By Tariq A. Al-Maeena


May 15, 1948 is the day acknowledged by many as the beginning of the illegal displacement of the Palestinians from their land by the invading European Jewish refugees.  It is their “day of infamy.”  It has become widely known as Al-Nakba Day or the “Day of the Catastrophe” which falls on the day after the creation of the state of Israel.  The date has grown in significance and is now annually commemorated the world over by those who support justice for the exploited and oppressed.


So it was no surprise that freedom lovers in Mumbai, India were planning a day of support on Al-Nakba Day.  What was surprising instead was that police raided the premises of some of the organizers and confiscated the banners highlighting the plight of the Palestinians.  In a story carried by countercurrents.org, the actions of the Mumbai police were called into question, for they did not simply stop at taking away the banners.


Instead they took the members of the staff who were preparing for the protest to the police station for further questioning.  It was only after pressure from high sources that the truth finally filtered out.  According to some of the police, who chose to remain anonymous, the raid was carried out at the behest and instructions of the Israeli consulate in Mumbai.  Fearing bad publicity, the Israelis must have found sympathetic ears in the Maharashtra government.
Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra, is also the home base of the extreme right-wing organization Shiv Sena, which is known for promoting ethnic violence against minorities including Muslims.  It is no secret that their fundamental belief is that India is only for Hindus and no one else.  One would be blind not to notice a parallel between the ideologies of Shiv Sena and the Israelis.


According to countercurrents.org, there has been a backlash against the underhanded and unjustified actions of the Mumbai police in raiding the premises of the organizers of Al-Nakba Day.  There are charges that the local police are now acting as agents of a foreign consulate against Indian citizens on Indian soil, indeed a matter of great concern.


There was clearly an infringement of sovereign and democratic rights and those protesting stated, “We thus lodge our protest and condemn the action of the police as strongly as possible. The banners were not put up in any public space without the due permission of the municipal authorities, as is the norm. The banners were strung outside the balcony on the first floor of the said private premises.   Moreover the banners had the following messages in the context of the May 15th protests that are held globally:


i) Boycott Israel - Save India!
ii) Free Palestine & Right of Return of the Refugees
iii) May 15th - Nakba Protests!”


The group goes on to demand that action be taken against “the Israeli consulate, wherein they are clearly told to operate within the limits of a foreign entity as a consulate and not step beyond the boundaries and the laws of our country. They need to be told that they are not the new viceroys of India, where they can directly call up the local police station and have them raid and arrest patriotic citizens.”

Tariq A. Al-Maeena

In strongly condemning the actions of the police and the role played by the Israeli consulate, they demand, “All the police stations in our city of Mumbai, across Maharashtra and India, need to be warned that they should not be acting against Indian citizens at a telephone call from either the Israelis, the Americans or any other foreign power.  We will not betray the sacrifices and the memories of our founding fathers and the thousands who laid down their lives for a free India.”


They also warned that, “the next time our sovereign democratic rights as Indian citizens are again infringed upon, the people of this city will lay siege to the police station.” Spoken like true nationalists in a country whose democracy and secularism is coming under extreme pressure.  India is on the threshold.


[The author can be reached at talmaeena@aol.com]


(Courtesy: Saudi Gazette)

By Manzar Imam


New Delhi: Prof. Akhtarul Wasey, Head of the Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, has been re-appointed Vice Chairman of Delhi Urdu Academy. However, the term for the Governing Council of the Academy will be one year as Delhi will go for Assembly elections in 2013.


This is the first time that we have six Urdu mediapersons in the governing body, says Prof. Wasey. The six Urdu mediapersons who have been appointed in the Academy include Masoom Moradabadi (Litterateur and journalist), Manorma Dewan (Chief Editor, Asia News Service), Asad Raza (Head, Urdu publications, Sahara Media), Shakil Hasan Shamsi (Inquilab dialy), Hasan Shuja (Sahafat daily) and Khalid Anwar (Hamara Samaj).


Apart from the Chairperson, Vice Chairman and the mediapersons, 20 eminent persons from different spheres arts and sciences in Delhi have been appointed as members.

Prof. Akhtarul Wasey

The governing council was reconstituted by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who is also the Chairperson of the Academy. 


The complete list of members is as follows: Delhi Chief Minister (Chairperson); Prof. Akhtarul Wasey (Vice Chairman); Principal Secretary, Treasury, Government of Delhi (Member on account of post); Secretary of the Department of Art, Culture and Languages, Government of Delhi (Member due to post); Prof. Abdul Haq (Prof. Emeritus, University of Delhi); Dr. Dharmendra Nath (Writer and litterateur); Dr. G. R. Kanwal (Former Principal); Prof. Moinuddin Jinabade (Jawaharlal Nehru University); Prof. Ibne Kanwal (University of Delhi); Prof. Khalid Mahmood (Jamia Millia Islamia); Prof. Tauqir Ahmad Khan (University of Delhi); Prof. Shehpar Rasool (Jamia Millia Islamia); Dr. Khwaja Ekramuddin (National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language); Dr. Iffat Zarrin (Delhi University); Dr. Shabana Nazir (Principal, Government School); Dr. Aquil Ahmad (Ghalib Academy); Haji Miyan Faiyazuddin (Social & cultural activist); Mufti Ataur Rahman Qasmi (Madrasa Aminia); Shahid Ali Khan (Idara Nai Kitab); Anjum Usmani (DD Urdu); Marghoob Haider Abidi ( Former secretary, Delhi Urdu Academy); K. K. Kohli (Music, film and culture); Masoom Moradabadi (Litterateur and journalist); Manorma Dewan (Chief editor, Asia News Service); Asad Raza (Head, Urdu publications, Sahara Media); Shakil Hasan Shamsi (Inquilab daily); Hasan Shuja (Sahafat daily) and Khalid Anwar (Hamara Samaj). Asad Raza, Shakil Shamsi, Hasan Shuja and Khalid Anwar have been included as Special Invitees. Women have also been given fair representation, the Vice Chairman said. Anis Azmi would be member secretary of the Council.


[Manzar Imam, a Delhi-based Journalist, is Special Correspondent of IndianMuslimObserver.com. He can be reached at manzarkhalil@gmail.com]

By Syed Ali Mujtaba


After Sachin Tendulkar 100 hundred, the next 100 that is being talked about is the prices of petrol as to when it will touch the three digit figure.


The race for this is on and the confirmation came on midnight 24th May, when the central government announced the hike of petrol prices to unbelievable Rs 7.54 per litter.
Petrol prices have risen from Rs 42 to Rs 76.35 in last three years.  The UPA government if goes by similar pace, in the next two years when it completes its term (2014), the price of petrol would certainly touch the century mark. 


Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy, justifying the price hike said, "India is facing the twin crisis of rupee devaluation against US dollar and a substantial increase in the international prices of crude oil. This is a global problem beyond anybody's control. There is no instant solution to the problem."


Reddy added, "Petrol is deregulated... but during certain periods, oil marketing companies were not able to raise prices of petrol, because of which they have lost massively.. Our oil companies are bleeding. Rs 2200 crore was lost only on petrol in the year 2010-11. Rs 4800 crore was lost in 2011-12 and in the last two months, a loss of Rs 2330 crore was made. This amount has not been compensated."


Government had deregulated the fuel in June, 2010 and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the decision to increase the prices was taken by oil marketing companies.


CPI (M) politburo member, Sita Ram Yechury disagrees. “The petrol price increase is unwarranted because the international price of crude has fallen. They have fallen more than the fall in the value of the Indian rupee. Hence, there is no justification saying that our imports have become expensive and prices are to be hiked,” he said, and added that the government is serving the interest of oil companies at the cost of the common man.


Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa slammed the government on the steep hike in petrol price saying. “It could have been avoided by reducing the profit of the government as well as private run oil companies, reducing the tax on petrol and checking the falling rupee value.”
BJP dubbed the hike as "unreasonable." "If the Rupee is depreciated, it is not the fault of the people. It is due to wrong economic policies followed by UPA government," Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.


Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray was more boisterous. “In the last three years prices have been increased 16 times,” he claimed liquor in India is now cheaper than petrol.


UPA allies were also unhappy with the petrol price hike. “It is unjust and unilateral. We cannot accept the price hike burden on the people," said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.


Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav asked the Centre to check inflation and roll back petrol price hike.  The DMK, urged the central government to at least partially roll back the petrol price.  “The hike has imposed an additional burden on the people,” it said.


The government is unrelenting and has refused to immediately rollback the petrol price. Ruling out any rollback, Oil minister Jaipal Reddy has assured that the government will take measures to soothe impact of hike in petrol price.


Reddy indicated that there could be a reduction in petrol prices in near future seeing downward trend in international crude oil prices and hoped that center and states would reduce taxes on it. Most of the states have 20% local levies on petrol and that can be reduced, he said.


As the petrol prices canters towards Rs 100 mark, the common man is feeling its impact on daily life. Its cascading effect is telling on the markets, services and other sectors.


The prices of essential commodities have gone up, so are transport fares. There is a general resentment among the people.  How this anger would translate, is something that needs to be seen. 


 It is likely that in near future the petrol prices may be reduced by Rs 1. This projection is based on persistence of the downward trend of the international crude oil prices in the Singapore bulk market.


The government may take credit for this and placate its allies who are demanding the roll back. However, in reality, it is helpless to control such mayhem erupting every now and then.


[Syed Ali Mujtaba  is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com]

Produce Fasih Mahmood before an Indian Court, NOW !


IMO News Service


New Delhi: It has been over two weeks that Fasih Mahmood was practically disappeared from his residence in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, where he worked as an engineer. On 13th May, Sunday, Mahmood was taken away by a group of Indian and Arab men, all in civil dress, and their house searched, while his wife, Nikhat Perveen, was held in a room by an Arab woman.


While his wife and family have received no official communication from the Indian government, speculation has been rife in the press that Mahmood has been arrested—a wholly wrong usage, as it can only be termed illegal detention—for being financier to the alleged terror plots of the shadowy organistaion, Indian Mujahideen. While pleas of Nikhat seeking the details of her husband’s whereabouts are falling on deaf ears, unnamed ‘sources’ are zealously leaking allegations against Mahmood to the press. So far, MHA, MEA and NHRC have all obstinately stonewalled Nikhat entreaties, feigning ignorance. The Home Secretary has refused to give any assurance to Nikhat that her husband would be produced; indeed, he claimed to have no information on him.


Fasih Mahmood’s illegal detention in an undisclosed location, possibly on foreign land, is in gross violation of all established legal procedures.


We, the undersigned, demand that Fasih Mahmood must be immediately produced in an Indian court, and that the Indian government officially own up to this illegal ‘arrest’. Fasih Mahmood must be given immediate access to his family and lawyers.
 
Sd/


Ajit Sahi, Jyoti Punwani, Shabnam Hashmi, Prof. Anuradha Chenoy, Colin Gonsalves, Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Neshat Quaiser, Prof. J.S.Bandukwala, Subhas Gatade, Lateef Mohammad Khan, Himanshu Kumar, SQR Ilyas, Ravi Hemadri, Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, Mayur Suresh, Bilal Kagzi, Trideep Pais Jawahar Raja, Hilal Ahmed, Kahsif ul Huda, Mukul Dube, Khadeeja Arif, Prashant Keshavmurty, Abu Zafar, Musab Iqbal, Vinay Bhat, Gauhar Iqbal, Jawed Alam Khan, Mushtaq ul Haq, Ahmad Sikander, Imran Ali, Waliullah Laskar , Mansi Sharma, Mahtab Alam, Manisha Sethi, Ahmed Sohaib, Adeel Mehdi and Sanghamitra Misra.


[Released by JTSA, 28th May 2012]

By Pervez Bari


Bhopal: Five Muslim officials were among the 68 officers and employees of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled Madhya Pradesh Government who were bestowed with citations for essaying excellent role in organising two prestigious state-level government programmes.
The felicitation function was held at Mantralaya’s conference hall here on Monday. Minister of State for General Administration Kanhaiyalal Agrawal gave away citations to the officers and employees including Secretary & Commissioner Public Relations Rakesh Shrivastava and Narmadapuram divisional commissioner Arun Tiwari.


The five Muslim officials who were honoured on the occasion amongst the 68 officers and employees included Saleem Khan, Shabbir Khan, Hussain Ali, H. R. Khan and Anwar Ahmad.
Speaking on the occasion the Minister of State Mr. Agrawal said that works carried out with dedicated efforts and positive frame of mind are bound to meet with success. Mr. Agrawal congratulated officers and employees for playing significant role in the government’s prestigious programmes. Principal Secretary General Administration D.K. Samantray also addressed the function.


These 68 officers and employees have been honoured for playing positive and dedicated role in collectors-commissioners’ conference at the state capital on August 6 and 7, 2011 and the Railway Minister’s joint meeting with the Chief Minister and Members of Parliament on November 17, 2011. These officers and employees had carried out their duties skilfully and with dedication under the guidance of Principal Secretary Mrs. Vijaya Shrivastava. Deputy Secretary General Administration B.R. Vishwakarma conducted the proceedings.


The honoured officers and employees include Mrs. Vijaya Shrivastava, Principal Secretary- General Administration; Arun Tiwari, Secretary General - Administration; Rakesh Shrivastava, Secretary - Public Relations; Rajesh Kaul, Deputy Secretary; B.R. Vishwakarma, Deputy Secretary; Rajesh Ogre, P.K. Siddharth and N.P. Namdev - all Under Secretaries; Sanjay Kumar Mishra, State Protocol Officer; Sanjay Chauhan, Protocol Officer; Hemant Vayangankar, Deputy General Manager Madhyam; Rakesh Jain, SDO NVDA; Ashok Sharma, SDO CPA Mantralaya; Manoj Yadav, Sub Engineer Saleem Khan and M.S. Bhadoria (Chief Security Officer); ASI Mehtab Singh; Sunil Mandavi, Shabbir Khan and Mrs. Nirmala Rawat (all section officers); Rajesh Yadav, Vasudev Magrani, Kailash Chandra Dubke and Rajendra Malviya (all personal secretaries); Hemant Jhorkar, Personal Assistant; Arvind Shrivastava, Assistant Programmer; Mahesh Joshi, Assistant Programmer; Rajkumari Udasi, Personal Secretary; Chakradhar Shrivastva, Anil Tiwari, Personal Assistant; Hussain Ali, Mrs. Seema Kumbhare, S. K. Gawde, R. K. Tiwari, Ashok Purkam, Gawar Singh (all assistants Grade-1); Manoj Chaurasia, Trilochan Sharma, Parasram Rejre (all assistants Grade-2);  B.L. Ahirwar, H. R. Khan, Sunil Parikh, Raghuveer Vishwakarma, Gawar Singh, Sunil Upadhyay, Madanlal Kushwah, Hiralal Raikwar, Omprakash Vishwakarma, Chatur Narayan Vishwakarma, Anwar Ahmad, Sharad Shrivastava, Vinod Kumar Yadav, Hitesh Vaidya, B. P. Agrawal, Manoj Chauhan, Ashok Singh and Shiv Kumar (all assistants Grade-3).


Meanwhile, in the peon’s category, citations were given away to Pradeep Batham, Anju Batham, Santosh Kanojia, Baban Kumar, Sewaram, Ashish Kanojia, Umrao Singh, Sanjay Patil, Balram Pathak, Mrs. Jyotsna Verma, Suresh Gole and Mr. Sakaldeep.


[Pervez Bari is a senior Journalist based at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He is associated with IndianMuslimObserver.com as Bureau Chief (Madhya Pradesh). He can be contacted at pervezbari@eth.net]

By Gautam Chintamani


Irrespective of good or bad, we deserve the lives we live and similarly, we deserve our films too. Our times inspire our cinema and it is meant to depict the joys or trouble we endure. However, such is the power of the flickering image that for decades now, some things have become much more than imaginary. Bollywood is guilty of many myths. In its world, where a darkened room and three hours is all it takes to make the impossible come true, many myths have become half-truths. Many of them, like bulletproof vests being magical force-fields that can repel just about anything, are ridiculous but some are dangerous enough and have altered the way we look at things.


Considering the wholesome entertainment aspect of Hindi films, the lines dividing genres often blur but some escape this demarcation. If there were ever one genre that never lost its identity over the decades, it would have to be the ‘Muslim social.’ Bollywood’s Muslim socials started with Mehboob’s Najma (1943), a film that unknowingly ended up causing more harm than help to the very genre that it would create. The film laid great stress on the aspect of development, modern thought and education amongst the Muslim community but its celebration of Muslim etiquette and culture is what ended up filtering through. Close on Najma’s heels many films like Barsaat Ki Raat (1960), Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), Mere Mehboob (1963) and Bahu Begum (1967) enjoyed great success. There was always an element of a hidden social message in these films, but the greater the success this genre enjoyed, the further it went from the truth. The imagery would be filled with brilliant palaces; birds fluttering around the fountains in opulent gardens; the air would be filled with ittar and there would be poetry flowing from every possible outlet; the men would be only be seen in sherwanis enjoying only a sher more than a paan; the women would adorn burqas or costumes heavier than gold and there was nothing to be unhappy about. The films went on celebrate the whole nawabi culture along with the ghazals, qawwalis and sher-o-shayari to such an extent that it seemed the world depicted by these films wasn’t real.


Additionally, what worked against the Muslim socials and forced these films to exist in a parallel universe were the nuances. Regardless of the era these films depicted, everyone only said ‘Subhan Allah’ or ‘Masha’Allah’ and added a ‘Miyan’ to every sentence. If the 1950s and 1960s saw the genre showcase only the elite or upper class Muslim families, the 1970s paved the path for the so called ‘New-age Muslim socials’ with films like Dastak (1970) and Garam Hawa (1973). After reaching it’s zenith in Kamaal Amrohi’s Pakeezah (1972), the genre now moved out of the havelis and into the real world where Muslims were more than just well-dressed people who spoke beautifully. Dastak showed Hamid and Salma, a young couple, coming to terms with the daily trauma of knocks on their door that sought the previous occupant – a famous mujrewali and Garam Hawa explored the dilemma of the Mirza divided between continuing to stay back or moving to Pakistan post the partition. Films like Bazaar (1982), about the plight of young Muslim girls sold off by hard-pressed parents and Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989), about the aimlessness of lower-class urban Muslim youth would continue to carry on the genre but harm done by an entire generation of films before them couldn’t be undone. The nuances of yore had now transformed into stereotypes. B.R. Chopra’s Nikah (1982), replete with the lilting songs and charming moments, might have momentarily revived the genre but it gave a notion that most Muslim men just looked forward to saying Talak, Talak, Talak and carrying on with life.


Many a times perceptions are a result of convenience and the two together are extremely essential to fuel artistic liberty. A momentary relief from the trials of life is reason enough for an artist to destroy myths or create new ones. Javed Akhtar once famously noted that ‘the idea of Jehangir falling in love with her (Anarkali) and creating a rift between father and son is a story that was created by an Urdu playwright called Imtiaz Ali Taj.’ The writer creation isn’t a myth as big as the one that became a greater truth. Akbar couldn’t converse in Persian, which was the lingua franca during his time, but there is no way that a film like Mughal-e-Azam (1960) would have Akbar speak unlike the emperor he was. More importantly Urdu wasn’t developed at that time and Akbar having grown up in Northern India could very well be conversing in Haryanvi or Bhojpuri but to see Prithviraj Kapoor with that dialect would be unimaginable. If the world of Bollywood were to be believed, unless a Muslim speaks like a shayar there is no reason to make him a Muslim (Arbaaz Khan in Shootout at Lokhandwala); every South Indian must eat messily with their hands and for authenticity they must include curd in every thing (Shahrukh Khan in Ra.One), every Sardar must be over-the-top (Sunny Deol in half a dozen films), every Pathan must say ‘wallah‘ the moment they open their mouth, every Parsi must be dim enough for the entire three minutes of their screen time. Here, at least Bollywood is able to maintain consistency.


(Courtesy: Dawn, Pakistan)

By Omar Karmi


Dearborn, Michigan: Headphones clamped over her ears, Laila Alhusinni turns to the microphone, a picture of concentration. Her voice, normally urgent and insistent, suddenly turns to honey.


Topic Syria unrest Syria United States


"Good morning, Michigan … Sabah el khair, Michigan."


Thus begin weekday mornings on Detroit's WNZK radio station - motto: 'The Station of the Nations', where the five-year old current affairs talk show is an institution, attracting a large Arabic-speaking community.


It has earned its host, the 41-year-old Syrian, local recognition both within Michigan's Arab community and outside. In 2011, the Wayne County chapter of the Young Women's Christian Association, the YWCA, recognised her as one of eight local "Women of Achievement".
"It's not bad," she said, for a Muslim woman dressed in a headscarf who arrived in the US just a decade earlier.


"I think a lot of people are puzzled by me because I don't fit with their idea of how Muslim women are."


Ms Alhusinni has a restless energy, grabbing bites of food between conversation and the phone calls that never stop. She's had to work hard. Divorced shortly after coming to America in 2001, she raised two children. Both Areej, 22, and Majed, 19, are now attending university.
And her talk show is just the beginning.


On Fridays she co-costs a show called Radio Baladi with Ray Hanania, a Chicago-based journalist, in both English and Arabic. She has also opened the Michigan chapter of the National American Arab Journalist Association (NAAJA), which promotes and supports Arab Americans in the US media.


Greater participation of Arabs in the US media is a subject dear to her heart.


"Arabs and Muslims have been in America for almost two centuries. Yet we are still far behind in establishing a strong presence in the news media," Ms Alhusinni said in an interview during lunch and between phone calls in a downtown Dearborn eatery last week.


"Until Arabs and Muslims engage in the media as a profession, we cannot expect that our voices will be heard, even with the advent of the internet; what many in the Middle East and Islamic world refer to as the great communications equaliser."


Yet it is an uphill struggle, not only to penetrate the mainstream US media, but also to convince the Arab community here of the importance of doing so, she said.


It speaks to a wider problem of community involvement, said Imad Hamad, director of the Michigan branch of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). The local Arab community responded after September 11, when Arab American institutions came into their own, he said. But political mobilisation, even in a town such as Dearborn, home the global headquarters of Ford, where 40 per cent of the town's 100,000 residents is of Arab origin, proves difficult."


"We should have a real role in the [Dearborn] municipality. But we don't. The make-up of the municipality does not reflect the proportion of Arabs in the community. We don't see 40 per cent. We don't even see 10."


He describes it as the Dearborn Syndrome: "When it rains in the Middle East, people in Dearborn open their umbrellas". The community in Dearborn is divided into national and religious groups: Lebanese, Palestinian, Egyptian, Iraqi, as well as Muslim - and more recently, Sunni and Shiite - and Christian, preventing a cogent identity from forming.


For example, said Ms Alhusinni, there were protests in support of the uprisings against North African leaders Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Qaddafi last year. But the mainly Levantine community has been far less vociferous over the crisis in Syria. In some quarters of the city, the Syrian regime is perceived as the only pro-Palestinian one in the Middle Eastern region. In other quarters, there are fears over the consequences for minorities and Lebanon under the alternatives to Syria's ruler Bashar Al Assad.


Ms Alhusinni is reluctant to say much about Syria where she still has family. The daughter of a former Syrian Supreme Court judge and from a Sunni Muslim background, she will only say that she fears for her country and that she hopes the fighting will soon stop.


The heavy interest in regional news is reflected in her show, however, where it struggles for prominence with her desire to orient listeners more to local affairs.


The news last Wednesday was dominated by Syria and Lebanon, but moved on to a discussion with a Washington DC-based journalist on the US presidential elections and the role of Arab Americans. It was rounded out by health care advice from a local dietician, and a discussion with a personal injury lawyer about new federal health care reforms.


Ms Alhusinni gave the last 10 minutes of the show over to a phone-in competition. The response caused the two phone lines of a studio outfitted with 1970s-era equipment to ring off the hook.


The question: Which dictator burnt his own city? Almost every caller knew the answer, the Roman emperor Nero, but few could resist a side comment.


"Was it Saddam Hussein?," quipped one. "Qaddafi?", suggested another.


(Courtesy: The National, UAE)

By Nicole Perlroth


New York: A complex computer virus has been pilfering confidential information from computers in the Middle East for at least two years, according to a security report released Monday.


The virus, called Flame, has been infecting computers in Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.


It has been grabbing images of users’ computer screens, recording their instant messaging chats, remotely turning on their microphones to record their audio conversations, and monitoring their keystrokes and network traffic, according to a report by Kaspersky Labs, a Moscow-based security research firm.


If the report’s findings prove to be true, Flame would be the third major Internet weapon to have been discovered since 2010.


The first, named Stuxnet, was intended to attack software in specialized industrial equipment and was ultimately used to destroy centrifuges in an Iranian nuclear facility in 2010. The second virus, called Duqu, like Flame, performed reconnaissance. Security researchers believe Duqu was created by the same group of programmers behind Stuxnet.


The researchers said Flame appeared to have been developed by a different group of programmers. It contains 20 times more code than Stuxnet and is much more widespread than Duqu.


Researchers believe Duqu hit fewer than 50 targets worldwide. Kaspersky’s researchers said they had detected Flame on thousands of computers belonging to individuals, private companies, and universities across the Middle East.


‘‘Flame can easily be described as one of the most complex threats ever discovered,’’ Alexander Gostev, head of Kaspersky’s global research and analysis team, wrote in a blog post Monday. ‘‘It’s big and incredibly sophisticated. It pretty much redefines the notion of cyberwar and cyberespionage.’’


Researchers say they do not know who is behind the virus, but given its complexity and the geography of its targets, they said it was most likely being staged by a government. The targets of Stuxnet and Duqu suggest to some researchers that they may have been part of a joint US-Israeli project to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program.


Kaspersky’s researchers said the majority of computers infected with Flame were in Iran. Like Duqu and Stuxnet, Flame infects machines through a known security hole in the Windows operating software.


(Courtesy: The Boston Globe)

By Soeren Kern


Leicester, one of the most rapidly Islamizing cities in England, has elected its first-ever Muslim mayor.


Abdul Razak Osman, an Indian-origin Muslim who was born in Kenya and who immigrated to Britain in 1971, was sworn into office during an elaborate investiture ceremony at the Leicester City Hall on May 18.


Osman’s election reflects the growing influence of Muslims on local politics in Leicester. At his swearing-in ceremony, Osman declared: “I’m proud to be the first Muslim councillor to hold the position. We’ve had Christian, Hindu, and Sikh and now I’m able to bring the Islamic faith to the office, which is a great honor.”


Leicester, an industrial city some 70 minutes north of London, is often promoted as Britain’s quintessential multicultural success story. Immigrants currently make up nearly one-half the city’s total population of 280,000, and Leicester is on the fast-track to become the first non-white majority city in British history. Many of the immigrants are of South Asian origin; and Leicester — once known as a center for manufacturing shoes and textiles — is now known for its many Hindu, Sikh and Muslim places of worship.


But a sharp rise in Muslim immigration in recent years is upsetting the city’s ethnic balance, and is casting doubt upon the city’s multicultural future.


After Christians and Hindus, Muslims are the third-largest faith group in Leicester. The city’s Muslim population is estimated to be between 11% and 14% (or somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 Muslims), which is well above the percentage (4.6) of Muslims in Britain as a whole.


The Muslim population in Leicester is made up mainly of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, as well as Turks, Somalis, Kenyans, and Ugandans. According to the Ummah Forum, “you’d really like Leicester if you want to be around a large population of Muslims.”
Muslim immigration has led to the proliferation of mosques in Leicester, which now has more than 200 mosques and madrassas [Islamic religious schools] and hundreds of informal Islamic prayer rooms located in basements, garages and warehouses.


Leicester is also home to several mega-mosques. The Leicester Central Mosque complex has a capacity for nearly 3,000 worshippers. It also has a school, a community hall, a residence hall for imams, a mortuary, and a guest house. The huge Masjid Umar mosque has four towering minarets and a grand dome that displays Arabic calligraphy from the Koran.


The most influential Muslim in Leicester is Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh-Ul-Haq, a hardline Muslim cleric who runs the Al Kawthar Academy, a well-known Islamic school in the city. Ul-Haq, 41, is also the leader of a new generation of “home-grown” British Islamists who loathe Western values, support armed Jihad and preach contempt for Christians, Jews and Hindus.


Ul-Haq, who preaches in mosques across Britain, outlaws television and music, and says football is “a cancer that has infected our youth.” He is appalled by young women who want to get educated and go to university. He regularly praises the work of the Taliban and their attacks against British troops in Afghanistan.


In a typical sermon, entitled “Imitating the Disbelievers,” Ul-Haq warns British Muslims of the danger of being corrupted by the “evil influence” of Western culture. He also heaps scorn on Muslims who say they are “proud to be British,” and argues that friendship with a Christian or a Jew makes “a mockery of Allah’s religion.”


In another sermon called “Jewish Fundamentalism,” Ul-Haq says: “They’re all the same. The Jews don’t have to be in Israel to be like this. It doesn’t matter whether they’re in New York, Houston, St Louis, London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester. They’re all the same. They’ve monopolized everything: the Holocaust, God, money, interest, usury, the world economy, the media, political institutions […] they monopolized tyranny and oppression as well. And injustice.”


Ul-Haq’s sermons are broadcast to thousands of listeners on Radio Ramadhan Leicester in Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Somali, Arabic, and English.


According to American diplomatic cables that were obtained and published by the website Wikileaks, Leicester is home to the most conservative Islamic population anywhere in Europe.
A leaked diplomatic cable recounts the October 2007 visit to Leicester by Farah Pandith, the U.S. State Department’s Senior Advisor for Muslim Engagement. The stated purpose of the visit was for the U.S. government to find ways to help Britain “update and improve” its approach to stopping “home-grown” Islamic extremists. The document says Pandith found the lack of integration of the Muslim community in Leicester to be “striking.”


Among other observations, the cable states that Pandith was shocked to find “girls as young as four years old were completely covered.” The document continues: “At a local book store, texts… seemed designed to segregate Muslims from their wider community, urging women to cover themselves and remain in their homes, playing up the differences between Islam and other religions, seeking to isolate Muslims from community, and feeding hate of Jews to the young.”


The cable also recounts a discussion Pandith had with religious and community leaders at an Ahmadiyya (an Asian Islamic sect) mosque: “Yaqub Khan, General Secretary of a local organization called the Pakistan Association, insisted that he had to teach young people in Urdu. When Pandith challenged him as to why he would use Urdu with children who were growing up with English as their first language, Khan insisted that there were no good books on the Koran in English.”


Leicester is also notorious for having the fourth-highest rate of unemployment in Britain. Moreover, the city has very high rates of illiteracy, and ranks as one of the worst five municipalities in England for education.


A recent survey, entitled “Muslims in Leicester,” says that Muslims in the city are especially prone to underachievement and unemployment. The report says the inner city Spinney Hills neighborhood, which has the highest percentage of Muslims in Leicester, is also the ward with the lowest rate of full-time employment, the highest rate of unemployment, the highest level of economic inactivity, the highest percentage of “no qualifications” for work and the highest level of social housing.


Muslims are now demanding political power within the Leicester city council, as well as the freedom to wear their religious dress at work and to have halal food in the city hospitals. They are also seeking their own faith-based schools.


One such school, the Leicester Islamic Academy – where female students wear the full-length dress and head-covering and the boys wear black robes and skullcaps — has been accused by the British government of promoting Islamic separatism. Another state-run Islamic school in Leicester, the Madani High School, has run afoul of government regulators for reneging on its promise that 10% of its pupils would be non-Muslim.


The British government has tried — unsuccessfully — to reverse the tide of Islamic separatism in Leicester. In June 2008, for example, the city hosted the first in a series of road shows designed to tackle the problem of honor-based violence. Leicester has been plagued by forced marriages, kidnappings, physical and mental abuse of women, and other honor-based crimes against those who have not, according to family and local community members, conformed to religious or cultural expectations.


Trevor Phillips, the former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, has warned that Britain is “sleepwalking to segregation.” In a speech in Manchester, he said: “Segregation is now so extreme in some schools that there is not much farther it can go. It does not help to prepare children in these schools for the real world.” Phillips also described cities like Leicester as “literal black holes into which nobody goes without fear and trepidation and from which nobody ever escapes undamaged.”


Alluding to the transformation of cities like Leicester, Michael Nazir-Ali, a former bishop of the Church of England, has lamented that Islamic extremists have turned parts of Britain into no-go areas for non-Muslims. Lashing out at the spread of religious separatism and the damage caused by the doctrine of multiculturalism, Nazir-Ali has also warned against the acceptance of Islamic Sharia law in Britain, and has criticized amplified calls to prayer from mosques, which he says are imposing an Islamic character on many British towns and cities.


Leicester’s motto is Semper Eadem: “Always the Same.” But Osman’s promotion to city mayor implies that life in Leicester is fast changing.


(Courtesy: TheJewishPress.com)

Bathroom Ritual Alarmed Air Crew in 'Nothing Deal'


Orlando: The director of Orlando Sanford International Airport said Thursday that a cultural misunderstanding over a bathroom ritual led to a group of Muslims being escorted off an airplane and questioned by the FBI.


An Allegiant Air dispatcher had requested that law officers meet the flight from Allentown, Pa., at the gate "in reference to Middle Eastern passengers," a police report shows.


Half a dozen people, including at least two women wearing head scarves, were removed from flight No. 625, which landed about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, a witness said. Friends on Thursday said the group actually is of Indian descent.


Larry A. Dale, who also is commander of the airport's 11-member police force, said an FBI agent interviewed three men who aroused suspicion by taking a long time in the lavatory and asking for a cup.


It turned out to be "just a nothing deal," Dale said. "Just our not knowing the customs."


Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, said devout Muslims customarily clean their private parts with water after using the restroom. The procedure is known as istinja.


"They (the airplane crew) didn't understand it, probably," Musri said. "If you didn't know the reason, you'd say, 'Why do you need the cup? Why are you taking it with you into the bathroom?'"


It isn't known whether the crew asked the travelers why they were lingering in the bathroom. An Allegiant Air spokesman could not be reached Thursday.


The group was bound for a volleyball and badminton tournament scheduled for this weekend at Lake Brantley High School, members told police. The Muslim-community event, sponsored by Union Sports Club of Orlando, is expected to draw 1,000 people, said Ali Bhojani, an organizer.


"I'm glad they didn't have to divert the plane to another airport," Musri said. "Sometimes we overreact."


(Courtesy: Arizona Daily Star)

A Muslim  lady 's  ordeal in Modi's Gujarat


By Abdul Hafiz Lakhani


In  Gujarat, Muslims are still a discriminated lot even after 10 years after Godhra riots.This notion has again been proved by over zealous security check up at  Gandhinagar recently.
Muslims in Gujarat never tire of airing their resentment about the routine checking but the way investigating agencies are behaving the moment they see a person with a beard and a skull cap. This really hurts Muslims. This time a Muslim lady was victim  of being a Muslim.


She may not be a high-profile celebrity or a VVIP whose detention or frisking at an international airport would make headlines. But 40-year-old Zahira Ghoghari’s ordeal is no different, if not worse. She claims she was frisked and subjected to humiliation by security guards at Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar because she was a Muslim.


Zahira has now written to Chief Minister Narendra Modi seeking an assurance from him that the issue will be dealt with sternly and her dignity upheld.


On May 17, 2012 she along with three children and a friend visited the temple complex around 12.30 pm. While her friend Nilofer and children were let in by security personnel at the entrance after a routine check, the 40-year-old did not gain an easy entry.


Called A ‘Suspect’


“Since I had covered my head with a dupatta, one of the woman guards looked at me suspiciously and asked me my name. When I told her my name was Zahira Ghogari and I was a Muslim, the attitude of the guards towards me changed. They grilled me for 20 minutes, asking me where I stayed and what my family background was. They were very rude. While other women were being let in without being frisked, I was cornered. Later, a woman guard took me to a nearby booth and frisked me. In fact she groped me and touched my private parts. When I resisted, she told me rather rudely that the guards had orders to check every suspect,” said Zahira.


Outraged at being called a ‘suspect’, she went to the security office and saw three guards seated there. When she told them she wanted to lodge a complaint, they were forthcoming initially.


“However, when they came to know that I was a Muslim, they turned hostile and dissuaded me by saying that physical checking was a routine process. When I refused to relent and demanded an explanation for the misconduct, a guard addressed as Mr Pathak by his colleagues told me, ‘Don’t ask us, go and ask Narendra Modi. He will tell you.’” said Zahira.
While she later joined her friend and children who were strolling on the premises, “unable to forget what had happened,” Zahira left the temple premises.


Nobody Ill-treats People at Ajmer Dargah


She says it was out of respect for all religions that she decided to take her loved ones to the temple, but what she went through was unforgettable. “It is out of respect and sadbhavna that people from different religions visit the temple. I know that security is a big concern. Even Ajmer dargah has witnessed a bloody terror attack. There too security is beefed up. But people are not discriminated against on the basis of religion and harassed. Is this how women ought to be treated?” says Zahira.


Zahira had visited Akshardham with her two children, friend Nilofer and her son on May 17, 2012.


Letter To CM


She writes: “Respected sir, I am a law abiding citizen and a proud Gujarati. Sir, my name is Zahira, I am a Muslim and I am not a terrorist. My husband is a builder and enjoys good reputation in the society. I understand it is important that the security personnel remain vigilant at places like Akshardham which has been attacked in the past. But members of a particular community being discriminated against and humiliated in the name of security should not be allowed. After all that I suffered, I am not sure whether I will gather courage to visit that temple again.”


She further adds, “Sir, I have been seeing you on TV and reading about your Sadbhavana mission. The mission had brought in a sense of security and rekindled hope in me and other members of my community, who continue to be  haunted by the painful memories of riots in which they lost their family members.”


“I believe that as long as security guards like Mr Pathak continue to humiliate visitors like me under the pretext of security check, your message of sadbhavana will not have any effect. It will seem like a vain political exercise,” writes Zahira.


Mentioning that she was neither a celebrity nor a VVIP whose frisking or brief questioning at an international airport, in a foreign country would create headlines, she adds, “I am a simple, law-abiding citizen of Gujarat. I want an assurance from you that my Gujarati pride will remain intact and will not be dented by insensitive and rude security personnel like Mr Pathak.’’


Zahira is hopeful she will not only receive a reply from the chief minister, but also get justice.
An official of Akshardham temple said on condition of anonymity, “We are deeply saddened by what has happened. According to Pramukh Swami, religion is propagation of love. We do not believe in discrimination. We are investigating the case to find out who is responsible for the misconduct. Action will be taken against the security personnel who misbehaved with Zahira.”


[Abdul Hafiz Lakhani is a senior Journalist based at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He is associated with IndianMuslimObserver.com as Bureau Chief (Gujarat). He can be reached at lakhani63@yahoo.com or on his cell 09228746770]

IMO News Service


This is no longer a hidden fact that the Indian Muslims are faced with problems on all fronts – be it social, economic or political – and they no longer enjoy their deserving place in the country. There is a long list of issues and problems, their protection is at stake and they are leading a very deplorable life from social and economic point of view. There has been a general realization during past few years that the Sachar Committee and the Ranganath Mishra Commission have encircled the issues and problems plaguing the Muslim society to a large extent but these two reports have become victims of politicization.


What shall be the role of Muslims in their dear country India that is progressing leaps and bounds on daily basis, what shall be their destiny and the approach map to reach it, what shall be the basis of their progress in the light of Muslim and Islamic viewpoint and analysis, and what shall be the parameters of growth and progress in the light of Islamic rules and within the framework of Indian constitution – these are some of the salient features of Dr. Javed Jamil’s paper titled ‘Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Roadmap”.


The approach paper is important because it is the first comprehensive approach paper for trying to analyze the Muslim Perspective of India’s goals of development and developing a national level multi-faceted, holistic strategy for the socio-economic empowerment of Muslims within the parameters of Islam, Indian culture and national interests, The paper not only makes a critical analysis of national policies and presents a Muslim perspectives of the direction in which the growth is taking place in the country, it also critically analyses the problems of the country especially related to economic disparity, erosion of human values, spread of social evils and overriding negative impact of economic forces; and critically analyses the problems Muslims are facing and discusses the various issues involved. It covers almost all range of issues from religious education to modern education, employment, absence of Muslims in corporate sector, problems in medium and small scale industries, issues related to Islamic Finance sector, urban developmental issues, rural issues, health issues, importance of NGO sector, empowerment of women within Islamic framework, social and security issues, issues related to media and many more.


It presents a plan that views Muslims as second largest majority capable of influencing all the policies and programmes being pursued in the country; but at the same time it regards them as “minority” in India from the constitutional point of view which should be given all the rights that are their due in that capacity. Again it emphasizes that as poor and deprived Muslims are part of the majority of the country which remains poor and deprived in almost all walks of life.
The Approach Paper also discusses in detail the ideological perspectives of the issues confronting the country and the community; and argues for a planning that combines ideological and practical approach to achieve the ultimate objects in minimum possible time.


Another point that the paper highlights is that the development of the country cannot be complete unless (1) it involves and benefits all the sections of society in an admirable way; (2) it takes along with it all the communities of the country without anyone of them feeling alienated, discriminated or left out; (3) It covers all the regions and states of the country; (4) It gives an equal emphasis on urban and rural development; and (5) It ensures that the growth and development take place without erosion of the moral values, strong family system, social peace and Indian cultural framework. It presents a plan the Way the Approach paper of the Planning Commission presents covering all the aspects of Muslim life. The paper argues that we should make a plan without compromising the basic principles of comprehensiveness, simultaneity and distribution of work followed by sustained monitoring and reassessment.


A salient feature of the paper is the facts and figures that are collected from several sources and their analysis for arriving at the possible solutions. It argues that the political empowerment of Muslims should occur in a way that not only Muslims get a due share in governance but they play a proactive and meaningful role in all the national and international affairs. It wants Muslims to develop into a dynamic, globally thinking community, aggressive in making efforts on all fronts not only for their own development but also for the establishment of a purer, healthier and more peaceful country as well as the world.


Another important aspect is that Dr. Jamil not only shows mirror to the problems affecting the community but also goes on to give reasonable solutions that are worth implementing. Some of these include:


The Approach Paper gives more emphasis on Solution rather than merely analyzing the problem and suggests more than 160 measures in various fields. It emphasizes coordination between the governmental and community institutions as most of these measures require efforts at both the levels.


The demands from the government include not only demands related to Muslims but also related to the common problems of Indian people. Some of them are:


Dr. Javed Jamil’s paper is being seen with great optimism in certain sections of the society and it remains to be seen up to what extent the Government of India make use of this report. A blueprint or rather a roadmap to the progress of Muslims in the country has already been prepared and it is upon the decision-makers to see that adequate measures are taken for its implementation. The concluding remarks by the author are worth reproducing here:


“This paper is in effect a preliminary description of Muslim Vision of India. India of their dreams is the leader that guides the mankind to developing a healthier, purer, and more prosperous and more peaceful world, with the fruits of development reaching every human being living anywhere in the world irrespective of his caste, colour, creed and faith. Muslims do know that, despite having emphasis on certain aspects of development, their vision is not entirely different from the vision of their fellow countrymen belonging to other religions; and this is why they have reasons to feel confident that their vision of India will be realised one day with the support of all Indians. Indians on the other hand need to realise that India cannot reach its destination until Muslim becomes active partners in this pursuit. Muslims need the support of their countrymen and the countrymen must not fail them.”


The Man behind the Work


Dr. Javed Jamil is quickly emerging on the international scene as a thinker whose amazing versatility is compelling the world thinkers to appreciate his work and admire the comprehensiveness of his approach in dealing with contemporary issues. He has already propounded several remarkable theses in various fields that range from Community Medicine to Physics, from Social Sciences to Economics and from international affairs to religion. His works include The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism, The Killer Sex, In Search of a Comprehensive Solution for AIDS, Rediscovering the Universe, Beyond Einsteinian Limits, Islam means Peace, he Essence of the Divine Verses, Islamic Model for Control of AIDS, Scientific and Social Theories derived from Qur’an, Family Welfare in Islam and Islam and Science. If the novelty of work, freshness of approach, depth of thoughts, ability to influence the world and capability of revolutionizing knowledge are the criteria of greatness, Dr Javed Jamil should soon find a place in the greatest thinkers of the contemporary world. His theory of economic fundamentalism and his concept of Peace Economics, his dynamic theory of health and universal theory of relativity and his novel approach in Applied Islamics are great enough works to give him a permanent place in the history of knowledge. His recent work, “Despite Shortcomings, Muslims are Most Civilised in the world” recently attracted huge debate on international internet forums. His coming works also include “Scientific & Social Concepts derived from Qur’an” and “Westernism: the Ideology of Hegemony”.


Dr Javed Jamil was the first to organise a public demonstration against the Shah Bano case verdict. He ran several health and education related projects and presented Islamic Models of Family Welfare and AIDS Prevention, which generated a lot of debate in the 1990s. His current focus is on presenting a Muslim perspective of India’s foals of development and to work for making Muslims a vibrant community that can play a meaningful role at national and global levels. This is represented in his work, “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Roadmap”.