NALBARI, Oct 22 – The Nalbari police resorted to lathicharge and then fired in the air to disperse an irate mob which turned violent at Nalbari town this morning. In the mob attack a traffic police personnel Abdul Razek was seriously injured. According to the sources, about a thousand people this morning took out a protest rally with the body of Rafique Ahmed, an employee of PWD who was stabbed to death by an unidentified miscreant last evening. During the procession, a section of the people demolished some business establishments of the town. When the police tried to check them, some of the irate people pelted stones on the police party forcing the police to resort to lathicharge to disperse the mob which became more volatile. Finally, the police fired several rounds in the air to bring the mob under control.
Meanwhile, the Nalbari District Magistrate restricted gathering of more than five people in public places under Section 144 CrPC. However, a tense situation prevailed in Nalbari town.
On the other hand the Nalbari Bar Maszid Committee has called for a 12-hour Nalbari town bandh was observed today. During the bandh all types of business establishments, financial and educational institutions, Government offices remained closed. All modes of vehicles were also off the road.
Meanwhile, the Nalbari district unit of AASU and Nalbari district administration today organised two separate peace meeting in order to maintain peace and normalcy.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
China “Disappeared” Uighur Detainees: HRW
By IOL Staff
CAIRO – Dozens of Uighurs have disappeared following their detention by Chinese forces in the wake of the deadly unrest in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, the Human Rights Watch said.
“The cases we documented are likely just the tip of the iceberg,” Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW, said in a press release by the New York-based group on Wednesday, October 21.
The 44-page report documents, through witness accounts, the disappearance of 43 Uighur men and teenagers after being taken into police custody in the provincial capital Urumqi.
“They said that my son had taken part in the protests,” Nazira N., a father, told HRW.
“I asked when they would bring him back, but they just said they would inquire and return him.”
To date the Chinese security authorities are refusing to give him information about his 16-year-old son Karim-Ahun K.
“I went to the local police station more than 10 times, but every time they said that they would inquire and if he is innocent they would bring him back.
“They say the same thing every time, but so far he hasn’t come back, and I have no idea where he is.”
The unrest, which ravaged the Muslim-majority western region in July, was sparked by the killing of two Uighur men in a brawl at a toy factory.
Frustrated Uighurs took to the streets of Urumqi protesting the lack of justice, restrictions and the settlement of Han Chinese in their region.
Clashes with the Han Chinese minority turned bloody, leaving 197 people dead and more than 1,600 injured, according to the government.
Following the clashes, security authorities mounted raids against Uighur-dominated neighborhoods, detaining scores of people on charges of rioting.
It has so far sentenced 12 Uighurs to death in trials mocked by international human rights organizations.
Accountability
The HRW criticized the Chinese government and demanded accountability.
“‘Disappearing’ people is not the behavior of countries aspiring to global leadership,” Adams said.
“The Chinese government says it respects the rule of law, but nothing could undermine this claim more than taking people from their homes or off the street and ‘disappearing' them - leaving their families unsure whether they are dead or alive.”
The HRW Asia director urged the international community to press China for clear answers about the fate of the “disappeared” people.
“The United States, the European Union and China's other international partners should demand clear answers about what happened to those who have disappeared in Xinjiang,” Adams stressed.
“They should not let trade relations or other political considerations lead them to treat China differently than other countries which carry out this horrific practice.”
Resources-rich Xinjiang and its Uighur Muslims, a Turkic-speaking minority of nearly eight million, continue to be the subject of massive clampdowns.
They accuse the government of settling millions of ethnic Han in their territory with the ultimate goal of obliterating its identity and culture.
They also cite a recent government plan that has brought the teaching of Mandarin Chinese in Xinjiang schools, replacing their local dialect.
CAIRO – Dozens of Uighurs have disappeared following their detention by Chinese forces in the wake of the deadly unrest in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, the Human Rights Watch said.
“The cases we documented are likely just the tip of the iceberg,” Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW, said in a press release by the New York-based group on Wednesday, October 21.
The 44-page report documents, through witness accounts, the disappearance of 43 Uighur men and teenagers after being taken into police custody in the provincial capital Urumqi.
“They said that my son had taken part in the protests,” Nazira N., a father, told HRW.
“I asked when they would bring him back, but they just said they would inquire and return him.”
To date the Chinese security authorities are refusing to give him information about his 16-year-old son Karim-Ahun K.
“I went to the local police station more than 10 times, but every time they said that they would inquire and if he is innocent they would bring him back.
“They say the same thing every time, but so far he hasn’t come back, and I have no idea where he is.”
The unrest, which ravaged the Muslim-majority western region in July, was sparked by the killing of two Uighur men in a brawl at a toy factory.
Frustrated Uighurs took to the streets of Urumqi protesting the lack of justice, restrictions and the settlement of Han Chinese in their region.
Clashes with the Han Chinese minority turned bloody, leaving 197 people dead and more than 1,600 injured, according to the government.
Following the clashes, security authorities mounted raids against Uighur-dominated neighborhoods, detaining scores of people on charges of rioting.
It has so far sentenced 12 Uighurs to death in trials mocked by international human rights organizations.
Accountability
The HRW criticized the Chinese government and demanded accountability.
“‘Disappearing’ people is not the behavior of countries aspiring to global leadership,” Adams said.
“The Chinese government says it respects the rule of law, but nothing could undermine this claim more than taking people from their homes or off the street and ‘disappearing' them - leaving their families unsure whether they are dead or alive.”
The HRW Asia director urged the international community to press China for clear answers about the fate of the “disappeared” people.
“The United States, the European Union and China's other international partners should demand clear answers about what happened to those who have disappeared in Xinjiang,” Adams stressed.
“They should not let trade relations or other political considerations lead them to treat China differently than other countries which carry out this horrific practice.”
Resources-rich Xinjiang and its Uighur Muslims, a Turkic-speaking minority of nearly eight million, continue to be the subject of massive clampdowns.
They accuse the government of settling millions of ethnic Han in their territory with the ultimate goal of obliterating its identity and culture.
They also cite a recent government plan that has brought the teaching of Mandarin Chinese in Xinjiang schools, replacing their local dialect.
AIUDF leader shot dead
BARPETA, Oct 21: Mujjaffar Ali (35), an All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader and president of Sikni Gaon Panchayat under Kalgachiya outpost in Barpeta district, was shot dead by miscreants at about 11.30 am today. The killing, according to AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal and working president HRA Choudhury, was a political murder. They have demanded a high-level inquiry into the killing.
According to eyewitness account, Mujjaffar Ali was coming from his Bamuntari residence to Kalgachiya on a motorcycle when the incident occurred. When he reached Alamin Private Higher Secondary School at Bamuntari, four youths stopped him and talked to him for half a minute. During the conversation, Ali folded his hands before the youths who gunned him down, eyewitnesses said. Ali received three bullets. One of the youths named Abdul Kader (25) of Aditpur village of Kalgachiya was caught by the public, while the other three managed to escape. In front of the public, Abdul Kader named the other three as Refajuddin of Amguri village, Abdul Rouf of Udmari village and Mohini Das of Kalgachiya.
Ali had appealed to the Gauhati High Court seeking re-enlisting of anganwadi worker and helper panels following alleged anomalies and corruption. The High Court then issued an injunction on the panels prepared by the selection board. The local people alleged that the killing had a link with Ali’s petition in the High Court.
According to eyewitness account, Mujjaffar Ali was coming from his Bamuntari residence to Kalgachiya on a motorcycle when the incident occurred. When he reached Alamin Private Higher Secondary School at Bamuntari, four youths stopped him and talked to him for half a minute. During the conversation, Ali folded his hands before the youths who gunned him down, eyewitnesses said. Ali received three bullets. One of the youths named Abdul Kader (25) of Aditpur village of Kalgachiya was caught by the public, while the other three managed to escape. In front of the public, Abdul Kader named the other three as Refajuddin of Amguri village, Abdul Rouf of Udmari village and Mohini Das of Kalgachiya.
Ali had appealed to the Gauhati High Court seeking re-enlisting of anganwadi worker and helper panels following alleged anomalies and corruption. The High Court then issued an injunction on the panels prepared by the selection board. The local people alleged that the killing had a link with Ali’s petition in the High Court.
New political equations likely to emerge
HOJAI, Oct 21 – The stand-off between the Congress and the AUDF appears to be easing with the Health Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, close on the heels of Forest Minister, Rockybul Hussain and the AUDF legislator Sirajuddin Ajmal meeting each other at Hojai few days back, recently visiting Ajmals’ HAMM hospital here consolidating relationship between the two parties. The sudden dash to Hojai of the minister evoked curiosity among the Congress and AUDF party workers with the Congress in a jubilant mood and the AUDF supporters perplexed.
The Health Minister was welcomed by Sirajuddin Ajmal, managing trustee, Saheed Hussain, executive trustee, the superintendent and the doctor staff at the hospital. The minister formally opened the CT scan and new diagnostic centre, went around the hospital and was visibly impressed with cleanliness maintained by the hospital. He highly lauded the charitable services rendered to poor patients at the hospital and assured to extend help for infrastructural needs. Dr Sarma also assured Sirajuddin Ajmal his government’s co-operation and support in opening a nursing school at the hospital complex which would encourage the local girls and women to join the noble profession. The minister emphasided the need for private and government co-operation in the health sector due to the heavy load on health infrastructure and appreciated the service spirit to the suffering humanity of the Ajmals.
Later on, Dr Sarma was taken to Ajmal’s newly constructed ‘Maryam Ajmal College of Science and Technology for Girls’ building at Barpukhuri village. The minister was very happy to see the college along with girl hostel. While assuring all kind of help, the minister suggested opening of an engineering college for girls at the earliest and promised that his government will extend all possible support. He was also shown the new complex of ‘Rural Training and Development Centre’ (RTDC) developed by Ajmal at Padumpukhuri which is getting ready to be inaugurated in 2010. The minister was highly appreciative of job-oriented initiative of Ajmal and paid compliments to Late Haji Ajmal Ali the father of Badruddin Ajmal and Sirajuddin Ajmal.
Later, the Health Minister visited Hojai CHC, the First Referrel Unit and took stock of the problems of the health centre. He also met Dr Ardhendu Kr Dey, the ex-minister at his residence and a large number of Congress workers and listened to the simmering discontentment among party’s rank and file especially over the formation of Hojai and Lanka Municipal Board by violation of party’s directives by the elected ward commissioners, allegedly at the behest of a particular minister.
The visit of Dr Sarma to Hojai has added special significance in view of the coming by-election to Dhekiajuli and South-Salmara constituencies and politically conscious circle here feel that a shrewd politician like Himanta Biswa Sarma has not visited Hojai suddenly without achieving something positive as South-Salmara constituency has become a prestige issue for the Congress.
The Health Minister was welcomed by Sirajuddin Ajmal, managing trustee, Saheed Hussain, executive trustee, the superintendent and the doctor staff at the hospital. The minister formally opened the CT scan and new diagnostic centre, went around the hospital and was visibly impressed with cleanliness maintained by the hospital. He highly lauded the charitable services rendered to poor patients at the hospital and assured to extend help for infrastructural needs. Dr Sarma also assured Sirajuddin Ajmal his government’s co-operation and support in opening a nursing school at the hospital complex which would encourage the local girls and women to join the noble profession. The minister emphasided the need for private and government co-operation in the health sector due to the heavy load on health infrastructure and appreciated the service spirit to the suffering humanity of the Ajmals.
Later on, Dr Sarma was taken to Ajmal’s newly constructed ‘Maryam Ajmal College of Science and Technology for Girls’ building at Barpukhuri village. The minister was very happy to see the college along with girl hostel. While assuring all kind of help, the minister suggested opening of an engineering college for girls at the earliest and promised that his government will extend all possible support. He was also shown the new complex of ‘Rural Training and Development Centre’ (RTDC) developed by Ajmal at Padumpukhuri which is getting ready to be inaugurated in 2010. The minister was highly appreciative of job-oriented initiative of Ajmal and paid compliments to Late Haji Ajmal Ali the father of Badruddin Ajmal and Sirajuddin Ajmal.
Later, the Health Minister visited Hojai CHC, the First Referrel Unit and took stock of the problems of the health centre. He also met Dr Ardhendu Kr Dey, the ex-minister at his residence and a large number of Congress workers and listened to the simmering discontentment among party’s rank and file especially over the formation of Hojai and Lanka Municipal Board by violation of party’s directives by the elected ward commissioners, allegedly at the behest of a particular minister.
The visit of Dr Sarma to Hojai has added special significance in view of the coming by-election to Dhekiajuli and South-Salmara constituencies and politically conscious circle here feel that a shrewd politician like Himanta Biswa Sarma has not visited Hojai suddenly without achieving something positive as South-Salmara constituency has become a prestige issue for the Congress.
Muslim print journalism in India: A review and suggestions for improvement
By Omar Khalidi for TwoCircles.net
Introduction
Newspapers and magazines everywhere have played a major role in informing the readers and influencing public opinion since the press began in India in the nineteenth century. Like in all other aspects of modernization, Muslims lagged behind almost every group in journalism. This article reviews English language Muslim press in India since independence and suggests concrete steps for improvement.
Leaving aside Muslim journalism in Persian and Urdu for the time being, we know of a handful of English newspapers and magazines the community members ran since the last hundred years. Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar’s (1876-1931) Comrade and Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)’s Dawn, which was founded in Delhi in 1941 come to mind. Comrade was like a flash in the pan, as it published for barely 3 years, 1911-14. Dawn departed to Karachi at the dawn of independence and Pakistan’s creation.
Between August 1947 and early 1950s, there was no English press devoted to Muslim issues. From around mid 1950s to mid 1960s only two low circulation magazines covered stories of Muslim interest: one was Victor Courtois, (d. 1960) a Belgian Catholic’s paper published from 1955 to 1960 in Calcutta and Siraat of Indian Union Muslim League, published in Madras in the 1960s. The Jamaat-i Islami’s Radiance was launched in 1963. The Jamiat al-Ulama collected 600,000 rupees in the 1960s to start an English daily newspaper but failed to accomplish the goal.
For the next two decades, Radiance shined over as the only paper in English focusing on Muslim issues, albeit from a Jamaat-i Islami perspective, until Syed Shahabuddin, a retired IFS officer and politician (b. 1924) began his Muslim India in 1983, which folded up in December 2002; then The Milli Gazette resumed it in 2003 only to close it in January 2005. Given Syed Shahabuddin’s amazing energy, it is unsurprising that he revived Muslim India, a second time in 2008.
In mid 1990s, Muslim elite in Delhi led by Sayyid Abulhasan Ali Nadwi, Syed Hamid and Hakim Abdulhamid and some businessmen tried to launch a daily newspaper in English. The effort was fruitless. Instead, Syed Hamid began a tabloid One Nation Chronicle in October 1989 in Delhi but it failed to make a mark and changed as a fortnightly under a new name Nation and the World and it is still published. A Bangalore-based businessman A.W. Saadatullah Khan started a fortnightly Islamic Voice in 1987, which began an online edition in 2004. At the dawn of the twentieth century Zafarulislam Khan began The Milli Gazette in New Delhi in January 2000. The most recent additions are the Eastern Crescent, run by Markaz al-Maarif of Assam since 2006 and Eastern Post of Kolkata which began in August 2007.
Regardless of its intellectual and physical qualities, Radiance remains the oldest surviving magazine. Its subtitle “Views weekly,” aptly sums up the majority of its contents, “views,” which are just that, not always backed up by data. Muslim India’s contents are not original but copied from other sources. Islamic Voice is advertisement intensive, with some original and copied articles. The Milli Gazette publishes longer pieces, but like other magazines discussed here, they are devoid of statistics. Given that India is a vast country and the resources of the magazines meager, it is understandable that Islamic Voice and The Milli Gazette’s contents are south and north intensive. The emergence Eastern Post is welcome addition for the coverage of West Bengal for its large Muslim population.
.
Journalism in Theory
What does one expect from any journalistic writing? A minimum is a story based on the simple, eminently logical, straightforward principle of who, what, where, when, and why? Does the press devoted to Muslim issues in India follow the principle? If not why not? What can be done about it? The present writer has read almost all magazines listed here from Radiance since 1963 to Eastern Post, which started in 2007. I find that all the magazines do an extremely poor job of reporting factual news by not strictly following the ideal journalistic norms of who, what, where, when and why.
Lack of professionalism in Writing
A majority of the times, there is little clarity in the news. Often names of places are assumed to be known even if they are obscure villages in a vast country like India. No indication is given of their location within a state, much less within a district. Maps are of course rarely provided. Dates are routinely absent. Many stories begin with words like “recently,” “sometime back,” “some years ago,” with no attempt at precision. Life spans of even the most famous persons are seldom given. Terms, concepts, ideas, abbreviations, and acronyms often go unexplained or unexpanded. Headlines often do not explain the content and usually written without adequate background. Most of the stories are without statistics, much less statistics over time for comparative purposes. Original source of articles are often missing or deliberately not included to give the impression that these articles are original to the magazine.
Themes and Topics of Muslim Journalism
Regarding topics and themes within the papers, there is an excessive preoccupation with the “Islamic, Muslim World,” meaning mostly the Middle East and within it, the Palestine issue. Nothing original is written about these topics as none of the journalists has a first hand experience of the region. There seems to be little realization among the editors and management that nobody cares to read unoriginal writings about places far off from India.
All of the Muslim magazines lack journalists in the field to cover even the important events and developments in their own immediate physical neighborhood. This was dramatically illustrated when both Radiance and The Milli Gazette failed to cover Batla House police encounters of unarmed civilian Muslims in September 2008 in New Delhi. It is shocking that neither of the two magazines had staff to be deployed in an area literally walking distance from their offices. Instead both merely copied the findings of NGOS and Jamia Millia Islamia faculty findings.
What can be Done?
Suggested Topics for Investigative Journalism
Conclusions
I have been an avid reader of Radiance, Muslim India, Islamic Voice, and The Milli Gazette. The editors and management of all four magazines are my friends and I have written for all four. So what I say here is on the lines of Allama Iqbal’s famous line, “Khugar-i hamd se thoda sa gila bhi sun lay,” hear the complaints of an avid admirer! My major works, Khaki and Ethnic Violence in India, 2003 and Muslims in Indian Economy, 2006, are replete with references to all three print magazines. I have cited them so many times—wherever appropriate, of course---that at least one reviewer of my book complained of my reliance on Radiance, of course forgetting that I have cited Economic & Political Weekly, Organizer and numerous other Indian journals as well. My plea therefore is for the magazines cited here to consider the following topics for investigation:
1. Compare development—number of schools, hospitals, roads, irrigation and power, water and sanitation---in Muslim majority districts or taaluqas/tahsils with Hindu-majority districts and subdistricts. An excellent comparison would be Murshidabad with Birbhum, for example. Or Muslim majority taaluqas of Bidar, Karnataka with Hindu-majority taaluqas in the same district.
2. Investigate the working of Haj Committees, Urdu Academies, Minorities Commissions, Madarsa Boards, and Waqf Boards—both at national and central levels.
3. Monitor the performance of Muslim members of state legislatures, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Do they speak out or they are absent from attendance of the legislatures? If present, are they speaking out at all? How many bills did they introduce or participate in debates?
4. Scrutinize the activities of Muslim organizations and individuals who collect money from Muslims. Do Muslim organizations give accounts of zakat, fitraht, khairat, sadaqat, or goods---skins of sacrificial animals collected every year. Asking for accounts is to make the organizations and individuals accountable to the community. An organization with transparent accounts is likely to attract more funds, not less.
5. Audit the performance of Muslim educational institutions receiving funds from the state. For example, what is the intellectual and scientific output of Aligarh and Jamia faculty members since last six decades? Have they published any of their research in peer-reviewed journals of national and international reputation? What in particular is their contribution to studies on the economic and political situation of Indian Muslims?
6. Don’t forget that all reportage must be based on the simple, eminently logical, straightforward principle of who, what, where, when, and why? They will vastly improve the quality of the contents.
These are suggested topics. Further topics and themes can ensue if the brains of the community and its well-wishers everywhere can participate in an open conversation free from personal vendettas and selfish agendas.
--
Omar Khalidi can be reached at okhalidi@mit.edu
http://www.twocircles.net/2009oct20/...provement.html
Introduction
Newspapers and magazines everywhere have played a major role in informing the readers and influencing public opinion since the press began in India in the nineteenth century. Like in all other aspects of modernization, Muslims lagged behind almost every group in journalism. This article reviews English language Muslim press in India since independence and suggests concrete steps for improvement.
Leaving aside Muslim journalism in Persian and Urdu for the time being, we know of a handful of English newspapers and magazines the community members ran since the last hundred years. Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar’s (1876-1931) Comrade and Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)’s Dawn, which was founded in Delhi in 1941 come to mind. Comrade was like a flash in the pan, as it published for barely 3 years, 1911-14. Dawn departed to Karachi at the dawn of independence and Pakistan’s creation.
Between August 1947 and early 1950s, there was no English press devoted to Muslim issues. From around mid 1950s to mid 1960s only two low circulation magazines covered stories of Muslim interest: one was Victor Courtois, (d. 1960) a Belgian Catholic’s paper published from 1955 to 1960 in Calcutta and Siraat of Indian Union Muslim League, published in Madras in the 1960s. The Jamaat-i Islami’s Radiance was launched in 1963. The Jamiat al-Ulama collected 600,000 rupees in the 1960s to start an English daily newspaper but failed to accomplish the goal.
For the next two decades, Radiance shined over as the only paper in English focusing on Muslim issues, albeit from a Jamaat-i Islami perspective, until Syed Shahabuddin, a retired IFS officer and politician (b. 1924) began his Muslim India in 1983, which folded up in December 2002; then The Milli Gazette resumed it in 2003 only to close it in January 2005. Given Syed Shahabuddin’s amazing energy, it is unsurprising that he revived Muslim India, a second time in 2008.
In mid 1990s, Muslim elite in Delhi led by Sayyid Abulhasan Ali Nadwi, Syed Hamid and Hakim Abdulhamid and some businessmen tried to launch a daily newspaper in English. The effort was fruitless. Instead, Syed Hamid began a tabloid One Nation Chronicle in October 1989 in Delhi but it failed to make a mark and changed as a fortnightly under a new name Nation and the World and it is still published. A Bangalore-based businessman A.W. Saadatullah Khan started a fortnightly Islamic Voice in 1987, which began an online edition in 2004. At the dawn of the twentieth century Zafarulislam Khan began The Milli Gazette in New Delhi in January 2000. The most recent additions are the Eastern Crescent, run by Markaz al-Maarif of Assam since 2006 and Eastern Post of Kolkata which began in August 2007.
Regardless of its intellectual and physical qualities, Radiance remains the oldest surviving magazine. Its subtitle “Views weekly,” aptly sums up the majority of its contents, “views,” which are just that, not always backed up by data. Muslim India’s contents are not original but copied from other sources. Islamic Voice is advertisement intensive, with some original and copied articles. The Milli Gazette publishes longer pieces, but like other magazines discussed here, they are devoid of statistics. Given that India is a vast country and the resources of the magazines meager, it is understandable that Islamic Voice and The Milli Gazette’s contents are south and north intensive. The emergence Eastern Post is welcome addition for the coverage of West Bengal for its large Muslim population.
.
Journalism in Theory
What does one expect from any journalistic writing? A minimum is a story based on the simple, eminently logical, straightforward principle of who, what, where, when, and why? Does the press devoted to Muslim issues in India follow the principle? If not why not? What can be done about it? The present writer has read almost all magazines listed here from Radiance since 1963 to Eastern Post, which started in 2007. I find that all the magazines do an extremely poor job of reporting factual news by not strictly following the ideal journalistic norms of who, what, where, when and why.
Lack of professionalism in Writing
A majority of the times, there is little clarity in the news. Often names of places are assumed to be known even if they are obscure villages in a vast country like India. No indication is given of their location within a state, much less within a district. Maps are of course rarely provided. Dates are routinely absent. Many stories begin with words like “recently,” “sometime back,” “some years ago,” with no attempt at precision. Life spans of even the most famous persons are seldom given. Terms, concepts, ideas, abbreviations, and acronyms often go unexplained or unexpanded. Headlines often do not explain the content and usually written without adequate background. Most of the stories are without statistics, much less statistics over time for comparative purposes. Original source of articles are often missing or deliberately not included to give the impression that these articles are original to the magazine.
Themes and Topics of Muslim Journalism
Regarding topics and themes within the papers, there is an excessive preoccupation with the “Islamic, Muslim World,” meaning mostly the Middle East and within it, the Palestine issue. Nothing original is written about these topics as none of the journalists has a first hand experience of the region. There seems to be little realization among the editors and management that nobody cares to read unoriginal writings about places far off from India.
All of the Muslim magazines lack journalists in the field to cover even the important events and developments in their own immediate physical neighborhood. This was dramatically illustrated when both Radiance and The Milli Gazette failed to cover Batla House police encounters of unarmed civilian Muslims in September 2008 in New Delhi. It is shocking that neither of the two magazines had staff to be deployed in an area literally walking distance from their offices. Instead both merely copied the findings of NGOS and Jamia Millia Islamia faculty findings.
What can be Done?
Suggested Topics for Investigative Journalism
Conclusions
I have been an avid reader of Radiance, Muslim India, Islamic Voice, and The Milli Gazette. The editors and management of all four magazines are my friends and I have written for all four. So what I say here is on the lines of Allama Iqbal’s famous line, “Khugar-i hamd se thoda sa gila bhi sun lay,” hear the complaints of an avid admirer! My major works, Khaki and Ethnic Violence in India, 2003 and Muslims in Indian Economy, 2006, are replete with references to all three print magazines. I have cited them so many times—wherever appropriate, of course---that at least one reviewer of my book complained of my reliance on Radiance, of course forgetting that I have cited Economic & Political Weekly, Organizer and numerous other Indian journals as well. My plea therefore is for the magazines cited here to consider the following topics for investigation:
1. Compare development—number of schools, hospitals, roads, irrigation and power, water and sanitation---in Muslim majority districts or taaluqas/tahsils with Hindu-majority districts and subdistricts. An excellent comparison would be Murshidabad with Birbhum, for example. Or Muslim majority taaluqas of Bidar, Karnataka with Hindu-majority taaluqas in the same district.
2. Investigate the working of Haj Committees, Urdu Academies, Minorities Commissions, Madarsa Boards, and Waqf Boards—both at national and central levels.
3. Monitor the performance of Muslim members of state legislatures, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Do they speak out or they are absent from attendance of the legislatures? If present, are they speaking out at all? How many bills did they introduce or participate in debates?
4. Scrutinize the activities of Muslim organizations and individuals who collect money from Muslims. Do Muslim organizations give accounts of zakat, fitraht, khairat, sadaqat, or goods---skins of sacrificial animals collected every year. Asking for accounts is to make the organizations and individuals accountable to the community. An organization with transparent accounts is likely to attract more funds, not less.
5. Audit the performance of Muslim educational institutions receiving funds from the state. For example, what is the intellectual and scientific output of Aligarh and Jamia faculty members since last six decades? Have they published any of their research in peer-reviewed journals of national and international reputation? What in particular is their contribution to studies on the economic and political situation of Indian Muslims?
6. Don’t forget that all reportage must be based on the simple, eminently logical, straightforward principle of who, what, where, when, and why? They will vastly improve the quality of the contents.
These are suggested topics. Further topics and themes can ensue if the brains of the community and its well-wishers everywhere can participate in an open conversation free from personal vendettas and selfish agendas.
--
Omar Khalidi can be reached at okhalidi@mit.edu
http://www.twocircles.net/2009oct20/...provement.html
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Ukraine lawmakers to discuss child sex abuse at Artek
By RIA Novosti,
Kiev : Ukraine's parliament will discuss Tuesday the allegations about involvement of its three unnamed members and others in child sex abuse at a well-known holiday camp, a report said.
The Artek camp, located in the southern Crimea on the country's Black sea coast, has been in the news since Oct 13, when a lawmaker from Ukraine's opposition political party alleged that two siblings had been raped at the camp and top officials were involved in this case.
Members of the Supreme Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) are expected to hear investigation reports from the prosecutor general, the interior minister and a parliamentary human rights envoy.
The parliament is also expected to form a special investigation committee.
The police have detained a man suspected of sexually assaulting his own children in the camp, the report added.
The report said that Artek general director Boris Novozhilov was hospitalised last Saturday with heart problems after the police searched the apartments of some of his relatives in Kiev in connection with the case.
Artek is famous as the main Soviet-era camp attracting the children since 1930s. The camp closed this winter due to financial problems, but resumed its work in February.
http://twocircles.net/2009oct20/ukraine_lawmakers_discuss_child_sex_abuse_artek.html
Kiev : Ukraine's parliament will discuss Tuesday the allegations about involvement of its three unnamed members and others in child sex abuse at a well-known holiday camp, a report said.
The Artek camp, located in the southern Crimea on the country's Black sea coast, has been in the news since Oct 13, when a lawmaker from Ukraine's opposition political party alleged that two siblings had been raped at the camp and top officials were involved in this case.
Members of the Supreme Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) are expected to hear investigation reports from the prosecutor general, the interior minister and a parliamentary human rights envoy.
The parliament is also expected to form a special investigation committee.
The police have detained a man suspected of sexually assaulting his own children in the camp, the report added.
The report said that Artek general director Boris Novozhilov was hospitalised last Saturday with heart problems after the police searched the apartments of some of his relatives in Kiev in connection with the case.
Artek is famous as the main Soviet-era camp attracting the children since 1930s. The camp closed this winter due to financial problems, but resumed its work in February.
http://twocircles.net/2009oct20/ukraine_lawmakers_discuss_child_sex_abuse_artek.html
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