Bajrang Dal holds self-defence training camp in Mumbai

By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,

Mumbai: The Hindu extremist outfit Bajrang Dal held in Mumbai a 3-day training camp concluding on Sunday meant to train youths in self-defence and make them aware about religious conversion and other issues.

During the camp held at Sion Koliwada in Mumbai Hindu youngsters aging between18-35 were taught how to use lathis, swords and air rifles for self defence when needed. About 110 youths attended the camp.

According to a report in The Asian Age the outfit had not taken any permission from the police for organizing the camp. Umesh Gaikwad, convener of the Mumbai division of Bajrang Dal has been quoted as saying that the camp was part of the camps held around Diwali and in December for three days and during summer vacation for seven days.

During the camp the youths reportedly took part in a discussion on how the Islamic jihad was responsible for recent terror attacks.

BJP in a quandary with temple and terror cards

By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) cosy world of emotion-driven politics has been turned upside down by the Mumbai tragedy.

From the late 1980s, the BJP has used ultra-nationalist postures to garner votes. These ranged from the movement to "liberate" the mythical birthplace of Lord Ram in Ayodhya to the pillorying of the Congress for being soft on terror.

The Ramjanmabhoomi agitation led to the demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya and catapulted the BJP to power in the mid-1990s. After that, when the party failed to build a temple at the site of the demolished mosque, it turned to playing the terror card, accusing the Congress of not being serious against terrorist attacks so as not to alienate its Muslim supporters.

The results of the latest round of elections, however, have shown that this argument is losing its electoral potency.

Needless to say, the party is in a quandary with just about six months to go before the next general election. Not only has it lost what it considered a surefire ploy to garner votes with its xenophobic propaganda, some are wondering whether it has lost touch with the younger generation as well.

These misgivings have been caused by the BJP's defeat in the Delhi elections, where it had projected the 77-year-old Vijay Kumar Malhotra as its chief ministerial candidate.

Although the Congress' Sheila Dikshit is also a septuagenarian, she gives the impression of having a modern outlook, apparently because of her polished English, ready smile and brisk, businesslike ways. In contrast, the dour Malhotra was a typical representative of the BJP's original base of support in the city comprising the conservative-minded Hindu traders and refugees from Pakistan.

Since the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, L.K. Advani, is an octogenarian, the BJP must be now wondering whether he will appear to the younger set as the right man to lead the party in the second decade of the 21st century. Half of India's population is below 25 years.

Such doubts may also be fuelled by the increasingly active role 37-year-old Rahul Gandhi is playing in Congress politics, blaming the hierarchical structure of security agencies for their failure to prevent the Mumbai carnage. His criticism of the excessive focus on safety measures for VIPs also suggested that he is echoing the feelings of a large section of upper and middle class Indians.

The government's appointment of the energetic P. Chidambaram as the new home minister will reinforce the belief that the Congress is finally ready to face the present-day challenges. His observation that the terrorist attack was on the "idea of India" underlined the party's championing of the country's multicultural polity.

In contrast, the BJP may well be seen as a prisoner of the past. Not only is it still being seen as a pro-Hindu party, the attacks on Christians in Orissa, where it is in power, showed that it had little control over the rabid elements in the party and in its fraternal allies like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal.

True, the BJP won in the two states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. But these victories were based on the non-controversial and pro-development images of their chief ministers, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh. That the two leaders eschewed the Hindutva-oriented approach of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP's mentor in the saffron brotherhood, showed they have understood that such appeals to atavistic sentiments are no longer effective.

The defeat of the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Uma Bharati, known for her fiery pro-Hindu rhetoric, also demonstrated that the voters were turning away from crude sectarianism.

The BJP will be in further trouble if the combined pressure exerted by India and the US compels Pakistan to act against some of the "non-state" actors in the country, who are being held responsible for the attack on Mumbai and also other acts of terrorism. It is obvious that the threats of "unintended consequences", which America has held out to Pakistan if it fails to act, is a result of the closeness of India-US ties in the wake of the nuclear deal. Yet, it is a measure which the BJP had opposed - an unwise decision which may backfire on it with even greater force now.

The BJP's problem is that if it dumps Hindutva and switches to a development-oriented approach, it will earn the wrath of the RSS and the VHP for opportunistically abandoning the Hindu agenda. And if it does not lay too much emphasis on terror, the party will be accused of being as "pseudo-secular" as the Congress. This phrase, coined by Advani during the temple agitation, will come back to haunt him.

But that's not all. The apparent uselessness of its two emotive planks - temple and terrorism - will mean that the BJP will have to reinvent itself in view of the failure of the political ploys which guided it for the last two decades.

The BJP had discarded its credo of Gandhian socialism in favour of the temple agenda in the early 1990s. Now, it has to look for a new slogan.

(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at aganguli@mail.com)

Mumbai horror exposed gaps in India's economic takeoff: expert

By IANS,

New York : The terror attacks on India's financial capital Mumbai revealed several chinks in the country's emergence as an economic superpower, a French scholar has said.

"The attacks exposed the weakness of the so-called Indian economic takeoff," Gilles Kepel, an analyst of the Islamic and Arab societies, said in an interview to Forbes.Com.

"The aim of the attack was mainly political, but the economic dimension is still visible," he added.

Kepel said India, Brazil, Russia and China may have double digit growth but most of the population lives in poverty.

"In India you have 150-200 million people who live by European standards and one billion who live in sheer poverty. Not to say that Muslims are necessarily poor, just as there are poor Hindus also, but this exposes a number of faultlines behind the Indian miracle," he said.

Supporting the viewpoint of India and the US, Kepel said the Nov 26 Mumbai attacks were carried out by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and reflected the group's usual modus operandi.

"They do not do suicide bombings because they feel that if they press the button on the suicide belt, they commit a grave sin against Allah's will. For them, Allah is the one who decides when he should take back the life that he has given. In committing suicide, even if it's for the sake of jehad, a Muslim goes to hell," he said.

Kepel's latest book, "Beyond Terror and Martyrdom", examines the future of relations between Islam and the West.

The author said one of the main objectives of the Mumbai attacks was to create tension between India and Pakistan so as to deflate the pressure on the militants on the Afghan-Pakistan border, where a massive operation is going on against them right now.

"By ratcheting up the tension and bringing India into the battlefield, the attackers aimed to turn Pakistan away from the Taliban and focus on tension with India. This would then alleviate pressure on the militants," he said.

Terrorism: BJP sings a different tune now

By Mubasshir Mushtaq,

One does not know whether Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, September 29 Malegaon bomb blast accused, did 'sing' or she is made to sing but Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already chosen to sing a song. The singer is none other than a Singh who firmly believes that his ability to sing a song of 'cultural nationalism' will save his party. "Those who believe in cultural nationalism," said Rajnath Ram Singh, BJP president, referring to Sadhvi "cannot ever take to terror."

One does not understand Singh's definition of 'cultural nationalism' but he has been an inconsistent president of a party which claims to be truly "nationalistic." Is he the same Singh who sung the "terrorist" song immediately after the so-called 'encounter' at Batla House? Why did he sing a different song after the arrest of Sadhvi? Is it because of the difference in religious affiliation of those who were killed at Batla House? Or did 'acquaintance' prompt him to defend Sadhvi? The widely-circulated picture of Singh with Sadhvi does not incriminate him but as we say in journalism: A picture speaks a thousand words.

One must note that like the accused of the Batla house, Sadhvi remains an accused and not a "terrorist." A terrorist tag can only be accorded by a court of law.

Sadhvi has created so much confusion within the BJP. Initially, BJP disowned her when it was revealed that she was once a part of its student-wing, Akhil Bharthiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). BJP changed its official policy the moment Uma Bharati joined the strange enigma of Sadhvi. Uma Bharati was merely a political trap; Singh easily succumbed to it. After all, Singh and Bharati share the same saffron soul with varying degrees.

BJP's state of no-acceptance no-rejection of Sadhvi makes its case ambivalent.

A president of a nationalist political party should always stick to one song on a one theme no matter whoever may be the target audience.

BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad thought Singh's song was not enough and decided to write the whole script. His utterance was a good example of hysteria's triumph over common sense. "Why this lead (the alleged involvement of Students Islamic Movement of India in Malegaon 2006 cemetery blast) has not been followed in the 2008 blast?" Prasad asked.

Mr. Ravi Shankar should at least know that the motorcycle used in the blast was registered in the name of Sadhvi.

L.K. Advani, who has responded cautiously to Sadhvi episode, must take notice of his party's official ignorance.

Meanwhile the response of the saffron Hindutva groups has been highly intolerant. The rabid display of the 'majoritarian nationalism' or to put it more precisely 'mobocracy' went unnoticed in the mainstream media. Thousands of the saffron souls protested outside a Nasik court on November 3 where the accused were brought for the trial. They carried placards, chanted highly provocative slogans and openly defended Sadhvi and other army men allegedly involved in the Malegaon blast.

India, being a civilised democracy, gives a right to defend an accused. I am glad that Indian Muslims have never ever done such a protest outside a court. Indonesia, the largest Muslim country, did not witness any such protest when Bali bomb blasts' Muslim bombers were executed on the order of the country's highest court.

Nathuram Godse is dead but his legacy of hatred still thrives on. Himani Savarkar, Godse's niece and president of Abhinav Bharat – the organization allegedly behind the Malegaon blast – has advocated an eye for an eye theory. "If we can have bullet for bullet, why not blast for blast?" she has asked. She has even advocated that Indian Muslims should go and find a Muslim country to live!

Post-Independent India was infected with caste and communal riots. Now the bomb blast is an easy and alternative way to infect the body of India. It has begun to bleed with sickening regularity. Do we Indians realise that the war is no longer across the border? It is being fought within. China and Pakistan are not our biggest enemies. Our biggest enemies are fellow Indians who are striking at will wearing the cloak of anonymity.

Sadhvi episode has highlighted one crucial fact in Indian context: Terrorism is not a Muslim specialty. The bomb blasts in mosques in the Marathwada region (Nanded, Parbhani, Purna, Jalna etc.) were indeed carried out by Hindutva fanatics but government and intelligence agencies ignored it lest they antagonise the majority community. Army men's involvement in the Malegaon blast should not come as a surprise. Our intelligence agencies do have people who share the right-wing ideology. Those who have followed the Nanded 2006 blast will agree that the role of India's Criminal Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been highly controversial and biased.

Initially ATS suspected that SIMI was the behind the Malegaon blast. The ATS knew it from the day one that the killer motorcycle belonged to Sadhvi but yet they continued their combing operations in Muslim areas of Malegaon! The sudden 'right-turn' in the investigation was a result of Muslim resentment across the state of Maharashtra. Dozens of Muslim corporators belonging to Congress-NCP had sent their resignations directly to chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and home miniter R.R. Patil.

With elections round the corner, a dual-theory is being propagated by political pundits. Batla encounter was carried out to pacify Hindus and Malegaon arrests were made to "appease" the Muslims! Congress is being accused of playing a dual game.

A murmur has begun to develop in Muslim mohallas that Congress is indulging in a psychological war of perception management. Is Congress playing a game with Muslim sub-consciousness? We can't say with certainty. But at the same time it can't be ruled out. There is at least one reason to suspect. ATS is yet to apply the draconian MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) although they have slapped it on Malegaon blast accused of 2006. It is still being "considered."

Quite a Muslim question: Are there two set of different laws for two different communities? That's a question which Vilasrao Deshmukh needs to answer.

The Muslim vote will depend upon his answer and not mere lip-service as his government has been doing for the last 9 years. Sri Krishna Commission report is just the tip of an iceberg. The iceberg of genuine Muslim issues may sink Vilasrao's political boat.

This time 'nine days wonder' trick will not save Congress-NCP government.

A question worth-debating: Can Muslims of Maharashtra sing a different song?

My first Ramadan in Ukraine

Ramadan – it’s the name of the 9th month of the Islamic calendar ( Lunar calendar ). In this month – The Holly Quran was revealed by Allah to our beloved Prophet Muhammad ( SAW ) which helps the human society to follow the true path to God. All the Muslims welcomed the month warmly by offering fasting from dawn to dusk and put stressed on prayer. Fasting in this month is one among the five pillars of Islam. During this month doors of heavens are opened and doors of hell are closed.
I am a student, studying Medical Science 2nd year of Zaporozhya State Medical University, Zaporozhye, Ukraine and I from Manipur / N.E. My first Ramadan in Ukraine was one of the most unforgettable event in my life. As I am a Muslim I’ve to follow what’s inside the religion. The 1st of Ramadan fell on the 1st of September that all the Muslims in Ukraine began their fast. I stayed in hostel with two of my Muslim friends also from Manipur. On the eve of Ramadan we go for marketing specially for Ramadan. We bought some kitchen items and some sweets for Iftar. After Maghrib Sallah we started preparing food for dinner and for Suhoor too because our hostel kitchen closed at 12’ o clock . After that we offer Tarawih Sallah and we have it our dinner and started reading books for our next day classes. By 12.30 night we go to bed. We wake up around 3.30 am for having Suhoor and Fajr Sallah and sleep for few hours, after that I go to my classes. During break some of my non – Muslim friends asked me for coffee or sweets etc as they don’t know I am fasting and some are very co-operative, they too don’t eat anything and spent the break with me. Thank God for giving me such kind friends.
After passing some days, we didn’t get time for marketing, at that time we used to have Suhoor – rice with some dry meats ( the meat that my lovely old mother residing in my home – Manipur handover through my friends). At that time my eyes were filled with tears because even though I am staying thousands of miles away from her, still she tried to serve me the food made by her own hand. Oh !!!!. What a lovely mother …… I can’t ever find her, when I search the whole world. And I pray to Allah for her long life, the poor old mother who suffered long and always wants all her Childs to be true Muslim. And some times we used to be lazy or fail to wake up that time we used to fast without having Suhoor.
In the middle of the Ramadan some Iftar party were held in the University by the Muslim students. And in the night of Lai la’al qadar the holy night of the year we pray the whole night, we offered Sallat in Jamaat. In our hostel we have a free space on my floor about 8 meter to 6 meter where we do our Sallah and its very lucky for us. After couple of days Eid ul Fitr comes. On this day we got holyday from our University and offer Eid Sallah in our University gymnastic hall at 7.30 am. After that we prepare some special foods for Eid and invite Muslim and non Muslim friends in our room. We also visited our friends rooms wishing one another for Eid and cerebrate with them happily
The Fast helps in deep personal worship which brings closed to Allah and it cleans the soul and free from harmfull activities. Its also the way of sharing the pains of the poor who even doesn’t have the square of meals a day. Ramadan in Ukraine was not so hard as compared to my native place Manipur. So, I request to all my brothers, sisters in Islam Inshah Allah let’s try to abserve Ramadan in true spirit so that all the year we can be as like as we were in Ramadan.
Zayed Farested – Zaporozhye, Ukraine ( Originally from Imphal- Manipur / N.E. )