CAIRO — Students in government-run higher educational institutions are decrying restrictions on the wearing of face-veils in the Muslim-majority Arab country.
"I don't understand their point of view," Heba, a Cairo University student, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Tuesday, October 6, after being denied access to the university’s girls hostel for wearing the niqab.
She insisted that the restrictions, which are not yet declared as an official ban, are justifiable.
"If it's for security, we can lift the niqab for security and show them our IDs."
Outside one the university's female residences, students said they had been stopped at the gates when they tried to enter wearing face veils.
Some have written an official complaint and planned to lodge it with the university authorities.
"From a security standpoint, the niqabs weren't a problem for us," a security guard who has been ordered to bar women from entering the residence wearing a niqab told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"They would show their faces when asked. I was surprised by the decision," he added.
"If you want reasons, ask the education ministry."
But an Education Ministry spokesman insisted there was no such ban.
“There is absolutely no ban against students wearing the niqab," Adli Reda told AFP.
He said the orders were to have the students show their faces when asked for identification.
Concerns
But Hossam Bahgat, of the rights watchdog the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said he had received complaints from students banned from entering Cairo University residences because they were wearing the niqab.
Analysts believe that the government’s stance on niqab is not simply based on security concerns.
"There is a secular trend in government, and the niqab is against that," Diaa Rashwan, a leading expert on political Islam in the Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, a local think tank, told AFP.
Most Muslim women in Egypt wear the hijab, which is an obligatory code of dress in Islam, but an increase in women putting on the niqab has apparently alarmed the government.
The ministry of religious endowments has recently distributed booklets in mosques against the practice while the health ministry reportedly wants to ban doctors and nurses from wearing it.
"There are (also) government concerns about Salafism," Rashwan notes.
Salafis put the emphasis on spreading the puritan creed of emulating the practices and beliefs of early Muslims.
They are reportedly gaining more grounds in many Muslim countries, particularly Egypt, and have major theological differences with Al-Azhar, the highest seat of religious learning in the Sunni world.
"Al-Azhar has always had a cautious dislike towards other trends that challenge its legitimacy," Rashwan said.
Al-Azhar, like the majority of Muslim scholars, says a woman is not obliged to cover her face or hands while Salafis insist she must.
Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi, Egypt’s top religious authority, earlier this week vowed to ban niqab in all schools affiliated to Al-Azhar.
Egypt Students Decry Niqab Restrictions - IslamOnline.net - News
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Imam Anwar Awlaki: Could Yemen be the Next Suprise of the Season?
The jihad movement around the world has witnessed a surprising growth during the past few years. After 9-11 America had succeeded in pulling together an international coalition in order to fight the mujahedeen. It invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, put pressure on governments around the world to throw anyone with association with Jihad behind bars and to stop the flow of money into Jihad movements. All over the world the mujahedeen have suffered an international effort under the leadership of America to bring an end to Jihad. But Eight years later the mujahedeen are wining on every front and are expanding into new ones. It appeared difficult back then to imagine that the world would be the way it is today just 8 years after 9-11.
That is because Rasulullah(saaws) said: “A group of my ummah will continue fighting in the path of Allah and they will not be harmed by those who are against them.”
The American people gave G.W. Bush unanimous backing to fight against the mujahedeen and gave him a blank check to spend as much as needed to fulfill that objective. The result? He failed, and he failed miserably. So if America failed to defeat the mujahedeen when it gave its president unlimited support, how can it win with Obama who is on a short leash? If America failed to win when it was at its pinnacle of economic strength, how can it win today with a recession – if not a depression- at hand?
The simple answer is: America cannot and will not win. The tables have turned and there is no rolling back of the worldwide Jihad movement. The ideas of Jihad are proliferating around the world, the mujahedeen movements are gaining strength and the battlefields are expanding with the mujahedeen introducing new fronts.
In Afghanistan the rural areas are mostly under the control of the Taliban and there is a steady improvement in the growth and strength of the mujahedeen. In Iraq even though the US claims an improvement in the security situation but one needs to ask the question at what cost is that achieved? The amount of money America is spending on Iraq with a recession at hand is unattainable.
The Jihad of this era started in Palestine, followed by Afghanistan, then Chechnya, then Iraq, then Somalia, then the Maghreb, and the new front might very well turn out to be Yemen.
And when this new front of Jihad starts in Yemen it might become the single most important front of Jihad in the world.
Why? First, the Arabian Peninsula has always been a land of mujahedeen even though there has been no fighting occurring on its soil. In Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, and Iraq the participation of mujahedeen from the Arabian Peninsula represented the largest block of foreign mujahedeen. When Jihad starts in the Arabian Peninsula, Jihad would be coming back to its home.
Second, he Arabian Peninsula is home to Makkah and Madinah. To free the Holy places from the rule of apostasy and tyranny is to free the heart of Islam.
Third, the rulers in the Arabian Peninsula are playing a central role in the fight against Islam especially the al Saud family. The al Saud of today are the Abdullah bin Ubay of yesterday. They have perfected the art of hypocrisy.
They fight Islam in the name of Islam. They wear cloaks of sheep on hearts of wolfs. There cannot be Islamic rule and a return to khilafah without removing them from existence and this is the responsibility of the mujahedeen of the Arabian Peninsula.
America and its allies in the area are plotting against the mujahedeen, nevertheless their growth increases by the day. May Allah grant the true believers victory and grant them steadfastness on His path.
Their intention is to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will complete His light even thought the disbelievers may detest it. (al Saff 61)
http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com/
That is because Rasulullah(saaws) said: “A group of my ummah will continue fighting in the path of Allah and they will not be harmed by those who are against them.”
The American people gave G.W. Bush unanimous backing to fight against the mujahedeen and gave him a blank check to spend as much as needed to fulfill that objective. The result? He failed, and he failed miserably. So if America failed to defeat the mujahedeen when it gave its president unlimited support, how can it win with Obama who is on a short leash? If America failed to win when it was at its pinnacle of economic strength, how can it win today with a recession – if not a depression- at hand?
The simple answer is: America cannot and will not win. The tables have turned and there is no rolling back of the worldwide Jihad movement. The ideas of Jihad are proliferating around the world, the mujahedeen movements are gaining strength and the battlefields are expanding with the mujahedeen introducing new fronts.
In Afghanistan the rural areas are mostly under the control of the Taliban and there is a steady improvement in the growth and strength of the mujahedeen. In Iraq even though the US claims an improvement in the security situation but one needs to ask the question at what cost is that achieved? The amount of money America is spending on Iraq with a recession at hand is unattainable.
The Jihad of this era started in Palestine, followed by Afghanistan, then Chechnya, then Iraq, then Somalia, then the Maghreb, and the new front might very well turn out to be Yemen.
And when this new front of Jihad starts in Yemen it might become the single most important front of Jihad in the world.
Why? First, the Arabian Peninsula has always been a land of mujahedeen even though there has been no fighting occurring on its soil. In Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, and Iraq the participation of mujahedeen from the Arabian Peninsula represented the largest block of foreign mujahedeen. When Jihad starts in the Arabian Peninsula, Jihad would be coming back to its home.
Second, he Arabian Peninsula is home to Makkah and Madinah. To free the Holy places from the rule of apostasy and tyranny is to free the heart of Islam.
Third, the rulers in the Arabian Peninsula are playing a central role in the fight against Islam especially the al Saud family. The al Saud of today are the Abdullah bin Ubay of yesterday. They have perfected the art of hypocrisy.
They fight Islam in the name of Islam. They wear cloaks of sheep on hearts of wolfs. There cannot be Islamic rule and a return to khilafah without removing them from existence and this is the responsibility of the mujahedeen of the Arabian Peninsula.
America and its allies in the area are plotting against the mujahedeen, nevertheless their growth increases by the day. May Allah grant the true believers victory and grant them steadfastness on His path.
Their intention is to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will complete His light even thought the disbelievers may detest it. (al Saff 61)
http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com/
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Badruddin Ajmal writes to HRD Ministry on Central Madrasa Board
By TwoCircles.net News Desk ,
New Delhi: Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, Member of Lok Sabha from Dhubri (Assam) and president, Assam United Democratic Front, has urged the Congress-led UPA Government to think first for the 96% schoolgoing children of Muslim community who do not attend any madrasa (according to Sachar report only 4% of Muslim children study at madrasa). The MP has also suggested the government to first experiement the proposed Central Madrasa Board for government-aided madrasas running under government madrasa boards in some states.
In a letter to Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, Ajmal said madrasas in India have been independent for last couple of centuries, and so any move by government to control and monitor them will not go down easily with the community and madrasa authorities.
Strengthening his point that the community will not accept the central government initiative, Ajmal wrote: It is notable that all leading non-governmental madrasas like – Darul Uloom Deoband and Nadwatul Ulama Lucknow, religious organizations like – Jamait Ulama-I Hind and All India Ulama Council and a majority of Muslim religious leaders have already rejected the proposed CMB before this fresh move by your esteemed ministry.
“The Muslim community leaders have rejected the proposal as they fear this will allow unnecessary government interference in the madrasa system. Moreover, we do have government aided madrasa boards in at least 10 states of our country where madrasas are affiliated and aided by the state governments. At present the conditions of these government aided madrasas – education, infrastructure and staff salary – are far worse than those non-aided madrasas. Especially the theological aspects of these govt.-aided madrasas are very apathetic. In addition to this I am frequent to face arguments during intra-community meetings such as ‘If the government is really concerned about the educational welfare of the Muslims, then it should give proportionate reservation to Muslim students in all central universities’. Some even put straight questions like “Why is the government not setting up schools, colleges, medical colleges and ITIs in the Muslim dominated areas if it is really open for the educational development of the Muslim in the country?" There can be counter arguments too but to me it is still not the time for a Central Madrasa Board for non-aided non-governmental (quami) madarasas in our country.”
In the letter he has put five suggestions before the government:
1)The HRD ministry should pay urgent attention towards the out of school Muslim children before everything else. I strongly believe that if the present UPA government can manage to bring the percentage of out of school Muslim children down from 7.67% to even 4 % in this five year tenure, it will be a delighted gift for both the community and the nation.
2)The ministry should first resolve to make the proposed CMB for government aided madrasas for a targeted time period, bring them under one umbrella as in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and facilitate equally standard education for madrasas in all states to set an example against government aided madrasas’ negative reputation.
3)There are thousands of primary and pre-primary schools run by Muslims NGOs or local bodies of masjids across the country and most of them are following syllabus proscribed by the state governments in addition to maktab (elementary Islamic) education. These schools be adopted first by the state government under the SSA or by the central government under the UEE and then manage standard primary education through government aid. It will avail a solid educational foundation for all Muslim children and will make an opportune to the next general secondary standard madrasa students to pursue their advanced education either with government aided institutes or with non-government aided ones – madrasas. Generally they will prefer the former owing to the future prospects of their carrier.
4)According to Muslim NGOs only 1.5% Muslim children are completing madrasa education nationwide and ulama argue that this small number is even not enough to fulfill the religious need of the community alone. I think government should effectively plan for 98.5% Muslim children and rest will be automatically updated to match with the community demands.
5)The government should avoid direct involvement in the functioning of independent madrasas by all means until a successful and transparent experiment has been done with aided madrasa board. On the other hand an NGO- Government partnership project aiming at the targets set by the proposed CMB can be initiated without further delay. These partner NGOs will work as bridge between madrasas and government and will amicably be able to implement mutually accepted and desired changes or development in both curriculum and methodology of madrasa education system. Which will gradually be taken by the Central Madrasa Board and the NGOs will be replaced by the CMB members in later stage.
http://twocircles.net/2009oct05/badruddin_ajmal_writes_hrd_ministry_central_madrasa_board.html
New Delhi: Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, Member of Lok Sabha from Dhubri (Assam) and president, Assam United Democratic Front, has urged the Congress-led UPA Government to think first for the 96% schoolgoing children of Muslim community who do not attend any madrasa (according to Sachar report only 4% of Muslim children study at madrasa). The MP has also suggested the government to first experiement the proposed Central Madrasa Board for government-aided madrasas running under government madrasa boards in some states.
In a letter to Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, Ajmal said madrasas in India have been independent for last couple of centuries, and so any move by government to control and monitor them will not go down easily with the community and madrasa authorities.
Strengthening his point that the community will not accept the central government initiative, Ajmal wrote: It is notable that all leading non-governmental madrasas like – Darul Uloom Deoband and Nadwatul Ulama Lucknow, religious organizations like – Jamait Ulama-I Hind and All India Ulama Council and a majority of Muslim religious leaders have already rejected the proposed CMB before this fresh move by your esteemed ministry.
“The Muslim community leaders have rejected the proposal as they fear this will allow unnecessary government interference in the madrasa system. Moreover, we do have government aided madrasa boards in at least 10 states of our country where madrasas are affiliated and aided by the state governments. At present the conditions of these government aided madrasas – education, infrastructure and staff salary – are far worse than those non-aided madrasas. Especially the theological aspects of these govt.-aided madrasas are very apathetic. In addition to this I am frequent to face arguments during intra-community meetings such as ‘If the government is really concerned about the educational welfare of the Muslims, then it should give proportionate reservation to Muslim students in all central universities’. Some even put straight questions like “Why is the government not setting up schools, colleges, medical colleges and ITIs in the Muslim dominated areas if it is really open for the educational development of the Muslim in the country?" There can be counter arguments too but to me it is still not the time for a Central Madrasa Board for non-aided non-governmental (quami) madarasas in our country.”
In the letter he has put five suggestions before the government:
1)The HRD ministry should pay urgent attention towards the out of school Muslim children before everything else. I strongly believe that if the present UPA government can manage to bring the percentage of out of school Muslim children down from 7.67% to even 4 % in this five year tenure, it will be a delighted gift for both the community and the nation.
2)The ministry should first resolve to make the proposed CMB for government aided madrasas for a targeted time period, bring them under one umbrella as in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and facilitate equally standard education for madrasas in all states to set an example against government aided madrasas’ negative reputation.
3)There are thousands of primary and pre-primary schools run by Muslims NGOs or local bodies of masjids across the country and most of them are following syllabus proscribed by the state governments in addition to maktab (elementary Islamic) education. These schools be adopted first by the state government under the SSA or by the central government under the UEE and then manage standard primary education through government aid. It will avail a solid educational foundation for all Muslim children and will make an opportune to the next general secondary standard madrasa students to pursue their advanced education either with government aided institutes or with non-government aided ones – madrasas. Generally they will prefer the former owing to the future prospects of their carrier.
4)According to Muslim NGOs only 1.5% Muslim children are completing madrasa education nationwide and ulama argue that this small number is even not enough to fulfill the religious need of the community alone. I think government should effectively plan for 98.5% Muslim children and rest will be automatically updated to match with the community demands.
5)The government should avoid direct involvement in the functioning of independent madrasas by all means until a successful and transparent experiment has been done with aided madrasa board. On the other hand an NGO- Government partnership project aiming at the targets set by the proposed CMB can be initiated without further delay. These partner NGOs will work as bridge between madrasas and government and will amicably be able to implement mutually accepted and desired changes or development in both curriculum and methodology of madrasa education system. Which will gradually be taken by the Central Madrasa Board and the NGOs will be replaced by the CMB members in later stage.
http://twocircles.net/2009oct05/badruddin_ajmal_writes_hrd_ministry_central_madrasa_board.html
Corruption rampant in NREGA in Assam Cong Govt: AIUDF
By TwoCircles.net News Desk,
New Delhi: Thanks to systemic corruption and lack of transparency on the part of state Congress government NREGA officials have made NREGA a major source of corruption in Assam, alleged All India United Democratic Front of Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, Lok Sabha Member from Dhubri in Assam and AIUDF chief.
The allegation was made by AIUDF General Secretary and party spokesman Dr Baharul Islam at a consultative meeting held in the Ministry of Rural Development today.
DR. C.P. Joshi, Minister for Rural Development invited representatives of the state political parties today to evolve suitable strategies for more effective implementation of NREGA. The minister sought cooperation of all political parties towards achieving the ultimate objectives and goals of NREGA.
In Phase-I, 200 identified districts were covered under NREGA. Additional 130 districts were covered in Phase-II in 2007-08. The entire rural areas of the country have been covered from April 2008. According to the ministry, out of the total expenditure of Rs.64,363 crore, an amount of Rs.43,875 crore i.e. 68% has been spent on wages. 7.56 crore institutional accounts of workers have been opened encouraging savings among the poor.
Dr Baharul Islam presented before the minister a list of more than 20 formal complaints filed by various people on corruption in NREGA in Assam and which are available on the ministry’s website. But, none of the complaint has been responded to by the state government as per the ministry’s website. During the meeting he presented a few major cases of corruption that were highlighted in the local media. He said that “the systemic corruption that engulfs the state today at all levels has also infected the implementation of the NREGA. Court cases in places like Karimganj and Barpeta have also showed that how officials have bypassed the Panchayati Raj institutions which were intended to play an important role in planning and executing this flagship programme to respond to the local needs of the people.” Specially, the issue of fake job cards, job cards deposited in the custody of implementing officials or political party middlemen, delayed payment are being used for nefarious purpose of minting money illegally, he alleged.
Dr Baharul Islam further referred to the recent study done by Rajya Sabha MP and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Bimal Jalan, that highlighted that the official estimates of wages realized by workers are in fact inflated because the actual wages received by workers were much less than what is shown in the official documents. Cases of corruption, fudging in muster rolls, discrepancies in work days and payments have been reported in almost all studies, the study said. “Fraudulent payments and anomalies such as extraction of money have also been reported in (wage) payments through (bank, post-office and other) accounts. States including Assam, in fact, saw reduction in employment generation under NREGA as compared to SGRY,” the study found.
The Rural Minister assured AIUDF that some corrective steps will be taken by the Ministry to stop corruption in NREGA implementation in Assam and there will be a group of prominent persons who will visit NREGA works and submit reports to the Ministry for necessary action.
The meeting was attended by various other political party leaders like Sri Ajit Sing (ALD), Babulal Marandi (JVM), Sri TM Basheer (KULML) besides the Minister of state Pradeep Jain and other senior Ministry officials.
[Photo: milligazette.com]
http://twocircles.net/2009oct06/corruption_rampant_nrega_assam_cong_govt_aiudf.html
New Delhi: Thanks to systemic corruption and lack of transparency on the part of state Congress government NREGA officials have made NREGA a major source of corruption in Assam, alleged All India United Democratic Front of Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, Lok Sabha Member from Dhubri in Assam and AIUDF chief.
The allegation was made by AIUDF General Secretary and party spokesman Dr Baharul Islam at a consultative meeting held in the Ministry of Rural Development today.
DR. C.P. Joshi, Minister for Rural Development invited representatives of the state political parties today to evolve suitable strategies for more effective implementation of NREGA. The minister sought cooperation of all political parties towards achieving the ultimate objectives and goals of NREGA.
In Phase-I, 200 identified districts were covered under NREGA. Additional 130 districts were covered in Phase-II in 2007-08. The entire rural areas of the country have been covered from April 2008. According to the ministry, out of the total expenditure of Rs.64,363 crore, an amount of Rs.43,875 crore i.e. 68% has been spent on wages. 7.56 crore institutional accounts of workers have been opened encouraging savings among the poor.
Dr Baharul Islam presented before the minister a list of more than 20 formal complaints filed by various people on corruption in NREGA in Assam and which are available on the ministry’s website. But, none of the complaint has been responded to by the state government as per the ministry’s website. During the meeting he presented a few major cases of corruption that were highlighted in the local media. He said that “the systemic corruption that engulfs the state today at all levels has also infected the implementation of the NREGA. Court cases in places like Karimganj and Barpeta have also showed that how officials have bypassed the Panchayati Raj institutions which were intended to play an important role in planning and executing this flagship programme to respond to the local needs of the people.” Specially, the issue of fake job cards, job cards deposited in the custody of implementing officials or political party middlemen, delayed payment are being used for nefarious purpose of minting money illegally, he alleged.
Dr Baharul Islam further referred to the recent study done by Rajya Sabha MP and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Bimal Jalan, that highlighted that the official estimates of wages realized by workers are in fact inflated because the actual wages received by workers were much less than what is shown in the official documents. Cases of corruption, fudging in muster rolls, discrepancies in work days and payments have been reported in almost all studies, the study said. “Fraudulent payments and anomalies such as extraction of money have also been reported in (wage) payments through (bank, post-office and other) accounts. States including Assam, in fact, saw reduction in employment generation under NREGA as compared to SGRY,” the study found.
The Rural Minister assured AIUDF that some corrective steps will be taken by the Ministry to stop corruption in NREGA implementation in Assam and there will be a group of prominent persons who will visit NREGA works and submit reports to the Ministry for necessary action.
The meeting was attended by various other political party leaders like Sri Ajit Sing (ALD), Babulal Marandi (JVM), Sri TM Basheer (KULML) besides the Minister of state Pradeep Jain and other senior Ministry officials.
[Photo: milligazette.com]
http://twocircles.net/2009oct06/corruption_rampant_nrega_assam_cong_govt_aiudf.html
Photos of deities should be disallowed even in govt offices
Editorial in The Canara Times (Mangalore)
(23 September 2009)
Karnataka Chief Justice Dinakeran’s order banning photos of deities and performing of religious rituals in court premises, has come to light two months later. People who believe in secular ideologies would welcome this decision. In fact the government which should be secular and above religious affiliations and which should consider all citizens equal irrespective of their religious affiliations, should have issued such an order banning religious symbols or rituals in all government offices including courts and also public places and should have taken steps to ensure the rule was strictly adhered to. But ever since independence no government has taken any step in this direction. As per constitution India is a secular nation. This being the case, any symbol depicting the superiority of any religion or any ritual should have been naturally banned in government offices, courts, and educational institutions where people of all faiths converge and which runs with taxpayers’ money. This is the underlying need of the secular system which we have accepted and are practicing. We do not know to what extent Justice Dinakeran’s order has been implemented in courts. The Chief Justice should have brought government offices and schools and colleges too within the purview of this order. The public should send their views on this to Justice Dinakeran.
There is no hope that the present BJP government which came to power on the basis of religious sentiment would issue such a circular. In this backdrop, the Union Government should issue suitable instructions to all state governments and take steps to ensure that the rule was strictly adhered to within the next one month.
The governments which have used religions only for their vote bank politics, backtracking to adhere to secular ideologies is not in accordance to the needs to the time. The BJP government’s action of announcing hundreds of crores of grants for different mutts during the past one year period, is not just an act of drilling a hole into the state treasury, but also non-secular. It is nothing but gross misuse of valuable resources which otherwise ought to have been used for public welfare.
Even political leaders who come to power with the help of the votes of people belonging to all faiths, participating in religious functions is as good as tying the horse behind the cart. We cannot say that only BJP men are deeply religious. There are such people in all parties. Just try to recollect as to the number of homas and havanas in which the Cognress and JD(S) CMs and ministers have openly participated.
It is not suffice if the system is secular. We can say we are living in a secular system only when people who control the system (Including leaders and bureaucrats) are secular in the true sense.
(23 September 2009)
Karnataka Chief Justice Dinakeran’s order banning photos of deities and performing of religious rituals in court premises, has come to light two months later. People who believe in secular ideologies would welcome this decision. In fact the government which should be secular and above religious affiliations and which should consider all citizens equal irrespective of their religious affiliations, should have issued such an order banning religious symbols or rituals in all government offices including courts and also public places and should have taken steps to ensure the rule was strictly adhered to. But ever since independence no government has taken any step in this direction. As per constitution India is a secular nation. This being the case, any symbol depicting the superiority of any religion or any ritual should have been naturally banned in government offices, courts, and educational institutions where people of all faiths converge and which runs with taxpayers’ money. This is the underlying need of the secular system which we have accepted and are practicing. We do not know to what extent Justice Dinakeran’s order has been implemented in courts. The Chief Justice should have brought government offices and schools and colleges too within the purview of this order. The public should send their views on this to Justice Dinakeran.
There is no hope that the present BJP government which came to power on the basis of religious sentiment would issue such a circular. In this backdrop, the Union Government should issue suitable instructions to all state governments and take steps to ensure that the rule was strictly adhered to within the next one month.
The governments which have used religions only for their vote bank politics, backtracking to adhere to secular ideologies is not in accordance to the needs to the time. The BJP government’s action of announcing hundreds of crores of grants for different mutts during the past one year period, is not just an act of drilling a hole into the state treasury, but also non-secular. It is nothing but gross misuse of valuable resources which otherwise ought to have been used for public welfare.
Even political leaders who come to power with the help of the votes of people belonging to all faiths, participating in religious functions is as good as tying the horse behind the cart. We cannot say that only BJP men are deeply religious. There are such people in all parties. Just try to recollect as to the number of homas and havanas in which the Cognress and JD(S) CMs and ministers have openly participated.
It is not suffice if the system is secular. We can say we are living in a secular system only when people who control the system (Including leaders and bureaucrats) are secular in the true sense.
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