue the message of peace through All India Radio.

In Mumbai he also became part of Indo Pak friendship movement. At the same time he came in contact with the Sampradayikta Virodhi Committee (Committee against Communalism) in which doyens like Subhadra Joshi and D.R. Goyal were associated and Engineer started contributing to their work.

The response of Muslim leadership to the issue of Ramjanmbhumi disturbed him immensely, he held that Muslim leadership should be in the background, and the issue should primarily be tackled by secular activists and scholars. He also brought to the notice of Muslim leadership that it is important to agitate on the issues of Muslim poverty and backwardness. The Gopal Singh Committee report, which was lying in the cold storage, needs to be implemented. He himself involved many secular activists to issue appeals for peace.

He took initiative to form EKTA Committee in the wake of Meerut riots in 1987. This became the platform for trade unions and other progressive people of Mumbai to campaign for peace and to oppose the rising tide of communalism.

I witnessed his work directly mainly from 1992-93. During the Mumbai riots he undertook many a peace marches in troubled areas. The lasting impression in my mind is that of a sincere, honest and committed scholar activist. During the Mumbai violence, his office became a natural place for all the activists to meet and during those meetings over hundred activists used to throng to his office, standing in different corners of the small office, even balcony of the office used to be full to the brim. He used to sit in the middle, on the floor and used to conduct the meting and make the plans for action. Most of the planning’s were peace marches and community work. Behrampada, a area near Bandra was given special attention for work, peace marches. Peace marches were also organized in different part of the city.

These marches had important effect on the psyche of society and these gave lot of hope to the victims. As a peak of these efforts on 26th January 1993, in the thick of communal violence looming on the horizon, he organized a Peace march into the main areas of Mumbai. These activities were supplemented by the investigation into the Mumbai riots and the report brought out by EKTA Committee was remarkable for its in-depth work. This brought him face to face with the reality that police; the arm of the state to control the violence itself is much communalized. He decided to approach the police authorities for conducting workshops for communal harmony. It will be impossible to count the number of these workshops scattered in different parts of Mumbai, Mahrashtra and all over the country. He was faced with the challenging questions based on the biases against Muslims, their food habits, violence nature, Muslim Kings destroying temples, polygamy and what not. To his credit he has been conducting this difficult workshop with dignity and modesty coupled with deep scholarship of the issues.

Center for Study of Society and Secularism

Meanwhile he took up the task of formalizing the awareness programs and was instrumental in laying the foundation of Center for Study of Society and Secularism, which has emerged as the premier center for spreading awareness about secular issues. The CSSS, as we refer to it in brief, has also undertaken research on the contemporary issues relating to the National Integration. On awareness front CSSS began experimenting with various modules for different sections of community. Its workshops ranged from half a day affair to seven day in depth workshops for serious activists and teachers. These workshops cover the theme starting from History to the contemporary issues, terrorism, Islam and peace, values of freedom movement. I can guess that thousands of activists and others must have benefited from these workshops. CSSS has also set up Institute of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution to formalize the training of activists into secular values. Plans are also foot to initiate the longer training for activists, teachers and students.

His own engagement with multiple lectures and accepting infinite invitations from all over the country and globe are another facet of his work. What needs a mention here is his membership of National Integration Council during the UPA regime (2004-2009). He forthrightly raised the issues related to harassment of minorities in the name of terrorism amongst other issues. His interventions, along with the similar one’s from other important members and the efforts of tribunal on the issue, did affect the Government policy. With these interventions the routine pursed by Police authorities to arrest large number of innocent Muslims youth in the wake of blasts anywhere, came to halt.

He has also been a major part of the process to bring together all the activists working for the cause of secularism. Groups working for communal harmony all over the country have come together as a platform from last few years, All India Secular Forum.

Touching Moments

While one is talking on the social contribution of a person of high stature, there are some anecdotes which have been very touching at personal levels. I have shared lot of meetings and travels together along the course of our work. The interaction during these periods has been another learning and sharing experience for me. One is privy to sharing his thoughts and ideas on most of the issues.

I cannot help but recount an anecdote, which has left a deep impression on me. One of the mornings we were standing in the Mumbai University campus hall. The seminar was to begin in another 10-15 minutes or so. As we were waiting one of the speakers came in a taxi and we welcomed him. As we were talking to the speaker, the taxi driver got down, did a respectful namaste (greeting) to Engineer and said, Sir please continue your work, your writing, it is a source of peace for the society. I am sure there must be innumerable persons around the globe with similar sentiments.

[Ram Puniyani is based in Mumbai and is a strong advocate of human rights. He can be contacted at ram.puniyani@gmail.com]

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Indian-American Muslims Mourn Dr Asghar Ali Engineer

IMO News Service

Washington DC: The Association of Indian Muslims of America (AIM) has conveyed its profound sorrow at the untimely passing away of Dr Asghar Ali Engineer, renowned Indian Muslim scholar, reformer and community leader, in Mumbai.

"The untimely demise of Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer is being seriously felt by a majority of Indian Muslims who live in North America. For many decades now, Dr Engineer was continuously engaged in a crusade to fight for justice for the suffering Muslims of India, to bring about social reforms in the community, to improve communal harmony between Muslims and other Indians, and to write very meaningful essays on these subjects very frequently in the Indian and International media," said Kaleem Kawaja, Treasurer, AIM.

Mr. Kawaja stated, "Our Association hosted Dr Engineer's lectures in Washington DC during his many visits to USA, starting in 1990 when he was the keynote speaker at our Association's convention. His penchant to reform the Muslim society in India to make it more correctly follow the guidance from Quran and Hadith, and to give better equal rights to Muslim women within that context are remarkable achievements that very few Muslim leaders in India can match. We hope that God gives Indian Muslims the ability to follow in his footsteps to become better Muslims and better Indians. We convey our condolences to his family and pray for the slvation of his soul."

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Renowned Islamic scholar, author and reformist Asghar Ali Engineer passes away

Mumbai: Noted Islamic scholar, author and Muslim social reformer Asghar Ali Engineer passed away in Mumbai on Tuesday after a prolonged illness. Ali was 74.

Ali was one of the most courageous Muslim scholars who advocated reforms among Muslims and the Bohra (an off-shoot of the Shia sect) community to be specific. The Bohra's are a small but well-off community who are based mainly in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

"This is a huge loss because he was a man who spoke without fear of favour, he was the first man in the country to speak and fight for rights for Muslim women," said Zeena Shaukat Ali, a fellow social reformer who collaborated with him on many projects.

Son of a Dawoodi Bohra priest Shaikh Qurban Hussain, Ali had frequent run-ins with the high priest of the community Syedna Burhanuddin. Ali was a born rebel and he was once punished as a young boy when he refused to perform sajda before the Syedna.

He said that a sajda was only to be performed before Allah and not before the Syedna. For this, he was called a devil and was forced to prostrate before the Syedna.

This was the start of run-ins with the Syedna, as Ali began relentlessly attacking the community's practices like female circumcision, levying of taxes by the Syedna even though there was no provision for it in Islam and equal rights for muslim women.

For this, he was not just excommunicated from the community but also ended up facing numerous physical assaults.

The biggest shocker came for him when his parents were refused burial and their bodies could not be buried for three days. "This incident left him a very disturbed and very hurt person, however he continued to stand for what he believed in and he stood by his values," said Zeenat.

Jyoti Punwani, columnist and who has also closely worked with the Muslim community described him as a trail blazer.

"He was a progressive liberal, he was one of the few who interepreted as to how Islam upheld women's rights. He was a rationalist who was against all forms of rituals but he was a believer," said Punwani.

The rising communal violence in the country between Hindus and Muslims disturbed him a lot and he tirelessly worked to foster communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims.

For this, towards the end of 1993, he founded 'Center for Study of Society and Secularism' to promote communal harmony. He has written more than 50 books on reforms in Bohra community and Islam, asking for equal rights for women and communal harmony.

At the time of his death, he was working with Zeenat for codifying the Muslim Personal Law in order to give more rights to women.

(Courtesy: India Today)

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An Open Letter to Prime Minister of India: A Nuclear Willing Country With Hunger & Malnutrition?

Respected Sir,

I would like to draw your attention towards the increasing number of deaths of infants of tribal area due to malnutrition in Palakkad District of Kerla.

It is reported that:

• In last 16 months , approx 37 deaths reported due to malnutrition.
• Many are still undergoing treatment and no effective steps taken to prevent such tragic deaths.
• It is reported that at present approx 500 pregnant tribal women are there in 192 helmets of Attapaddy hills area of Palakkad district and many of these are anaemic and not getting any nutritious food and medical care.
• People there are also complaint about huge corruption by contractors and aaganwadi workers who were engaged there in providing nutritious food supply as they did not supply at all, and also corruption of crores of rupees in implementing various projects including drinking water supply.
• It is reported that still there was no gynecologist until the death of 35th infant on Thursday and only after that a gynecologist appointed that is also on contract.

It is when the Government of India is concerned over 'Malnutrition' and Prime Minister also expressed his concern over malnutrition. It raise questions about the concept of Equality, Right to Life, Right to Safe drinking water and Right to food. It is also raise questions about proper implementation of state and center governed policies by officials and contractors.

Sir, It is requested to you that you must take its cognizance and to provide adequate measures to prevent such things. It is the time, when you and all other political groups must think above the political gains and therefore must bring the food security bill. It is the time for all leaders to think beyond the nuclear capable country as if we are still unable to provide drinking water and food to our countrymen, we really do not need nuclear fitted and armed lased country. For most of us, a country mean a place where we all can live together happily without discrimination and with surety of water, food, cloth and roof. Our country's primary must not be on getting the things for those who can bear the cost or for those who are rich, instead it must be towards Gandhi's last citizen and should be such that even a last citizen can afford it and can survive its life equally at least on the level of basic amenities.

Our right as a countrymen is as equal on our land as yours and it is also as equal as anyone else belong to this country. Our policies and roles must not be governed with the will of 'majority', instead it must acknowledge the needs and necessities of all small groups , deprived and downtrodden too whose rights are in continuous phase of violation. It must be towards getting the things done for a society as a whole in view of the prospects of coming generations and future society and in context of the concept of our constitution that values equality at all levels.

An urgent action is hereby sought through this appeal as we all believe in importance of life that must not get lost due to insufficient food supply in this country as it will not only defame the country that is believed to be agriculture rich and be responsible for deaths due to malnutrition, but also point out the inequality of society at all levels and careless approach of governments in providing safe living conditions.

Sincerely,

Ravi Nitesh
Mission Bhartiyam, India
missionbhartiyam@gmail.com

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Sonia Gandhi lays foundation stone of girls’ hostel at Jamia campus

New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of a new girls’ hostel at the Jamia Millia Islamia campus.

The new hostel — Jamia’s fifth — will be constructed with a Rs. 26 crore grant under the general development scheme of the 12th Plan, which Jamia vice-chancellor Najeeb Jung said had been made possible only because Gandhi had “persuaded the government to pursue our case.”

The hostel will house 400 girl students and will have a number of facilities such as triple bedded rooms, gymnasium, dining hall, multi-purpose functional hall and recreational open area.

Gandhi said providing infrastructure such as the new girls’ hostel and modern education will help emancipate and empower women so that they can find a place in society and break barriers.

“A women’s hostel will create a sense of security among them. We have all been shocked by the violence that girls and women encounter on the streets and even in their homes,” she said.

She added: “The society at large also needs to change their mindsets and we must all be proactive”.

(Courtesy: Hindustan Times)

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After sherwani, AMU vice-chancellor courts another controversy

By Atul Sethi

New Delhi: After asking students to dress up in a sherwani if they wanted to meet him and banning Facebook and bikes on campus, Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor Lt Gen(retd) Zameer Uddin Shah seems set to ruffle more feathers. The V-C has, a few days ago, decided to shift the archaeological section of the department of history and hand over its material to the university's museum. Teachers of the history department allege that the move, if carried out, will deal a death blow to the study of ancient history in the university.

"The archeological section, which has conducted a number of important excavations - such as those at Atranjikhera, Jhakera and Fatehpur Sikri - is regarded as among the best places to research and study ancient history in the country," says Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi, associate professor at the department of history. "The university's founder, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, himself collected a number of archaeological artifacts including rare Hindu and Buddhist sculptures. At present, research is being carried out on the Atranjikhera artifacts which might push back the period of the Iron Age. If the administration in its wisdom thinks that it is not needed, this would be a disaster that would take the university far away from the dream of Sir Syed."

The vice-chancellor's office, however, says that its proposal is aimed at improving the functioning of the section. Rahat Abrar, PRO of the university says that the move has come about after due consideration. "The vice-chancellor along with the pro-vice-chancellor, Brig S Ahmad Ali visited the archaeological section several times. This section is in a very neglected condition and opens only up to 2 pm. Therefore, it has been decided that the present building of the archaeological section will be converted into the faculty of international studies and the archaeological section will be shifted to another building, very near to the department of history."

He adds that all the materials of archaeological importance scattered in the university including at the archaeological section, will be shifted to a state-of-art central museum under the management of the department of museology where they can be "preserved with a professional approach that will increase the opportunity and space for better research and study for the students."

But historians say that the move will seriously hamper the research that is going on at the section. Irfan Habib, professor emeritus of the department of history says that taking away excavated material from the section and simply putting it in a museum will make the section redundant. "There is a difference between putting materials on exhibit and using them for research. Does anybody in the department of museology know how to handle excavated material? Have they written a single paper on archaeology? So how can they be arbitrarily handed over such invaluable excavated material? By doing so, the administration is sending the message that it does not care much for the research and study of ancient Indian history in the university."

(Courtesy: The Times of India)

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3 universities share ideas on opening campus to each other

By Naveed Iqbal

New Delhi: Three universities in the country are in talks over sharing students, depending on the core competencies of each institution.

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Jamia Millia Islamia and Jamia Hamdard — three universities with a large number of Muslim students — are exploring the idea of providing students the opportunity to study in a campus where a preferred course is a specialisation.

Speaking to Newsline, Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University Zameer Uddin Shah said he would like to share students with Jamia Millia and Jamia Hamdard in areas where these universities excelled.

"I would like to send students, who want to study mass communication, to Jamia's AJK Mass Communication Research Centre. Jamia Hamdard leads in training students for civil services and AMU can train students for the defence services," Shah said.

Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia Najeeb Jung called the system an "advanced concept of meta university".

He said after 14 students from Jamia Millia recently qualified for the Indian Administrative Service, AMU V-C "expressed his wish to train 15 of his students for civil services at Jamia". Likewise, Jung said, interested Jamia Millia students could go to AMU to receive training for the defence services.

Jung said there was no formal proposal for this arrangement yet, but the vice-chancellor's of the three institutions had discussed the matter. Regarding making the system one of annual exchange, Jung said, "We would like to carry anything in perpetuity that is good for the students."

However, Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard G N Qazi said he was not sure how the arrangement would work, as Jamia Hamdard mostly taught professional courses.

"We pick up students who want to become professionals at the undergraduate level," he said.

He said unlike Jamia Millia, AMU's core competency in training students for the armed forces was more a result of Shah's army background.

"This kind of core competency can change as per the vice-chancellor's interests," Qazi said.

However, Shah said when he took charge as vice- chancellor, he was surprised to find 600 of the 800 school students of AMU had applied for the National Defence Academy.

(Courtesy: The Indian Express)

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Gujarat's Muslims most backward: Mohammed Fazlurrahim

By Melvyn Reggie Thomas

Surat: "Muslims don't enjoy much social status in Gujarat. At least 50 per cent of Muslim population is backward and live below poverty line (BPL) in the state. Here Muslims are denied pre-matric scholarships which is their right," said Strive for Eminence and Empowerment (SEE) chairman Maulana Mohammed Fazlurrahim Mujaddidi at the first-ever national conference to discuss the '21st century's socio-economic challenges' before the community on Sunday.

Maulana Mujaddidi, a cleric and member of the steering committee of Planning Commission, was addressing a mammoth gathering of Muslims from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium here. He asked community members to become educated and adopt positive thinking so as to catch up with members of other communities in the growth chart.

He said the Central Government has accepted the Sachar Committee's report on social, economical and educational status of Indian Muslims. The 12th Plan has documented the socio-economic backwardness of the community, he added.

Coming down heavily on the Narendra Modi government, Mujaddidi said, "If he (Modi) talks about six crore Gujaratis then why is it that he ignores Muslim community? Every state provides pre-matric scholarships to Muslims, except Gujarat. Implementation of welfare schemes in Gujarat, compared to other states is very poor. If Gujarat has to become a vibrant state, it has to focus on inclusive growth and include Muslims too in its plan. Muslims in Gujarat still dream about 'roti, kapda aur makaan'."

The 12th Plan document envisions one residential school similar to Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in minority concentration blocks of cities and towns. At least 50 per cent student intake in these schools would be that of children belonging to the minority communities, he said.

External affairs minister Salman Khurshid said, "Only education has the power to bring about change in the socio-economic status of the community. Reservation should be given on the basis of backwardness and not religion. People should come here and see what jihad means. It is a jihad for education and for our social status."

(Courtesy: The Times of India)

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Lessons from Karnataka polls

By Syed Amin Jafri

The May 5 elections in Karnataka saw the BJP being comprehensively routed and the Congress storming to power. One of the contributory factors for BJP's loss and the windfall of seats for Congress was the voting behavior of minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians. Having suffered a lot during the five-year BJP rule, these minorities were waiting for the right opportunity to punish the saffron party. However, the Muslims continue to remain under-represented in the new Assembly.

Only 11 Muslims have been elected to the 224-member House this time compared to eight in the previous Assembly. It marks some improvement but there remains a huge gap vis-a-vis the percentage of Muslims in the state's total population. Muslims account for 12.5% of the population and hence, should get no less than 28 seats. Eleven seats mean only 4.9% representation.

Muslims constituted over 15% of the electorate in 65 constituencies which comprises 29% of the 224 seats. Among these 65 constituencies, their population was over 40% in seven constituencies, 30% in 12 segments, 25% in six segments, 20% in 10 segments and over 15% in 30 constituencies. Incidentally, it is in these 65 constituencies that the BJP suffered major reverses.

In 2008, the BJP had bagged 34 out of these 65 seats but its tally dropped to 13 this time. The Congress, meanwhile, secured 35 seats, a gain of 12 seats. Janata Dal (Secular) improved its tally to nine from eight while the KJP, BSR Congress, KMP and SP shared the remaining eight seats. However, Muslim candidates won only 10 of these 65 seats compared to eight in 2008.

The Congress swept across all major regions of Karnataka and gained a significant chunk of Muslim and Christian votes. In its strongholds, the JD(S) too got Muslim votes but the success rate of its Muslim candidates was far lower than that of the Congress. Both the parties had fielded 18 Muslim candidates each but nine were elected from Congress and two from JD(S). Muslim candidates from KJP and BSRCP drew a blank. In all, a dozen Muslim contestants were runners-up in their constituencies.

The Muslim electors across Karnataka voted tactically this time, unlike in 2008 when the sharp division in votes between Congress and JD(S) had helped BJP gain a simple majority. However, in a few Muslim-dominated constituencies like Bidar, Raichur and Hebbal, the friendly fights among Muslim candidates of major parties resulted in the victory of non-Muslim nominees.

Ironically, two minority parties — Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Welfare Party of India (WPI) — fared very badly, indicating that the Muslim voters cold-shouldered them as they did not offer a viable alternative like the mainstream secular parties, Congress and JD(S).

The SDPI had fielded 24 candidates in alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Except in one constituency - Narasimharaja — where it stood second, the party lost its security deposit in the remaining segments. Overall, the SDPI polled 1 lakh votes.

WPI had contested a dozen seats but it could get only 10,000 votes. All its candidates lost their deposit. Incidentally, both these parties had concentrated on minority-dominated constituencies. But they could not offer credible alternative or formidable candidates to inspire voters.

With non-Muslim candidates winning from 55 Muslim-dominated constituencies, it shows that a majority of Muslim voters support secular parties and candidates. Hence, one of lessons from Karnataka is that the minorities would vote decisively and tactically in favour of secular alternatives and against saffron outfits if they are pushed to the wall. Secondly, though the minorities vote for non-minority candidates, the mainstream parties should ensure that they are adequately represented in the Assembly by giving tickets to more Muslim and Christian candidates.

[The writer is a member of legislative council and a journalist]

(Courtesy: The Times of India)

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