By Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net,
Patna: A team of Muslim girl students from Manipur, headed by Ms. Rukshar Choudhury, president of the All Manipur Muslim Girls’ Students’ Union, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and informed him about the dismal situation in the Manipur University following the murder of Professor Islamuddin inside the varsity campus.
Former Dean of Students at the University, Prof. Islamuddin, was killed on May 25, 2009 by miscreants. The murder had not only left a bad impact on the environment in the University but also disturbed the lives of common citizens in the state. Fifty-two year old Islamuddin was the Professor of Economics at the University.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister assured to look into the matter to bring justice.
He also informed the delegation that a meeting with his Council of Ministers may be held on June 25 to discuss the dilemma of the students following the assassination of the Professor who was an active personality in the university. He went on to assure that he would get in touch with the state government and advise speedy investigation in the case.
The delegation demanded the Prime Minister to put a qualified person from the Muslim community in place of the slain Professor as well as to set up a separate guest house for the minority Muslim students in the university. The team also urged the Prime Minister to take up specific actions to ensure the development of the university as well as the education system in the state, particularly for the minority Muslims.
According to Ms. Rukshar Choudhury who returned yesterday evening from Delhi, the Prime Minister has assured that he would try to take sufficient action in this regard.
It is to be noted that five students of the University have been arrested and booked under the NSA allegedly in connection with the murder of the Professor and further investigation is going on.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
No justice in sight
By Anju Azad, TwoCircles.net,
It was an unusual day for Mr. Siraj Khan and Manowara Begum, when I knocked their door. The parents of Sameer Khan found my visit unusual as the public conscience had stopped knocking the door of their house in Birubari in Guwahati, Assam, long time back. But I went there in the last week of May as I wanted to know more about their son – Sameer Khan who was killed nine years ago.
Sameer Khan was a young college-going boy of 23. He was bright, shy, religious and homely in nature. His mother says he used to look after all the odd jobs in the house. He would help his mother and his ailing father apart from helping his three sisters. He was the only son and hence parents’ expectations about his bright career were quite high.
November 1, 2001 was an important day for all the Muslims in the region. It was Shab-e-Barat, a holy day in the Islamic calendar. In Assam, Muslims celebrate this particular day with great devotion and enthusiasm. Sameer Khan, being a religious person, was busy all day in fasting and offering namaz. He asked his mother to prepare his favorite halwa for iftaar. He was so happy that he announced that he would appear and present the recipe on the TV next day so that all mothers could prepare the halwa for their children. Of course, he did appear on TV the next day but for a very unfortunate reason.
Siraj Khan remembers the day with a heavy heart. Nine long years have passed, still he has not forgotten even a bit of what happened on November 1, 2001. The father and son had been to a nearby masjid for namaz at around 8 pm. After namaz, Sameer, along with 11 friends from the locality, decided to go for a tour to some of the prominent masjids in Guwahati to offer namaz.
The group started at around 9-30 pm. They were on bikes and scooters. After visiting Athgaon, Ulubari and Hatigaon masjids at around 12-30 am, they were on their way to Burah masjid, one of the oldest and most prominent masjids in Guwahati. They were only about one km away the Masjid when some CRPF personnel asked the group to stop their vehicles at Zoo Tiniali. Security persons asked them to halt there. Sameer stopped his scooter. A young kid named Fazal, 10 years old, was sharing the pillion seat. CRPF officer Venkateshwaram, who was heavily drunk, reached Sameer and put his gun pointing at his belly. Sameer was frightened and requested the officer to remove it. He didn’t, instead, he shouted, ‘You are all Talibans’ and pumped bullets into his abdomen. Sameer fell down from the scooter and cried, ‘Uncle, you really shot me?’ Sameer’s friends who were waiting for him around the shooting site were too frightened to utter a word.
Then, a vigilant mobile vehicle of the Assam Police reached the spot and arranged for the hospitalization of bleeding Sameer. Sameer was taken to the hospital 2 hours after the shooting and his life couldn’t be saved.
The incident triggered huge public outcry and became the headline for the local news papers the next day. The Assamese daily ‘Pratidin’ wrote, ‘Sameer Khan became the cruel sacrifice while going for namaz on Shab-e-barat’. This cold blooded murder evoked strong condemnation from all sections of the society. The state constituted an enquiry commission under the Commissions of Enquiry Act, 1952. The commission was ordered to submit report within 15 days. After 9 years, Sameer’s parents are yet know the findings of the commission.
Siraj Khan said, "I lost my son. He will never come back. He was killed for no crime. And we did not get justice simply because of religious discrimination". Siraj recalls that when the incident took place, his house was crowded with top leaders with high promises of justice and compensation and now there is hardly anyone to see how the family is surviving. "For me, there is no justice in sight", laments Siraj.
Samir left behind two sisters who run a grocery shop to support the family.
Note to the readers: Please leave comments for the family, TwoCircles.net will print all the comments and take it to the family for the support in their long wait for justice.
http://twocircles.net/2009jun09/no_justice_sight.html#comment-27754
It was an unusual day for Mr. Siraj Khan and Manowara Begum, when I knocked their door. The parents of Sameer Khan found my visit unusual as the public conscience had stopped knocking the door of their house in Birubari in Guwahati, Assam, long time back. But I went there in the last week of May as I wanted to know more about their son – Sameer Khan who was killed nine years ago.
Sameer Khan was a young college-going boy of 23. He was bright, shy, religious and homely in nature. His mother says he used to look after all the odd jobs in the house. He would help his mother and his ailing father apart from helping his three sisters. He was the only son and hence parents’ expectations about his bright career were quite high.
November 1, 2001 was an important day for all the Muslims in the region. It was Shab-e-Barat, a holy day in the Islamic calendar. In Assam, Muslims celebrate this particular day with great devotion and enthusiasm. Sameer Khan, being a religious person, was busy all day in fasting and offering namaz. He asked his mother to prepare his favorite halwa for iftaar. He was so happy that he announced that he would appear and present the recipe on the TV next day so that all mothers could prepare the halwa for their children. Of course, he did appear on TV the next day but for a very unfortunate reason.
Siraj Khan remembers the day with a heavy heart. Nine long years have passed, still he has not forgotten even a bit of what happened on November 1, 2001. The father and son had been to a nearby masjid for namaz at around 8 pm. After namaz, Sameer, along with 11 friends from the locality, decided to go for a tour to some of the prominent masjids in Guwahati to offer namaz.
The group started at around 9-30 pm. They were on bikes and scooters. After visiting Athgaon, Ulubari and Hatigaon masjids at around 12-30 am, they were on their way to Burah masjid, one of the oldest and most prominent masjids in Guwahati. They were only about one km away the Masjid when some CRPF personnel asked the group to stop their vehicles at Zoo Tiniali. Security persons asked them to halt there. Sameer stopped his scooter. A young kid named Fazal, 10 years old, was sharing the pillion seat. CRPF officer Venkateshwaram, who was heavily drunk, reached Sameer and put his gun pointing at his belly. Sameer was frightened and requested the officer to remove it. He didn’t, instead, he shouted, ‘You are all Talibans’ and pumped bullets into his abdomen. Sameer fell down from the scooter and cried, ‘Uncle, you really shot me?’ Sameer’s friends who were waiting for him around the shooting site were too frightened to utter a word.
Then, a vigilant mobile vehicle of the Assam Police reached the spot and arranged for the hospitalization of bleeding Sameer. Sameer was taken to the hospital 2 hours after the shooting and his life couldn’t be saved.
The incident triggered huge public outcry and became the headline for the local news papers the next day. The Assamese daily ‘Pratidin’ wrote, ‘Sameer Khan became the cruel sacrifice while going for namaz on Shab-e-barat’. This cold blooded murder evoked strong condemnation from all sections of the society. The state constituted an enquiry commission under the Commissions of Enquiry Act, 1952. The commission was ordered to submit report within 15 days. After 9 years, Sameer’s parents are yet know the findings of the commission.
Siraj Khan said, "I lost my son. He will never come back. He was killed for no crime. And we did not get justice simply because of religious discrimination". Siraj recalls that when the incident took place, his house was crowded with top leaders with high promises of justice and compensation and now there is hardly anyone to see how the family is surviving. "For me, there is no justice in sight", laments Siraj.
Samir left behind two sisters who run a grocery shop to support the family.
Note to the readers: Please leave comments for the family, TwoCircles.net will print all the comments and take it to the family for the support in their long wait for justice.
http://twocircles.net/2009jun09/no_justice_sight.html#comment-27754
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Goolam E Vahanvati appointed Attorney General of India
By TwoCircles.net news desk
New Delhi: Senior advocate Goolam E. Vahanvati, who has articulated the government's views on sensitive cases like reservation in educational institutions and tainted ministers, has today been appointed as the Attorney General, the country's top law officer.
60-year Mr. Vahanvati, who hails from Maharashtra, was the Solicitor General during the last United Progressive Alliance government assumed his office today.
Soon after assuming his office he appeared in the Supreme Court and received congratulations from a vacation Bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam for his elevation.
As Solicitor General since 2004, Mr. Vahanvati appeared in key cases relating to several constitutional and revenue matters but the high point was successful defense of the challenge to the controversial 27 per cent quota for OBCs in elite central educational institutions.
He also appeared for the central government in all matters pertaining to sealing of commercial premises in residential areas in the national capital and the challenges to the controversial legislations connected to it like Delhi Laws Special Provisions Act, 2007 and Master Plan 2021 for Delhi.
One of the most controversial matter in which Mr. Vahanvati defended the Centre was relating to dissolution of Bihar Assembly in 2005 on the recommendation of Governor Buta Singh, which the five-judge constitution bench held as illegal and unconstitutional.
Besides arguing the cases for the Centre and its various departments in the apex court and High Courts, Vahanvati was appointed by the International Cricket Council to hold an inquiry into allegations of racism in Zimbabwe with High Court Judge Steven Majiedt in September 2004.
He practiced law in Mumbai high court and was Advocate General of Maharashtra government before his appointment as Solicitor General of India.
He has been appointed to the post for a period of three years.
New Delhi: Senior advocate Goolam E. Vahanvati, who has articulated the government's views on sensitive cases like reservation in educational institutions and tainted ministers, has today been appointed as the Attorney General, the country's top law officer.
60-year Mr. Vahanvati, who hails from Maharashtra, was the Solicitor General during the last United Progressive Alliance government assumed his office today.
Soon after assuming his office he appeared in the Supreme Court and received congratulations from a vacation Bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam for his elevation.
As Solicitor General since 2004, Mr. Vahanvati appeared in key cases relating to several constitutional and revenue matters but the high point was successful defense of the challenge to the controversial 27 per cent quota for OBCs in elite central educational institutions.
He also appeared for the central government in all matters pertaining to sealing of commercial premises in residential areas in the national capital and the challenges to the controversial legislations connected to it like Delhi Laws Special Provisions Act, 2007 and Master Plan 2021 for Delhi.
One of the most controversial matter in which Mr. Vahanvati defended the Centre was relating to dissolution of Bihar Assembly in 2005 on the recommendation of Governor Buta Singh, which the five-judge constitution bench held as illegal and unconstitutional.
Besides arguing the cases for the Centre and its various departments in the apex court and High Courts, Vahanvati was appointed by the International Cricket Council to hold an inquiry into allegations of racism in Zimbabwe with High Court Judge Steven Majiedt in September 2004.
He practiced law in Mumbai high court and was Advocate General of Maharashtra government before his appointment as Solicitor General of India.
He has been appointed to the post for a period of three years.
Racist Australians? No, Indians students are blamed
By Kul Bhushan, IANS,
Indian students in Australia are to be blamed for getting attacked - this seems to be the belief of many Indians prospering in Australia. In a flurry of e-mails from Down Under, it is made out that the Indian students invite these vicious attacks upon themselves.
The Australia-Indian community leaders and their religious/social welfare organisations have hardly issued any strong statements against these racist attacks.
During the recent Melbourne protest, hardly any older Australian-Indians turned up to show their solidarity with the Indian students even as the students cried themselves hoarse demanding justice. In fact, some white Australians were seen carrying placards to support them. Reports in the Indian media stated that these well-settled Australian-Indians do not want these events to affect their cushy life or tarnish their relations with whites.
These racial attacks have continued for the last two or three years with a growing number of them now directed at Indian students whose numbers have swelled to about 97,000.
Did the local Indians take any individual or community action to prevent these ugly attacks? On the contrary, when the recent spate of brutal assaults by Australian hooligans hit the headlines, they were quick to point out the reasons emanating from the students.
According to e-mails from Australia, Indian students allegedly do not know English, they display their expensive gadgets like mobiles, laptops and iPods; play loud music, talk loudly in their native tongues, live up to 15 in rooms rented for four persons, make their accommodation filthy, come out to their compounds in their underwear to urinate in the open and display innumerable other uncouth habits loathed by Australians. No wonder they are attacked, say the e-mails.
Many students are frustrated when they find that their colleges are run by Australian-Indian 'crooks'. "When they go to their class, they find that all the students are from India, and the teacher teaches them in Hindi/Punjabi. They realise that they could have received a better education at a fraction of the cost and without the problems and pains (in India). Many of our people have opened educational institutions as on-line licensing was so easy here. These people cheated the system by supplying false information. Now many of such colleges face closure, further putting strain on students who have paid so much money to study there," said one such e-mail.
If the well-settled Australian-Indians have known all these problems for the last few years, what have they done to alleviate the situation? Did they launch any orientation courses in their places of worship to 'welcome' the new Indian students every year and explain to them the norms of the Australian way of life? Did they approach their elected representatives to press for starting these orientation courses in India or Australia? Or, urge them to enforce additional measures at the Australian high commission in India, like an oral English test, before granting them a student visa? Did they seek the closing down of these sub-standard 'teaching shops' run by unscrupulous Australian-Indians as they attract unsuspecting students through their recruiting agents in India?
"Many students have committed suicide due to pressure from India and their inability to study without tuition as they fail to follow classroom lectures," says an Indian professional in an e-mail. "They cannot get more funds from India; on the contrary, every relative from India phones them asking: 'When will you get a job and remit money to repay your loan?' Students have been committing suicides here and the Indian high commission would not even listen to anything nor acknowledge that there was a problem. Local Indians and students have been arranging for the dead bodies to be sent to India."
Then the Indian media is to be blamed for highlighting these attacks and giving an unbalanced picture - never mind the fact that most print media have published articles by Indian university professors in Australia or established leaders on this situation and TV channels aired reports by local and 'citizen' journalists. They are pained at the reaction from India: film legend Amitabh Bachchan declining an honorary degree from an Australian university; Indian tourists cancelling their Aussie holidays in large numbers; Indian film producers boycotting film shootings; Indian student numbers declining this year; and perhaps, bilateral trade going down as India is the seventh biggest trade partner of Australia.
The established Australian-Indians are unwilling to accept the violent attacks by the Aussie lumpens who demand cigarettes, money and their gadgets and then slash them with knives or pierce their skulls with screwdrivers. They would not comment until the courts decide them. How many convictions have been reported in the last few years? They don't know. It's to do with their clothes smelling of curry, so they get 'curry-bashing', the local Indians say.
(09-06-2009- The author previously worked abroad as a newspaper editor and has travelled to over 50 countries. He lives in New Delhi and can be contacted at: kulbhushan2040@gmail.com)
Indian students in Australia are to be blamed for getting attacked - this seems to be the belief of many Indians prospering in Australia. In a flurry of e-mails from Down Under, it is made out that the Indian students invite these vicious attacks upon themselves.
The Australia-Indian community leaders and their religious/social welfare organisations have hardly issued any strong statements against these racist attacks.
During the recent Melbourne protest, hardly any older Australian-Indians turned up to show their solidarity with the Indian students even as the students cried themselves hoarse demanding justice. In fact, some white Australians were seen carrying placards to support them. Reports in the Indian media stated that these well-settled Australian-Indians do not want these events to affect their cushy life or tarnish their relations with whites.
These racial attacks have continued for the last two or three years with a growing number of them now directed at Indian students whose numbers have swelled to about 97,000.
Did the local Indians take any individual or community action to prevent these ugly attacks? On the contrary, when the recent spate of brutal assaults by Australian hooligans hit the headlines, they were quick to point out the reasons emanating from the students.
According to e-mails from Australia, Indian students allegedly do not know English, they display their expensive gadgets like mobiles, laptops and iPods; play loud music, talk loudly in their native tongues, live up to 15 in rooms rented for four persons, make their accommodation filthy, come out to their compounds in their underwear to urinate in the open and display innumerable other uncouth habits loathed by Australians. No wonder they are attacked, say the e-mails.
Many students are frustrated when they find that their colleges are run by Australian-Indian 'crooks'. "When they go to their class, they find that all the students are from India, and the teacher teaches them in Hindi/Punjabi. They realise that they could have received a better education at a fraction of the cost and without the problems and pains (in India). Many of our people have opened educational institutions as on-line licensing was so easy here. These people cheated the system by supplying false information. Now many of such colleges face closure, further putting strain on students who have paid so much money to study there," said one such e-mail.
If the well-settled Australian-Indians have known all these problems for the last few years, what have they done to alleviate the situation? Did they launch any orientation courses in their places of worship to 'welcome' the new Indian students every year and explain to them the norms of the Australian way of life? Did they approach their elected representatives to press for starting these orientation courses in India or Australia? Or, urge them to enforce additional measures at the Australian high commission in India, like an oral English test, before granting them a student visa? Did they seek the closing down of these sub-standard 'teaching shops' run by unscrupulous Australian-Indians as they attract unsuspecting students through their recruiting agents in India?
"Many students have committed suicide due to pressure from India and their inability to study without tuition as they fail to follow classroom lectures," says an Indian professional in an e-mail. "They cannot get more funds from India; on the contrary, every relative from India phones them asking: 'When will you get a job and remit money to repay your loan?' Students have been committing suicides here and the Indian high commission would not even listen to anything nor acknowledge that there was a problem. Local Indians and students have been arranging for the dead bodies to be sent to India."
Then the Indian media is to be blamed for highlighting these attacks and giving an unbalanced picture - never mind the fact that most print media have published articles by Indian university professors in Australia or established leaders on this situation and TV channels aired reports by local and 'citizen' journalists. They are pained at the reaction from India: film legend Amitabh Bachchan declining an honorary degree from an Australian university; Indian tourists cancelling their Aussie holidays in large numbers; Indian film producers boycotting film shootings; Indian student numbers declining this year; and perhaps, bilateral trade going down as India is the seventh biggest trade partner of Australia.
The established Australian-Indians are unwilling to accept the violent attacks by the Aussie lumpens who demand cigarettes, money and their gadgets and then slash them with knives or pierce their skulls with screwdrivers. They would not comment until the courts decide them. How many convictions have been reported in the last few years? They don't know. It's to do with their clothes smelling of curry, so they get 'curry-bashing', the local Indians say.
(09-06-2009- The author previously worked abroad as a newspaper editor and has travelled to over 50 countries. He lives in New Delhi and can be contacted at: kulbhushan2040@gmail.com)
Monday, June 08, 2009
Karia Munda is deputy speaker of Lok Sabha
By IANS,
New Delhi : Tribal leader Karia Munda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was unanimously elected as the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha Monday.
The motion for the election of deputy speaker was moved by Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani.
BJP president Rajnath Singh seconded Advani's motion. Leader of House Pranab Mukherjee moved another motion to the same effect while Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal seconded it.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated Munda for his "wealth of experience".
"He has been an accomplished social worker. He is also a man with quality of head and heart. We assure him full co-operation," Manmohan Singh said.
Advani said the trend of the opposition getting the deputy speaker's post started in 1977. "It is a healthy tradition and it should be continued."
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, JD-U national president Sharad Yadav, Biju Janata Dal senior leader Arjun Sethi, Basudev Acharya of CPI-M, Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay, AIADMK leader M. Thambi Durai, T.R. Baalu of the DMK and CPI's Gurudas Gupta also congratulated the newly elected deputy speaker.
In his acceptance speech, Munda, the BJP's Jharkhand leader, said: "To be elected as a deputy speaker is a great honour. I accept it with great humility and I will make whole hearted effort to raise the dignity of the house."
New Delhi : Tribal leader Karia Munda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was unanimously elected as the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha Monday.
The motion for the election of deputy speaker was moved by Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani.
BJP president Rajnath Singh seconded Advani's motion. Leader of House Pranab Mukherjee moved another motion to the same effect while Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal seconded it.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated Munda for his "wealth of experience".
"He has been an accomplished social worker. He is also a man with quality of head and heart. We assure him full co-operation," Manmohan Singh said.
Advani said the trend of the opposition getting the deputy speaker's post started in 1977. "It is a healthy tradition and it should be continued."
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, JD-U national president Sharad Yadav, Biju Janata Dal senior leader Arjun Sethi, Basudev Acharya of CPI-M, Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay, AIADMK leader M. Thambi Durai, T.R. Baalu of the DMK and CPI's Gurudas Gupta also congratulated the newly elected deputy speaker.
In his acceptance speech, Munda, the BJP's Jharkhand leader, said: "To be elected as a deputy speaker is a great honour. I accept it with great humility and I will make whole hearted effort to raise the dignity of the house."
Sunday, June 07, 2009
The Oprahfication of Obama
The Oprahfication of Obama: Walk like an Egyptian
by Farzana Versey
Counterpunch, June 5-7
Barack Hussein Obama was not addressing the Muslims; he was talking to the American people to seek legitimacy for himself. The once-upon-a-time Muslim’s landmark speech was about the Other World. A distant Barbaria.
To make the otherness more palpable, he used a couple of literary/marketing devices: Empathy and Confession. A good novelist or advertiser employs them to get under the skin of the characters. As creator, Obama appeared to be playing devil’s advocate when what he was in fact drawing attention to is that the devil has no horns, thereby demonising a whole community and making suspicion a valid possibility for the ‘potent minority’ is invisible.
In confessional mode he revealed his roots; it was the sort of thing Oprah Winfrey does. Take a situation, look pained about how it has come to such a pass, and regurgitate it. Repetition is the true modus operandi of a confession. In Obama’s case it was: I am a Christian, but I have a little Muslim skeleton in my cupboard.
That immediately imbued him with a halo. He was the come-back kid, the prodigal had returned, the baptism was complete. When such an admission is made, people are forced to listen. The assumption is that the person knows his marbles. By quoting from the Koran, Obama was drilling home the point that you cannot talk to the Muslims without bringing in religion. The Obama Empathy essentially gave a travel guide version of Islam, with algebra and calligraphy as throwaway pebbles in the stream of stereotypes that he was swimming in.
It is typical retail therapy when he says, “America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition”. He is buying a stereotype. Make no mistake about that. “And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”
Why is it his responsibility? Is he in some ways accepting that the US is responsible for creating those stereotypes? Where was the Taliban before the Russian occupation of Afghanistan and the US decision to assist it? Why did Ayatollah Khomeini sweep through the Iranian landscape after the Shah of Iran was being wooed by both the Cold War chiefs? What happened to the modern state of Iraq?
His idea of negative stereotypes was no different from the good guy versus bad guy dumbing down that has become so popular. They keep a roster and at last count some one billion Islamic fundamentalists were said to be stomping all over the world.
That gave him a perspective to get down to the serious business of trying to seek a connection between 9/11 and “tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate”. It was a pathetic attempt at using the religious wars when making a case for the United States, which made him sound more like Rev. Jesse Jackson than Martin Luther King.
He was bringing in a simplistic version of history by making it seem that the West is a single conglomerate. Worse, he referred to it as a “Cold War” between the West and Muslims, quite forgetting its implications. Some commentators have already said that Afghanistan is Obama’s Vietnam. By doing so there is passive aggressiveness being conveyed about how tough the US is.
The reason being touted was reeking of the superficial Obama empathy: “the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam”.
Does modernity mean the vivid imagination that could conjure weapons of mass destruction and imagine that by bombing civilian areas they would find Osama bin Laden? Does globalization mean intervention and feeding the Americans such xenophobia? No one wishes to deny 9/11, but 9/11 is not the symbol of world devastation. A world where countries have 3000 people dying in a single communal riot, or when cities are bombed. If the US government wishes to use this as an example, then it must remember the several acts of terror in other Western societies or else it will be a selfish motive.
Like Hollywood, Obama used the guilt perspective. It is a Zionist model and naturally a good place to start. There was absolutely no reason to refer to the Holocaust during the speech, because the Palestinians or the Arabs or the Muslims – and the President must know these can be disparate groups – were not responsible for it.
The President made one of the most educated people in the world, the Palestinians, seem like they needed help “to develop the institutions that will sustain their state; to recognize Israel's legitimacy”. The most vicious occupation was dismissed as “continued Israeli settlements” whereas the “Palestinians must abandon violence”.
The passive aggressive quality is again manifested in his pursuit of al Qaeda. Recently, he talked about moving 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. But at Cairo he said, “We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can. But that is not yet the case.”
It is all about America. He talked about money being given to set up schools, hospitals; he did not mention money given as military aid. He had earlier pledged to “invest in Pak democracy” to “get the job done”.
It did not take long to see that the knight-in-shining-armour persona was carrying a sheathed sword: “Among some Muslims, there is a disturbing tendency to measure one's own faith by the rejection of another's.” This is the very nature of religion. You are a believer of a faith only when you accept it unconditionally. The purpose of measuring it is about pitting it against another. It does not mean that people do not accept the existence of other faiths, but they will nullify that ideology if it does not suit them. This also applies to nations. Colonialism is proselytisation; it need not be geographical. US colonialism sells the American Dream. The issue of tolerance is touted, but it comes on its own terms.
The reason the US is one of the most nationalistic societies is because it has no choice; it has to make sure the indigenous mental space is not trod upon. The politician needs cheerleaders. Obama himself is a manufactured totem; he appeared at a time when Americans needed to get a break from the lies that were supposed to transform them into greater patriots when their country has spent about 675 billion dollars since 2001 for nothing.
They did not vote for a war veteran.
People are not fools. Not the Americans. Not the Arabs.
by Farzana Versey
Counterpunch, June 5-7
Barack Hussein Obama was not addressing the Muslims; he was talking to the American people to seek legitimacy for himself. The once-upon-a-time Muslim’s landmark speech was about the Other World. A distant Barbaria.
To make the otherness more palpable, he used a couple of literary/marketing devices: Empathy and Confession. A good novelist or advertiser employs them to get under the skin of the characters. As creator, Obama appeared to be playing devil’s advocate when what he was in fact drawing attention to is that the devil has no horns, thereby demonising a whole community and making suspicion a valid possibility for the ‘potent minority’ is invisible.
In confessional mode he revealed his roots; it was the sort of thing Oprah Winfrey does. Take a situation, look pained about how it has come to such a pass, and regurgitate it. Repetition is the true modus operandi of a confession. In Obama’s case it was: I am a Christian, but I have a little Muslim skeleton in my cupboard.
That immediately imbued him with a halo. He was the come-back kid, the prodigal had returned, the baptism was complete. When such an admission is made, people are forced to listen. The assumption is that the person knows his marbles. By quoting from the Koran, Obama was drilling home the point that you cannot talk to the Muslims without bringing in religion. The Obama Empathy essentially gave a travel guide version of Islam, with algebra and calligraphy as throwaway pebbles in the stream of stereotypes that he was swimming in.
It is typical retail therapy when he says, “America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition”. He is buying a stereotype. Make no mistake about that. “And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”
Why is it his responsibility? Is he in some ways accepting that the US is responsible for creating those stereotypes? Where was the Taliban before the Russian occupation of Afghanistan and the US decision to assist it? Why did Ayatollah Khomeini sweep through the Iranian landscape after the Shah of Iran was being wooed by both the Cold War chiefs? What happened to the modern state of Iraq?
His idea of negative stereotypes was no different from the good guy versus bad guy dumbing down that has become so popular. They keep a roster and at last count some one billion Islamic fundamentalists were said to be stomping all over the world.
That gave him a perspective to get down to the serious business of trying to seek a connection between 9/11 and “tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate”. It was a pathetic attempt at using the religious wars when making a case for the United States, which made him sound more like Rev. Jesse Jackson than Martin Luther King.
He was bringing in a simplistic version of history by making it seem that the West is a single conglomerate. Worse, he referred to it as a “Cold War” between the West and Muslims, quite forgetting its implications. Some commentators have already said that Afghanistan is Obama’s Vietnam. By doing so there is passive aggressiveness being conveyed about how tough the US is.
The reason being touted was reeking of the superficial Obama empathy: “the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam”.
Does modernity mean the vivid imagination that could conjure weapons of mass destruction and imagine that by bombing civilian areas they would find Osama bin Laden? Does globalization mean intervention and feeding the Americans such xenophobia? No one wishes to deny 9/11, but 9/11 is not the symbol of world devastation. A world where countries have 3000 people dying in a single communal riot, or when cities are bombed. If the US government wishes to use this as an example, then it must remember the several acts of terror in other Western societies or else it will be a selfish motive.
Like Hollywood, Obama used the guilt perspective. It is a Zionist model and naturally a good place to start. There was absolutely no reason to refer to the Holocaust during the speech, because the Palestinians or the Arabs or the Muslims – and the President must know these can be disparate groups – were not responsible for it.
The President made one of the most educated people in the world, the Palestinians, seem like they needed help “to develop the institutions that will sustain their state; to recognize Israel's legitimacy”. The most vicious occupation was dismissed as “continued Israeli settlements” whereas the “Palestinians must abandon violence”.
The passive aggressive quality is again manifested in his pursuit of al Qaeda. Recently, he talked about moving 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. But at Cairo he said, “We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can. But that is not yet the case.”
It is all about America. He talked about money being given to set up schools, hospitals; he did not mention money given as military aid. He had earlier pledged to “invest in Pak democracy” to “get the job done”.
It did not take long to see that the knight-in-shining-armour persona was carrying a sheathed sword: “Among some Muslims, there is a disturbing tendency to measure one's own faith by the rejection of another's.” This is the very nature of religion. You are a believer of a faith only when you accept it unconditionally. The purpose of measuring it is about pitting it against another. It does not mean that people do not accept the existence of other faiths, but they will nullify that ideology if it does not suit them. This also applies to nations. Colonialism is proselytisation; it need not be geographical. US colonialism sells the American Dream. The issue of tolerance is touted, but it comes on its own terms.
The reason the US is one of the most nationalistic societies is because it has no choice; it has to make sure the indigenous mental space is not trod upon. The politician needs cheerleaders. Obama himself is a manufactured totem; he appeared at a time when Americans needed to get a break from the lies that were supposed to transform them into greater patriots when their country has spent about 675 billion dollars since 2001 for nothing.
They did not vote for a war veteran.
People are not fools. Not the Americans. Not the Arabs.
Mumbai gives warm welcome to MP Badruddin Ajmal
By Abdul Hameed, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: On the arrival of Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, the national president of the United Democratic Front (UDF), to Mumbai on June 6 the Maharashtra UDF, some other local organizations and mumbaikars extended a warm welcome to him.
A huge procession comprising hundreds of bikes and cars from Santacruz Domestic Airport to Crawford Market, a distance of nearly 30 km, wound its way on the road to welcome the newly elected MP from Assam, Maulana Badruddin Ajmal. People standing by the roadside waved and cheered and party workers welcomed him at different places as the rally led by Ajmal meandered through Bandra, Mahim, Vadala Road, Matunga, Byculla and Muhammad Ali Road before reaching Musafirkhana Chowk (near Crawford Market) where locals had staged a program to welcome him.
Farid Khan, general secretary, Mumbai Aman Committee, Abdul Hameed Dayyan, Musafirkhana Trust and the local people welcomed Maulana amidst applause. ‘We won’t take rest until Maharashtra is conquered,’ resolved the UDF Maharashtra Pradesh president Tarun Rathi supported by Farooq Mithaiwala, Maharashtra UDF vice president, S M Khan, UDF Mumbai Youth president, Yunus Maniyar, Maharashtra UDF convener and Dr. Azimuddin, general secretary Maharashtra UDF.
‘UDF is the party of the poor, widows, orphans and dehumanized people. It is not a Muslim League rather it welcomes all irrespective of caste and religion, all those who want to join it. In our first election (Assam 2006 assembly elections) the candidates we fielded were both Muslims and non-Muslims,’ said Badruddin Ajmal in his address to the gathering adding, ‘by the grace of Allah ‘I am the candidate to achieve the highest margin victory in the North East India. I hope by 2011 UDF will emerge as the largest party of Assam and it will be the king maker.’
The party is all set to contest the coming Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections to be held by the end of the year. ‘We know that in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections the Muslim community had been ignored in Maharashtra, and hence we have decided to contest the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha Elections,’ declared Ajmal in a press conference.
That the so-called Congress and Nationalist Congress Party together gave tickets to only two Muslims in the 15th Lok Sabha elections (unfortunately both of them lost) and it was ‘unfair representation’ and ‘gross injustice’ to the Muslims according to Ajmal.
Whether or not UDF will enter into alliance with any party for the assembly elections remains to be decided. ‘It is too early to say anything in this regard. When the time comes, our management will take decision,’ told Ajmal. The UDF had contested the Lok Sabha elections in the state without alliance with any party.
The UDF was formed months before the 2006 assembly elections in Assam and had won 10 assembly seats with 9.07% vote share. Later in the rural elections in 2008 it had increased its vote share to 14.54% and won 48 Zilla Parishad seats.
Extending its scope in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections the UDF fielded candidates in Assam, Maharashtra and Bengal and made an impressive start by sending one candidate Badruddin Ajmal from Dhubri constituency of Assam to the Parliament in its first attempt. Now, the UDF has become the third major party in Assam, ahead of Assam Gana Parishad (AGP), the party which completed its five-year term twice in the state.
Ajmal told media persons that party workers intended to nationalize United Democratic Front. He indicated that in the assembly elections UDF will field candidates in Bihar and Jharkhand too.
Mumbai: On the arrival of Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, the national president of the United Democratic Front (UDF), to Mumbai on June 6 the Maharashtra UDF, some other local organizations and mumbaikars extended a warm welcome to him.
A huge procession comprising hundreds of bikes and cars from Santacruz Domestic Airport to Crawford Market, a distance of nearly 30 km, wound its way on the road to welcome the newly elected MP from Assam, Maulana Badruddin Ajmal. People standing by the roadside waved and cheered and party workers welcomed him at different places as the rally led by Ajmal meandered through Bandra, Mahim, Vadala Road, Matunga, Byculla and Muhammad Ali Road before reaching Musafirkhana Chowk (near Crawford Market) where locals had staged a program to welcome him.
Farid Khan, general secretary, Mumbai Aman Committee, Abdul Hameed Dayyan, Musafirkhana Trust and the local people welcomed Maulana amidst applause. ‘We won’t take rest until Maharashtra is conquered,’ resolved the UDF Maharashtra Pradesh president Tarun Rathi supported by Farooq Mithaiwala, Maharashtra UDF vice president, S M Khan, UDF Mumbai Youth president, Yunus Maniyar, Maharashtra UDF convener and Dr. Azimuddin, general secretary Maharashtra UDF.
‘UDF is the party of the poor, widows, orphans and dehumanized people. It is not a Muslim League rather it welcomes all irrespective of caste and religion, all those who want to join it. In our first election (Assam 2006 assembly elections) the candidates we fielded were both Muslims and non-Muslims,’ said Badruddin Ajmal in his address to the gathering adding, ‘by the grace of Allah ‘I am the candidate to achieve the highest margin victory in the North East India. I hope by 2011 UDF will emerge as the largest party of Assam and it will be the king maker.’
The party is all set to contest the coming Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections to be held by the end of the year. ‘We know that in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections the Muslim community had been ignored in Maharashtra, and hence we have decided to contest the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha Elections,’ declared Ajmal in a press conference.
That the so-called Congress and Nationalist Congress Party together gave tickets to only two Muslims in the 15th Lok Sabha elections (unfortunately both of them lost) and it was ‘unfair representation’ and ‘gross injustice’ to the Muslims according to Ajmal.
Whether or not UDF will enter into alliance with any party for the assembly elections remains to be decided. ‘It is too early to say anything in this regard. When the time comes, our management will take decision,’ told Ajmal. The UDF had contested the Lok Sabha elections in the state without alliance with any party.
The UDF was formed months before the 2006 assembly elections in Assam and had won 10 assembly seats with 9.07% vote share. Later in the rural elections in 2008 it had increased its vote share to 14.54% and won 48 Zilla Parishad seats.
Extending its scope in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections the UDF fielded candidates in Assam, Maharashtra and Bengal and made an impressive start by sending one candidate Badruddin Ajmal from Dhubri constituency of Assam to the Parliament in its first attempt. Now, the UDF has become the third major party in Assam, ahead of Assam Gana Parishad (AGP), the party which completed its five-year term twice in the state.
Ajmal told media persons that party workers intended to nationalize United Democratic Front. He indicated that in the assembly elections UDF will field candidates in Bihar and Jharkhand too.
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