mujtabas-musings

Painting Between Strangeness and Familiarity

2011-12-17T14:27:00.001-08:00

Painting Between Strangeness and Familiarity
Syed Ali Mujtaba

No part of art can express any emotion if there is no some part of reality mixed into it, Emil Schumacher, the famous German painter; a representative of abstract expressionism in post-war Germany is reported to have said.

Another German artist, Ruth Bisping, showcasing her work at the Cholamandal Cultural Center for Contemporary Art in Chennai dwells upon the same thought when she says, this irreducible element is a key to any work, however tiny, however imperceptible the indication might be. In other words, this element within the painting unlocks our mind, our body and our emotions’, she adds.

This hugely talented artist who now lives in Chennai shows her work from different periods of her stay in India. Ruth lives in Germany and France but lately since over a year she is living in Chennai.

In its modern version, painting is spontaneous reflection and interaction. What appears on the canvas is not preconceived or much determined by ‘real thing. The ‘real things’ are hidden in colors and shapes of imagination, they are there, but the creative artist’s projection rules over reality, that is how Ruth explains her work displayed at the art gallery in the Cholamandal artist’s village.

Calling her painting between strangeness and familiarity, Ruth goes on to say, ‘when a painter changes her physical environment, as radical and abrupt, as I did by moving to Chennai, the content and style of my painting is adoptive to whatever changes I have witnessed after coming over here.

Who ever has seen my work in Europe that unfortunately I could not bring them to Chennai, will see the difference put on the canvas here that is reflective of Indian environment, Ruth comments on her painting.

Her paintings reflect a dedication to vibrant fluent colors to raw materiality to spontaneous imagination. Her paintings have come up over a period of one year of hard work put up at her studio here in Chennai.

As one can see, the impulsive process of her paintings showcased at the exhibition there is a transformation of her very personal sensation of the moment on to the huge canvas right in front as one enters into the art gallery.

With her works, she lures us into the quest for traces of nativness, a search in the world completely regimented by the rules of a civilization. And to view it from another perspective, a search of an uncertainty, a freedom, to be felt in space and time, an unorganized strangeness rooted in each of us and with whom we all are so familiar.

Passing through Ruth Bisping’s painting one may experience this kind of uncertainty, continuously changing position and perspective, the beholder is exposed to permanently varying ways of viewing and possibly also experiencing similar feelings.

Her paintings are rooted in gestural and in tachisme painting. The styles are characterized by the spontaneous application of color fields on to the canvas.

Apparent are the elements, a scratch, a sign, and an iridescent surface that makes her artwork so legible. This element throws light upon her painting and its meaning.

The element reveals to us an aesthetic perception of the world, a thought which in terms of Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher, only ever existed in our minds, in our bodies and in our emotions.

Undoubtedly Ruth Bisping’s painting has roots in the tradition of Jean Fautrier, Alberto Burri, Antoni Tapies and certainly of Emil Schumacher.

Ruth Bisping studied at the College of Fine Arts in Braunschweig and Bielefeld in Germany. She has held solo shows of her work in Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Toronto, Bordeaux etc. She has participated in several group shows in Germany France, Lithuania, Italy and Canada. She took part at Biennale for Installation at Gera in 2011. Her work can be accessed at www.ruth-bisping.de

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

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Agonizing Wait for Communal Violence Bill

2011-11-13T00:07:00.000-08:00

Agonizing Wait for Communal Violence Bill
Syed Ali Mujtaba

There seems to be a conspiracy of silence when it comes to tackling Hindu- Muslim communal riots in India. Since the past sixty years or so a systematic annihilation of human population is going on but no one seems to be bothered as to how to address the issue.

The recent communal clash in Gopalgarh at Bharatpur district of Rajasthan on September 14, 2011, is one such incident that graphically narrates the horrifying aspect of this problem.

The riot actually broke out between Hindu Gujjars and Muslim Meos over a dispute for six bighas land near a Muslim graveyard. The land belonged to the Muslims that the Gujjars forcibly tried to capture and the turn of event took a communal color.

According to reports Muslims were praying in Gopalgarh town’s main mosque when a Gujjar mob entered the place of worship. The mob was accompanied by local police. It started indiscriminately on the praying worshipers.

According to eyewitnesses, rioters even poured the kerosene oil on the worshipers and set ablaze at least four of them. In this communal mayhem, nine Muslims lost their lives.

A fact finding groups from ANHAD and Jamiat Ulam-e Hind visited the place of violence the very next day. It reported that there were strong evidences to suggest, that police and the local administration in Gopalgarh acted in a partisan manner while dealing with the clash between Muslim Meos and Hindu Gujjars.

The fact finding team stated that the fighting had broken out due to a dispute over a small plot of land. This could have been controlled, if the police had taken firm action against the aggressor.

However instead of acting as upholder of law and order, the police reportedly joined the Gujjar community in gunning down the Muslim Meos. The police watched the burning of many Muslims alive inside the mosque.

The fact finding team reported that there are enough instances to prove that police and Gujjars tried to destroy evidences of the crimes committed against the Muslims.

This is not the first time that a communal riot of such a nature has taken place and one is also sure that this would the last time for the crime of such a nature.

However, one is appalled by the dead conscious of the people that even a crime of such a nature do not jolt them to wake and stand up and press upon the point that for god sake stop this madness once and for all.

Like any other riot, the plot at the Gopalgarh was the same, the script was the same, the aggressors were the same, and the victims were the same. The complicity of the security forces and the belligerent action of the dominant community has resulted in the butchering of helpless people.

Even such a cold blooded murder failed to attract hue and cry from the civil society and preferred to look the other way round, as if nothing has happened and every thing is fine.

The height of idiocentricity was when Congress leader Sachin Pilot refused to accept this event as a Hindu Muslim communal riot. Inspite the fact that the killing had taken place inside the mosque, the Congress Minister refused to accept it as a religious riot. He termed the event a ethnic clash between two communities of Rajasthan the Gujjars and the Meos.

The state government after the riot took some half-hearted actions action to sooth the anger of the victims but it was a case of too little and too late.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too visited the site of the violence and talked to the victims, but nothing has moved beyond such tokenism.

The main problem that is witnessed during every communal flare up is that it occur due inefficiency of the security forces in some cases due to their connivances with the rioters. In Gopalgarh riots, the land dispute was not new one.

Tension was building around it for long time. It was because of the preventive action of the security forces that it was kept under control.

However, this time this was not the case. The police force did not take any precautionary measures inspite knowing the fact that tension over the issue was brewing for long. On the contrary, the police played an active role in killing the Muslims, firing upon them indiscriminately even inside Mosque.

The incident is a pointer to the fact that repeatedly the problem starts with the fight over the graveyard land, the Eidgah land, processions near the Mosques and some other set situations. All along a conspiracy is hatched to punish the Muslims.

The aggressor come in large number accompanied by the police and launch a onslaught over the Muslim and any resistance results in their cold blooded murder.

Its really disturbing to see that even though communal peace is regularly being breached in this country but no action plan is yet in sight to deal with such events.

How long will this go on in this country? What a shame on a nation that boasts of unity in diversity, tolerance, pluralism and co existence and other such words.

One of the promises that the UPA Government had made in the first term in office was to bring an enactment of a legislation to prevent communal violence in the country.

The government did some half hearted attempt to bring such legislation. Contrary to meeting the expectations of the victims of the communal riot, the bill seemed to empower the police and the state machinery with draconian powers as a remedy to “control” riots.

There was no provision in the bill to bring to task of misuse of power by the police and punishing the guilty. There was no provision for the rehabilitation of the victims of targeted violence.

With all these glaring loopholes, the bill was hurriedly withdrawn with the promise to bringing it back in a much more comprehensive format. Its almost eight years to the promise and noting has materialized on the ground.

Now after some efforts and engagements with the authorities by various human rights organizations, the National Advisory Council (NAC) has proposed a bill entitled “Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice And Reparations) Bill, 2011.”

The bill supposedly has taken into account the experience of the victims of the communal riots. It has also taken acognizance of the fact that the power invested in the police was either not used or are misused against the weaker sections of the society. The NAC has forwarded the Bill to the Government but so far no action is taken by the government .

The Muslims, Christians and the Dalits who have been suffering for a long time from the atrocities of the majority community are yearning for a legislation to put full stop to such cold blooded murder .

Their agonizing wait is reaching a saturating point. It’s high time that the government bring the much touted “Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011.”

The Act will instill confidence among weaker section of the society and build a new rapport with the UPA government. It will be a step in the right direction if this bill is brought in this winter session of Parliament.

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

Participative Approach to Understanding Gender

2011-11-13T00:06:00.000-08:00

Participative Approach to Understanding Gender

Syed Ali Mujtaba

The term gender is quite value loaded term. When we discuss this word, often the context happens to be women. Most often gender is being talked about in terms of discrimination faced by the fair sexes.

In order to create an understanding of the term gender, a workshop was organized by the All India Secular Forum (AISF) in Mumbai on October 30, 2011. The female participants from Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA) and some students SNDT college, Mumbai took part in the workshop.

Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, Dr. Ram Puniyani and Dr. Chandrakant Puri were the resource persons of this workshop.

The participants were divided into groups and were posed certain postulations were made and each group was asked to come up with their own understanding of the hypothesis. Some very interesting observations were made during the discussions that were moderated by the resource persons.

Following postulations made were put up for discussion; 1) Difference between gender and sexes 2) Biology makes women weaker than men 3) Women who dress or behave in culturally inappropriate ways are inviting assault 5) A woman who leaves the house because her husband beats her up is over reacting 6) Women are better care givers than men.

Difference between gender and Sexes

The explanation was given in repose to the understanding the term ‘gender and sexes were vague. Some said that gender is the sexes- male and female, some mentioned gender is the discrimination that women face, still other held the view that its discrimination faced by men and women differently.

The resource persons corrected the understanding of the term explaining that gender is a social construct and it’s essentially the roles, opportunities and the expectations of the society from the sexes. These can be changed. On the other hand, sex is a biological construct which is not changeable.

Biology makes women weaker than men

Some of the points that emerged during this discussion were; women are not biologically weaker than men. Some were of the opinion that women were ‘naturally’ more tolerant. They were made in a way that they get less angry and are calm. However, this view was challenged by the other participants and the trainer since this indicates towards bio determinism which is self destructive to feminism.

The point that was underlined was women and men are both inherently violent and tolerant. What makes women more tolerant or calm in certain situations is their socialization and upbringing which essentially discourages women to question or disobey making them submissive and meek.

Women who dress or behave in culturally inappropriate ways are inviting assault

In this, there were also two opinions. Some felt that it was not acceptable for women to outrage the sensitivity of her community and dress in an outrageous manner. Others felt that it may depend on the woman if she was comfortable in what she wore. This was also debated. The discussion led to the larger issue of control over the bodies of women and if deviance in any form is acceptable and if it’s acceptable to oppose this deviance through violence or assault. This discussion was enriched when the participants shared their personal experiences and insecurities and how they all at some level feel the city spaces to be unsafe for women.

A woman who leaves the house because her husband beats her up is over reacting

The next discussion saw less of debate where everyone accepted that violence against women in any form was unacceptable. Here interestingly, the general reactions of society and especially of the police were discussed.

A patriarchal society normalizes violence against women and thus mounts pressure on them to adjust with the abusive husband. Many factors are cited for convincing the woman to put up with violent husband like her economic dependence on the husband, no awareness of legal options, social stigma for the woman’s family etc.

Women are better care givers than men

The last discussion was on women were better care givers than men. There was general agreement on this theme but some participants challenged this notion as swell, One participant cited the example of her own husband who is often ridiculed by the neighbors for doing all household chores like cooking, cleaning, washing etc.

In this context the concepts of masculinity and femininity were explored and subsequently how patriarchy also deprives men of their choices was discussed.

The next session was the film screening of ‘Bol’ a film based on patriarchy in its various forms. The film depicts violence against women. The discussion that followed the screening of the film was very lively.

It was an emotionally charged atmosphere where most of the participants could relate to the oppression faced by the women characters in the film.

The discrimination faced by a girl child in a household in terms of education, opportunities and roles were discussed. It was agreed upon that such discrimination should be studied in order to understand gender based violence.

Also, how religious fundamentalism affects women adversely was discussed, citing examples from personal experiences.

The importance of questioning and critical outlook as well as listening or having an open mind to differences and other perspectives was sufficiently agreed upon during the discussions.

The issues how women are penalized due to deviance is in society was discussed. It was highlighted that women must have control on their bodies and reproductive functions. The participants gave examples of some of the cases they have witnessed where preference to male child is so prevalent that the women are compelled into having multiple pregnancies having detrimental effect on the health and choices of women.

This was the second workshop in the series to consolidate the understanding of communalism. The first workshop discussed the concepts like communalism, religion, identity politics and caste, etc

The next workshop will focus on the theme social identity. This topic will be further explored in terms of the understanding on gender issues and consolidate the understanding of patriarchy.

This report is prepared with the help of the inputs provided by the organizers of workshop who run a forum call secular perspective. Any quries regarding this workshop can be addressed to Mr Irfan Engineer (irfanengi@gmail.com) or to (secularperspective@googlegroups.com)

Needless to say that this is a very laudable attempt by some concerned members of the civil society in Mumbai to create peace and harmony in their city. This model is worth emulating in other parts of the country as well.

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

Cleanup Indian Politics of Criminal MPs

2011-11-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

Cleanup Indian Politics of Criminal MPs
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Corruption and Criminalization are two distinctive features of the Indian politics. The crusade against corruption was loudly articulated by the social activist Anna Hazare however, there is little noise being made by the civil society about the criminalization of Indian politics.

As a matter of fact, one out of four MP in India face criminal charges. There are 162 MPs in the current Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament that has criminal records. Out of these, there are 76 MPs having serious charges against them.

The total number of criminal cases against the MPs is 522 and out of these 275 MPs face serious IPC sections charges against them.

The Bhartiya Janta Party has the highest number of criminal MPs that is 43, out of which 19 have serious criminal cases against them.

The Congress party comes next with 41 MPs having criminal cases, out of which 12 MPs face serious charges against them.

As compared to 2004, the number of MPs with pending criminal cases has gone up. There were 128 MPs with pending criminal cases against them in 2004 Lok Sabha out of which 58 had serious pending criminal cases. There is an increase of about 26% in MPs with pending criminal cases and 31% increase in the number of MPs with serious pending criminal cases.

Obviously, these are not the type of people that should represent we the people of India, but some how these heavy weight crooks have got themselves elected into the Parliament and have become part of the governing apparatus of the country by default.

The comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG) have lambasted the government on this declining trend. "Governance is at its lowest ebb. The morale of civil servants is low. The situation is too deleterious for the nation. There is too much at stake for too many in such a situation," CAG reportedly has said.

There has been an erosion of people's faith in government. Their confidence in public institutions has declined. National trust in bureaucracy including the police force has collapsed. The integrity and professionalism of civil servants is being questioned," it adds.

"We have chief ministers who have had to vacate their positions allegedly for graft, on whom courts and other judicial bodies have made adverse pronouncements. We have Members of Parliament who are being indicted by the judiciary for various acts including accepting cash for exercising their vote in Parliament." CAG concludes.

So in such a situation the principal issue is how to make it harder for those with criminal cases to contest elections. Obviously, there is an urgent need of electoral reforms in this country that bars any convicted person from holding office till they are finally acquitted by a court of law.

The current legal position relating to a person convicted of criminal charges is that if the criminal charge, and not just the sentence, is suspended on an appeal, he has the right to contest elections.

One has to understand the nuance in the law and that depends on what order the court gives. If the conviction is suspended, then one can fight elections, if the sentence is suspended, which means no jail, but conviction stands, until such time that the appeal is heard, then one can not fight elections.

Union Law Minister Salman Khursheed has drafted a bill that plugs the loopholes and it could make it impossible for any convicted politician to run for office.

At the moment, those convicted of criminal charges have three months to appeal but that will not be available if the structure of amendments prepared by the Minister goes through the motion and get passed. In such a case the convicted members will be immediately excluded from Parliament.

According to the draft bill if one is convicted, then he can not fight elections, irrespective of what the appeal order is, until he is finally acquitted by the court of law.

Another amendment that is proposed in the draft bill is; crimes committed under section 153 (A), which pertains to creating enmity between communities to be put under the category of heinous crimes, and if that happens, politicians convicted under this clause will not have the right to contest elections.

All this is fine. The big question is will these proposals be acceptable to all the political parties. In fact, there is already a law in place to rein in the corrupt MPs, but many of them have found loopholes into it and have got stay order on their conviction to contest election.

Even the proposed amendment bill is being challenged by some unscrupulous MPs. They have threatened to derail the new bill, if and when, it comes for discussion at the all party meeting.

It’s an argument by those who have something to hide and they will use all kinds of tactics to continue their domination in power.

What is needed is to build consensus around the proposed amended in the electoral process initiated by the Union Law Minister. We have seen with the Jan Lokpal movement that people power can force the government to sit up and make changes.

We need to use the same strategy and generate massive public opinion to clean up Indian politics of its criminal crooks.

Unlike the herculean task of weeding out corruption from the Indian system, the task of getting rid of politician facing criminal charges is much easy.

The redemption of Indian politics from all its banes is long haul and cleaning Indian politics of criminal MPs could be a way forward for good governance and betterment of the country.

We have to watch every move about this bill as it gets drafted, placed before the all party meeting and discussed in the in the Parliament.

Even all this happens we have to built a momentum on the lines of Jan Lokpal movement and send a strong signal to the political party bosses to have a consensus on the draft bill and pass it in this winter session of the Parliament.

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The figures quoted above are cited by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW).

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

Irom Sharmila solidarity campaign growing in India

2011-11-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

Irom Sharmila solidarity campaign growing in India

Syed Ali Mujtaba

The iron lady of Manipur, Ms Irom Sharmila Chanu of Manipur is one of the civil rights activists in India better known for her relentless campaign for=
the the repealing of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Irom Sharmila has been on has been on hunger strike since November 2, 2000
demanding that the Indian government repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers
Act 1958 (AFSPA). She has refused food and water for more than 500 weeks,
making her the longest hunger striker in the world.

She caught the imagination of the nation on October 2, 2006, when she held
hunger strike at the historic Jantar Mantar, New Delhi and was joined by the students, human rights activists and other concerned citizens. She was arrested by the Delhi police for attempting suicide.

Since then support to her is growing steadfastly. On June 25, 2011, a candle light solidarity prayer was held at the Rajghat New Delhi where approximately 200 people participated from all walks of life.

It is part of this growing support that Irom Sharmila Solidarity Campaign is being launched in India and under it various programmes and action are being organized through out the country.

The programmes organized under the banner 'Irom Sharmila Solidarity Campaign. have already begun from Oct 2, ( Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi) across states of India and would culminate on Dec 10, 2011. As a part of this campaign a Srinagar to Imphal journey and national signature campaign is also being planned.

Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) continues to be the most potent repressive tool of the Indian state that empowers even a non commissioned officer of the armed forces to kill on mere suspicion and provide legal immunity from prosecution, thereby causing untold misery and agony among the peoples of the affected regions.

The imposition of AFSPA is synonymous to heavy militarization in the states
where it is promulgated leading to gross civil and political rights violations including enforced disappearances, extra-judicial execution, torture,
inhuman and degrading treatment, rape and other forms of sexual violence against women, arbitrary arrest and detention.

Armed Forces Special Powers Act, a colonial legacy used against Mahatma Gandhi, was promulgated initially in the Naga areas of Assam (later divided between 4 states) and later in Mizoram, initially in parts of Manipur and later in all of Manipur.

The Ordinance after a brief discussion in the Parliament was endorsed and got the status of Act on August 18, 1958, despite stiff resistance from various quarters who challenged it as a martial and draconian law.

Since then it has been in force in one part or the other of the states of A=
runachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and
Jammu and Kashmir (since 1991).

Even though continuation of the 'disturbed area' status under the AFSPA in
many part of the country is illegal in view of the violation of the mandatory six monthly periodic review directed by Supreme Court in its 1997 Judgement, there is no respite from this draconian law.

This law is more draconian than its predecessor ordinance used by the British to suppress the Quit India Movement. In the pretext of controlling insurgency, this Act has only intensified the insurgency in the region and legitimized thousands of gross human rights violations like rape, torture, murder and disappearances of innocent people in the Northeast and J&K.

The democratic movements in the Northeast states of India and the Jammu and Kashmir have consistently demanded the repeal of the Act and demilitarization for decades but their repeated plea has fallen on the deaf ears and nothing has so far been done to check the state sponsored injustices being perpetrated.

It is in this context Irom Sharmila struggle against Armed Forces Special Powers Act, has become synonymous with the cause. It amazing to see her conviction and courage to take on the might of the Indian state.

Although Sharmila is leading the Manipur people=E2=80=99s movement but her popularity over the years has catapulted her to the national stage. It's her sheer grit and determination that has made her a national icon. She occupies the same space as that Anna Hazare has on corruption, Medha Patkar on Narmada Bacho and similar civil rights activists.

It therefore important for all the freedom loving people who care for human=
rights and human values in this country to render support to 'Irom Sharmil=
a Solidarity Campaign and make it a success.

It wont be improper to mention that Irom Sharmila is one of the faces better known to us, but she is not the only one, there are many more like her who have taken up this cause and deserve salutation.

Here one has to acknowledge the names like; Mukta Srivastava , GG Parikh, Sukla Sen, Daniel Mazgoankar, Asad, Shimanshu, Suhas Kolhekar, Simpreet Singh, Jatin Desai, Guddi S.L who have put up a brave front and has taken up this cause.

One can only wish good luck and best wishes those who are campaigning for the repealing of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in India.

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

Offences on Face Book could be Punishable

2011-10-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

Offences on Face Book could be Punishable
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Social media is for networking but then some can even use this as a mischief and attempt to create hatred among communities which in turn may have lead to civil unrest.

This is exactly what has happened in Hyderabad, where some anti-social elements studying in St.Francis Xavier Degree College at Kachiguda, posted some inflammatory photos of Holy Kaaba on the Face Book.

The photos clearly desecrated the modesty of Holy Kaaba, the most revered place of worship for the followers of the Islamic faith.

It was timely action by some social activist and an upright police officer that defused the situation which had all the ingredients to conflagrate into a full fledged communal riot.

The Muslim Students of the St.Francis Xavier Degree College brought this matter to the notice of the Amjed Ullah Khan, Corporator 35-Azampura Division, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

Mr Khan immediately lodged a complaint against such activities going on the Face book, at the police station Kachiguda, Hyderabad.

In his complaint Mr. Khan urged the police to take immediate action against those students who had indulged in hate monger at the social media site, that has the third largest population in the word after China and India.

Mr Khan has also urged action against the management of the degree college for having such kind of anti social elements as its students.

After registering the complaint, the police swung into action and visited the college along with Mr.Khan. They were quickly able to identify the anti-social elements of the college as Abhishek Totla, Neeraj Jhawar, Deepesh Agarwal. The trio was arrested on the charges of trying to create hatred among the communities.

The management of the college cooperated with the police. The college Principal Mr. Bhujang Rao immediately issued Transfer Certificate to the students and handed them over to the police.

The prompt action of the Inspector of Police at the Kachiguda police station should be appreciated. It is due to his prompt action of going to the college, identifying the real culprits and arresting them defused a highly volatile situation in Muslim dominated city like Hyderabad.

This case serves as an example for all those who take for granted the social media sites as a play field and think can get away with what ever they may like to do there.

This case also sends out a strong message to the users of the social media that their anti social activities on such sites could be registered as a cognizable offence.

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

THE YATRA NO ONE TALKED ABOUT

2011-10-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

THE YATRA NO ONE TALKED ABOUT
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Much hullabaloo was made of Anna Hazare’s fast against anti corruption, so was about Narender Modi’s fast for communal harmony. LK Advani yatra too has attracted a great deal of attention, has anyone heard about the communal harmony Yatra (travel) that concluded in New Delhi on October 16, 2011. I guess very few.

It’s unfortunate that such meaningful and positive development in the country is not being reported by the media which in turn prefers to feed the staple of news that may loosely called infotainment.

Its long well established that Indian media is bourgeoisie in character but now what is becoming apparent is the total lack of moral and ethical values in media representation. If this gradual decline goes unabated the designers of national character may be guilty of acts beyond our comprehension.

Leaving this thought for an introspection, let me talk about this secular yatra that began from the pious town of Ayodhya on October 11 and concluded at the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin in New Delhi on October 16.

This was the fourth edition of this yatra and persons from various parts of the country led this march to the national capital cherishing the ideal of peaceful existence. Whether these people were successful in their mission is difficult to profess, but the fact remains that they strived to bridging the communal divide in our country, is laudable indeed.

The yatra was led by Ayodhya’s famous mahant of Ayodhya Yugal Kishor Shastri who has been tirelessly working for communal harmony in India. Last year, he took out a similar yatra among various communities from Ayodhya to Sewagram in Wardha.

I had the privilege of interviewing Mr Shastri at an interfaith conference in New Delhi last year where he narrated to me how he sheltered the fleeing Muslims being chased by the Hindutva goons during the demolition of Babari mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. “I have buried many Muslim bodies with my own hand in that communal madness,” said the inconcipious mahant, in a whispering tone. He brings out a magazine Ayodhya ki Awaz to promote the values of peace and harmony.
Talking to Yugal Kishor Shastri, I wondered, how some swamy's and mahant's become national figures and amass huge wealth and followers in this country, while those who are genuinely godly persons, remain a naked fakir like Mr Shastri. Again, I leave this thought left for self introspection.

The communal harmony yatra started from Ayodhya on 11th October, 2011. It went to Faizabad and from there reached Lucknow on 12th October, Sitapur on October 13, Shahjahanpur on October 15, spent the night at Moradabad and arrived at Delhi in the morning of October 16, covering a distance of 490 kilometers by road.

There were twenty members in this yartra and number of programmes of mass contact were organized all along the travel route. It included conferences, street plays and press meets and contacting people, especially the youth.

The aim of the yatra was to propagate the idea of shared culture heritage among different communities. It was to tell that the shared history of living together among different communities is of much longer then the momentary phases of conflict and disharmony.

The starting point of the yatra was the temple town of Ayodhya, where the Hindu- Muslim conflict over a disputed mosque has sown the seeds of communal hatred in the country. The place was chosen because it was Ayodhya where five religions; Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Islam and Sikhism have their roots and all existed side by side.

The city once was an oasis of communal coexistence and there was perfect harmony among the communities living there. The raking up the issue of Ramjanamboohmi was a deliberate attempt to destroy this plural culture of Ayodhya and making that as a symbol, it has rattled the secular character of the country.

Even more than twenty years to that event, the seeds of hatred that has sown around this mosque/temple controversy, has poisoned the relationship among the communities so much so that it is hard break free from that cluttered mindset.

The yatra was taken out to combat such preachers of hate and to propagate the idea of shared cultural history. The purpose of the yatra was to resist the forces of fascism, communalism and untouchability. It was to promote idea of peace, unity and brotherhood.

All along during the yatra, programmes of mass contact were held where it was stressed that the country is in the dire need of communal harmony. Th development and progress of the country is only possible when an atmosphere of love and harmony is created and this could be done by knitting the people together.

The yatra concluded at the hospice of Hazrat Nizamuddin, a towering sufi saint of India, whose most popular phrase was “ do not give me scissor because it cuts, give me needle because it stitches.”

The members of the yatra later paid tribute to the soul of Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat in New Delhi. The prayed for communal peace and harmony, at the monument of the father of the nation, who fell to the bullets of a lunatic Hindu chauvinist.

A conference on communal harmony was organized at the Gandhi Samriti at Rajghat where most of the speakers stressed on ways and means to promote communal harmony in India. Some prominent speakers were; Asghar Ali Engineer, Lalit Kumar, Haneef Shastri, Zafarul-Islam Khan, Mazher Hussain, Saroj Khan Choudhry, Deepak Singh and Muhammad Afzal.

Communalism Combat (Teesta Sitalvad), Viswa Yuva Sadbhavana Parishad (Seshnath Dubey), Asha Parivar ( Sandeep Pandey), Ayodhya ki Awaz (Yugal Kishor Saran Shastri), Milli Gazzete (Zafarul Islam Khan), Sarvdharam Sadbhav Kendra Trust (Zafar Saifullah), Confederation of Voluntary Association-Cova (Mazher Hussain), Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (Mohammad Ahmad), Rashtriya Yuva Sangathan (Kumar Prashant), Centre for study of Society and Secularism-CCSS (Asghar Ali Engineer) and Centre for Human Rights and Social Welfare (Saroj Khan Choudhry) were some of the prominent organizations associated with this yatra.

India is perhaps the only country in the world where there is mix of several religious identities existing side by side. There is a general desire among various communities to lead a life of peaceful coexistence eve though attempts have been made regular intervals to break this blissful peace. The resilience of the Indian society has always discarded such narrow outlook and has cherished the ideal that all religion have equal place and their followers must live in perfect harmony.

It won’t be out of context to say that in our country there exist two diametrically opposite forces at work; one, those working to destroying the communal amity, and the other who are working relentlessly to bridge the communal divide in this country.

The communal harmony yatra was an attempt to isolate the preachers of hate and to promote the idea to live in peace. It was also an effort to initiate the process of interfaith dialogue to resolve all the outstanding issues in a peaceful manner.

One has to salute those people who have taken such an initiative, and it would be a service to the nation to highlight such a noble cause. One wish that more and more people join in such initiative and this humble beginning may become a movement soon.

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

Tribute to Tiger Patudi

2011-09-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Tribute to Tiger Patudi
Syed Ali Mujtaba

I really did not know Mansur Ali Khan Patudi personally, the legendry cricketer who passed away on September 22, 2011 in New Delhi. I was following the news of his illness in the media all along and today when it was announced that he is no more, I felt strongly for him.

This was because I have been reading hearing, watching him since I have started following the game of cricket. Patudi came from aristocratic family who played cricket for the love of the game. He was also known as Tiger Pataudi and Nawab Pataudi.

Pataudi, was the ninth and the last Nawab of Bhopal when India abolished royal entitlements. His father Iftikhar Ali Khan Patudi too played cricket for British India.He lost his father at a young age of 11.With his demise, comes an end to an era of aristocrat cricketers in this country.

Pataudi suffered a setback at the age of 20 years, when he lost the vision of his right eye after a car crash in England. However, his steely resolve made him make his international debut against England in Delhi, in December, 1961. He became the youngest player to captain India in a Test (at 21 years 77 days v West Indies at Bridgetown in 1961-62)

Pataudi retired from international cricket in 1975 after playing 46 Test matches and scored 2,793 runs including six hundreds at an average of 34.91. He led the country in 40 of his 46 Tests and guided the team to nine wins and was easily the greatest captain ever.

During his stint as captain, Pataudi married actress Sharmila Tagore in 1969. The unconventional marriage was much talked about in the media and his popularity soar high.

When ever any one talked about cricketers, Tiger Patudi’s name surfaced for his looks, style and grace. There was some thing unique about his personality.

He outshines many film stars in looks and grace. I use to see him Gwaliar suiting ads. Later, I saw him in few car ads too. The last ad I remember was of ‘lays’ where he was with his son Saif.

As a student at AMU Aligarh, I use to play cricket for “VM Hall.” At the cricket ground I remember seeing Patudi’s photographs adorning the walls of the Cricket gallery there. I am told he had visited there many times.

Many years later as a journalist in Hyderabad, I played cricket for the press club of Hyderabad. I heard stories of Tiger Patudi who use to visit H yderabad during Moin-u-dullah cup.

A journalist told me there that Patudi was a charming personality and had sponsored coke and beer for both the teams after one of the matches.

Many people whom i had conversation on cricket told me that they went to see a test match India played only to watch the Nawab of Patudi in action. I am sure every one will agree that he was a cricketer par excellence.

Even though Patudi may have left us for heavenly abode,his iconic persona will be remembered as long as cricket is being played in India.

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

Kasthuri charms at Shreyas - Inter-Collegiate Culturals

2011-09-15T08:20:00.001-07:00

Kasthuri charms at Shreyas - Inter-Collegiate Culturals

Syed Ali Mujtaba

Chennai, September 15, 2011: “Protection of environment is a matter of habit and not a choice, said actress Kasthuri, to large group of college girls that had assembled at Shreyas - Inter-collegiate culturals event at SSS Jain College for Women, Chennai.

Every day when I get up, I segregate my daily household wastes into two bins, non biodegradable and biodegradable, said the model turned actress, giving tips to young girls how to green.

Kasthuri who made a come back in 2010 featuring in a item number in the hit film "Tamil Padam" was at her best in attracting the young girls, as they cheered her speech that was laced with pun and humour.

The actress who has been hosting TV shows, got a very warm response when she asked to students to volunteer for her dream project of building an international quality old age home in the outskirts of the city.

Later, Kasthuri, switched from the dais to sit with the students and the competition, feeling at ease with the students gathered for Shreyas - Inter-collegiate culturals event.

The actress who studied at the Ethiraj college, and was a popular figure at the Inter-collegiate culturals event, promised to be the 'quiz-master' in the next edition of the cultural event at the SSS Jain College for Women.

Kasthuri was a popular south Indian heroine in the 1990s. She had her schooling in Madras and started modelling while in high school. She won the Miss Madras title in 1992.

Subsequently, she got offers to act in films. She debuted as heroine in the Tamil film "Aatha Un Kooyiley" in 1991, and had appear in a number of Tamil fims that imcluded the horror flick "Rasathi Varum Naal", "Government Mappilai",Chinnavarand "Senthamizh Paatu" alongside Prabhu Ganeshan in 1992.

Kasthuri acted in many Telugu films which gained her enough fan following in Andhra Pradesh. After the success of Bharatheeyudu, in which she acted as beloved daughter of Kamal Haasan, she got several opportunities to act opposite top heroes. Films like Soggadi pellam, merupu did give footage to her career.

Kasturi was the subject of a 30-minute documentary film Kasthuri: A South Indian Film star made by Richard Breyer and N. C. Rajamani in 1995. Kasthuri bowed out of films after her Hindi short film The Bypass in 2003.

Last year, she made a come back in a item number in the hit film "Tamil Padam."

“A person like Kasthuri can juggle with many roles,” said Dr Padma Shanker, Principal SSS Jain College for Women, Chennai, in her welcome address.

'She is a multi faced personality, a source of inspiration said the dynamic principal of the woman's college.

Shreyas - Inter-collegiate culturals event at SSS Jain College for Women, Chennai is a two day cultural extravaganza, where girl students from thirty colleges are participating at various events to win fabulous prizes.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He teaches Visual Communication at SSS Jain College for Women, Chennai.He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

Anna Hazare the Pied Piper of India

2011-09-02T07:21:00.001-07:00

Anna Hazare the Pied Piper of India
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Anti graft campaigner Anna Hazare ended his 288 hours of fast on Sunday August 28, 2011 and by doing so he gave the nation a sigh of collective relief. The 74-year-old social activist began his fast on August 16 and continued for 12 days uninterrupted.

It was a rare show of unanimity and purpose that saw unprecedented mobilization of the people across the nation. It resulted in special session of the Parliament to hold discussion on the Lokpal bill, stretching over nine hours in the Lok Sabha and eight hours in the Rajya Sabha.

Going beyond party lines at the Parliament passed a resolution agreeing to his three core demands of Anna Hazare for Citizens' charter, Lower bureaucracy under Lokpal through appropriate mechanism and establishment of Lokayukta in states. Parliament also passed a resolution to forward the proceedings of the House to the Standing Committee for its perusal while formulating its recommendations for a Lokpal Bill.

There are few very seminal points that have emerged out of the twelve days agitation led by Anna Hazare. The overwhelming response of Anna Hazare’s call to end corruption has set a precedent of sorts for mass mobilization in the country. In near memory there are three events that stand out for mass agitation.

One was the mobilization of the masses against rising prices, unemployment that led to the proclamation of national emergency in 1975. Then the agitation against it that was led by Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan, and Achrya Kirplani, the veteran freedom movement leaders, that led to the ending of the dark days in India. The anti emergency stir caught the imagination of the nation and people from wide spectrum of society came on the streets and rested only when the proclamation was withdrawn.

The second mass mobilization was seen in India during 1998, primarily from the youth of upper caste who were opposed to the implementation of the Mandal Commission report that gave 27 per cent reservation to the other backward caste categories of the Hindu society. This agitation was primarily confined to north India, where upper caste youth came out in large numbers and some even immolated themselves for the annulment of the law. Its was mass hysteria with the underpinning of suicidal impulses on the lines French sociologist David Émile Durkheim proponed in his study, ‘Suicide: A Study In Sociology, published in 1895.

The last was the Sangh Parivar’s mass mobilization centering on Ram Janamboohmi. A wounded civilization came out in large numbers to destroy the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. As the angry agitators pulled down the three domes of the Muslim’s place of worship, in that carnival of rebellion, it seems the three domes, on the Parliament, on the Supreme Court and on the Rashtriapathi Bhavan, crumbled. In hindsight, the mobilization of the masses was more for destruction than actually for construction, as the intended purpose thereafter could not mobilize the masses.

Contrary to all of them, Anna’ Hazre’s agitation was unique in many sense. It demonstrated to the world that even in this age, there are pied pipers who can bring the people on the streets. The charismatic figure of Anna Hazare, caught the imagination of the nation many equate him with Mahatma Gandhi and his method of agitation.

Some may point out that the mass mobilization was due to spread of the social media, others may say it was the handiwork of the television channels, that went gone gung-ho telecasting this reality show, some may also credit the organizational acumen of team Anna, the fact is there was unprecedented mobilization of the masses never seen, since the independent movement of the country.

The other feature of the movement was the discipline shown by the agitators and volunteers’ having a total control of the situation is something remarkable. Skeptics had cast doubts over the agitation and some even predicted it may end up in Chauri Chaura way, and like Mahatma Gandhi, Anna Hazare too calling off his fast in a dejected mood. However, every thing went of the scripted way of the reality show and this something laudable.

However, it’s not that every thing was picture perfect in Anna Hazre’s agitation. There were many flaws in it as well. The twelve days agitation of Anna Hazare has able to dictate the content of the Lok Pal bill. The government was forced to bow down to the pressure that was applied on it through the strength drawn from the street, even though it took eleven days to do so. This is unprecedented.

It has set a new precedent for future political discourse in the country and the future governments have to be prepared to handle such dictate from the so called people’s parliament.

Imagine a situation when the farmers of the country march to New Delhi, to press their demands or the Hindutva forces muster such strength and pressurize the Parliament to build the Ram temple or in wake of terror attack, the people’s Parliament ask the government to go to war with Pakistan. Let’s leave it for propriety as imagination stops to build future scenarios.

Certainly, Anna Hazare should have avoided the ill advised call to his followers to gherao the Prime Minister, MPs and MLAs. He and some of his spokespersons called people’s representatives as dacoits and thieves and that amount to spreading hatred. Apologies on this count in the closing speech were dished out, but the damage done certainly lowered the dignity of the movement.

Another matter of extreme concern was the source of funds for sustaining the movement for twelve days. Even earlier to that, the members of team Anna were flying at different locations in the country and there were huge shows being organized. All that needed money, where did it come from? Many people visiting Ram Lila grounds are reported to have been fed with snacks and food. All these would not have come without money? It is quite possible that such money may have come from the followers of Anna Hazare but the country need to know the people who have funded them.

In the closing speech, it was said that the money spent during the agitation were from public donations and from admirers of Anna Hazare. To some this sounded more like a politician’s comment then the words of a social activist. It leaves an element of deep suspicion among the civil society about the movement it represents.

In such issues, transparency is a very important. In a rare show of solidarity countrymen belonging to a cross section of the society have given unstinted support to Anna Hazare’s protest against corruption. Team Anna should clearly make public the names of the people who have funded the twelve day agitation. Keeping the curtains over the faces, would go against the noble cause that the movement represents.

Even before the agitation has begun allegations of impropriety came forth regarding all the NGOs to which category Anna Hazare and his team belong, that they are not corruption free. A few of them have been accused of swindling large amount of money and misusing the NGO portfolio for ulterior purposes. The fact of the matter is; Anna Hazare has missed to comment on this disturbing fact for whatever reasons.

Anna Hazare’s practice of giving a free hand to his hand picked people has raised eyebrows. There are certainly many more knowledgeable people in the country with great credentials that Anna should spot and utilize them for the larger good of the nation. Keeping the tainted faces in the crusade against corruption takes away the sheen out of the movement.

Finally, the claim that the battle against corruption has been half won seems bit exaggerated. The fact is that the battle against corruption has only just begun. The movement still has a long way to go. What is required is to fine tune it to a substantial extent to provide dignity to the campaign.

The bitter truth is that during the twelve days of fast, team Anna have not been able to elevate the quality of the campaign to the lofty level necessary to sustain such movement. It’s imperative to plug the loopholes in future.

In the end, let’s hope and pray that human greed is over powered in our country and corruption is banished from this land. If and when it happens, Anna Hazare will be hailed as the pied piper of India.

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

How to Make Lokpal Bill Effective – The Debate Continues

2011-09-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

How to Make Lokpal Bill Effective – The Debate Continues

Syed Ali Mujtaba

How to make Lokpal Bill effective was the theme of a debate competition for college students organized by a NGO ‘Nandini Voice for the Deprived’ on August, 13, 2011, in Chennai. The objective of the competition was to provide an opportunity to the college students to give their views on the subject.

Number of college students from several Chennai city colleges including Indian Institute of Technology Madras, School of Excellence in Law, JBAS College for Women, Loyola Institute of Business Administration participated in the debate competition.

This author, Mr. P. K. N. Panicker, President, Chemical Industries Association and educationist and Mr. N. L. Rajah, senior advocate were the judges in the first panel. Prof. S. Radhakrishnan, Professor of Economics, Mr. S. M. Arasu, Founder, Anti Corruption Movement, Mr. Kris Dev, social activist were the judges in the second panel. Trustee, Nandini Voice for the Deprived, Mr. N. S.Venkataraman moderated the debate.

Quite a few students argued that Lokpal Bill may not be necessary, since enough laws and regulations are in the country to root out corruption. The problem, they felt, was that those in power including politicians and bureaucrats circumvent the existing rules and regulations to indulge in corruption and prevent punishment for the corrupt persons.

Students wondered that Lokpal Bill if enacted into law, may also end up with the same fate as the several of the existing anti corruption regulations and institutions

At best, Lokpal may function like Central Vigilance Commission, so instead of enacting a new law, the Central Vigilance Commission can be strengthened in variety of ways, which would produce quick results and avoid protracted arguments and delay.

Some students felt that Lokpal is only likely to function as an advisory body, with no powers to punish the corrupt. Therefore, the Lokpal’s report has to be substantiated in the court of law and judiciary would ultimately decide the case. Therefore, there may not be really any change in the ground realities. So the students argued that Lokpal may function like Central Vigilance Commission, referring its conclusions to the court.

Most students said that the Lokpal Bill should cover all sections of the country irrespective of age and position including judiciary and defense. The present move of the government to restrict it to certain sections of bureaucracy alone will mean nothing.

Some students insisted that Prime Minister should be included in the Lokpal Bill. They dismissed the argument that the inclusion of Prime Minister will lead to vested interests, paving way for false charges against the Prime Minister to destabilize the government. The students said that instead of excluding the Prime Minister, Lokpal Bill can have certain built in safeguards to ensure that vague and false charges against the Prime minister would not be entertained.

There are multiple vigilance organizations today like CBI, CVC and others which sometimes work at cross purposes. Such organizations should be brought under Lokpal to ensure coordinated approach and transparency. This aspect should be examined by the government for its administrative feasibility.

Students suggested the selection process for Lokpal Chairman and members should be broad based. The nomination should be invited from public for Lokpal Committee members, just like nominations being invited for Nobel prize award and selection must be very strict and should not be left into the hands of politicians and judges.

While the students greatly applauded the initiatives of Anna Hazare and his team members, they pointed out that Anna Hazare is only aiming at forming some regulations at the government level by seeking to introduce one more law. Anna Hazare has not looked into the option of strengthening the existing anti corruption institutions by closing the loopholes in them which would produce quicker results.

There was an unanimity that the ultimate solution for the problem is to change in the mind set of the people. Many people in India are involved in corrupt practices and corruption is not restricted to politicians and bureaucrats alone. Some people in India think that the act of small corruption is not immoral and this mind set needs to be changed.

The students disagreed to the concept of second freedom struggle launched by Anna Hazare. They pointed out that the essential difference between the movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and the movement initiated by Anna Hazare is, while Mahatma Gandhi led the freedom movement against the British, but simultaneously fought against several social evils such as caste system, untocuhability, liquor habit and strove to reform the individual Indians and their mind set, Anna Hazare movement lack the broad based approach.

The students felt that even now, it is not late and Anna Hazare should look back into his activities during the last one year and redirect the movement in appropriate direction, without giving an impression that mere change of laws will make India corruption free.

The debate had some very valuable inputs from the judges who commented on the issue of corruption and the aspects on the Lokpal bill. Their broad theme was in India; traditionally success is measured by the money accumulated by the individuals irrespective of the means adopted. This has resulted in a situation where corruption remains has permeated at all levels and in all sorts of activities. The public campaign against corruption should continue just like the anti liquor campaign and anti tobacco campaign.

The battle against the corruption must be fought in the minds and hearts of people and NGOs have a big role to play in this. The country should learn to hate the corrupt people which will happen only by millions of Indians not being corrupt in private and public life, was the ultimate conclusion of the debate

The debate competition would further take place at Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai in September. The participating students would be awarded prizes during a meeting on October 1, 2011 the eve of Gandhi Jayanthi. The views expressed by the students would be forwarded to the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman for their consideration on the formulation of Lokpal bill.

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

Hon Judge don’t preach, ugly can’t be beautiful

2011-08-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

Hon Judge don’t preach, ugly can’t be beautiful
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The statement made by former Supreme Court judge K T Thomas, praising Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its style of functioning as an organization is debatable. Notwithstanding the right of freedom of speech, the comments made by the learned judge are disturbing.

It’s more so, because K T Thomas belongs to a Christian community that has suffered at the hands of the RSS and yet he has engaged himself in an image building exercise of an organization that’s essentially is fascist in character.

There are few salient features of K T Thomas's statement. The former judge do not like that the RSS be held responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. He is of the view that the RSS is not an anti minority organization. He thinks the RSS is a well disciplined organization worthy of admiration. He goes on to praise the RSS for opposing the national emergency and gives it credit for fighting for the restoration of the fundamental rights.

One may like to discuss these comments one by one as each of them sounds contentious. However, before doing so, let’s have the details of his statement.

The former judge wants the ''smear campaign'' against RSS being responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi to end. “Just because the assassin was once an RSS worker does not hold RSS responsible of the crime,” he says.

The smear campaign that the RSS was responsible for Gandhi’s assassination is unjustified, he has reportedly said and added that the organization was ''completely exonerated'' by the court.

K T Thomas defended the RSS acts of omission and commission by posing a question, "Can the entire Sikh community be responsible for Indira Gandhi’s assassination?”

He also took exception to the propaganda that RSS is an anti-minority organization, saying such vilification campaign is "baseless."

The learned judge then goes on to say; "I am a Christian. I was born as a Christian and practice that religion. I am a church going Christian. But I have also learnt many things about RSS."

The former apex court judge says, he became an admirer of the RSS in 1979 when he was posted as district judge of Kozhikode. This is because RSS is a disciplined organization that believes in the philosophy of simple living and high thinking.

He goes on to eulogise the RSS, saying; during the national Emergency of 1975, RSS was the only non-political organization that fought against its proclamation. "We owe very much to RSS for sacrificing many lives for regaining our fundamental rights," he reportedly said

Initially, when I saw this PTI report, I thought of ignoring it with the logic let hundred flowers bloom, but then, when the same copy started circulating on the internet, I felt this should not become a gospel of truth.

The statement made by K T Thomas, becomes noteworthy because the person is not only a former Supreme Court judge, an upholder of the constitution, but also belongs to a minority Christian community. Now, lets dissect each of his statement one by one.

First of all, the Judge wants us to forget that assassin of Mahatma Gandhi was not an act of the RSS but of a lunatic who was its former member. He does not like to accept the fact that the lunatic man was indoctrinated by the radical ideology of the RSS that drove him to commit that heinous crime.

Court's may exonerate the individual or an organization for want of facts, but can anyone force to make up their mind based on the courts judgement. So, no amount logic can convince the people of this country that RSS was not behind the assassination of the Mahatma Gandhi.

His second observation, that RSS is not anti-minority is also untenable. Since last 64 years, the anti minority conduct of the RSS is very well documented. Time and again it’s being held responsible for breeching peace in the country. This organization takes up well orchestrated campaign against the minority community and polarizes the society on communal lines. Very often, the minority community is pushed to the wall and is forced to react and that takes the form of communal riots.

The lessons learnt from the communal riots are the story of provocation from the RSS cadre and the reaction from minority community. Since the act of the former is well planned, the reaction comes unguarded, making the minority community vulnerable. They fall into a well laid out trap and become victims of the circumstances, loosing their lives property and honour in the process.

K T Thomas, takes pride in being a practising Christian and an admirer of the RSS. He goes on to issue a good character certificate of the organization whose record of anti Christian community is numerous. The gruesome murder of Graham Stain at the hands of RSS sympathizer is still etched in our memory.

Its common knowledge, that believer of the Christian faith in Orissa and Karnataka had suffered immensely in recent times at the hands of the RSS cadre that held them responsible for conversion. Can the entire Christian community be responsible for the act of few Christians?

His comment on RSS opposing the national emergency of 1975 and fighting for the restoration of fundamental rights is also far fetched. Any one who has lived during the period of emergency can vouch that a cross section of the society has opposed that high handed declaration tooth and nail. Giving credit to RSS for opposing emergency, is tantamount to making heroes of a tribe of murders.

K T Thomas says that RSS is a well disciplined organisation worthy of admiration. I find a parallel to it in the admirers of the Nazis, that’s also, had been hailed as a well disciplined organisation. However, does that exonerate it from the charges of the “Holocaust” against the Jews?

The sole purpose of the RSS is to divide the country on communal lines. Its modus oprendi is to mobilize the gullible masses of the Hindu faith by instilling in them the fear of threat from the minority community.

I feel pity about the ex judge who relishes an organization, that bellies the essence of the Indian constitution. RSS is well known for its advocacy of the supremacy of the Hindu faith and the subservience of other faiths to it. Isn’t it a diabolic thinking?

I feel no amount of sweet talking can build the image of the RSS. There are certain fundamental issues that go against it. It does not tolerate religious pluralism, secularism, socialism and democratic values that’s being cherished by every Indian.

So no amount of the advocacy of the RSS by whomsoever can make it a perfect organisation. There is an uncanny feeling that Mr. K T Thomas has chose to make the comments for some gainful reasons. There are more to his statement then what the eyes can read.

An appeal to the voices peace and harmony to stand up against such purposeful statement and advice to Hon. Judge, better not preach the ugly can’t be made beautiful.

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

Planet, People and Profit Key to Environmental Campaign

2011-08-09T05:28:00.001-07:00

Planet, People and Profit Key to Environmental Campaign
Syed Ali Mujtaba

“Planet, People and Profit are the three Ps that are central to the issues related to the protection of the environment. The profit or consumerism is the villain of the planet that’s getting spoiled by the people indulging into mindless consumerism,” said Mr.Jayaprasad, National Secretary, Service Civil International (SCI) India, at the youth workshop on Climate Change in Chennai, India.

Indian Community Welfare Organization (ICWO) with the support of Service Civil International (SCI) Italy and KMGNE Germany organized the day long workshop on August 6, 2011.

“Youth volunteering can be a medium for intertwining northern and southern campaigns on issues related to climate change because youth want to change the world,” said A.J.Hariharan , Secretary, Founder of ICWO.

Another speaker, Devanayyan, Director of Tholaizhmai Human rights organization passionately appealed for environmental friendly practices among the youth asking them to make it a part of their daily lives.

“Its necessary that youth need to focus on the environmental issue, because over a period of last 5 years, nearly 125 lakes has disappeared in Chennai and the space is occupied by concrete structures,” he said.

Students from Madras Christian College, Madras School of Social Work, Hindu College, Mohammed Sathak College, volunteers from Service Civil International SCI and international youth from Italy, Germany, Australia and USA participated in the workshop.

The workshop focused on the waste management, issues and made certain recommendations like massive balloons should be banned, use of fire crackers to be reduced, introduction of mobile toilets, to encourage people to volunteer to clean up toilets, cleaning up the streets. segregated dustbin should be kept in the streets, creating awareness on usage of waste bins, having the recycling bins with color coded baskets, usage of paper cups, use of cotton bags should be practiced, noise and smoke free festivals, fine those who throw the waste on the streets or spit on the roads, unnecessary use of horn on roads, ban on cremation of dead bodies on the river bed, encouragement of electrical cremation, less usage of electricity, use of cycles as mode of transportation, tree plantation to be encouraged, importance of self awareness in reducing the impact of climate change.

Some participants expressed their desire to pass on the message of how to tackle the issue of climate change discussed at the workshop to their family, friends and schoolmates. Some volunteered for starting an environment club or recycling project in schools and colleges. A pledge taken to make this world sustainable for the future generation

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average (e.g., more or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change may be limited to a specific region or may occur across the whole earth.

The issue of Climate Change is a key element of the contemporary interconnections between North and South of the world. It involves the entire planet. The most affected countries are those of the Southern hemisphere, while in the North the majority of Co2 is produced as well as other gases responsible for global warming. It is therefore essential to deal with this issue in a holistic way and to train the youth in order to implement innovative strategies and campaigns against the causes of Climate Change.

The momentum of environmental campaign was further buttressed by organizing a cycle rally at the Marina Beach Chennai on August, 8 2011. The title of the rally was “Grounding Our Future” to stop global warming.

A large number of participants from social work department Stella Maris College, Mohammed Sathak College, Hindu College, Presidency College, C.N.P.T. Poly-Technical College and Volunteers from USA, Australia participated in the cycle rally.

Global warming is caused by green house gases, which trap in the sun’s infrared rays in the earth’s atmosphere, which in turn heat up the earth’s atmosphere.

These green house effect warming is called as global warming. The effects of green house effect are visible more prominently in the recent years, with number of natural calamities on the rise in the whole world. The global warming has happened in the past few years and is evident from the rise in mean temperature of the earth’s atmosphere.

The fight against global warming cannot be in isolation and it needs collaboration of different stakeholders, corporate houses, NGOs, CBOs, along with general public.

Many people and governments are already working hard to cut greenhouse gases, and each of us can help in this endeavor. In addition to reducing the gases we emit to the atmosphere, we can also increase the amount of gases we take out of the atmosphere. Plants and trees absorb CO2 as they grow, “sequestering” carbon naturally. Increasing forestlands and making changes to the way we farm could increase the amount of carbon we’re storing.

Some of these technologies have drawbacks, and different communities will make different decisions about how to power their lives, but the good news is that there are a variety of options to put us on a path toward a stable climate.

This is the first time a workshop on climate change and a cycle rally on environmental issues focusing youth was organized in Chennai. The main objective of the workshop is to enhance the youth capacity to promote volunteering as a tool to endorse sustainable life styles. The idea has to be developed further and enriched by the exchange of ideas of the people living in other areas of the world how they are dealing with such global issues.

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

Changing Face of Bihar

2011-08-09T05:24:00.000-07:00

Changing Face of Bihar A talk by Syed Ali Mujtaba
Report on ORF interaction in Chennai dated 25 January 2011

Bihar is one of the most under-developed States in India. Be it the political anarchy or recurrent floods in one part and droughts in the other, Bihar has always remained in news for wrong reasons. Taking heed of the recent positive developments in the State, the Chennai Chapter of Observer Research Foundation organised an Interaction on the 'Changing face of Bihar', on January 22, 2011.

Dr. Syed Ali Mujtaba, Director, School of Mass Communication, Vels University, Chennai, presented a detailed profile of Bihar, explaining the political history and the ground realities in the State. A native of Bihar, he enumerated the wave of change that has been sweeping across the State in recent times, inter-mingling facts and figures with anecdotes and personal experiences. He listed construction of roads across the State as among the top achievements of the present Government of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and said that in a State where no roads had existed for decades, it also helped the ruling coalition NDA (National Democratic Alliance) to win re-election the previous year.

Dr. Mujtaba elaborated the changes in different fields with relevant examples. The administrative sector witnessed tremendous changes, ranging from the better functioning of Government offices to the introduction of new technologies. New laws have been passed, making it mandatory for Government employees to declare their assets. He noted that surprise-checks and raids have brought down the incidence of corruption to some extent. Reports about kidnapping for gain and murder too have reduced considerably. At the local-governance level, both the panchayatiraj system and municipal corporations have been revived and are active. He also pointed to the vast improvement in tax-collections of the civic bodies.

Dr. Mujtaba was of the opinion that the life of the people in Bihar has improved in different ways. According to him, the increased connectivity attained by construction of roads and popularisation of mobile phones have revolutionised life in Bihar. The primary education, especially for girls, is given a lot of importance than ever before. The strict implementation of Centrally-funded schemes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, providing noon-meal, uniforms and books have all contributed to an increase in the enrolment of students. A number of new Government hospitals have been built and the existing ones are being modernised at a fast pace, said Dr.Mujtaba. He also appreciated the State Government for taking initiatives to construct public toilets in rural areas, to improve the health and sanitation of the people.

Dr. Mujtaba attributed the reasons for the backward status of Bihar to several factors, like landlocked geographic location, historic neglect of the peripheral regions, political instability and the complex socio-cultural matrix of the State. For him, the downfall of Bihar from one of the best governed States in the 1950's to one among the least developed States of today revealed the extent of poor governance in the interim. None of the regimes after the first Chief Minister Srikrishna Sinha, who was in power for close to 15 years, could continue development activities initiated at the time. The average term of a Chief Minister was less than a year, until the Rashtriya Janata Dal came to power in 1990. Despite promising change, the party became known for poor governance, he said.

Pointing out the complex social matrix of Bihar and the consequent caste politics as a major reason for the political instability, Dr. Mujtaba said while there was a constant tussle between the forward and backward castes, Muslims numbering around 17 per cent after the creation of Jharkhand, remained king-makers. Though the recent Assembly polls witnessed developmental agenda replacing caste and related equations, he said that the power structure had changed only in the ballot paper but not at the societal level. There only the rich and influential mattered, with caste playing a dominant role, based on individual regions.

Dr. Mujtaba admitted that Bihar faced enormous challenges and it would definitely be a tall task to resolve them. The strong resistance from the influential land-owners came in the way of much-needed land reforms. Naxalism posed a grave threat to the security and stability of the State. Natural disasters like rampant floods and droughts that affect more than half the population demanded immediate remedial action of a permanent nature. According to him, the higher education sector needed a total revival. The police force also required thorough modernisation. Issues like curbing criminalisation of politics and employment-generation must also be given high priority. He expressed confidence in the present Government in its attempt to deliver the basic needs of people like road, water, power and jobs.

Charing the session, Mr. N. Sathiya Moorthy, Director, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter, outlined the complexities of Bihar politics and drew attention to the dynamics of Centre-State relations in the case of Bihar. He remarked that the changing face of Bihar was a heartening fact and also reminded that Bihar has a long way to go in terms of development and modernisation.

During the interaction, participants discussed several significant issues. The need to train a second-line of political leaders in order to sustain the achieved level of development was also stressed. The relative legitimacy of successive elections in Bihar, the role of the Election Commission and the extent of caste politics in the 2009 Assembly polls were discussed. The need to emulate lessons from the Bihar model of development was also raised during the discussion.

(This report is prepared by Neethu S Thottammariyil, II MA, International Studies, Stella Maris College, Chennai)

http://www.observerindia.com/cms/sites/orfonline/modules/report/ReportDetail.html?cmaid=21046&mmacmaid=21047

Media Professionals discouraged from teaching Media in India

2011-07-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

Media Professionals discouraged from teaching Media in India
Syed Ali Mujtaba

There are some unpleasant developments talking place with regard to the appointments of teachers in the department of media studies. The University Grant Comission (UGC) has given some basic guidelines to the Universities to appointment faculty and this diktat is being implemented literally, without any logic or reasons attached.

The UGC guideline calls for basic degree in the relevant discipline, plus qualification of national education test, and a PhD to be eligibility for teaching position in a given discipline.

The UGC directive also obliquely mentions anyone who has proven excellence and ability in a given field of study can also be considered for teaching position in that field.

Now given the nature of Indian education system, where almost a rot has set up with very poor caliber teaching faculty, manning the departments, the first part of the UGC guideline is being rigorously being implemented and second part is over looked because the first one comes as a easy pretext to push out the professionals from getting into academic institutions.

This is gross injustice that is going on because any amount degrees and certificates can not be substituted for high degree of professional training in the relevant field of study.

As such there is definitely a requirement of high skilled professionals in the field of academia who can share knowledge with the young minds and mould them to become future professional, even they may not have relevant degree in that discipline.

A case has come to my light where a person who has 15 years of work experience in the media industry working with some top notch companies and also having six years of regular teaching experience in fairly recognized University, is being debarred from teaching position in the media discipline s because his basic degree in media studies.

This person has done masters in History, qualified NET in history and went on to do his M.Phil and PhD on a historical topic from South Asian Studies School of International relations. The time he was studying some 25 years ago, the media courses were unknown, and as such had little scope after study.

After finishing his studies this person chose career in journalism and spent about 15 yrs in that profession. He has won several awards and has shown high degree of excellence in the field of media studies. It’s because of his professional excellence; he was picked up by the University to teach that course.

In an ironical twist, after being six years in the teaching profession, now he is being debarred from teaching because he does not have basic degree in the media field.

This is ridiculous, because in the first place he was considered for teaching position on the strength of his expertise in media field and then one fine day he is Banglored, because he does not have basic degree. There is no weight given to his long work experience and his hard work over the years is simply discounted.

Now the predicament for this guy is he can not go and look for teaching position in history, a place where he was some 25 years ago and he drifted away because he could not find any opportunity there.

He cannot go to international relation because, its part of political science and he has his basic degree in history.

He can not go back to media industry even though he has 15 years of experience there because he has lost all contacts due to being engaged in teaching assignment for past six years. For him, it’s really a precarious situation, where to go.

I don't know why institutions are being fetish about the basic degree in the media field. We all know how degrees can be acquired in India and how research papers are written and published.

However, can they be substitute to professional experience and excellence in the field of study? Definitely not, and the person having good command over the discipline due to his professional experience is more suitable candidate for teaching then those having mere degree in that discipline.
This however is not happening in India and lines are being drawn to push out the media professionals to make way for sub standard teachers who hardly can make a sense of the complexities of the media world.

This is ludicrous because the UGC on one hand preaches to adopt multi- disciplinary approach to teaching and want inter disciplinary research to be encouraged. However when it comes to the framing rules it negates its own vision and mission.

A subject like media can not be handled in a narrow sense of term. It’s a multi disciplinary subject and requires people from all streams of education. Such people after having sufficient exposure in the field of media are well qualified to teach the subject.

It’s a sad commentary on the education system of the country that discounts professional experience and gives preference pieces of paper called relevant degrees.

I am sure there may be some window of opportunity for such high caliber persons teaching media The UGC guidelines may have some provision to accommodate such person and encourage them into teaching profession.

If that’s not the case, then I think it’s high time that the UGC may take into consideration proven media experience as basic qualification for teaching media courses.

I will be grateful if anyone who can throw some light on this issue and cite relevant rules of the UGC guideless that can help this person for teaching position in media studies.

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

How to heal the wounds of Mumbai and Oslo killings

2011-07-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

How to heal the wounds of Mumbai and Oslo killings
Syed Ali Mujtaba

We live in a strange world, devoid of love, hatred and insanity. There were e two incidents that happened in quick succession; one is the Mumbai blast and other Oslo killings, that gives the picture that we live in a strange world, a world that harps on make believe assumptions.

Its not even week when Mumbai was rocked by another series of bomb blasts, and then a lunatic open fires in Oslo killing scores of innocent people, both condemnable act in every term of words, but equally condemnable was the quick conclusion drawn of the suspects of both the incidents.

While the Mumbai attack was blamed on Indian Mujhadeen, Lasker -e -Toiba and Jaish- e- Mohammad, the usual Muslim suspects, the needle of suspicion for Oslo killings initially fell on the Islamist. However both the assumption went haywire.

There was not even a shred of evidence pertaining to the events linking it with the Islamists but the entire country was fed on the staple diet of the usual Muslim suspects. I was trying to look for balanced reportage but no TV channel had the audacity to report that the security forces can not correctly place the needle of suspicion on any exact group or groups and every one is innocent in the eyes of the law.

Contrary, each channel was going gung-ho hate mongering when it was moment of restraint. The vernacular television screens were louder in stoking the tempers against a particular community.

Now, when the heat and the dust of the blast has settled down, all the theories that were earlier circulated has come cropper, there is complete lull about all that has happened a while ago.

The Mumbai blasts have been a tragedy of innocent killings. Hate mongering the usual follow up of all channels was once again on display. Investigations have gone no further than catching the usual culprits, rounding them up and some calculated leaks from the investigators leading to no deductions.

Is it not all this sound strange? Anyway I leave this as food for thought and try to pick up the thread of the Oslo killings.

The moment this tragedy struck Norway, the first suspect was Al Qida. One report tried to make believe that it was Osama Bin Laden’s men who had gone on rampage to avenge the killing of its leader.

Another said that some Islamic radical dressed in mufti, created the mayhem. It was to protest Norway’s participation with NTO operations in Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan.

How simplest were the deductions, one wonders. Now, as the clouds have cleared and there is no Islamic angle to the killings and the truth is very different from all the assumptions being made, its time for introspection.

The Oslo killing is beyond expression. Innocent lives were lost. All those killed had no inkling what was that all about. A lunatic young man, with fascist ideas, full of hatred in his heart, imaginary or real which he himself is unable to explain went on rampage taking innocent lives.

This brings to the fundamental point, why the media is in a hurry to do the postmortem of such events. They seem to blame on what ever comes handy and are easy targets.

It’s a dangerous trend and not good for the consumption of civilized societies. In all humbleness there should be a protest to stop the muck that’s thrown around in the name responsible journalism.

Media may restraint from casting judgments and gradually figure out the actual reasons of the event gained through authentic sources and only then disseminate them to the public.

Another interesting observation that comes here is about Andres Behring Breilvik, the man who massacred many innocent souls and left over hundred severely wounded was classified as a lunatic. He was never branded as Christian terrorist even though he was a “devout Christian.”

This is because Christianity is associated with love and peace paradigm and no Christian may like their faith to be associated with terrorism.

So far Islam and terrorism has come to become synonymous and this opinion seems to rule the roost. Now terror is being connected to Christianity, then it’s hurting many devout Christians.

This happened in India a while ago, when the ugly face of Hindutva terror came to lime light. The Samjutha express blast, Mecca Masjid blast, Ajmer blast, Malegoan blast are all linked to Hindu terrorism. Now when this was getting established, then many devout Hindus are feeling hurt. They could not reconcile to the fact that Hinduism can be associated with terrorism.

What worries most is the manifesto of Breivik, which throws considerable light on the plans of the Hindutva radicalism. This has to be given a serious thought because this could possibly lead to a cane of worms and if not put in control may lead to certain disaster at a later stage,

The point I may like make is terrorism cannot be with a religion and to call a Christian terrorist or a Hindu terrorist hurts many devout Hindus and Christian, similarly, when its said that all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims, it definitely hurts ordinary Muslim.

Here, I may also like to add another fact that is that some Islamic radicals have rejoiced at the pain caused due to the killings in Oslo, calling it a divine justice for the pains suffered in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. This again is a dangerous trend and has to be condemned in very harsh words. Such thinking can not be called as an act of civilization. It is sheer barbarism.

Another unfortunate trend these days apart from media there are other actors such as some politician, some judges who has a high standing in the society, do point fingers with no basis or logic. Their tone and tenure is full of hate and justification enough to be hauled up for inciting public, without any proof. Government on the other hand is unable to enforce its authority and book such people under the rule of law.

We watch all this with anguish and pain, and a particular community carries the burden of innumerable abuses and false allegations, along with the usual difficulties a common man faces in this turbulent world.

Both Mumbai and Oslo killings has brought huge pain and sufferings to the people who are victims of such terror. It’s a time where each of us should unite to fight such dastardly acts. This is done without any prejudices.

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule, said one of India’s iconic saint, Lord Buddha. Equally important is quote of another saint of India Hazrat Nizamuddin who says do not give me scissor as I do not like to cut, give me needle, as I like to stitch.

India has known to practice plural values for centuries. Barring a few fissures even that due to political biases, India boasts of its traditions unknown to any nation and cultures in the World.

At this point of time, the pain and sufferings of the victims cannot be healed by blaming someone; it can only be overcome through the resolve of acting as a needle to stitch the wounds of hate.

With deepest grief in memory of those who have lost their lives in Mumbai and Oslo and sharing of pain of their families, lets pray for global peace.

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

Osama Bin Laden and Moral Dilemma

2011-05-13T17:24:00.001-07:00

Osama Bin Laden and Moral Dilemma
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The catch phrase - “This is who we are” is interesting. This was what the US President Barak Obama thundered when he announced the killing of the most wanted US terrorist Osama Bin Laden.

Why this phrase is interesting because I hared the same catcall after the ill-fated 9/11 episode. Someone discreetly whispered in my ears, it was to demonstrate “this is who we are.”

In the aftermath of the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the lunatic voice of same tone and tenure is doing rounds in certain quarters and I am flabbergasted when this cycle will come to an end.

It’s like a duel between the shield and the arrow, as for every superior shield there are smarter arrows. Both seem to have the resolve of one up against the other. Both seem to be on the right side of the justice, even though they know they are not.

The US policies of unilaterally pursuing its national interest have created havoc ever since the end of the cold war. Its deliberate designs to trample the interest of other nation to serve its own interest have created a lot of bad blood. The vengeance of that hatred was manifest in the 9/11 episode. The pity was it was taken as an act of terrorism,

The shock therapy of 9/11 was to bring the super power to its sense and tone down its arbitrary policies. However, contrary to that reasons, it paved way heightened arrogance and the beginning of the policy to tell the world “this is who we are/”

When I watched the photograph of Obama, Hilary and co, watching the CIA briefing on Operation Geronimo, I was reminded of the movie “Hard Target” (1993).

In that movie a bunch of psychopaths plays the game of head hunters. They feed some malnourished people and make them physically strong. They then organize an event where those folks are to run for their life and in the process those psychopath hunts them down. The psychos then laugh at their laurels each time, till the hero Van Dam, takes those bulls by the horn and give a run for their money.

The killing of Osama Bin Laden looks to me a script of similar to that of “Hard Target.” That bunch of most powerful people on this earth reminded me of those psychopaths of the movie who took sadist pleasure in taking the blood of those running for life, playing the dirty game “This is who we are.”

I am sure, when it might have been announced that “enemy is killed in action” Obama may have done the NBA hero Karim Abdul Jbbar’s act, leaping up few feet from the ground, raising his hand in exclamation shouting “We got him”!

To me, Osama was like, Van Dam who took up the challenge by the scruff and for ten years defied the most powerful nation on the earth equating with the hero of “Hard Target,” eventually to fall to the superior arrow. This however does not mean that arrow has upstaged the shield and the duel has come to rest. It’s an unending fight with no clear cut winner.

It’s a dirty game based on lies, cunningness, hatred and deceit. The most ironical part is there seems to be a conspiracy of silence among the nations of the world and none has the moral courage to say to stop this madness.

There are few exceptions. Former Cuban President Fidel Castro criticized the way the United States carried out the raid against Osama bin Laden. He said the U.S. raid in Pakistan violated that country's laws and offended its dignity.

In India, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M. Karunanidhi said the path taken by Osama bin Laden cannot be termed as ‘Islamic terrorism.’ He argued that just because bin Laden took to terrorism to achieve his goal, it cannot be called Islamic terrorism. Anger against any person cannot be justified in the form of terrorism, he wrote.

However, these are fringe voices and by and large the community of nations has condoned the acts of the US and it acts that it has skirted under the war against terror.

It’s only China that criticized the United States for violating' Pakistan's sovereignty by carrying out a military operation to kill Osama bin Laden saying “China holds that the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of any country should be respected.”

There are no two opinions that terrorism in any form has to be opposed tooth and nail but then this does not mean that those who become the cause of terrorism should be condoned.

The moral dilemma in case of Osama Bin Laden is he was considered to be terrorist, a threat to global peace, but then the greater terrorism perpetrated by the US and that has killed hundreds of thousands in pursuit of its national policy is considered moral and lawful. How can this be accepted unless we agree to the dictum “might is right” and if we do not then this moral dilemma may persist and persons like Osama Bin Laden may become a source of inspiration.

There cannot be global peace unless we resolve such moral dilemma. It is high time that the voices of sanity may take center stage and have the moral courage to speak “This is who we are not.”

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

New Visual World a Dream Come True

2011-04-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

New Visual World a Dream Come True
Syed Ali Mujtaba

We are living in a new visual world, a world which is different from the one that exists side by side but remains unnoticed. The new visual world actually shaped when the internet opened the gates of communication highway and the e-mails and voice-mails dominated the cyber space. This format is now being replaced by the new visual world.

In the mew visual world communication is taking place through the webcams and in an array of activities its application is found. Whether its business, board room meetings, social networking, medical surgery, court room trials, every this mode of communication is gradually becoming popular.

The mobile telephone based on 2G, 3G and now the 4G is enhancing the speed of communication of the new visual world. As we are able to see one another on a more frequent using such technology, the new visual world is bringing world closer, catapulting a global society.

As we have started to live under the shadows of cameras, the new visual world is changing our life style. We cannot escape the eye of the camera, whether it’s a mall or a superstore, bus station, railway platform, airport or even traffic signals, we are under the vigil of the camera.

In a super store, Mother Merry cannot breastfeed her toddler, because the camera watches her act, and to some the images generated may be liable porn. Similarly, many offices have cameras to monitor the work their staff and in such a case, one may have to sit tight, because each member is under the surveillance of the camera.

Notwithstanding the constraints, the new visual world has come to stay simply because the communication is now happening through touch screens and the keyboards. The visual technology is helping simulate the experience that a phone conversation or an e-mail exchange may not generate. In such mode of communication, one does not have to travel a distance to make the face-to-face appearance and such visual interaction saves time and energy.

It’s a life experience that’s happening and there is no escape from this reality. There are many who see this visual process a intrusion of the only remaining personal space in their lives and such people do not subscribe to this mode of communication. They are challenged by two sets of people, one those who are tired of every other form of communication and want to try visual options and other the young Turks who are growing with the changes and the new visual world is part of their life style.

The new visual world has thrown open a window of opportunities but it’s filled with challenges. It requires the basic skills of visual communication and if one doesn’t have the skills to face the camera, chances are to be dubbed as ineffective communicator. So in order to be an effective communicator and to make an impact, one needs to adapt to the requirements of the new visual world. One has to show maturity towards embracing the new technological changes. Those doing so alone can surge ahead; the rest may lag behind or fall by the wayside. Time and tide waits for no one.

The social impact of the new visual world is tremendous. Slowly a world of visual communicators is emerging, as one sees people of different cultures and backgrounds more visually and interacts with them more frequently. As more people see one another, and more direct contact taking place, the fears, inhibitions, prejudices, concerns, ignorance or other negative feelings are getting mellowed.

Whether there is a greater acceptance of diverse audiences and the new visual world is welcoming the visual differences is something debatable. However, the fact remains there is no escape from such a reality. This is definitely a sign of change.

At another level the new visual world is pushing the cart of globalization. As people get opportunities to interact among many cultures, a globally interactive society is emerging. In this endeavor the young Turks is taking the lead. After all, children are not born with a natural fear of likes and dislikes, they learn from the environment they live. The new visual world provides them their own experience to decide as those who look so different have so many things in common with them.

This brings us to the point that the more we see one another, the more we may understand each other and such interaction may bring us closer together, leading to a global society. In such case, the space for nationalism is shrinking, and globalization s surging ahead.

This is not to suggest that prejudices are disappearing and we are moving towards a perfect harmonious world. It’s only to underline the fact that the no matter what maybe the prejudices, one still have to interact with different people on a daily basis. The new visual world is making people to accept those people whose lifestyles and backgrounds those are different from their own.

Is the new visual world is better for our future generation or does it have negative influences on their minds that’s something being debated. There are many who are opposed to the ideas of the new visual world. They argue that children are exposed to pornography and other such vices in a tender age. Children’s creative activities are stifled as their attention is diverted in such unmeaning activities. A child has to have sound body and mind and the development of both is getting undermined by this new visual world.

The other arguments put forward are that every individual can not be visually appealing and the new visual world is creating a new divide that is based on looks and not on merit. One has to be over conscious all the time in terms of diet and dress to match the expectations of the new visual world.

Some are commanding to control this new trend. They say come on, where are we going, stop this highway to nowhere. There many who live by the slogan, it’s my life and I don’t give a damn to those who do not like the way I like. It’s such kind of people who are making the new visual world’s dream come true.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

Exploring Peace Options for Kashmir

2011-04-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

Exploring Peace Options for Kashmir
Syed Ali Mujtaba

There is a general perception among the South Asians that peace has been held hostage in the region due to the continued animosity between India and Pakistan. History suggests that no matter much the consensus for peace and development gains momentum in the region, the Kashmir question vitiates the atmosphere of the subcontinent. The two countries are unable to find an amicable solution and the issue that remains deadlocked even about 60 years of its inception.

The quest for peace in South Asia makes it imperative to explore options for the resolution of the Kashmir issue. This is to reduce tension at various levels; first between India and Pakistan, second, between the Indian Union and the state of Jammu and Kashmir and third between the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the people i.e. common man in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The executive summery is to suggest that India, Pakistan and along with a broad spectrum of people of Jammu and Kashmir should make a joint declaration to make the flash point the ‘Kashmir valley’ a “Zone of Peace.” Then India and Pakistan should thrash out the issues they disagree and after that bring on board the people of Jammu and Kashmir to shape the contours of governance. Such move alone can find an amicable solution to this long standing problem.

Since independence, India and Pakistan, several times, have entered into armed conflict over Kashmir. The first was in 1948 when armed raiders swooped upon the Valley from the Pakistani side, but India somehow managed to push them back. The matter was referred to the UN, and it resulted in a ceasefire, and the establishment of the Line of Control that exists today. The second was a full scale war in 1965 that resulted in ceasefire and the Tashkent pact. The third was the 1971 war though fought in eastern front but enflamed the borders across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

The tension between India and Pakistan over Kashmir continues to mount in the decades following 1971. Its Kashmir issue played a major role for the two countries o become nuclear weapon States in 1998. In post nuclear scenario, the Kargil skirmishes in 1999 was a major confrontation between the two countries. The Kashmir problem also started an era of terror attack and the attack on Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001, brought the two countries once the brink of war. The Mumbai terror attack in 2008 too owes its origin to the Kashmir problem.

Even as India and Pakistan confronted each other over the years over Kashmir, they also held discussions at the level of Heads of Government and Foreign Secretary level to address the Kashmir problem. In 1965, Kashmir issue figured prominently during the Ayub Khan–Lal Bahadur Shastri talks at Tashkent. According India’s foreign office, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Z. A. Bhutto and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi talked about Kashmir issue at the Shimla conference in 1972. Then Rajiv Gandhi-Benazir Bhutto, I.K Gujral- Nawaz Sharif and A.B Vajpayee-Nawaz Sharif held talks on Kashmir issue.

The Agra summit held in 2001 between Indian Prime Minister A.B Vajpayee and Pakistan President, Pervez Musharaf was the last effort made to resolve differences over Kashmir issue.

The history of the India and Pakistan foreign Secretary level talks over Kashmir is longer and suffice would be to say that two sides have held more than eight rounds of talks and one in Islamabad in February 1999, resulted in the idea of a composite and comprehensive dialogue. Its highlight was the two sides agreed to remain engaged in parleys on a rotation basis, even while agreeing to disagree on several issues. The Kargil incursion in May 1999 derailed this dialogue process and the terror attack on Parliament on December 13th 2001, prolonged the break. The talks resumed once again in 2003 to be snapped in 2008, due to terror attack on Mumbai.

The Mohali world cup semifinal cricket match between India and Pakistan in March 2011 is believed to have provided momentum for the resumption of India Pakistan dialogue but it remains to be seem whether it will be composite and comprehensive.

The factor in the India- Pakistan dialogue towards the resolution of Kashmir problem is the lack of seriousness and consistent leadership in both the countries to carry forward the dialogue process. Talks on Kashmir could not be sustained as L.B Shastri died immediately after the Tashkent pact. Z.A Bhutto was ousted after signing the Shimla agreement. Rajiv Gandhi died and Benazir Bhutto was replaced. Gujral’s government fell even before the Indo-Pak dialogue could begin. Nawaz Sharif was removed soon after Vajpayee took the historic bus ride to Lahore.

The slow progress on the issue of the resolution of Kashmir is attributed to the absence of a similar minded leadership on the both sides of the divide. It is also blamed that even after sixty years or so the two countries have not been evolved a mechanism on which the dialogue could be sustained irrespective of the individuals heading the government.

The Indian position is that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the Union of India. The periodic elections held in state have given it the right of territorial sovereignty over the province of Jammu and Kashmir. India holds the view that the citizen of Jammu and Kashmir, by participating in the electoral process, has accepted India’s sovereignty. Indian view is that the areas in control of Pakistan and those acceded to China alone is a matter of dispute and a resolution to that has to be found.

Also India do not subscribe to the idea of plebiscite under the relevant UN resolution, saying it requires vacation of the area controlled by Pakistan and China and wants these two countries to vacate the area a pre requisite for a plebiscite. India also rejects Pakistan’s attempts to internationalize Kashmir dispute as a nuclear flash-point, saying there is no linkage between nuclear confidence-building measures and the Kashmir situation. India on the contrary accuses Pakistan of abetting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, and wants international community to help it in its war of terror. India insists that cross-border infiltration must first end, for any meaningful talks to resume.

Pakistan’s position on Kashmir is that it’s an unfinished agenda of the Partition of India in 1947. It does not subscribe to its integration with India that was signed as instrument of accession by the Princely ruler of that state, citing the case of the Princely state of Hyderabad and Junagarh whose rulers signed the instrument accession in favor of Pakistan. India integrated the two states to its Union on the claim they are contagious regions had majority Hindu population. On the similar ground Pakistan lay claim to Kashmir. Pakistan insists on a plebiscite under UN supervision, as India did to amalgamate Junagarh in 1948.

Pakistan also likes to internationalize the Kashmir issue as the conflict has all the potential to burst into nuclear flames. Pakistan as harps that since bilateralism has not served any purpose so far, third-party mediation is essential to adjudicate in this matter. It continues to appeals to the international community to get actively involved in the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

Pakistan denies India’s charges of instigating terrorism and says, has done all it can to stop infiltration across LOC, and any stray incidents are beyond its control. It suggests that international observers to be stationed along the LOC to verify India’s allegations. Pakistan reiterates it only provide moral and diplomatic support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their struggle for freedom. Pakistan insists that the ‘uprising’ in Jammu and Kashmir is indigenous, and more as a result of ‘repression’ by the Indian security forces.

The story of the engagement of the Union of India and the state of Jammu and Kashmir and that of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is another interesting tale. India’s approach to Jammu and Kashmir is two fold; first integration, governance and development. Second, to curb militancy, maintain law and order and check separatism.

India has adopted various steps for the integration of the State. First it did away with the ‘special flag’ and the nomenclature of Prime Minister was changed to Chief Minister, when the Shiekh Abdullah’s Government was dismissed in 1953. Thereafter, India dismissed Pakistan’s claim of Kashmir being a territorial dispute and rejected its plea of plebiscite. The Indian Parliament also passed a resolution that Kashmir is the core of India’s nationhood and demanded vacation of the areas which Pakistan holds as Azad Kashmir.

As part of the integration process, an accord was signed between Indira Gandhi and Shiekh Abdullah in 1975 which mooted greater autonomy for the State. This was further reinforced by the Rajiv Gandhi - Farooq Abdullah accord of 1986. However, the autonomy proposal, which was unanimously approved by the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature in 2002, was summarily rejected by the Indian Parliament.

Currently, New Delhi’s position is to consider devolution of power for the State under the federal structure of the Indian constitution. India wants to open talks with the dissenting voices in Jammu and Kashmir but within its constitutional framework. India has appointed several Kashmir committees to co-opt the Kashmiri separatist forces into the political mainstream but so far has been unable to make any headway

As far as people of Jammu and Kashmir are concerned, they have been trying to find the solution to the problem through both peaceful and non peaceful means. Their main voice is through the All Party Hurriyat Conference, a conglomerate of several political parties. The Hurriyat has rejected the proposal for talks within the framework of Indian constitution. It wants tripartite talks involving India and Pakistan and the voices representing the people of Jammu and Kashmir. In first stage Hurriyat wants the negotiations to be held between the voices of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union of India. It suggests that once a settlement is reached between then and the Union of India and the Pakistan can be brought on board for a joint deceleration.

Some efforts have been made in this direction by the BJP led NDA government headed by A B Vajapayee that had hinted at readiness to hold talks with the conglomerate. However, such promises remain mere promise and no tangible talks ever started. The Congress led UPA government now its second term has kept this proposal afloat. Like its predecessor, it has appointed Kashmir committee that’s making regular holiday trips to Kashmir in an effort to kick start the dialogue process, but nothing has happened so far. Meanwhile, there consensus eludes the conglomerate on the issue of talking with the government of India. The parties are divided n their goals that range from independence, to greater autonomy, to plebiscite, to merger with Pakistan.

The charade of peace talks between the people of Jammu and Kashmir and government of India bred separatism in the state and has taken a militant since 1989. There are several militant groups which are waging, an ‘armed rebellion’ against the Indian state. India sees the militancy as being perpetrated from across the border and says it has been waging a lonely battle against a war on terror. New Deli is appealing to the international community to put pressure on Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism.

India also treats militancy as a law and order problem and has stationed a large number of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. The abnormally large number of security forces has made the Kashmir valley an open prison, causing much concern to human rights activists.

In an effort to seek peace in the year 2000, India took cognizance of the growing militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and recognized Hizbul Mujahideen as the dominant militant group in the valley. This group and the Union Government decided on a ceasefire, and agreed to negotiate on the issues involved. The talks could not make any headway as the militant group insisted on certain preconditions, unacceptable to India. However, the recognition of militant groups and the beginning of negotiations with them underscored the point that peace cannot be achieved by sidelining the militant groups in the state.

India realizes that economic discontentment has created conditions that breed militancy and is giving full cooperation to the State Government to accelerate the developmental process. It feels by ding so, the general frustration among the disgruntled youth may be relieved. However, in spite of India’s best efforts terror related violence continues unabated in Jammu and Kashmir. Official figures say more than 38,000 lives have been lost since 1989 when the militancy related violence began; the separatist groups put the toll to over 100,000.

It’s a fact that in spite of a democratically-elected Government, political dissent and militancy are twin features in Jammu and Kashmir. It is felt that an agreement between India and Pakistan and the people of Jammu and Kashmir on some peace model has to be worked out to bring peace in that beleaguered state.

Another interesting observation is Kashmir finds an important place in the jingoistic nationalism that’s heard during the electoral process in the Indian mainland. The perception of common Indians towards Kashmir is being colored by communal-thinking. Come every election, the talk of abrogation of article 370 of the federal constitution, which gives special concessions to Jammu and Kashmir, gains crescendo. Politicians rake up the Kashmir issue to gain electoral mileage.

Separatism in Kashmir is played up as a bid for further scissoring India. Some even attempt to inject a sense of fear in the Muslim minority that they would be purged in case if Kashmir is sliced out of India. Politicians claim that Kashmir is integral part of India and they link it to India’s commitment to secularism.

The politics over Kashmir in Indian mainland may provide political dividends for those who press such views, but it further vitiates the communal atmosphere in the country and provides fuel to the separatist forces in Kashmir. Further, the periodic communal clashes and the targeting Muslim minorities in India, have repercussions in Kashmir. The blind eye that the Indian Government turns towards perpetrators of riots after riots against the Muslims, gives Kashmiri militants a handle to carry out mayhem against the minorities in their state. The purging of Kashmiri Hindus from the Valley is often seen as a reflection of the anti-minority politics being played in rest of India.

The solution to this could be a self imposed election- related political moratorium on raking up the Kashmir issue during electioneering in Indian mainland. It will not only bridge inter-community relations in Kashmir but also ease the communal pressure on the Indian Muslims. In the long run it may help the cause of peace in the sub-continent.

In the chequered history of India and Pakistan, there have been several attempts being made to solve the Kashmir issue, but none has shown any results so far. The history suggests that both India and Pakistan do not want to forfeit their claim over Kashmir. It is also seen that neither war, nor sweet talks, have resolved the Kashmir issue. Meanwhile, both countries becoming nuclear weapons countries have further vitiated the problem.

The voices of sanity suggest that the only way to solve the problem is to reject the hardened stand and look for a course that may be accepted to both the countries as well as people of Kashmir. This could be done by converting the troubled region into a “zone of peace.” As a first measure all the three parties, India, Pakistan and voices from Kashmir, should make a joint declaration that they would not breach the security of this “special zone,” till they resolved all their outstanding differences.

As a follow, India should consider reducing the number of force deployed in Jammu and Kashmir. It can even consider deploying women security force in the populated areas of the state to build a climate of peace. Indian women security forces have successfully assisted the UN forces manning the theaters of conflict in Africa like Sierra Leone and Rwanda. If such efforts are being made in Kashmir as well, it will go a long way in the restoration of peace.

Adding to the credibility to such idea is the perception that the creation of the ‘special zone’ will not only reduces tension between India and Pakistan but also provides a model to other separatists groups operating elsewhere in India. The concept of ‘special zone’ also funnels the idea of the integration of the entire region, into a greater confederation of South Asian States. This would not only remove the irritants between India and Pakistan, but also between India and other neighboring countries. It also fulfills the democratic aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Now, again fresh initiatives are being made to create an atmosphere of peace. The buzz word is the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan. It is only a matter of time the two countries start talking again. However, will they address such a knotty issue like Kashmir that remains to be seen? It is common wisdom that there is no easy solution to the Kashmir problem.

The starting point could be the two countries along with the people of Jammu and Kashmir should agree to a formula that may convert the entire region into a zone of peace. The concept of special zone seems to be the best bet to address such a case. This exercise may give a direction to the resolution of the problem and as the time elapse, the problem may finds its way to play itself out.

The fingers, however, remain crossed will the two countries approach the Kashmir issue in such framework? This will be something interesting to watch if and when serious dialogue between India and Pakistan resumes.

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

Indian Muslims and Media Images

2011-04-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

Indian Muslims and Media Images
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The book 'Muslims and the Media Images: News versus Views' edited by Ather Farouqui, has some interesting observation made by the leading Indian journalist that needs to be brought out in popular discourse.

This book is divided into four parts: English Media: Image and Depiction; Transcending Boundaries; Muslim Journalism: A Phenomenal Dichotomy; and Popular Images and the Story of Stereotypes. There is an inevitable overlapping of themes between articles so all those that are thematically interlinked follow each other in succession.

Outlook editor, Vinod Mehta’s essay entitled ‘Muslims and Media Images: Where Things went Wrong’ has two main points. One with regard to Muslim’s expectations from the so called mainstream media and they expect all unbiased non-Muslims to promote the Muslim cause. He says that the expectations of the Muslim community are misplaced because Indian media faces may compulsions and challenges in their depiction.

According to Mehta there is a lack of understanding between Muslims and the Indian media. The media gives space to ether Muslim socialites that dominate the public space or to fringe Muslim voices no one knows. He warns that the situation is unlikely to change unless the common Muslim makes efforts to be heard. The onus is really on the Muslims themselves.

Academic Rajni Kothari’s article asserts that the role of the media in independent India has been negative as far as Muslim representation is concerned. The media has not provided enough space for minority opinions and has portrayed them negatively. He appeals the Muslim leadership to work hand in hand with secular Hindu elements towards a realignment of forces that can rebuild India’s democratic secularism. He is optimistic and believes that once this happens the press will have a very positive role in building constructive cooperative relationships.

Noted journalist, Kuldip Nayar’s article states that strained post- Partition Hindu–Muslim relations have affected journalism as a whole. He agrees that there do exist irresponsible journalists but emphasizes that these are in a minority. As far as the role of the English language press is concerned he feels, it’s more balanced, albeit subtly biased towards majority concerns. He believes that the national press is, on the whole, balanced and fair.

He do not agree that national press is a puppet controlled by majoritarian communal forces and dismisses such claims by Muslims as a product of fear psychosis. He urges the Muslim community to encourage their youth to come forward and represent the community in the national press.

The well known Hindi journalist, Mrinal Pande provides a gender-centric viewpoint on the issue. She points out that the press often fails in its role of a powerful social watchdog as far as women and minorities are concerned. Minorities and women lose out in a situation as male members of the majority community control media coverage and its institutions. A male preserve and its chauvinism are evident in the quick politicization of issues concerning women belonging to the minority community, she says.

The Pioneer editor, Chandan Mitra in his contribution, ‘The Print Media and Minority Images’, says that the generalization that the media is biased against Muslims is not true.

He points that in the English media two polarities exist, one patronizing and the other antagonistic. The former tends to understand the issues concerning Muslims and the latter believes that Muslims are prisoners of their own image.

As a BJP-backed MP, Mitra for long has espoused the RSS viewpoint and reiterates that the Urdu media is also not interested in projecting a positive image of the community or in raising awareness among Muslims about social changes and developments that are affecting the rest of India.

He concedes the point that there are biases existing in the media, but makes this up saying there are also dedicated people who go to great lengths to rectify such distortions.

Siddharth Varadarajan of the The Hindu argues that though the mainstream media after Independence did not openly support communal forces, the press, in common with the ruling Congress, arguably gave undeserved prominence to the views of the mullahs, portraying them as the leaders of the Muslim community. With the emergence of more virulent communal politics from the 1970s onwards, the communal biases of a section of the print media became more pronounced, and this came into stark relief every time a major incident of communal violence occurred.

He then provides an insider’s insight on riot reporting in the mainstream press and its invariable bias against Muslims, though veiled under a garb of impartiality. He bewails the fact that the compulsions of the market dictate that trivialities concerning celebrities get much more prominence than serious national issues.

Varadarajan notes that he has the liberty to bluntly speak the truth about communalism in the media because he is a Hindu, and a Muslim journalist or an intellectual might not find this so easy to say so.

The author while addressing the issue of the Indian Muslims and the media images raises the point why Muslims have been misunderstood not just by Hindus but also by other religious as well. It’s a matter of fact that wherever Muslims have a sizeable presence, certain misunderstandings about them persist in the non- Muslim mind.

Such attitudes or positions that have led to this general distrust should be studied and identified very carefully and placed in perspective and needs to be tackled with greater sensitivity and understanding. In such efforts, Muslims need to come forward ad address them, as they are the victims of this mindset.

The author also feels that Muslim studies have often received marginal and shabby treatment globally, and India is no exception. Since India is home to about 200 million Muslims, Muslim studies should be a serious academic pursuit, but the available writings on Indian Muslim society, culture, psyche, and problems in India rarely reflect the complexities of issues involved.

'Muslims and the Media Images: News versus Views' edited by Ather Farouqui, is published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi, November 2010.

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

Ajmal Perfumes –The Scent of the Orient

2011-04-10T12:20:00.001-07:00

Ajmal Perfumes –The Scent of the Orient
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Perfumery is quite an ancient art, born out of human desire to create a good feeling and pleasant environment. A shining example of the art of perfumery is Ajmal perfumes, a family-owned fragrance house of India, whose name means “most beautiful” in Arabic.

With nearly 60 years of heritage and expertise in the fragrance industry, Ajmal perfumes has established a formidable presence in the world. A household name in India and the Middle East Ajmals presence is felt in over 32 countries. It has over 200 exclusive retail outlets spread across 20 countries, and 500 dealerships across the globe.

The story of Ajmal perfumes began in the early 1950s, from a village called Hojai, situated in the verdant foothills of the mountains of the Nagaon district of Assam state in India. Here Haji Ajmal Ali the founder of Ajmal perfumes, started a modest trading house in the lucrative Dhahanul Oudh oil, the base material of most the oriental perfumes. One Kilogram of Oudh oil cost about Rs 1, 50,000 and is derived from the essence of Agar wood (Aquilaria) trees that take up to 20-40 years to harvest.

In the tradition of great masters, Ajmal Ali in the early 1950s, traveled to Mumbai with 500 rupees and some Oudh oil as his starting capital. He worked in a dingy house blending perfumes and trying to find the right mixture that would impress the many Arab traders who visited India’s western shores. As his business flourished, in 1964 he gave his family name to his product range. In 1976he shifted his operation base from Bombay to Dubai, where he opened the first Ajmal outlet and launched the first fragrance “Mukhallat.” Rest as they say is history.

Today, Ajmal perfume is a huge business conglomerate with an estimated annual turnover of $200 million. Its business operation is run from Assam, Mumbai and Dubai with over 7000 employees. It has the biggest plantation of Agar wood in Asia with more than a lakh agar trees, grown at various locations in Assam.

The business is run by the second and third generation Ajmal Ali’s family who had five sons. Amiruddin, Ajmal is the CEO of Ajmal Perfumes in UAE. Fakhruddin Ajmal is the CEO Ajmal Real Estate; Nazir Ajmal is COO, Ajmal Perfumes. The Indian operation is looked after by Sirajuddin Ajmal in Mumbai and Badruddin Ajmal in Assam.

Ajmals, employing state-of-the-art technology, has produced an expansive range of products. Its fast moving products are; Jabtisan, Hayati, Dewaan, Oudha Al Zaid, Mkt Shams, Abhaar, Ottarid, Rijali2001. It has natural fragrances like Dahn al Oudh, Rose, Jasmin, Sandal, Saffron. It also produces special range of budget priced perfumes ‘Maryaj.’

Ajmal’s constant innovation and quest to provide its customers with unique and exclusive shopping experience had led to the introduction of innovative retail concepts like ‘My Inspiration’ and ‘Ajmal Eternal’. This has widely been received and appreciated by fragrance lovers across the Gulf region.

The unique selling point of Ajmals is the packaging design. The designs are stunningly original and are available in a variety of finishes. The materials used in packaging are eco-friendly. The high quality of fabrication matches the elegant designs and is well appreciated by its clients all over the world.

The catalyst to the success story of Ajmals is its research and development center, one at Hojai, the ancestral village in Assam and other in Dubai. It has invested over $10 million in a new 150,000 square-foot facility in Dubai that offers a high-tech automated production unit including a state-of-the-art research wing. A team of highly dedicated scientists manage Ajmal R&D centers and help devise new and more efficient processes for producing value added derivatives, essential oils and herbal products from medicinal and aromatic plants.

With a growing network of 137 exclusive retail shops across the GCC and its ambitious plans that earmarks $50m for its international expansion and the retrofitting of its existing GCC network of stores, Ajmal perfumes has become a globally recognized brand. According to Forbes Arabia, Ajmal are ranked among the Top 40 Arab brands.

Ajmals has an aggressive presence in Indian perfume market with offices in Mumbai, Bangalore and Hojai. In last three years, it has opened up new showrooms in major metros of India. It’s planning to make its presence felt in most of the state capitals and semi metro cities of India before the close of 2012.

“Perfumes are epitome of refinement, and pleasing personality. It has a significant impact on the body and mind. Ajmals through decades of continuous research and experience in the art and technique of perfumery has became synonymous with high quality traditional Arabic and oriental fragrance products”, says Mr. Sirajuddin Ajmal, India head and one of directors for the Ajmal group.

“As the middle class is growing rapidly and disposable incomes are increasing, the potential for perfumes is immense. With the growing demand for fragrance, Ajmals plans a multiple marketing and distribution strategy to foray into the domestic market, he adds.

“Ajmals vision is to enrich customers’ lifestyles by encouraging creativity, innovation and continual improvements. At the end of the day it wants to be globally recognized as a quality luxury brand,” he concludes.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com. This article first appeared at Dinar Standard.

World class animated TV series,” The 99"

2011-04-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

World class animated TV series,” The 99"
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The 99 animated television serial for children is soon going to cross swords with Mickey Mouse, Tom and Jerry and all such likes. Even as the toons are going to be benefited by the new addition, the established names in such format of entertainment are going to get a run for their money.

Jointly produced by the 99 parent company, Teshkeel Media Group, and Endemol UK, the words largest syndicator of television programes, the 99 animated series is going to be a regular feature on the television screens from the middle of 2011.

The 99 is inspired from the Quranic concept of knowledge the suggest that there are ninety-nine salutary names of Allah, The 99' revolves around the hackneyed theme of good versus evil but what makes the story different is the racy mix of action and drama with the incorporation of traditional values.

The 99 created as positive role models for the world's children offering universal themes of tolerance and teamwork. It’s a household comic book in many countries and hugely popular among the toon audiences of such countries.

Naif-al -Mutuwa, founder and Chairman of the 99 is one the script writer of the comic strip is recently recognized for his efforts and chosen as the world economic forum's young global leaders for the year 2011.

The honor is bestowed each year to outstanding young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishment, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.

The comic is now being made into an animated television series with an estimated cost of two million pound. It is produced at the Sanraa Media Ltd, a production house specializing in animated films in Chennai, India,

Hundreds of animators and graphic artists had put their hard work, to bring to life this popular comic series. The 26-episode project, each episode lasting 22 minutes, is ready and will soon hit the markets in South East Asia, the Gulf, Europe and elsewhere.

"What makes the work challenging and interesting is the fact that each of the 99 heroes has one particular trait, such as knowledge. When that character teams up with another that has mercy or any of the other qualities, the energy levels released should be phenomenal, and the animation should reflect a synergy between both," says said Sukumar Subramainam, director, Sanraa Media.

"It was demanding project and being a 3D animation, we have to come up with human characteristics in toon form, The challenge lies in bringing to life the vibrant energy that is caused when four super hero, or even six of them come together on a frame,” adds Subramaniam.

As the world market for animation series for the toon is growing, Chennai is fast emerging as a hub for animation production. There are many such productions from Japan, Malaysia and the United Kingdom that’s being produced from the studios in Chennai.

To know more about “The 99”, follow the link of my story “The 99-World Class Brand with Muslim Values”: http://www.the99.org/art-1-33-Articles-1-3-589,ckl

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

Michelin Tyres Epitome of Corporate Social Responsibility

2011-04-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

Michelin Tyres Epitome of Corporate Social Responsibility
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The global tyre company, Michelin has established a world class manufacturing facility some 50 km north of Chennai at Thervoy Kandigai in Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu.

Operating under the name Michelin India Tamil Nadu Tyres Private Limited (MITTPL) this polish tyre company has a state of the art plant that’s spread over an area of 290 acres of land.

The construction of the boundary wall and fence around the site is complete and the leveling of the ground has commenced. The plant is schedule to start operations in 2012, but will be fully functional only by 2020, absorbing, minimum, of 1,500 workers.

At the moment the training centre is the first building that has come on the site and the main focus of this facility is to offer training to both: Michelin employees and the local community surrounding the site.

“Apart from technical and language training to its own staff, the facility conducts training in soft and technical skills to help improve employment opportunities of the villagers, in general. This includes language training, computer skills, accounting, and other vocational courses like plumbing and carpentry,” says Mrs. Saradamani Dey, Communications Manager, Michelin India Tamil Nadu Tyres Private Limited (MITTPL).

As part of corporate social responsibility, Michelin, has sponsored household socio-economic survey in 31 villages on the periphery of the site. The survey was conducted by Foundation for Rural Recovery and Development (FORRAD) that collected empirical data on education, occupation, skills, income, expenditure, indebtedness and other indicators of socio-economic well being of the people living around the site.

Based on the findings of the survey, Michelin, as part of its corporate social responsibility has devised some mid term and long term strategy and has started a flurry of activity to meet such objective.

Michelin has initiated health camps covering pediatrics, gynecology, general health care and eye care. These camps are held to map out the health status of the local people and assist with a long term health plan. The first health camp was conducted in February 2011 and this was in association with Lifeline Hospitals, Chennai. About 225 people participated in this camp and 205 patients were prescribed medicines.

So far, Michelin has organized four eye screening camps since September 2010 in association with Sankara Nethralaya, the world famous eye hospital in Chennai. In these camps a total of 1143 persons from 8 villages registered and 87 persons successfully underwent cataract operations and additional 186 people were prescribed, and given spectacles.

Apart from such activity, Michelin, in partnership with two national NGOs, the Foundation for Rural Recovery and Development (FORRAD) and Action for Food Production (AFPRO), has taken step towards natural resource management of the area surrounding its site.

The AFPRO conducted a preliminary survey that revealed that agriculture in the region surrounding Michelin site is fed by large rain-fed lakes and most of the lakes at the far end of the irrigation channels were silted up.

Michelin, committed to its corporate social responsibility initiative, has taken steps towards de-silting of the irrigation channels and so far has completed dredging of about 18 kilometers to harness the water resources in the lakes surrounding its site.

“Such initiative may increase the storage capacity of the lakes and maintain the water supply to the farmers living on the far end of the lake,” says Mrs. Saradamani Dey, Communications Manager, MITTPL.

One needs to visit the Michelin site, to have a feel of its corporate social responsibility where conservation of human and natural resources and developmental activity is going on simultaneously. However, there maybe some discontentment too simmering below the surface and that needs separate investigation.

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

India has abandoned Aung Sun Suu kyi,Indians have not

2011-04-10T12:14:00.001-07:00

India has abandoned Aung Sun Suu kyi,Indians have not
Syed Ali Mujtaba

India has abandoned the Aung Sun Suu kyi, the democratic icon of Myanmar is the startling revelation that WikiLeaks has made with regards to Myanmar, courtesy, “The Hindu”, India’s national newspaper since 1878.

According the expose, India’s Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Mitra Vasishtha told Political Counselor Geoffrey Pyatt on November 2, 2004 (22299: confidential) describing the Nobel laureate, Aung Sun Suu kyi as someone whose “day has come and gone.”

The WikiLeaks reveals that India has no problem dumping old friend Aung San Suu Kyi to romance Myanmar's generals. Its clear that democratic leader of Myanmar particularly Auug Sun Suu kyi do not aspire those in the mandarins of power in New Delhi.

The Indian foreign office seems to disagree with the Indian consensus on the pro democracy leader in Myanmar once diligently nurtured as Nelson Mandela of Myanmar.

According to Ms Vasishtha, the world had made democracy in Myanmar synonymous with Ms. Suu Kyi, but this may “backfire,” meaning the pro democracy leader has lost relevance to India.

The author of the cable, Embassy Chief of Mission Carmen Martinez, commented that India's “pragmatic” approach was “a severe blow to the leaders of Burma's beleaguered democratic opposition, most of whom draw their inspiration from India's historic struggle for independence and democracy.”

It’s indeed a sad commentary as the world looks upon India as bacon of democracy. It appears, on the alter of ‘pragmatism’, ’democracy is bei8ng sacrificed when it comes to dealing with Myanmar.

One needs to ask those making policies on behalf of India, whether the common Indians will abandon the democratic icon of Myanmar Auug Sun Suu kyi. Can a referendum be held on this count and if that happens its a foregone conclusion that such uncouth rulers will be unseated by the ordinary folks of this country.

The other revelation that WikiLeaks makes is India’s refusal to deny that it not supplying arms to the military junta in Myanmar. In a cable sent on November 7, 2007 (129067: confidential). American Political Counselor Osius suggested Joint Secretary T.S. Tirumurti, to make a public declaration of New Delhi’s policy of s ban on arms sales to Myanmar, he offered no response.” The joint Secretary however acknowledged that a Myanmar request for military equipment had been turned down by India.

This again is something puzzling. Indian Army Vice-Chief Lt. Gen. S. Pattabhiraman in a interview to the Force magazine stated that in the past India had supplied 75/24 Howitzers to Burma though the numbers were not “much” they were neither “symbolic”. He also disclosed that 105-mm Indian field guns were given to Myanmar.

The Indian Navy, transferred two BN-2 ‘Defender’ Islander maritime surveillance aircraft and deck-based air-defence guns and varied surveillance equipment to Myanmar.

According to sources, as part of the agreement reached at the Home Secretary level talks, India supplied 98 truckloads of arms and ammunition to Myanmar. India also offered unspecified number of T-55 tanks that the Indian army is retiring, armored personal carriers, 105-mm light artillery guns, mortars and the locally designed advanced light helicopters to Myanmar.

All this was part of the deal struck with the military junta to cooperate in flushing out militant groups operating from its soil in the northeast region of India. It’s also to neutralize Myanmar’s dependence on Chinese arms.

One has to recall the story of “operation leach” in Adman islands that revealed that India was officially supplying arms to the pro democratic forces in Myanmar to carry out the struggle for freedom. Then India made a 360 degree turn around and arrested the same people whom it supplied arms slapping charges on them of treason, and gunrunning.

The issue snowballed into a major controversy and the rift between then Naval Chief Visnu Bhagwat and then defense minister George Fernandez came in open leading to the sacking of the Naval Chief by the Defense Minister.

What an irony, India’s policy of supplying arms to the pro democratic forces in Myanmar is changed to provide arms to the junta; apparently to flush out the insurgents operating in north-eastern India but in actual fact is being used to crush the ethnic groups and democratic forces raising standard of revolt.

Mohan Kumar, MEA Joint Secretary dealing with Myanmar, is reported in a cable sent on February 20, 2007 (97303: confidential) saying to the American diplomat that engagement with the Myanmar junta was an imperative for India for several reasons.

First India’s 'Look East Policy' to reach out to the ASEAN. Second coordinated effort with Myanmar is required to develop India’s northeast region and to tackle insurgency there, third is the strategic necessity to contain Chinese influence over Myanmar.

In India's look east policy, the trilateral highway between India, Myanmar and Thailand plays a major role to reach the South East Asian countries. So is the Trans Asian railway that is to connect New Delhi with Hanoi.

A deep economic relationship with Myanmar in India's view would give a tremendous boost to the development of its northeast region. The planned infrastructure development of road, rail and waterways are all steps in this direction. This includes, Kaladan multi-modal transport project in the Rakhine State and road project to improve access to a border-trade crossing opened in January 2004 IN Chin State.

According to Mohan Kumar, MEA Joint Secretary, “Bangladesh's stubbornness in allowing access to transit routes for trade leaves India with Burma as the only alternative to connect the northeast to ASEAN markets.”

The MEA joint secretary says insurgency in the northeast region is another reason to engage Mayanmar. “The ULFA guys are hiding in Burma and screwing the hell out of us and Burma is the only one helping us to tackle the northeastern insurgency.”

“India is also trying to deal with the insurgency by creating economic opportunities in the northeastern region, and Myanmar was crucial for this, the economic incentive may lure the ULFA to lay down arms”.

India sees China's involvement in Myanmar having geo- strategic implications for the region and may like to engage Myanmar through greater economic strategic cooperation, so the Chinese do not have a free run.

Reflecting the India’s worries about China, Ms. Vasishtha said “what you hear about the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Burma is only the tip of the iceberg. The U.S. intelligence must surely know this. China took Myanmar for granted and this was why Myanmar wanted to engage with India, she said.

Ms. Vasishtha confirmed Indian grant of $20 million to the junta for the development of energy and gas infrastructure, however, she offered no conclusive answer why Myanmar sold it gas to China.

Indian- Myanmar relationship faces the pangs of proximity. The Indian government faces the moral dilemma whether to listen to the call of the conscience that demands to side with the democratic forces, or adhere to the rules of real politics and align with the military rulers in Myanmar.

Indian government was believed to have resolved this moral dilemma by following the middle path, giving moral support to the democratic forces, at the same time engaging the Military junta for geo strategic reasons.

The WikiLeaks expose however has revealed that idealism has no place in the modern state craft of India. The sentiments and emotions that bind India and Myanmar relations are of little consideration in the current policy framework that tantamount to sidelining Aug Sun Suu Kyi.

What is apparent is there is a total disconnect between India and the Indians in dealing with Myanmar. Can a government makes policies opposed to the wishes of its people. Can India afford to abandon Aug Sun Suu Kyi annoying millions of Indians who admire her as an icon of democracy?

If the answer is no, then it’s high time that such policy is changed immediately or the current dispensation making such policy may pack off its bags.

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

Myanmar in Transition - Is it a bacon of Light?

2011-04-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Myanmar in Transition - Is it a bacon of Light?
Syed Ali Mujtaba

There are some seminal changes taking place in Myanmar that needs attention amidst the news of India wining the world cricket world, tsunami cum quake in Japan, and civilized world is hell bent to make Libya, another Afghanistan nay Iraq,

Among such hyperboles the news that Myanmar's military strongman General Than Shwe who ruled for almost two decades has stepped down from his post has not raised the cockles of the opinion makers of the world.

According to reports, the Seventy-eight year old Senior General has disbanded the junta and its organ the State Peace and Development Council and handed over the power to the civilian government that was elected last year in the controversial election.

Even though some may feel that General Than Shwe will continue to play a significant role in the country's governance as army hierarchy has retained a firm grip on power, it’s a change in Myanmar that is obvious and the discourse of politics may be the same in that resource-rich country.

According to reports, Myanmar’s Parliament met from March 9 to March 23 and discussed a whole range of issues telling the state of affair in that country and giving an impression that a modicum of democratic apparatus is being put in place after almost five decades of military rule.

The deliberations in the Parliament disclosed some very non consequential facts such as the proportion of Chin nationals employed at the 15 Electrical Engineers’ Offices in the Chin State. The answer by the Muftis was 177 out of 197 or 89.85 percent. Along with the answer came the revelation that the Chin State, with a population in excess of 500,000, has a total electricity generation capacity of 3 megawatts, enough for less than one in 10 people to use a 60-watt light bulb.

Similarly there was a question on the number of “local” teachers employed at Basic Education High Schools in Buthidaung Township. The answer was 50 out of 51, and the non-local being the wife of a “service personnel assigned to the region.” It reveals something that was supposedly to be hiding.

In all, 46 questions and 17 proposals were submitted in the lower house, while 33 questions and 16 proposals were submitted in the upper house. Many of these have focused on regional infrastructure, introduction of compulsory military service, prevalence of tax evasion, lack of availability of loans for small-to-medium enterprises, manipulation of commodity prices, excessive cost of mobile phones, low internet connectivity, sale of fuel onto the black market, prevalence of gambling, conducting of a national census, cost of middle and high school education and the raising of pensions and government salaries.

The fact that such details are reported by the “New Light of Myanmar,” the only source for the goings on in Parliament reflects the level of accountability, shown by the military backed political party and such the military per se that now willing for a change as so far they had never considered to take into account the aspirations of the people while ruling the country with an iron hand.

The Parliamentary debate even though confined to fifteen minutes has brought some changes from the past. The information provided by the Junta sanctioned reports is useful in determining the actual situation in Myanmar. The fact that they can be useful to push for more substantial reforms is something path breaking.

Another redeeming feature of the Parliament functioning in Myanmar is that there is a sense of optimism and satisfaction in the opposition camp that a parliamentary democracy with its entire pitfall is at work in their country. They are confident that they have at least established a rapport with certain representatives in the USDP, the ruling party, a prospect that was unthinkable under the SPDC regime.

However, all is not hunky-dory as one may sound. Many questions and proposals by MPs have not even made it to the Parliament sessions. Questions and proposals have to be submitted to the speakers’ office 10 and 15 days in advance. MPs face jail for revealing the contents of Parliamentary discussions and no reporters are allowed into the parliament buildings.

The state media presented only a part of what’s going on in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw. Much of the discussion has apparently been censored from media reports, and questions from MPs sometimes appear truncated.

The other lows are none of the issues that came up for discussion during the election campaign were raised in the Parliament session. As such, there remained little interest in general public about the parliamentary debate. The fact that opposition parties too have failed to keep the momentum going explaining to the public exactly who they are, and have faded into the background is the dark spot in the emerging silver linings in Myanmar’s tryst with democracy.

The irony is that the discussion in both mainstream and exile media about the Parliamentary sessions has been minimal. Most international media coverage of Myanmar had the hackneyed line about issues of economic sanctions and the role of the NLD. They more keen to paint the ‘RAMBO -4’ image of the deteriorating conditions inside that country than making efforts to realize the values of the parliamentary system and the long term benefits that may be in store.

Anyway, the big question is will Myanmar’s new bicameral Parliament going to bring any rapid changes in that country. The answer is simple – very unlikely because the aims of the USDP and the military rulers are quite divergent. The interesting fact however is, the situation in Myanmar is quite different in 2011 then what it was in 1990.

Just as the interests of the former generals in Parliament are different from the opposition MPs; the new guards are unlikely to be the same as those who have remained behind the military uniform for long.

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

I Am a Dreamer, But Not the Only One

2011-02-16T01:39:00.000-08:00

I Am a Dreamer, But Not the Only One
Syed Ali Mujtaba

People say, I am a dreamer but not the only one, there are many like me, who may dream similarly but it’s hard to find them, and still harder to connect with each other. It’s an interesting happening that has happened on the internet, and needs to be chronicled, as many other similar dreamers may like to join me to make the dream come true.

It happened so; I wrote a piece for a web portal that highlighted the plight of commercial sex workers in Chennai. It was a journalist piece, based on real life interviews. Thousands hits were made to this story and response that came to suggested that it touched emotional chord and moved hearts.

One such response was different. It was from Ms Yvonne, a journalist based in Stockholm, Sweden, who wrote expressing her desire to help such needy and requested me to connect her to a real life person genuinely seeking help. I could feel her concern as she kept on pestering me to find a person that she could support.

Yvonne’s commitment made me think and this triggered a dream. I have a huge ancestral house at the Nalanda district in Bihar, a state of India. The house that’s now in a depleted condition has a pound inside and has sufficient space to run an orphanage cum school. It’s located in a village called ‘Dumranwan’, less than 20 miles from the ancient Nalanda University’s ruins. One can Google and locate the ruins, once a great seat of Buddhist learning. Maybe the map can also bring nearer to that secluded village, where this house stands frozen in time.

The reason why I am ready to make this house a seat of learning was because none of my family members like to go there, none is interested in renovating it. The house can not be sold as there are no buyers to buy such a property. So the only option left is to see it go down or donate to some charitable organization and forget about it or try run it with help of friends and some like minded persons.

So, I wrote to Yvonne, that I am ready to convert this house as model school cum orphanage, a centre of international standards. This centre will cater to students from extremely poor family, whose parents cannot afford their education. The students once enrolled will live there and get every thing free- food, lodging, books, dress and every thing that one may need. They will play and study together in totally new environment, away from their shanty homes.

In India, those at the bottom of the society see children as a helping hand. The girls help the mothers in the household work and boys go to work with their fathers in the farms. The challenge is to locate such students and get consent of their parents to join such an institution. This may be a difficult but definitely not impossible because there are always some help in such matters.

The students will go up to 12th grade, but to begin with the center will have kids from 0 to three grades. As they grow they may add on the classes. The institution will have Hindus, Muslims, Christians, living side by side learning the core values how to live together in perfect harmony.

The school may have sizable Muslim students as they badly need such institution to get training to face the competitive world. I am talking about that segment of Muslim society that sends their children to Madarsas. In such a centre the poor Muslim students may get the best of the religious and worldly training and subjects like science mathematics and computers.

When I wrote Yvonne about this idea, she jumped in excitement and wrote back, how to make such a place a unique place of learning and living, create a harmonious atmosphere where lots of experimentation on learning and education could be done and where students are molded to become a decent human being.

Yvonne, married to Nick, an Australian and has a child Samuel wrote back, “its really feels like a Gods thought with you willing to turn your house into an orphanage cum school and we do our part here to help those in need. One of my main interests is in children and for me it’s an absolute that there will be a NO corporal punishment what so ever and run this place as a sanctuary away from the harsh world; a place where the soul can grow into splendor and by using methods that supports that very growth. And with respect for all walks of spiritual and religious life!

I wrote to her that the project can be divided into different phase. The first will be to do the renovation work of the house. The house is standing though it has broken ceilings, plaster pealed off, and no paint for ages. There is need to repair them all that and construct boundary wall and have an entrance gate at the compound. May be one may give a deeper look to the house to ascertain the actual cost of its renovation. My wild guess is at least $10,000 USD would be needed to give it a facelift. It may be less or more, I am not a civil engineer.

The biggest problem there is of power. There is no electricity in that part of the world. So, to run the electrical appliances and connect it with rest of the world, .installation of a Genset is a must. The Genset can run with the help of solar batteries and one has to get it from somewhere. Luckily, the place is accessible through a motorable road, and so anything can be transported there.

Once a semblance of infrastructure put is created, and then some new construction has to be made to covert the house into a full-fledged centre of learning and training and much more. All this may require more funds.

Yvonne, wrote to me, Money may not be a constraint; I have celebrity friends which are good for raising money on a bigger scale. Of course one doesn’t have to be a celebrity to raise money; but every help, no matter from who, would be good for the bigger picture!”

I wrote her second phase will need dedicated and innovative teachers who can mold the children in becoming an educated and nice human being. Yvonne, has answers to this as well. She writes, “I also think it would be quite easy to get volunteers from Sweden that will work for somewhere to sleep and food. So many Swedes/Scandinavians goes backpacking for a year or two and want to do something meaningful. Then there are many (who may not be backpackers) who want to stay even longer and contribute for the chase of such a wonderful dream.”

I gave her assurance that many dedicated young Indians may too volunteer and get associated with this project; once they realize that the centre matches the international standards.

The big task will be to find sponsors for each child, and those adopting one have to behave as responsible parents. Its only then one can determine the strength of the students and many factors have to be taken into account for enrolling them. Yvonne is optimistic and is confident that all such hurdle, can be crossed and if God’s grace is there nothing can stop those serving the Lord.

The way forward may be to register a charitable trust and open a bank account and then take donations to start the project. The problem is one needs center government’s clearance to get foreign funds. With corruption and nepotism associated with bureaucracy, getting such permission may not be a easy job.

I remain skeptic about this project and in a lighter vein I wrote to Yvonne, if a fraction of money stacked by some Indians in cash heavens abroad can be diverted to this project then only this dream can only become a reality.

Yvonne thinks otherwise and remains convinced that this project will take off;”Well there are bottlenecks for anything one may like to do and this may not deter from chasing the goal. I have been thinking about how to get all the “left over” wealth from Sweden to India. You can easily get free, not the latest but very good, computers (by the numbers) for example for free by people just swapping to the latest model, or big companies just giving away due to updating. And almost brand new furniture and all kinds of things; cell phones etc. We have a shipping company just beside us and I will pay them a visit (and maybe bring some of my celebrity friends) and ask them to ship for free. And of course also completely new things that people are willing to give for a good cause. (Toys are so easy to get!) I mean it’s quite easy to get the things we would need material wise as long as someone are willing to ship it cheap or for free (the big cost is to ship from here – so expensive). But that is a later thing.”

Well that’s the story how two persons, quite unknown to each other, come together to chase a common dream. Both feel there are others who too may be dreaming on similarly and are welcome to come on board and contribute in their humble way for the realization of a noble dream.

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

London Nostalgia - Impressions of a Researcher

2011-01-31T06:50:00.000-08:00

London Nostalgia - Impressions of a Researcher
Syed Ali Mujtaba

My association with England has been primarily for academic purposes. In the year 1994 I was awarded government of India fellowship to pursue my doctoral research further while doing PhD at the JNU, New Delhi.

I got this field grant because my thesis “The Demand for Partition of India and British Policy 1940-45” demanded an archival survey of the British sources.

My thesis also demanded incorporation of British perspective to the Partition debate particularly with reference to its India policy during the Second World War.

So this pursuit made me stay for six months in England. I was based in London and lived in a rented room at the 45 Colliers High Road, South London. It was quite close to Sainsbury supermarket where I use to frequent for my groceries.

The building where I lived was owned by a Pakistani of Indian origin. It had some very interesting people living there. There was a Pakistani couple in the ground floor, a group of Korean students in the second floor. There were two Romanians gentlemen and an English couple besides me in this building.

I use to take the southern line tube and go waterloo from where I use to walk to the backfires bridge where the India Office Library was located at that time.

During my stay in London I use to visit the School of Oriental and African Studies library the Record office at the Q’s gardens and the British Museum.

Some time I use to get down at Temple tube station walk to the High Court side either to visit the Indian consulate office or to the LSE, while on some other day I may be walking straight to the Kings College to attend some Talks organized there.

I used to be spent my evenings sometimes at the Piccadilly Circus, the China town, the globe theater and the Charring Cross. Some times I use to walk along the embankment watching the flow the river Thames, go up to the Big Ben and see the time, take a round of 10 Downing Street and walk along the British Parliament.

At times in the evenings, I use to go to the Indian YMCA, British Museum and Baden Powell Hall for some programmes.

While staying in London, I use to frequent Oxford University for my research. Normally I use to go the St Anthony College to meet some Professors or to sit at Bodleian library at the Oxford University.

Similarly, I use to travel to the Cambridge University and even stayed with some friends for few days there. At the Cambridge I had given a talk at the Darwin College. I had also visited the Kent University at the Canterbury.

It’s Bird Watching Season in Tamil Nadu

2010-12-04T04:01:00.000-08:00

It’s Bird Watching Season in Tamil Nadu
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Hello bird watchers, the bird watching season has arrived in Tamil Nadu. If you are looking for fun frolic and excitement, then its time to pack your backpacks with cameras and embark on an enthralling bird watching trip to three different circuits in the southern state of India.

The bird watching circuit is divided into three regions s based on the ancient kingdoms that once flourished in this part of the world. They are the Pallava Kingdom, the Chola Kingdom, and Pandya Kingdoms.

The Pallava dynasty ruled for about six hundred years until the end of the 9th century AD in the northern Tamil Nadu region and the southern Andhra Pradesh region

The Pallava kingdom for bird watching is in and around Chennai home to India’s one of the oldest bird sanctuaries and the largest brackish water eco-system.

The potential bird nesting locations in Pallava kingdom are Vedanthangal bird sanctuary, Karikili bird sanctuary, Pulicat lake bird sanctuary, Kaliveli lake nackwaters of Mahabs and Muttukaadu.

Vedanthangal bird sanctuary is one of the oldest water bird sanctuaries in the country. Vedanthangal in Tamil language means 'hamlet of the hunter' and this area was once a favorite hunting spot for the local landlords some 300 years ago.

The region attracted a variety of birds because it’s dotted with small lakes that acted as feeding grounds for the birds. The sanctuary features thousands of birds coming from various countries, some of which can be easily identified.

Some easily found bird species include Cormorants, Darter, Grebes, Large Egret, Little Egrets, Moorhen, Night Herons, Paddy Bird, Painted Stork, Pintails, Pond Heron, Sandpiper, Shovellers, Terns, White Ibis and many more.

The migratory birds include Garganey Teals Canada, Snake Bird Sri Lanka, Grey Pelican Australia, Grey Heron Bangladesh, Open-billed Stork Bangladesh, Glossy Ibis Sri Lanka, Painted Stork Siberia, Spoonbill Burma and Spot Bill Duck Canada.

Karikili Lake bird sanctuary is a haven for ducks and waders. Pintailed ducks, Garganey teals, common teals, Shovellor, Little Grebe or Dab chick, Herons and Egrets are the other avian visitors.

Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary is the second largest brackish – water lake or lagoon in India. It straddles the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states on the Coromandal Coast in South India.

The lake encompasses the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary. Every year approximately 15,000 Greater Flamingos are reported to visit the lake along with pelicans, kingfishers, herons, painted storks, spoonbills and ducks.

The highest concentrations of flamingo are found in the periphery of the lagoon where the water level is below 40 centimeters (16 in). The concentrations of flamingos are also associated with high algal, fish and benthic diversity.

Other water birds in the area include Spot-billed Pelican, seven species of herons and egrets, Painted Stork, Greater Flamingos, ducks, 20 species of shorebirds, gulls, terns, Little Grebe, Indian Cormorant, Little Cormorant, Asian Openbill Stork, Black-headed Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Lesser Whistling Teal, Spot bill Duck, Great Thickknee and Stone Curlew.

Several species of wintering waterfowl have been noted including Bar-headed Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Gadwall, Common Teal, Northern Pintail, Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Common Pochard, Brown-headed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Whiskered Tern, Gull-billed Tern and Caspian Tern. Birds of prey which appear in winter are the: White-bellied Sea Eagle, Osprey, Harriers and Peregrine Falcons.

The Chola kingdom flourished till the 13th century AD around Thanjavur and Tiruchirapalli districts of Tamil Nadu. The Chola Kingdom is home to important water birds like High flying Barheaded Goose, long migrants like White stork and White necked Stork, Grey Pelican, Ibis etc.

One can enjoy the bird watching at the Karaivetti bird sanctuary, the Kallaperumbur bird sanctuary, the Vaduvoor bird sanctuary, the Udhayamarthandapuram bird Sanctuary and Point Calimere bird sanctuary.

Karaivetti bird sanctuary is now home for more than 180 species of birds which includes 100 species of land birds. During peak season more than 25000 birds has been recorded. In the last season about 250 nests were counted and is a breeding ground for Grey Pelican, Spoonbill, Ibis, Openbill stork, Cormorant etc. Important land bird species are Rosy Pastor, Peregrine Falcon, Osprey, Marsh Harrier, Tawny Eagle, etc.,.

Vaduvoor Bird Sanctuary is a favorite flyaway spot for migratory birds and has recorded congregation up to 20000 birds in November. The ideal time to
visit the sanctuary is November – December when congregation of migratory birds is maximum. One can spot more than 40 species of water birds like Ibis, Painted stork, Grey pelican, Pintail, Cormorant, Teals, Herons etc.

Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary is providing shelter both for the animals and birds. It is the home for near threatened Blackbuck Antelope. Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary has the largest population of Blackbucks in South India. Other notable animals include: Spotted Deer, Jackal, Bonnet Monkey, Wild Boar, Monitor lizard, Short-nosed Fruit Bat, Small Indian Civet, Star Tortoise, Indian Grey Mongoose, Black-Naped Hare, Jungle Cat and Feral Pony.

Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary has recorded the second largest congregation of migratory water birds in India, with a peak population in excess of 100,000, representing 103 species.

In October these water birds arrive from Rann of Kutch, Eastern Siberia, Northern Russia, Central Asia and parts of Europe for their feeding season and start returning to those breeding places in January.

The water birds include threatened species like Spot-billed Pelican, Spotted
Greenshank, Spoonbill Sandpiper and Black-necked Stork. Near threatened species include White Ibis, Asian Dowitcher, Lesser Flamingo, Spoonbill, Darter and Painted Stork. Not only that, if lucky, one can spot Bottle nosed Dolphins. Also, the shoreline beaches of the sanctuary are a regular nesting site of the endangered Olive Ridley Turtle.

The Pandyan Kingdom flourished until the 15th century AD and the great traveler, Marco Polo mentioned it as the richest empire in existence in the world.

The bird watching region of the Pandya Kingdom roughly comprises the area near Madurai and Ramnad districts of Tamil Nadu. It includes; Vettangudi Bird Sanctuary, Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary, Kanjirankulam Bird Sanctuary, MelSelvanur-KeelSelvanur Bird Sanctuary, Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary, Suchindram-Theroor Bird Sanctuary.

Kanjirankulam Bird Sanctuary is one of the preferred nesting sites for heronry species a colonial bird migrating to South India. This bird sanctuary receives nearly 170 species of birds. Breeding population consists of Painted stork, White Ibis, Black ibis, Little egret, Large egret etc.

While MelSelvanur-KeelSelvanur Bird Sanctuary is the biggest bird sanctuary in Tamil Nadu and located near Sayalkudi in Ramanathapuram district, the Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary is home to the largest reserve for breeding water birds in South India.

Suchindram -Theroor Bird Sanctuary is noted for the wide variety of migratory water birds that winter there, including: near threatened painted stork and spot-billed pelicans. Also seen here are cattle egrets, great cormorants, darters, purple swamphen, and bronze-winged Jacanas. Resident raptors include pied kingfisher, brahminy kite and marsh harrier.

Other water birds are Dabchick, grey heron, Garganey, purple heron, cinnamon Bittern, open bill stork, cotton pygmy goose, whiskered tern and little tern, black-winged stilt, greenshank, little ringed plover and the common sandpiper.

The Pallava Kingdon tour is on 18 and 19 December 2010. The Chola Kingdom tour is on 24, 25 and 26 December 2010. The Pandya kingdom tour is from January 3-6 2011. The contact person for these tours is Mr. "Krish" a.k.a Krishna Kumar K J. He can be reached at (krish78@gmail.com)

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He ca be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com. His earlier writing is “Eco-Adventure Camp” http://archives.chennaionline.com/hotelsandtours/Tours/2006/01eco.asp

Omar Khalidi- A Campaigner of Social Justice of Indian Muslims

2010-12-01T09:10:00.000-08:00

Omar Khalidi- A Campaigner of Social Justice of Indian Muslims

Syed Ali Mujtaba

The untimely death of the Cambridge based scholar Dr. Omar Khalidi is quite shocking. He was 57. Preliminary reports suggest that he was fatally struck by a subway trolley near the Kendall Square station in Cambridge, USA.

He was working at MIT and left behind his wife and daughter. I have known to him for his unending passion for the pursuit of social justice of Muslims in India. My deepest condolences go to his family.

Dr. Khalidi was born in Hyderabad and was the son of Professor Abu Nasr Khalidi, a well known scholar of Arabic and Islamic studies at Osmania University. He got his BA from Wichita State University, ALM from Harvard University School of Extension Studies and PhD from University of Wales-Lampeter, UK.

I have come to know about Dr Khalidi when I was in Hyderabad working as reporter in 1995-6 and also researching on the princely state and Partition of India. I was fresh with my doctoral work “The Partition of India and British policy 1940-45.” I had read his work “The fall of Hyderabad,” that graphically brings out the police action against the princely state of Hyderabad and the atrocities committed against the Muslims in its aftermath.

I contacted Dr Khalidi at his e mail address (okhalidi@MIT.EDU) and he responded to me immediately. Though my project was indefinitely postponed but my contact with him remained intact.

He was in Chennai in 2002 and stayed at Chola Sheraton and we had a late evening conversation on the theme Indian Muslims that went on till the wee hours and we both needed a bad sleep still the talk remained inconclusive.

We talked about Muslim publications in India the defunct ‘One Nation Chronicle’ rechristened ‘Nation and the World.’ We talked about Mili Gazatee, Muslim India, role of Syed Shahabuddin in Babri Masjid, role of Syed Hamid in education and Hamadard University. We talked about M.J. Akbar and Seema Mustafa and Sultan Shahin and many others.

Our conversation did touch up Hyderabad, and we talked about Prince Mukaram Jah, the fabled Falaknuma, Chomohalla and the Nazri Bagh Palaces. The Telegana politics too came up for a thought.

Dr Khaladi, was more of a researcher than an armed chair commentator. He had advised me not to loose track of research and base my submissions on hard facts.

To hammer home the point, hard facts should be the only arrow, in one’s quiver, he told me, adding he had all the copies of Muslim India, because it contains huge data to rely upon.

Among several of his work, the one we talked was “Romance of the Golconda Diamonds.” He explained that in the state of Golconda that was later absorbed in Mughal India mining activity for diamonds once flourished.

Dr Khalidi did a interview with me that day on his pet topic the current status of Indian Muslims. He was amused to hear me say that a middle class is fast emerging among contemporary Indian Muslim community and this is happening at breath neck speed after the liberalization of the Indian economy since 1990s.

Now India Muslim youth are not much interested in going to Gulf countries for jobs as they did so in the 1970s and 80s. They prefer to stay back in India where there exists an ample opportunity to make a living. I told him after liberalization, the general discrimination theory does not work, the entrepreneurs mostly Hindus do not have any inhibition in recruiting Muslims, because they are hardworking, honest and upright.

Dr Khalidi was bemused; perhaps my thoughts did not fit into discriminatory stereotype. I remember him talking about Muslim presidents of India that were to show to the world that Indian Muslims are not discriminated but then do a head count in the government and private offices and you will get a real picture of Muslim discrimination.

I told him now, this is no more the case, the software industry, so many other industries which is driving the Indian economy, has countless Muslim youth in its folds and they are doing well in privatized corporate Indian economy.

I remember Dr Khalidi asking me to give him contacts in various India cities, so that he can do a survey on this issue through his questioners and promised to pay those who get involved with him in this project. I think he may have incorporated these points in his book is “Muslims in Indian Economy” published in December 2005.

Dr. Khalidi will be remembered for his courage in taking on issues that others feared to tread. .He was known for his commitment to the cause of justice and fairness for Indian Muslims.

His last article was on the recent Babari Masjid judgment was seminal. He lambasted the Archilogical survey of India (ASI) that provided the clinching evidence for the ‘learned’ judgment. Read through the link- “ASI: Hindutva's handmaiden.” http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?267374

Dr. Khalidi was a pioneer in the field of research on Indian Muslims and contemporary Indian politics. He left behind him a monumental legacy that had a significant impact on the political landscape of India and a multitude of people were motivated and inspired by his work.

He authored the much acclaimed book “Khaki and Ethnic Violence in India: Armed Forces, Police and Paramilitary During Communal Riots”. The book is in its second edition, revised and enlarged edition came out in December 2009.

As an independent scholar his research interests were in the sociology of politics, upward and downward economic mobility of ethnic groups, nationalism and diaspora and Islamic architecture.

His other works include 'Indian Muslims since Independence', 1996, and edited 'Hyderabad: After the Fall', 1988, a collection of academic papers.

He is the author of several articles on Islamic architecture like “Approaches to Mosque Design in North America” and “Import, Adapt, Innovate: Mosque Design in the United States.”

Even though he was based in the US he had the pulse of Indian Muslims in his hand. He could fearlessly speak about the discrimination of Indian Muslims and he supported this with hard facts, be it the head count of Muslims in Indian Defence forces or in the news rooms.

Passing away of Dr Omer Dr. Khalidi is a great loss to Indian Muslim. He lived every moment in India.Perhaps the best way to carry forward his legacies would be to create a chair in his name in any of the Indian university to carry out research on the social issues of Indian Muslims. It may be a humble way to pay tribute to late Dr. Khalidi.

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

Dreamers of people’s rule no more in India

2010-11-16T07:39:00.000-08:00

Dreamers of people’s rule no more in India
Syed Ali Mujtaba

I was involved in a conversation with a gentleman on left politics in the country and the name of left radical leader Charu Mazjumdar came in for scrutiny and my friend in an impromptu manner dubbed him a left ‘Jihadi’ and showered heaps of abuse on him that triggered a wave of thoughts in me.

I was not a witness to that era but I heard and read about this left ultra leader was that in 1960s, he inspired a whole generation. A lot many people read his revolutionary ideas and were inspired by them. Some left their homes to live with the peasants in West Bengal to put Mazjumdar’s revolutionary theories into actual practice.

So what was so attractive about Charu Mazjumdar’s theory? According to Charu Mazjumdar, a semi-feudal, semi-colonial society like India can only be transformed through a protracted peasant war. At the end of such war the triumph peasants would ultimately seize the state power and establish a "new democratic revolution."

Charu Mazjumdar suggested forming a guerrilla unit to wage protracted peasant war and elaborated this in the "murder manual" how to launch "annihilation campaign."

The "annihilation campaign" would produce the new man who will defy death and be free from all thought of self-interest, professed According to Charu Mazjumdar.

In today’s context such ideas could at best be described as abrasive rhetoric and fetish but in 1960s it inspired many to sacrifice their lives to chase Charu's Mazjumdar’s dream.

This led to the creation of a utopian space called Naxalbari in West Bengal that became a social laboratory to test Charu's Mazjumdar’s hypothesis. A lot youth from well to do families attracted by the romance of brining a revolution in the country, plunged into organizing peasant revolution in the country.

With this began an era of violence, bloodshed and martyrdom unprecedented in the country. The breeze that blew from ‘Naxlbari’ shook the edifice of the Indian state

A surgical operation was done to extinguish the voices of dissent. It was Siddhart Shanker Rey, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, who at the behest of Mrs Indira Gandhi, virtually hunted out those revolutionary dreamers.

Was such a harsh measure necessary, instead, if those revolutionary youth may have been rehabilitated, they may have contributed to the growth of the country in some way.

Now a last point. At a time, when our country is totally wedded to the capitalist mode of production, where are the thinkers like Charu Mazumdar gone, can any one point out a name that can match his appeal and aura in the contemporary India.

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

The Politics around Enemy Property Bill

2010-11-04T03:13:00.001-07:00

The Politics around Enemy Property Bill
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Partition of British India and the creation of Pakistan in 1947 have left behind many legacies. More than 60 years have passed to that event but still there are many issues thats being sorted out and one such is the Enemy Property Act of 1968.

Enemy property is a term coined by the Indian government in the wake of 1965 war with Pakistan to confiscate all those properties that were left behind by the Indian Muslims who migrated to Pakistan in 1947 or thereafter. This was an act to deny the legal heirs to all such properties who due to their own free will chose to live in India.

The government of India promulgated the Enemy Property Act in 1968 and created a separate department called “Custodian” to take control of 2,186 enemy properties, with Uttar Pradesh having the maximum (1,468) followed by West Bengal (351), Delhi (66), Gujarat (63), Bihar (40), Goa (35), Madhya Pradesh (29) and Maharashtra (25).

The most funniest part is the 'Custodian' was located in Bombay and Calcutta, while majority of these properties existed in UP, Bihar and other Muslim minority provinces from where migration to Pakistan took place.

The Enemy Property Act of 1968, in one stroke, made the legal heirs of such properties ‘Prince Paupers.’ They were left with two courses of action either to fight a legal battle or get out of such litigation. This created a way for fresh wave of Muslim migration from India, mostly to Europe and North in search of Roti, Kapara and Makan (bread – cloth and shelter).

One such property belong to my mother's own sister, whose husband stayed back in India while his father who owned the property, and other relations migrated to Pakistan. The property called 'Jahaji Kothi' is a landmark building even today located at Kadam Kuan, Patna. One can give a google search to 'Jahaji Kothi, Patna' to know how important is that building.

I remember as a child, visiting my aunt's house and enjoyed running up and down the staircase there. When that property was taken over by the 'custodian' in 1968, my aunt and her family moved out. The property still stands in a depleted condition, and with no one interested in laying claim to it, its likely to come under the hammer, and with that the sentiments and memories attached with it will also vanish.

The Enemy Property Act of 1968 was blow to some, it was a heaven sent opportunity for many encroacher, mostly Hindus, who swooped on such properties and occupied them. They started behaving like the proprietors paying pittance as rent to the “Custodian” and may never like to part off with the loot.

The Muslim heirs of such properties now had to fight two legal battles, one with the ‘Custodian’ (government) to lay reclaim their property and second against those who encroached and occupied their properties.

A long drawn legal battle was fought for almost four decades in the Indian courts and finally the matter reached to the Supreme Court. In this, legal luminaries like Ramjethmalani, PC Chidambaram, Arun Jaitely appeared for the tents, while Salman Khursheed appeared against the tenets on behalf of Raja of Mahmoodabad,having claim to more than 1,000 listed properties.

Finally, the Apex Court in 2005, gave the ruling in favor of the Muslim heirs of the property, granting them the legal rights to their ancestral property.

In normal course, the government may have executed the court orders and handed over the properties to the legal heirs and settled the matter once for all.

However, the NDA government under pressure from non Muslim quarters intervened into this matter over ruling the Supreme Court’s order. It wants to bring an ordinance bill into the Parliament to once gain control over such properties and prolong the final settlement of the matter.

The NDA government had earlier tabled such ordinance bill in the lower house of Parliament but had to withdraw the same, in wake of the opposition from its own allies particularly by the RJD and Samajwdi party.

Mulayam Singh said his party will oppose the bill because 'it is part of the Congress' anti-Muslim policy'. 'It is a bill that would make Muslims second-class citizens and create an inferiority complex among them,' the Samajwadi Party leader said. He cited the Supreme Court order making 'clear that the custodian of such properties, the government, should return the properties to the inheritors'. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supported the Samajwadi Party.

Now the ordinance bill is amended and cleared by the Cabinet. It is ready to be reintroduced in the winter session of the Parliament but is unlikely to sail through due to its controversial nature.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena are opposed any change in the bill. Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj has threatened to block the bill if the government brought in amendments.It is likely that the ordinance bill will be referred to a Parliamentary standing committee of for a review.

This means that the legal heirs of the Enemy property have to wait for some time more to get the custody of their ancestral property. Will they eventually get it or not get it is a matter of guess.

As we see this issue being shifted from the courts to the Parliament, it has opened up few fundamental questions that seek answers. The first pertains to India Pakistan relationship and the second relationship between the government and the Indian Muslims.

Let’s take up first question; are India and Pakistan still enemies? This has to be answered keeping in mind the sprit of Simla agreement 1972, Samjhauta Express was started in 1976 and Vajpaye visit to Lahore in 1998, rushing aids to flood victims to Pakistan in 2010. If the answer is candid NO, then the nomenclature “Enemy” to the property ordinance bill 2010, is a misnomer.

If the government is really committed to conduct the future dialogue with Pakistan in a friendly and positive framework, then it should consider dropping the tag “Enemy” with the property ordinance bill 2010. This would certainly be a confidence building measure in the future India- Pakistan dialogue.

The word is also offensive to hundreds of Indian Muslims beneficiaries who are being treated as offspring of “Enemy.” The definition of enemy excludes citizens of India and in this context the heir and successor cannot be termed as enemy and by virtue of this fact, the property of an Indian citizen can not be termed as enemy property.

In this context, it is interesting to note that while the enemy property belonging to Mohmmad Ali Jinnah in Mumbai is decided in favors of his legal heir Nusli Wadia, the same norm is not applied to the legal heirs of others of all such ancestral properties.

Does this mean, there is one set of norms for the descendants of the founder of Pakistan and else for other legal heirs of such property? If we stretch this argument further, does this mean there is a separate yardstick used for the Parsis of India and the Indian Muslims?

The ordinance bill 2010 gives a new meaning to the Enemy Property Act 1968. In one stroke, the entire legal battle that has been fought over this issue for decades has been brought to naught. It is a clear cut example of the executive action encroaching on the legislative power. The executive has annulled all the court orders and by doing so has assaulted the Indian judiciary, its surprising there is no murmur over this issue anywhere in the country.

The ordinance bill 2010 has a far reaching consequence on the Indian Muslims. It disallows legitimate legal process for rightful Indian heirs including the right to succession, adoption, hiba and other matters related to Muslim Personal Law enshrined in Indian Constitution.

This ordinance also creates a precedent that because of inexplicable reasons the rights of individuals and especially those of the minority community could be superseded without permitting them to have recourse of law. It denies legal access to several poor and hapless Muslims who cannot afford to engage a lawyer and who cannot produce the citizen document within 120 days

The gist of the matter is that the enemy property ordinance bill is brought in the Parliament due to pressure from the Hindu tents and encroacher that have lost their case in the Supreme Court. It reminds of Shah Bano case with a different plot.

Since the ordinance bill 2010 do not have political ramification on the larger Muslim vote bank, the government has embarked on the policy to rob the ‘Peter to pay the Paul.’

However, such approach reflects on the character of the governance, thats being tout to be based on the principles of democracy, socialism and secularism, the three key words enshrined at the preamble of the Indian constitution.

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

Chennai Sex Worker's Woeful Tales

2010-11-04T03:05:00.000-07:00

Chennai Sex Worker's Woeful Tales
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Meet Kalaivani, a Tamil woman with short hairs, plump figure and dusky looks, was trafficked from Chennai to Singapore in 1997, when she was 24 years of age. She was promised a job, but ended up as a sex worker, soliciting customers on the streets to fend herself in the island nation. However, she could barely do this for two months, when Singapore police caught Kalaivani and deported her to Chennai.

In a frank conversation, Kalaivani, narrates her true story. I am from Sivgangai district of Tamil Nadu, and came to Madras to live with my husband, after getting married at the age of 19. He worked in the cine field and life ran smooth for some years. We had two children, a son and a daughter.

Then calamity stuck on our family, my husband passed away, leaving behind huge debts and two young children to be raised up. The responsibilities fell on me, but being a traditional village woman, I did not know what to do. Then one of my husband’s friends suggested me to go to Singapore and work for some time there and that is how I could clear my debts and look after my children. Having no other go, I exactly did what I was told, just to realize that there was no job for me in Singapore . Those who had brought me there forced me to become commercial sex worker. I was lucky to be deported to Chennai but my woes did not end here as well.

With people, knocking doors asking for money my late husband had borrowed, and the burden of bringing up the two children, willingly, unwillingly, I forced myself into the world’s oldest profession of the world. Even tough, I was able to clear the debts by 2003, but I continued the profession for the sake of my children.

Her son now an engineer and recently got married and her daughter is finishing her graduation in computer science, Kalivani has left the profession for good. She has become a peer educator in HIV/ AIDS promotion programme and running an NGO called Indira Female Peer Education Collection (IFPEC) for the welfare of the commercial sex worker in the Chennai. IFPEC has 2250 members and works for the rights of the sex workers, like, police harassment, old age pension, ration cards, life insurance, old age shelter etc.

If Kalaivani’s tale is chilling, the story of Baby is no less gripping. Her account is of a girl, whose love failure forced her to choose the fallen path and there was no coming back from there.

Baby was 17, doing her 10th standard in Hyderabad . Her father worked in the railways. A young man who too worked with his father used to visit his house. That is how a girl meets a boy story blossomed and the two lovebirds eloped to Madras . They looked forward to lead a new life working in the cine field. In three months time, Baby became pregnant. When she excitedly told this news to her boy friend, with whom, until now she had a living relationship, the man who loved her to the level of madness, one fine morning left her never to return back. Heartbroken, Baby did not know how to negotiate her life.

Life was a nightmare for me, Baby said, dropping her eyes, confirming she is an alcoholic. I had no money; I cannot go back to parents, as they may not accept me being pregnant. Having eloped, I already had damaged their reputation making them the talking point of the entire locality.

At this point of time, I wanted to commit suicide but my neighbor came to my rescue and got me a job, as a house cleaner in the Kodambakam locality, where the tinsel world of Kollywood is located.

However, I was not making much money and after I delivered the baby and left her in the orphanage, the monetary pressure grew. My neighbor, suggested me to visit some clients and that is how was pushed to the profession of commercial sex worker.

During the 30 years of my career I earned very well, Baby said telling with remorseful eyes. I remember, it was 1973 and my first client gave me Rs 50, and when I left the profession in 2003, someone paid me Rs 1000, Baby said with a smile. I had cleared all the debts of the marriage of my daughter that took place in 2000 and after that there was little meaning for me to continue the profession.

She narrates her experiences how her clients tortured her. They came drunk with the bottle and made me drink as well, Baby said telling the reason how she becomes addicted to alcohol. It was very difficult for me to kick of the habit, and I had to attend a conditioning camp for a month to get over the problem of alcoholism. Baby, who now drinks occasionally, works as councilor at the Indian Community Welfare Organization (ICWO), an NGO in Chennai, has dedicated her life for the welfare of the sex workers, something she had never to look up to when she was part of the profession.

Well does someone fall in love with sex workers? If the story of Mary is to be believed, the answer is big yes. Mary hails from Kerala and at the age of 21, she was brought to Chennai to work as house cleaner. She lived in a home that had four girls and three other elderly people, one male two females.

Mary before could realize what was going on in the house where she lived, police raid took place in that house and Marry was arrested along with the other members of the family Mary did not know the house where she lived was not a real house but infact was a brothel.

She was sent to remand house and after 15 days when she came out, the person who had brought her from Kerala, was waiting for her on the gates. He told her, she was sold to him for Rs 25,000 and unless, she clears that off she cannot walk free.

Mary narrates her tale in sobs and tears; I had no other go but to act to the wishes of that pimp. He used to get me the clients or sent me to them. It is during one those meetings with a regular customer, she narrated her story and the customer showed sympathy and took her out of the clutches of the pimp.

It was a fairy tale, he kept me like a queen and we loved each other mad. I always, longed for a family and a home, and when I became pregnant, I was on cloud nine never to realize that this was the undoing, my savoir and my messiah left me for good at the mercy of Jesus Christ.

Life should not give such shock to anyone, Mary said with tears. I had an emotional breakdown several times but I came over them only for the sake of my child. Having, no means of livelihood I had to revert to the profession as sex worker. Now when her son is happily married, leading a life of its own, Marry is brimming with satisfaction. What a successful conclusion to all my trial and tribulation, I live this day to see him happy, says Mary who now works as a volunteer in AIDS control board.

A survey conducted by the Indian Community Welfare Organization (ICWO), the NGO working with sex workers, estimates there are about 6500 sex workers in Chennai city. The survey updates the figures of the World Health Organization (WHO) that had identified 3000 sex workers in Madras in 1993.

The secretary of the ICWO, AJ Hariharan, who was part of the WHO survey, says the Chennai’s sex industry stands on four pillars -- sex workers, clients, brokers and police. It is a chicken and egg syndrome where it is difficult to say who surfaces first in the cycle of sex work, says Hariharan.

According to the survey, the commercial sex workers in Chennai are classifies into four categories; family-based, street-based, brothel-based and mobile sex workers.

There is a fairly well organized and systematic method of recruiting the women into the city’s sex trade. Most are picked up from regular conduit points in the adjoining states at prices ranging from Rs 100,000 to 300,000.

The relationship between the broker and the newly recruited sex worker is governed by a contract. Brokers go periodically to the recruitment points and procure girls on 37-day contracts. The girls are paid 50 percent of the contracted sum up front as an advance while the remaining dues are paid on their return after the completion of the contract. For those who are set up at brothels, owners provide breakfast and lunch during their stay, while dinners are normally the clients’ responsibility.

Though the sex workers are on contract for 37 days, they eventually end up being paid for only 30 days. Menstruation and travel time are cited as reasons for cutting a week's salary.

The entire sex industry in Chennai, it is said, flourishes under police protection, something not entirely unbelievable given that many ‘prominent’ middle-men and brokers have been around in this business for quite some time. Owners of brothels that function openly and street sex workers pay a fixed amount of money to the police to avoid arrest and harassment.

Despite the precarious conditions of the work, the sex profession continues to attract a steady stream of girls in Chennai. Most join the profession because of poverty and financial obligations, mainly family debt. Others land into this following failed marriage. In fact, as many as a third of the respondent said they came into the profession because their husbands had left them. Social factors also have a role to play, as is evident from the fact that nine percent say they entered the trade because their lovers had deserted them.

Significantly, the majority of sex worker’s main priority is the child’s future, and more than 75 percent do not want their children to follow their example. More than 30 percent wanted to send their children to boarding schools while 14 percent thought it safer to deposit them with relatives. Tragically, however, more than one fifth are convinced that they will be unable to stop their children from entering the profession.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

Festival of Lights ‘Diwali’ Environmentalists Nightmare

2010-11-04T03:04:00.000-07:00

Festival of Lights ‘Diwali’ Environmentalists Nightmare
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The entire country is reeling under festive spirits of the festival of lights ‘Diwali’ that is going to be celebrated with renewed fervor on November 5, 2010.On this occasion, most member of the house buys new cloths, many houses and shops get a fresh coat of paints, and are well decorated, there is exchange of sweets and gifts among relatives and friends, business clients and partners and last but the least, buying the firecrackers.

This means a huge business for the apparel industry, firecracker, paint and household items and for sweets and gifts. According to an estimate, this year the budget of corporate “gift” alone is expected to touch Rs 3,200 crore, and the sale of firecrackers to Rs 500 crore. Industry sources estimate that India spends over 1000 crore rupees for the celebration of this annual event.

However, what does such a grand celebration mean to the environmentalists. Well there is no happy news, and if the will of the conservators is to prevail, they may like to scale down the celebrations to save the environment from the ill effects of this festival.

Excessive consumerism, high-energy consumption and air pollution through firecrackers, are the three major concerns of the environmentalists. They are campaigning for a green ‘Diwali’ so that the deliberate assault on the Mother Nature is stopped and at the same time, the spirit of the festival is not compromised.

As far as excessive consumerism is concerned, ‘Diwali’ is also a celebration of abundance and wealth - many people believe that it is a good time to buy and spend. Often, people go out and buy new items even when they don't need them. Advertisements and hoardings lure people offerings extravaganza sales, bargains, discounts encouraging buying more and more. All this entails a horde for increased consumerism during ‘Diwali.’

Have we realized the effect of such hyperactive consumerism on the environment? It has to be borne that all man made items are made out of materials that come from nature. Be it plastic, metal, paper or cloths - all of these raw materials are sourced from the nature. Those sources that are non-renewable, such as fossil fuels and metal ores, get depleted and will one day run out. The depletion of non-renewable natural resources is one of the most significant impacts of consumerism.

Another effect of consumerism is the creation of solid-waste, which is non-biodegradable. This has to be buried into holes dug up in the ground, but it is hardly done so, and what is being done is they are simply thrown away out of the homes. These 'landfills' as they are called may exist for centuries without completely integrating into the soil. According to the environmentalists, this is a huge assault on the Mother Nature.

Therefore, it is essential to reduce the amount of things we consume. We need to inculcate the habit to reuse the things we have in different forms until we have absolutely no use for them. We may also learn to recycle items that are no longer functional. We have to rethink the choices we make while buying and refuse things that we do not need at all.

The big question can we control our desires, can we stop the mad race of consumerism. It is just a matter of change of habit and adhering to the simple principles of environmental concerns. The choice is limited and we have to put the breaks on it now if we like to gift the space we live in to our posterity.

High Energy Consumption is another highlight of ‘Diwali’. The festival of lights puts a considerably load on electrical energy sources that are already overloaded. The use of electric lights to adorn homes, business establishments, monuments and roads requires a huge amount of electricity. In a power-starved country, can we afford such huge amount of electrical consumption? This mindless consumption of electricity has huge impact on global warming and to be checked.

The only possible alternative to electric lights is to use the traditional oil lamps for celebrating the festival of lights. Even though the use oil, too have its environmental implications, but since the duration of such lamps is shorter, this can be a possible alternative.

The most harm caused to the environment is due to the lighting of firecrackers, considered the most thrilling element in ‘Diwali’ celebrations. Hardly anyone realize the amount of pollution the temporary joy the firecrackers cause to the prelim of the environment. The toxic substances used in the firecrackers release toxic gases that are harmful to the health of human being, animals, birds, plants and trees.

The high level of noise that the firecrackers generate by cause immense sufferings and the sick and the ailing, literally dread them. Sudden exposure to loud noise could cause hearing loss, high blood pressure, heart attack and sleeping disturbances.

Crackers that make a noise of more than 125 decibels at four meters distance from the point of bursting are banned by the law but hardly any one abide by such a ruling.

More so hardly few realize that very young children mostly make the firecrackers and handle the substance that are extremely toxic; many of these child laborers get sick and die early. This is a matter of huge concern but hardly anyone is bothered about such issues, Even if there are some, their voices drowned under the drumbeat of religious festivities.

However, these are issues of serious concern, and have to be addressed with top priority. There is an urgent need to reinterpret the rituals and traditions of the country to become more sensitive to the environment.

Notwithstanding the fact that there is growing recognition of the impacts of ‘Diwali’ on the environment, the entire nation seems to be going whole hog for the extravagant celebration of the festival. They seem to be consciously being unconscious about the harm they are causing to the environment.

The silver linings among the dark clouds is, several groups that have sprung up with ecological sensitive initiatives around ‘Diwali’ but are in a minuscule minority. The day when the people of the country get attached with such initiative and celebrate the festival in an eco-friendly way, it would be a big relief to the environmentalists.

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

India ’s Muslim Social Welfare Schemes Revisited

2010-11-04T02:53:00.001-07:00

India ’s Muslim Social Welfare Schemes Revisited
Syed Ali Mujtaba

In wake of the recommendations made by the Sachar Commission report for the economic upliftment of the poor Muslims in India , both central and state government have launched several schemes for their welfare.

One such scheme launched by the Tamil Nadu government is Muslim Women’s Aid Society (MWAS), to help the destitute Muslim Women in the state. MWAS was established in 2007 as a pilot project first in Chennai and after its success in the state capital, the government extended this scheme to all the 32 districts of the Tamil Nadu in 2008-2009.

The state government has sanctioned seed money of Rs.1 lakh to each of the 32 MWAS branches in the state for the infrastructure facilities and releases matching grant to them equal to the donation collected by such societies.

The MWAS is supposed to raise funds from the public that is deposited into the bank and then the society applies for a matching fund from the government. The maximum fund that can be deposited is Rs. 10 lakh per annum and MWAS can avail a matching fund of Rs.10 lakh from the state government. The funds so availed have to be utilized only for the development of the destitute Muslim women.

The District Collector acts as the President of the MWAS, the Project Officer of Women Welfare as Vice-President, and the District officer for Backward Class and Minority’s Welfare as Treasurer, besides there are six women members from Muslim community in this self-help group.

MWAS is rendering a yeomen service to the needy Muslim community providing them vocational training, sewing textile garments, women’s beauty parlour, computer education, driving school, silk embroidering, destitute widow’s pension, interest free loan, loans for auto rickshaws in lowest interest possible, financial aid to disabled persons, home for Muslim deserted women, free medical service etc.

As far as the functioning of the MWAS is concerned, few issues need attention. The foremost among them is the fund allocated by the government remains unutilized due to gross ignorance of the Muslim community. There is little awareness among the community members of such initiative being made for their welfare. They have hesitation, shyness in coming forward for utilizing the funds as it involves dealing with government officials.

Few MWAS, which have collected funds and deposited them in the bank, are struggling for the release of the matching funds supposedly promised by the government. The funds raised remains stuck in official red tapes and the government releases no matching fund.

The other issue is; fund raising itself is quite a difficult task. Individual or institution donors remain unconvinced about the proper utilization of their funds and do not like to come forward to patronize such a self-help group.

In order to address such anomalies, a sympathetic watchdog body called Federation of Muslim Women’s Aid Societies (FMWAS) has sprung up in the state. Its job is to launch public awareness campaign for the MWAS. It also guides the MWAS to avail the seed funds allocated to them.

The FMWAS also liaison between the MWAS and the district government officials for the early release of the matching funds. It has been campaigning that the government provide the office space for the MWAS within the collectorate campus to ensure speedy action so that amount collected by the MWAS do not remain dormant in the banks.

The FMWAS appeals for public support in the form of individual charity and its team meets Muslim philanthropists and elicit their support. The Federation also approaches Muslim institutions for donations. It calls upon Muslim organizations to donate a fraction of the Zakath Funds, estimated to be Rs. 1.5 crore, in the state.

Notwithstanding the MWAS initiative in Tamil Nadu, there are multiple schemes, initiated by the government for the welfare of the Muslim community all over the country. The need is to develop a greater synergy between Muslim community and the development sector for actualizing the dream of socio-economic development of the Muslim community.

It is the duty of the Muslim community to come forward and form NGO’s and work among the community and help realize the goal. This has to be done with utmost importance; else, various schemes of the government of their socio-economic development may remain unimplemented.

Having said that, the responsibility of the welfare of the Muslim community is not an issue confined to the leadership of the community alone; the government too has a major responsibility towards addressing their problems.

For instance, the conditions imposed by Tamil Nadu Minorities Economic Development Corporation Ltd. (TAMCO) to avail loan one has to give surety from two persons who are in government service, has to be modified to ensure poor Muslims avail the credit facilities being sanctioned by the Corporation. Such loans, as in other cases, should be given through nationalized banks.

At the all India , level the role of the government in implementing ‘Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for Welfare of Minorities’ is seminal. This includes enhancing opportunities for education, equitable share in economic activities and employment, improving the conditions of living of minorities.

However, when it comes to dealing with the welfare of the Muslim minority there are certain issues in the new 15-point programme that needs consideration by the government.

The government should ensure that the poor Muslim families be given BPL cards as many Muslim families living below poverty line a re being left out. The works implemented under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) should be culturally sensitive so that Muslim community could also get benefit from such a scheme.

In the field of education, the government should provide recognition and support to Muslim minority educational institutions. It should provide adequate number of scholarships for Muslim students particularly for girls. The government should give permission for more educational institutions in minority-dominated area with priority for residential schools for girls. It should also give permission to open technical institutes in Muslim concentrated areas and ensure equitable admission to Muslim girls.

The government should provide equitable bank loans to Muslims in priority sectors as well as commercial and business sectors and ensure that they get a fair share of these loans. It should create easy credit facilities for Muslim Women, crafts women and women involved in petty trade and commerce and provide a marketing network to women employed in this sector.

The government should ensure better representation of Muslims in government jobs and public sector units and see that at least one Muslim representative is there on all recruitment boards.

Government should prepare a sub-plan for the socio-economic including educational, health and other development activity of the Muslim community. It should set up a separate department at the state level exclusively to deal with Muslim affairs and allocate adequate budget for schemes aimed at Muslims welfare. The office bearers of the Muslim welfare schemes should comprise persons from NGOs working among the Muslim community.

The government should set up a database, collect, and compile data on the socio-economic and educational status of Muslims on a regular basis to monitor the progress of the welfare of the welfare schemes

Finally, the last thought. The developmental goals of the country have to be inclusive and the government has to play a seminal role in the social development of the country. However, it is being seen that the government is absolving from its responsibility of creating a welfare state. It is delegating its role to the Non Governmental Organisations. This developmental paradigm shift of the government does not auger well for creating a welfare state in India . It negates the principles of the word ‘Socialism’ enshrined at the preamble of the constitution of the country.

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

Underreported Facts of ‘Azaadi’ Meeting at New Delhi

2010-11-04T01:35:00.000-07:00

Underreported Facts of ‘Azaadi’ Meeting at New Delhi
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Even as the chorus to book the Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and writer Arundhati Roy on sedition charges, for their statements made at the meeting held in New Delhi on October, 21, 2010, is gaining currency, there are some underreported facts about the meeting that needs to be put into circulation so that the popularly held views of it do not become a gospel of truth.

One of the speakers, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, who was present at the meeting, titled ‘Azadi: The Only Way,’ on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, gives a blow by blow account of the meeting that has not been reported in the so the called mainstream Indian media.

Sengupta writes that Syed Ali Shah Geelani said, “He wants to see a strong and resurgent India. I heard him say this. And was this reported by anyone? NO. Was it reported that he was cheered when he said this? NO”

Was it reported, when Geelani said; “he personally stands guarantee for the safety and security of all minorities, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhists, Christians and others in a future free Kashmir. He implored the Pandits to return to Kashmir, and said; they are an integral part of Kashmiri society.” NO

Was it reported, “when he spoke of the need for ensuring that a free Kashmir was a just Kashmir, and that justice meant that the freedom, safety and security of all minorities, of their property, their places of worship, and their freedom of conscience be given the utmost importance.” NO

Was it reported, “when Geelani reminded the assembled people that throughout these turbulent months, the people of Kashmir have continued to be hospitable to Hindu pilgrims, have set up ‘Langars’ (Kitchens) for them, and have cared for them when they have fallen sick, despite being at the receiving end of the violence of the Indian state. NO

Was it reported that Geelani said, “the people of India and Kashmir are tied together by the bonds of insaaniyat (humanity), when he quoted Gandhi, or spoke of the necessity of conducting a non-violent struggle that was devoid of hatred, or even when he said that he wished to see India rise as a great power in the world, but as a power that felt no need to oppress others.” NO

Was it reported that Geelani said; “he is not against dialogue, provided that the five point formula put forward by him is being considered. 1. Acceptance of the disputed nature of the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, 2. repeal of AFSPA and other black laws, 3. release of political detenues and prisoners, 4. withdrawal of the disproportionate presence of the armed forces and 5. punishment to those guilty of taking life in the past few months. He requested the government of India to think ‘outside’ the framework of the Indian Constitution and accept them as the basis of the dialogue? NO

“Geelani said, all that they are asking for is the right to self determination, promised by India, before the United Nations, to be freely enacted through a plebiscite, in conditions of peace and liberty, without the presence of armed force, for the inhabitants of every part of the undivided state of Jammu and Kashmir – regardless of whether the results of that plebiscite are in favour of India, Pakistan or an independent, united, Jammu and Kashmir that can live in peace with all its neighbors in South Asia,” writes Sengupta.

Reporting about writer Arundhati Roy, Sengupta says, ‘I recall that the author, while endorsing the demand of ‘Azaadi’ for Kashmir, reminded the audience of the need for the people of Kashmir not to be selective about justice and injustice, that they must find methods to forge webs of solidarity with all the suffering and oppressed peoples of India. She unambiguously spoke about the fact that she considered the situation of Kashmiri Pandits to be a tragedy, writes Sengupta.
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These statements were wholeheartedly and sincerely applauded, by the majority of people present in the auditorium, regardless of whether or not they were Kashmiri, write Sengupta.

He adds, these statements should have been the big news considering the fact for its gentleness, for its consideration, for its moderation, even for its liberality and open heartedness. However, this has not happened and what is reported is in public domain

Writing about the reportedly charged atmosphere of the meeting, Sengupta says; “the atmosphere, for the several hours that I was present, was absolutely electric. The vast majority of the audience was warm and appreciative of all the speakers. They were patient and respectful and despite grave provocation from a section that repeatedly tried to interrupt the meeting and heckle speakers, and on one occasion even tried to throw an object at the dais, did not stoop to be provoked by these pathetic attempts at disruption of a peaceful gathering.”

“No provocative, sectarian or hateful slogans were raised by the majority of the people present. The only provocative posturing that I witnessed was undertaken by a section of the crowd, who was not stopped from having their say, but was requested simply not to disrupt the proceedings.”

“When their behavior crossed the limits of public decency, they were escorted out of the premises by representatives of the Delhi Police. The Delhi Police, to their credit, did not act against the majority of the audience, simply because the majority of the audience conducted themselves in a completely civil and democratic manner.”

Sengupta writes, “the meeting was a historic opportunity for the Indian mainstream media to report and take cognizance of the fact that there is a section of Indian public opinion that is actually in favor of ‘Azaadi’ in Kashmir.”

He qualifies his statement saying, “I am not suggesting that this section constitutes an overwhelming majority at present (that might change) but, that it does exist, and that it presents, cogent, precise arguments, that cannot be dismissed.”

Shuddhabrata Sengupta is a media practitioner, filmmaker and writer with the Raqs Media Collective. He can be reached at shuddha@sarai.net.

His report "Azadi: The Only Way – Report from a Turbulent Few Hours in Delhi" can be accessed at; http://kafila.org/2010/10/22/azadi-the-only-way-report-from-a-turbulent-few-hours-in-delhi/

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

Illicit owl trade casts shadow on 'Diwali' Festivities

2010-11-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

Syed Ali Mujtaba

India is currently buzzing with the jovial anticipation of Diwali, the Festival of Lights, that will be celebrated with fervor starting on November 5, 2010.

In preparation for this occasion, India’s most important, there is brisk buying of many things http://www.groundreport.com/Business/Festival-of-Lights-Diwali-Environmentalists-Nightm_1/2930656 and homes are carefully cleaned. During the five-day celebration, candles and lamps are lit as a greeting to Laksmi, the goddess of wealth. Gifts are exchanged and festive meals are prepared.

Meanwhile, most people are unaware that during this time of the year, the country’s owls are perhaps more in peril than ever. The exact number of owls that are illicitly traded each year countrywide is unknown, but according to a report released Tuesday, entitled Imperiled Custodians of the Night, http://www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_birds12.pdf it certainly runs into thousands.

Even though, hunting of and trade in all Indian owl species is banned under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 of India, the study by TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network that is a joint programme of the World Wildlife Foundation, reveals that out of the 30 owl species recorded in India, 15 have been found in the domestic live bird trade.

TRAFFIC blames superstition and taboos as one of the main reasons for the covert owl trade and warns of a possible increase in trade around Diwali as sacrifice of this bird is considered to be auspicious.

Owls with ‘ears’ (tufts) are thought to possess greatest magical powers, and ‘tantriks’ or black magic practitioners frequently prescribe the use of owls and their body parts for ceremonial rituals.

“Diwali should be a time for celebration across our nation, not one when our wildlife is plundered to feed ignorant superstition. India's wildlife already faces many pressures; the additional burden of being killed out of ignorance and fear is not one that has any place in our modern society,” said Jairam Ramesh, India’s Environment and Forest Minister at the launch of report in New Delhi on Nov 2, 2010.

“Owls are as important to our ecosystem as the tigers or any other better known charismatic species. It is important that the threat to owls is brought to light during the festival of Diwali and concrete ground action is undertaken to curb such trade,” he added.

More than a theme

The TRAFFIC investigation also finds that in addition to their main use in black magic, owls are also trapped and traded for use in street performances; killed for taxidermy and for their meat; their parts are used in folk medicines; even their claws and feathers are sometimes used in headgear. Live owls are also used as decoys to catch other bird species.

The report’s author, Abrar Ahmed, had owls on his mind for years but was ultimately inspired by a strange incident to write the owl report. In the study’s preface, he recounts how a wealthy friend’s wife made repeated requests for him to arrange for an owl as a gift for her son’s birthday party — the theme of which was Harry Potter.

“This was probably one of the strangest demands made to me as an ornithologist,” he writes.

The story had a happy ending however.

“In the end, I did bring three white owls to the theme party. I drew owl pictures resembling Hedwig and hung them at appropriate vantage points on the lawn,” Ahmed recounts.

“Later in the evening, I heard an owlet calling, and to everyone’s delight a real Spotted Owlet sat on an electric pole at the gate of the venue. I thanked God and took this opportunity to show everyone ‘their’ owl.

“The children clapped their hands with delight and the owl soon flew off. Several of the partygoers have subsequently joined bird watching groups.”

Farmer’s friend

A variety of owl trapping techniques are documented in the TRAFFIC report, which also says that there are approximately 50 active wild-bird selling points/localities in India where any bird trader is likely to be able to procure owls, although the birds are rarely on open display.

“Birds like owls are sold at a premium, brought in only following a specific request by a customer for use in black magic. Often they are delivered to the client’s doorstep,” Ahmed recounts.

Twenty one of these are major bird markets with an estimated annual turnover of between ($) 20,000 and ($)50,000 wild birds, including owls.

Ahmed’s investigations into the owl trade were conducted during nationwide studies of the bird trade undertaken between1992-2000 with additional information gathered between 2001 and 2008.

In light of the report, TRAFFIC is calling for measures including better law enforcement to curb the trade in owls immediately. The organization also wants to see awareness raised regarding the beneficial and vital role of owls in the ecosystem. Owls should be considered a farmer’s friend due to their predation of rodents and other crop pests.

“Imperiled Custodians of the Night” can be downloaded at: http://www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_birds12.pdf (PDF, 7.5 MB)
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

Mend relationship between Human and Ecosystem - Al Gore

2010-10-21T22:13:00.001-07:00

Mend relationship between Human and Ecosystem - Al Gore
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The relationship between human beings and the ecological system of the earth has radically changed and is the main reason for extreme highs of temperatures and unprecedented weather events said Al GoreAl Gore, former US Vice President and green campaigner on Wednesday October 20, 2010 in Chennai.

He outlined how temperatures were rising in different parts of the world, and erratic weather patterns were being witnessed, delivering a lecture on ‘Thinking Green.’

He pointed out that a place in Pakistan recorded 53.5 degree Celsius in May 2010, another place in Russia recorded about 40 degree C for many days in a row. More than 19 countries across the globe recorded an all-time high in temperature, he added.

It’s because of disturbance in the hydrological cycle of the earth there is unprecedented heat and rains, Gore said as he explained the phenomena, where water goes through the motion of evaporation, condensation and precipitation to return back to the ocean passing through rivers and streams.

The 2007 Nobel laureate said the year 2010 has had many firsts to its credit. The months from January to August saw the hottest season ever measured in environmental history of 1000-years. The amount of rainfall too far exceeded that was recorded in the past.

Australia faced drought due to unprecedented weather and Pakistan had to face the wrath of the rains due to which over 20 million people were rendered homeless after floods, Gore pointed out.

The former US vice president said that increase in population, is another key reasons that disrupted the balance of the ecosystem. The global population had exponentially increased from two billion to 6.80 billion, stabilizing to around nine billion, he said.

The high profile environmentalist was in the city to speak at the 20th World Congress of the World Society of Cardio-thoracic Surgeons and the 6th Global Forum on Humanitarian Medicine in Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.

Cherian Heart Foundation organized the event that was an exclusive event mostly attended by doctors from different parts of the country and the world.

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

Plight of Temple Elephants in South India

2010-10-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Plight of Temple Elephants in South India
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Thirukadaiyur, a sleepy place, some 350 km from Chennai on way to Trinquebar, the seat of Danish East India Company in the Nagapatinam district has its own significant place in the history of Tamil Nadu.

An ancient temple dedicated to goddess Abirami, the consort of Lord Shiva, is the hallmark of Thirukadaiyur that remains abuzz with large number of devotees thronging the place in search of spiritual solace.

An elephant stationed outside the doors of the temple greets the visitors raising its trunk and then putting it on top of devotees head, blessings them in traditional of South Indian style.

There are about 300 temple elephants in Tamil Nadu and over 500 in Kerala that form part of temple ceremonies and festivals as many major temples own and use them for ritual processions and blessing of the visitors.

The lone elephant at the Abirami temple epitomises the plight of all those temple elephants held in captivity in various parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. This sentient and social animal remains chained surrounded by urban noise and human crowds. Standing alone on the hard stone flooring of the temple, it was visibly suffering from heat exhaustion.

Talking to the elephant trainer or mahout I realized that he had no formal education in animal care and his training methods and was typically involved in the systematic act of physical pain, hitting his whip on the leg to make the elephant raise its trunk to bless the devotees. A rough guess could be, the elephant gets hit, at least 2000 times a day to offer blessings.

Tamil Nadu government has recently issued a circular to ban the practice of elephants 'blessing' in the temples of the state. Chief wildlife warden R Sundarajaru has issued a circular instructing the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department, which is maintaining the temples, to put an end to such age-old practice.

Wildlife warden had also asked temple authorities not to keep the elephants on concrete floors, as it damages the foot of the animals. It has also asked the mahout to take the elephants for a walk for a distance of 6 km and give them shower bath twice a day, that in case if they cannot take the elephants to a lake or a pond. The wildlife warden has also asked the temple management to take steps to part-simulate the forest environs in the respective elephant sheds.

Though the contention of the Wild Life Department appears to be genuine, it has stirred up a hornet's nest amongst the Hindu religious groups in Tamil Nadu. “Getting blessing from elephants is considered sacred for Hindus and any move to ban it would be against religious sentiments,” said Shaktivel, an activist of Hindu Bakta Sabha, a religious outfit that oppose the ban.

Barbara Gerard, founder and director of Art and Conservation of the Asian Elephant talks at length about the protection and conservation of the temple elephants. Supporting the ban on the practice of elephants 'blessing' pilgrims in temples, she says it may reduce stress on the jumbos.

Barbara, who comes from New York, and has worked in Africa for the conservation of the elephants, is based in Thrissur, Kerala. She is leading a campaign against the practice of temple elephants and equates them with the Devdasi system that was abolished after a long and protracted campaign. She wants the elephants to be set free and be sent to wild where they belong.

She says nearly 90 per cent of the temple elephants are suffering from one or more serious ailments. They suffer from foot ailments like, arthritis and joint pain. Elephants standing for long on the concrete floors, literally wear away the bottoms of their feet, she says adding that they also suffer from diseases like diabetes and rheumatoid, asthma and tuberculosis.

She points out that most of the temple elephants are male, kept in solitary confinement and little attention given to address their sexual needs. It is only in cases of extreme stress or provocation like sound or physical pain that these animals break down, she quips.

Barbara, who runs an Elephant House, a museum and learning centre children, remains busy in teaching the tiny tots how mild by nature the elephants are and kids need not fear them because they are the giant sized. It is only when the young generation starts understanding the nature of the elephants they may be able asses their plight and in turn join the clarion call to set them free from captivity.

Heeding to bring about a change to ensure proper care of the temple elephants, the Tamil Nadu governments Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department has drawn up a new diet and fitness plan for the temple jumbos.

The daily menu for an adult temple elephant includes 250 kg of grass or supplemented by 50 kg of twigs and leaves from mango or neem trees. Thrice a day they are fed with large nutritious that include 7 kg of cooked rice, mixed with 1.5 kg each of green gram and horse gram, 1 kg of jaggery, 100 grams of common salt and 25 grams turmeric powder. After each meal, the jumbos get at least a dozen bananas, as desert!

Some of the temple gives periodic oil massages to the elephant. They also give multi-vitamin tablets to ward off indigestion once a month. Every three months the elephants also get 3.5 kg of the Ayurvedic nutritious supplement, ‘Chavanapraash’. Every fortnight, allopathic veterinary doctors examine the elephants. Some temples have installed exclusive shower system to bathe the elephants. The shower uses 5,000 litres of water a day to clean the elephant twice a day.

Implementing all this is not easy task for all the temples. The maintenance cost of each elephant is estimated roughly to be; Rs 80,000 per month. The shrines that have large incomes are able to meet with such elaborate arrangements, but those with meagre income are unable to act upon it.

As the situation, stand now, the temple elephants are send every year for a month long "relief camps" to relieve them from stress. The camps that are now runed for the past seven years are organised at the elephant sanctuary at Mudumalai forest, in Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. The elephants in the camps are fed with nutritious food; bathed elaborately’ and given proper medical care to prevent them from contacting any disease.

However, the big question remains; is a month of freedom enough for eleven months of captivity? When the agony and pain of these exotic animals living may end? When the awareness to free them may lead to a march to the doors of the temples and break the chains, and set free the majestic beasts whom many worship as god of wealth. Can any one find answers to these questions? Your guess is as good as mine.

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

The Endgame at Hyderabad State

2010-09-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

The Endgame at Hyderabad State
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Endgame of the princely state of Hyderabad continues to attract attention of not only scholars and researchers but also to writers that were witness to that era.

Hyderabad was one of the largest princely state in British India and its ruler the Nizam of Hyderabad was the richest man of the world.

On Sunday Sept 26, 2010, a function was organised in Chennai where a booklet written by SM Pasha, retired faculty of English, New College, was released.

The author chronicles the events before the ‘police action’ against Hyderabad state and about the communal carnage in the aftermath of the fall of the princely state.

The 81 years old author who worked as subeditor with ‘The Mail,’ the defunct English eveninger, owned by “The Hindu” group of newspapers, roundup his discussion talking about the role of the last Nizam, in the run up to the endgame at Hyderabad.

He narrates the drama enacted by Kaasim Rizvi, the man who tried to resist the march of democracy with strong arms means in Hyderabad.

Though partisan, the author discusses the role of Congress and Communist parties building the mass movement against the princely state.

The most candid narration is about the conman man who had nothing to do with the tumultuous events that fleet past them. The author rightly says that the ordinary people were made pawns in the endgame of the Hyderabad state.

The most chilling account of the booklet is the narration of the barbarity in the aftermath of the police action done against the ordinary Muslims of the Hyderabad state.

The narration if true is hauntingly inhuman. How barbaric a man could be, if the authors account is to be believed, puts the entire humanity into shame.

The author talks about the report commissioned by the government of India to asses the atrocities committed against the Muslims of Hyderabad state.

The commission headed by Pandit Sunder Lal and Kazi Abdul Ghaffar toured the state and submitted the report that was never published and still in wraps.

The author who has a wind of the official report, claim that 27000 Muslim lives were lost in the communal carnage in the aftermath of the police action in Hyderabad.

There are many other things that the author narrates in the booklet and needs a full-length piece for discussion.

Just to end this note I quote the preface that says; the wounds of Hyderabad will not heal until India seeks forgiveness of the victims of ‘police action’ and compensates them adequately for their losses of life and property.’

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

Need to scale up Elephant protection campaign

2010-09-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Need to scale up Elephant protection campaign
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The shocking news of seven elephants being killed, by a speeding goods train while they were crossing the railway tracks near Binnaguri in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal on Thursday, September 23, 2010, has unnerved the wildlife watchers in the country.

What actually happened was a herd of elephants was crossing the railway tracks while going from one forest to another, when two baby elephants were trapped on the tracks. When other elephants came to the rescue of the baby elephants, a goods train that was passing through at that time, hit them, killing five elephants on the spot and injuring three, two others succumbed to their injuries later.

The accident site in Jalpaiguri is a designated jumbo corridor where railway drivers are required to provide safe crossing to the elephants. Railway officials have been requested a number of times to restrict the speed limit of trains plying in the area to 40-km/hr for the safety of the elephants.

However, speeding trains often hit elephants in the area as the railway line crosses the elephant corridor. Some three months ago, a speeding train ran over an elephant and killed it near the same spot. So far, negligent train drivers have killed 150 elephants in the country since 1987.

Elephants are highly intelligent and sensitive animals. They never abandon their injured and dead. In the latest tragedy, the whole herd was killed as they tried to save two calves injured on the track. This incident could have been avoided, if the train driver had applied its presence of mind. Elephant paths are well known to the railway drivers, the jumbos always cross the track by night, and they can be spotted from a distance if the trains are moving at the right speed.

The Environment Ministry has expressed outrage over this tragedy. It was about to declare elephants our national heritage animal and announce the creation of a National Conservation Authority to ensure their protection.

The elephant task force has already devised simple measures to protect them from being hit by the trains. This is by making drivers accountable for their actions, place speed governors on trains in sensitive areas, enforce patrolling along the tracks, stop the movement of good trains at night in elephant corridors and enforce strict safety measures in the 88 elephant’s corridors. A theses measure has to be implemented in its letter and spirit.

Elephants are a revered animal in our country throughout history. However, they are now under siege from poachers and such negligent acts of some train drivers. These wanton killings of the elephants are telling on their population. India's wild elephant population was recently estimated at about 26,000.

There is urgent need to have concrete measures to protect these animals. The onus is on the civil society to raise their voices that there is no such brutal slaughter of elephant’s taking place in the country. If we do not wake up now, perhaps it may be too late.

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

Mujtaba on Radicalization of Islam

2010-07-30T05:07:00.000-07:00

Muslim university students trying to impose burqa on woman lecturer in West Bengal

by Nirmala Carvalho

Shirin Middya is a lecturer at Aliah University, a Islamic institution. The local student union wants her to wear a burqa if she wants to teach even though the university has no dress code. Syed Ali Mutjaba, a journalist and peace activist, warns about the rise of radical Islam in Indian society.

Kolkata (AsiaNews) – Islamic extremism is growing in India, this according to Syed Ali Mujtaba, an Indian journalist and founder of the South Asia Contact Group. He spoke to AsiaNews about a recent incident in which the student union at an Islamic university prevented a woman lecturer from speaking unless she wore a burqa.

Shirin Middya, 24, was recently hired to teach at Aliah University, West Bengal’s first Islamic university, in Kolkata. Back in second week of April, students told her to wear a burqa; otherwise, they would not allow her to teach. News about the incident surfaced only last week. The university does not have any dress code, and wearing the burqa is not required.

Ms Middya said that she would wear the full-face garment but only of her own free will. Still, she concerned that the “students are forcing us to wear the burqa”.

Syed Ali Mutjaba, writer and peace activist, said that he is concerned about incidents of this sort. The “increasing radicalisation of Indian society is extremely worrisome,” he said.

“In India, this radicalisation is a recent phenomenon. Islam in India is centuries old and there are many varieties of Islam,” he explained. “However, in recent times, groups that promote a radical or militant Islam are trying to grab space and are influencing the youth towards their ideas and beliefs and practices that are supposed to be of a hardliner militant version of Islam. This trend is very disturbing for a multi religious society like India.”

For Ali Mutjaba, “there is an urgent need for inclusive development at two levels, one” based n the notion of “unity in diversity and inter-faith dialogue”, the other on discussions “within the Islamic community itself.”

Indeed, “we have to encourage modern and enlightened Muslims to look at things in their totality, not merely from a religious angle.”

Extremism is not however a Muslim prerogative. “Sadly, this kind of radicalisation is a growing trend in India, even among certain elements among our Hindu brethren.”

Among Muslims, certain elements are “trying to create an exclusive community, one that is different from the rest of society, [. . .] trying to carve a niche for themselves as representatives of the Muslim community.”

In reality in India, “there are so many different varieties of Islam. And the dominant ones have nothing to do with extremism. Regrettably, these [extremist] elements make it appear that either you are with us or with the enemy.”

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Muslim-university-students-trying-to-impose-burqa-on-woman-lecturer-in-West-Bengal-19077.html

Remembering National Emergency on 35th Anniversary

2010-07-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

Remembering National Emergency on 35th Anniversary
Syed Ali Mujtaba

There are certain milestones in independent India that divides the nation into its pre and post phase. One of them definitely is the national Emergency of 1975 and people in the country demarcate India between two clear phases that’s pre and post Emergency.

The young generation is unaware of this dark phase of contemporary India under national Emergency. They also don’t know the sacrifices that were made by the young generation then to retrieve the democratic rights that were taken away by the autocratic ruler of that time.

In the 35th anniversary of the national Emergency, the future generation needs to be told the graphic details of that landmark event and should be cautioned that such experimentation be never tried on the Indian masse ever again.

The proclamation of Emergency on 26th June, 1975 was the darkest day of Indian History, when we nearly lost our hard-earned freedom. It was the day when democracy was derailed, people of dissenting voices were detained without any trial and media was gagged and silenced.

It became authoritarian rule of one person where Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi became law unto herself where a chapter of authoritarian and extra constitutional rule began where she and her son Sanjay Gandhi were calling the shots.

Traditional and ethical values were discarded and all the arms of the state were in the service of authoritarian assertion of one personality. It was the erosion of moral values from the politics and other democratic institutions.

Reminiscing 15th August, 1947 when country got freedom and India’s first Prime Minister Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru built up brick by brick the democratic institutions of the country. The system that was built by the architect of modern India was kept aside by none other than his own daughter under the self created circumstances in 1975. She made every effort to pull it down and to destroy them.

Morality was squeezed from the politics and politics became an adjunct of power grabbing. Rather than to serve the people, provide vibrancy to people’s sovereignty and ultimately strengthen democratic polity, power because a story of a chair (Kisa Kursee Ka).

The immediate reason for the proclamation of the Emergency was; Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha had declared Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s 1971 election invalid and barred her from holding political office for 6 years.

Mrs. Gandhi refused to accept the landmark judgment and instead her government at the Centre declared Emergency on June 26th, 1975.

The Shah Commission Report had cautioned Mrs. Gandhi that there was no such law and order problem and the country did not warranted the declaration of Emergency. However, Mrs. Gandhi cared little about any such suggestions and she went ahead with the proclamation of Emergency as she wanted to cling to power by any means.

Parliamentary norms were violated. The President of India signed on dotted lines and cabinet members played a subservient role in endorsing that. There was all around degeneration and the way democratic institutions behaved was the source of concern. Even Press was no longer an instrument of empowerment.

Emergency was declared to suppress the people’s democratic aspirations. During those nineteen months the fundamental rights of the people were suspended and any recourse to justice was smothered under the authoritarian rule.

During emergency press censorship, slum eviction and forceful sterilization and others misdeeds were executed with impunity. The repression unleashed against the common people at Turkman Gate in Delhi and near Jama Masjid were glaring examples of state brutality. Poor Muslims were targeted to adhere to family planning through forced sterilization; many among them were unmarried youth.

The Union Carbide Company got the order cleared to set-up industry during Emergency for the production of poisonous Methyl Iso-cayanite (MIC) in the thickly populated area in Bhopal. This led to the industrial catastrophe where thousands were killed and maimed for life and people still are struggling to get justice.

The role of police in combating communal onslaught was dismal during Emergency. In fact it was the patronage during the Emergency RSS and their ilk got that in the post emergency period they emerged emboldened. It was with the help of the administration connivance they unleashed communal mayhem and destroyed the pluralist traditions of the country.

In the aftermath of emergency the National Police Commission which came into being to serve the people in accordance to the provisions of the constitution has yet to gain any importance. Had such mechanism may have been put on the pedestal, its felt that the perpetration of 1984 anti-Sikh riot in Delhi and in 2002 anti Muslim riots in Gujarat may have been prevented.

Initially people in the country could not make out what the Emergency was all about. As the counters of emergency were slowly getting unraveled and the murder of democracy was being confirmed, people came out on streets to protest against the undemocratic rule.

Students played a very big role in leading the mass protest. They boycotted their schools and colleges and did fear their arrest. The teachers too played a significant role and they too actively participated in the protest. So were the Lawyers who boycotted the bar and joined the street protest.

It was a celebration of rebellion that was seen during the 19 months of emergency rule in India. There are many political leaders who are now on the national scene are the product of the mass protest.

Finally the mighty of the mightiest had to bow down to the din and clatter of the people’s protest and the national Emergency was withdrawn on 21st March, 1977, and fresh Lok Sabha Election was announced.

It was the resilience of the democratic society and its people which had played significant role in restoring democracy by voting against the authoritarian rule. They gave stinging rebuff to the proponents of Emergency at the husting of 1977.

After that the country breathed a sigh of relief that’s how two phases of India got demarcated. One is pre emergency and other post emergency. A parallel can be drawn with the proclamation of emergency and attenuation of democratic polity in the present situations.

The true democracy that is enshrined in our constitution and manifested during emergency like a flash in a pan has gone into oblivion specially when we see the glaring repression and authoritarianism manifested by the Indian state.

In certain quarters emergency still exists informally in different forms. The government of the day is indulging in anti-people activity with the full support of the state apparatus. The emergency like situation is being created with the policy shift under Neo-Liberal structural change and disparity between poor and rich has widened.

The democracy has become so diluted that common masses are struggling to salvage their democratic polity from the stranglehold of capitalist onslaught.

It is high time to retrieve democratic polity from the imposition of anti-people and anti-democratic policies initiated by the government and which has the potential to create governance issues that haunted the people of this country during those dark days of emergency of 1975.

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

Football is fun Celebrate and Play it safe!

2010-07-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

Football is fun Celebrate and Play it safe!
Syed Ali Mujtaba

‘Religion is no more the opiate of the masses; football has taken its place’ says a wise of contemporary times twisting the Marxian phrase; religion is an opiate of the masses.

As FIFA world football fever has griped the nations, continents and world as a whole, the new prophesy is worth relishing.

Utilizing the World Cup Football fever to provide education on STI/HIV/AIDS and safe sexual behavior a public awareness event was organized in Chennai city on July 8, 2010.

The objective of the event was to link the current interest in football due to the ongoing world cup with the message on STI/HIV/AIDS.

A display of huge banner with a football picture covered with condoms titled “Football is fun, Celebrate and play it safe” was displayed at the venue of the event. The banner is going to remain on display at the venue from 8th to 12th July 2010.

Ln.Parthasarathy, Region Chair Person, Lions Club International District 324A-1, inaugurated the event. Ms. D.Kamakshi, Lions Club, District Chair Person, HIV/AIDS Education released the Poster.

Sports personal, youth, NGO’s, CEO’s, policy makers, communication experts and general public together took an oath on their commitment towards STI/HIV/AIDS prevention and not to discriminate people living with HIV/AIDS.

"I am sure that this message will be taken to the larger audience particularly the sports lover,” said A. J. Hariharan, Secretary of Indian Community Welfare Organization (ICWO).

“ICWO is committed to disseminate information on STI/HIV/AIDS in various occasions which normally creates a lot of interest to the general public," he added.

ICWO is a non-profitable, non-governmental organization working for STI/HIV/AIDS Prevention, care and support programs among various target community in specific focus with high risk groups for the past fifteen years.

ICWO used similar occasion to educate people on STI/HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support and work towards reducing stigma and discrimination against core and vulnerable population.

Actionaid India, Chennai Region / Rotary Club of Chennai were the other partners of ICWO that organized the event.

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

Vedanta, Chidambaram, Chattisgarh and Maoist

2010-05-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

Vedanta, Chidambaram, Chattisgarh and Maoist
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Vedanta is a mining company headquartered in London. Anil Aggarwal and Naveen Aggarwal are the owners of this company. They have huge mining interest in several states of the country including in the Chattisgarh state of India.

Chattisgarh is a mineral rich state that was carved out of Madhya Pradesh on November 1, 2000. The state has 75 million tones of bauxite mine at Lanjigarh. In the Dantewada and Bijapur districts of Chattisgarh there are iron and bauxite deposits worth several crores of rupees. The Vedanta Company wants to lay their hands on all these precious minerals.

When Chhattisgarh came into being, the Vedanta group owned company ‘Strelite’ bought a 51 percent stake in state owned BALCO for about Rs 551 crores and took over the company's management. It was the first public sector undertaking to be disinvested under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.

The Sterlite group excavates around five lakh tonnes of bauxite every year from a place called Mainpat in Chhattisgarh annually. Besides, it’s also excavates 300,000 metric tonnes of bauxite in Kabirdham every year. In spite of reaping such rich dividends, Sterlite never bothers to pass on even a few benefits to its workers.

In fact, the list of the irregularities committed by the Sterlite Company is endless. The Company resorted to deep-hole blasting for excavating bauxite, and this has a violent impact on the whole area. It created cracks in the farm land, and farming cannot be done on cracked surfaces. The blasting has also caused an increase in health problems among the residents.

The farmers whose land was taken were promised huge compensation but were left at the mercy of private contractors. Not only did the farmers lose their land and their houses, but they were also forced to live in small camps or rented houses.

In 2003 Sterlite Company cheated the government crores of rupees in taxes and got caught. The person who took up their legal case was PC Chidambaram, who is currently the home Minster of India, and a lawyer by profession. Chidambaram was also a member on the board of directors of Vedanta Company for a while.

The forests of Chattisgarh which contain these mineral deposits are also home to lakhs of Adivasi or indigenous people who are variously called Koli, Munda, etc. Even though sixty three years have lapsed to our country’s freedom, no government till this date has provided these Adivasis with even basic amenities like education, roads, ration cards, etc

The condition in the areas where Adivasis reside is so miserable that hardly many of the people there cross the age of 40 years. In this short lifespan they have to survive on the forests whatever little the Mother Nature can offer them.

The Vedanta Company could not start mining for the precious deposits without driving the hapless Adivasis out of the forests. The government made some devious plans to force them out and in the beginning, the Advasis refused to move out but later protested. Government sent in the armed forces and the Adivasis left their villages and ran into the forests.

The government created a people’s army called ‘Salwa Judum’, which burnt down villages, beat up children and men and raped women. When harassment by the government continued, the Adivasis had no option left but to rally behind the Naxalites and take up an armed struggle.

Naturally, the government could not tolerate this and that is why it started sending thousands of CRPFs to wage a war against those Adivasis who are, incidentally, as much Indian as any Aryans and the Dravidians who are sitting in the mandarins of power in New Delhi.

The former lawyer of the Vedanta Company and now the honorable Home minister of this country has recently threatened: “I don’t care how many men I lose, I will win this war.” He is saying this perhaps because he wants to finish off the Adivasis so that Vedanta can start mining in those forests.

Just like they catch the Muslim boys on the suspicion of being Jehadis in any communally sensitive part of the country, the Chattisgarh government has imprisoned many tribal boys of young age because it thinks they are a threat to the security of this country.

This is the way the national security is being handled in this country. It is with this mindset the power wielders of this nation want to deal with the problem of social unrest, hunger, deprivation and marginalization.

Now, a few words about the Maoists who are revolutionaries mainly consisting of the extremely poor people including a large number of Dalits and Adivasis. They come mainly from the toiling masses and they are trying to organize the vast population of such masses against those who try to impinge on their right to life and liberty. They seek to arm and train them so that these masses can resist the onslaught of the rich and powerful who are intruding into their land.

In this effort the Maoist go beyond the idea that mass movements should focus on some specific issues like increase of wages, better health care, more honesty of public servants and so forth. The view of the rebels is that the poor and exploited people must first and foremost establish their own democratic political power and their own state power in various places.

This is because without controlling state power, the poor and the exploited can at most hope for only limited improvements in their living conditions. So, the Maoists mobilize the poor to fight against the existing state, even armed fight if possible, as they consider the existing state to be a set of agents acting for the big multinational corporations, rich landlords and the wealthy in general.

The fight is an extremely challenging and unequal one. The rich are aided by the government bureaucrats, the police and even the military, the half clad hungry belly people are armed with revolutionary zest and some country made weapon.

Also, contrary to what the Government and the mainstream media are propagating, the Maoist rebels are actually completely opposed to individual killings; they openly denigrate such stray terrorism-like acts. Their fight is against the flawed state apparatus and they want to change this decrypt structure that’s cloaked under democracy and being drummed up by the state sponsored mass media as the best system of governance.

What the Maoist has been attempting to build up is a mass movement, even armed, to take on the violence of the ruling classes and its representative state machinery. What the government is trying to do is to slap them into sanity. This ding- dong battle is going on for the past sixty three years or so in the country and if at all any one who has gained ground in this tussle are the Maoist.

The government policy granting mining rights to the bourgeoisies have created havoc on the minds of the indigenous people. Their resistance against such oppression is being construed as rebellion and they are being treated on par with the terrorists.

Its unfortunate, that one hand India is extolled for being the largest democracy, on the other hand no one no one is talking about the injustice that’s committed by the democratically elected government of this land.

The government which is responsible for creating the Maoists problems is bent on using its strong arm tactics to tackle the problem as if unaware of the fact that one can lord over with the bayonet of the gun but can’t sit on it.

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

Ashwariya Rai Bachan’s Career on a Cliffhanger

2010-05-08T23:30:00.000-07:00

Ashwariya Rai Bachan’s Career on a Cliffhanger
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The wait for Ashwariya Rai Bachchan’s fans is coming to an end with two of her movies Raavan and Endhiran (the robot) are set for release in few weeks from now. The ex beauty queen is pinning hopes on both these south Indian movies and its success may turn around her career that’s witnessing a free fall.

The career span of Bolloywood heroines mostly last for about a decade. We have seen this with Hema Malani, giving way to Sridevi, who passed the baton to Madhuri Dixit that went to Ashwariya Rai and now appears to be slipping on the lap of Katrina Kaif.

With the release of the two movies viewers are anxiously watching whether the former miss world may rewrite a new chapter in the history of Indian cinema and gain the numero uno position in the Bollywood or she will follow the customary rule of the female leads saying adieu to tinsel world, once she has decides to tie the nuptial knot.

This is because Indian audiences traditionally do not accept a heroine who is officially not single. This has happened in the past and many heartthrobs had voluntarily left the silver screen, others were forced to do the domestic chorus as their ratings have plummeted at the box office due to matrimonial reasons.

However, whether these parameters may apply to Ashwariya as well, that’s something being keenly watched. The release of ‘Raavan’ and ‘Endhiran’ are touted to be her litmus test and whether they are going to resurrect her career will be known from just a while from now.

The first movie that’s due for release is 'Raavan'. Made by seasoned director Mani Ratnam and musical scores composed by A.R Rahman is completing its the post production work and due for release. The audio release of this film has already taken place recently in Chennai.

'Ravan' is a multilingual film made in Hindi, Tamil, Telegue and Malayalam. This movie is supposedly a modern day adaptation of Ramayan, and is an intense love story focused on the Ram-Sita pair. In Tamil Ashwariya is cast opposite Vikram and in Hindi hubby Abhishek Bachchan is the hero.

The storyline runs on expected lines. Abhishek Bachchan’s sister dies due to Vikram’s recklessness and so he kidnaps Vikram’s wife Aishwarya. Vikram goes on to save Aishwarya.

Well that’s the Tamil version of the story which is also going to be dubbed in Telugu. In Hindi Abhishek and Vikram swap their characters. The sister’s role is played by Priyamani. In Malayalam, Prithviraj plays the hero.

Mani Ratnam has shot at least four climaxes for the movie. In first, Ravana wins the heart of Sita! Second, Sita reaches Ram fighting Ravana, third, death of Rama and fourth, the death of Ravan. The climax is full of suspense and no one knows which one is been finalized by the director.

Ashwariya made her movie debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil film ‘Iruvar’ in 1997. She has also appeared in his Hindi movie ‘Guru’ in 2007 with Abhishek Bachchan as the hero. Now when her acting career is on a tailspin, she is also waiting for Mani Ratnam’s magic to cast its spell on the audiences. Whether, the success of 'Ravan' would breathe a new life into Ashwariya’s career is remain to be seen.

It appears that Ashwariya’s career is coming to a full circle. She had her first commercial success with the Tamil movie ‘Jeans’ in 1998 directed by S. Shankar, another big director of Tamil cinema and her next major release is ‘Endhiran’ and that’s directed by S. Shankar.

The director is known for making mega budget movies and ‘Endhiran’ is made with an estimated over 150 crores, the highest ever budget for a Tamil film. ‘Endhiran’ which literally means ‘robot’ is a science-fiction film. It has generated a lot of curiosity not only for big budget and Ashwariya’s stint with the Tamil language but also for other reasons.

Ashwariya is cast opposite superstar Rajnikant, the superstar of Tamil Cinema. Any movie that features Rajnikant is bound to be a super hit. In this movie, hero Rajnikant teaches Karate to Ashwariya who would be seen doing martial arts and bashing off many negative characters.

Ashwariya has reportedly signed this movie for 6 crores rupees, making her the highest paid actress in India. The other highlights of the movie are two exceptionally picturesque songs. One is shot at the historic site of the Machu Picchu in Peru with other scenes being picturized in the United States and Brazil.

The other song is shot with about 1000 artists dancing along with Rajnikant and Ashwariya that’s shot at a gigantic set created at Ramojirao Film City Hyderabad at an estimated cost of Rs.3 crore rupees.

The movie ran into controversy for its English title ‘robot’ and its name was changed into Tamil because of the Tamil Nadu government’s policy to give tax exemption to films only with Tamil titles.

‘Endhiran’ is a bi lingual film, simultaneously made in Tamil and Hindi. Its musical score is also done by AR Rahman. The post production work this movie is near completion and only an auspicious date is being searched for its release.

Ashwariya is pinning lot of hopes on director S. Shankar’s directorial wizardry. With Rajnikanth as the lead, it’s expected that ‘Endhiran’ is sure to be a mega hit. However, whether this movie may turn out to be another ‘Jeans’ for Ashwariya, that remains to be seen?

During her career, spanning over a decade Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has acted in over forty movies in Hindi, English, Tamil and Bengali.

She made her Bollywood debut in, ‘Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya’ opposite Bobby Deol, but came to attract attention in the movie ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam,’ staring Ajay Devgan and Salman Khan. Her performance in the film won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award

Her movie ‘ Taal ’ was a big musical success. She won her second Filmfare Best Actress Award for ‘Devdas’ in 2002.

After a low phase in her career during 2003–2005, she appeared in the blockbuster ‘Dhoom 2’ in 2006, which turned out to be her biggest Bollywood commercial success. She appeared in films like ‘Guru’ in 2007 and ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ 2008, which were commercially successful.

Ashwariya has acted in the international productions ‘Bride & Prejudice’ (2004), ‘The Mistress of Spices’ (2005), ‘The Last Legion’ (2007) and ‘The Pink Panther 2’ (2009) in English.

The miss world 1994 has been the most popular face of Indian cinema globally. In 2004 she was chosen by Time magazine as one of the World's "100 Most Influential People", and appeared on the cover of Time magazine, Asia Edition. In October 2004 a wax figure of Ashwariya was put on display in London’s Madame Tussaud's wax museum, the only Bollywood heroine to get this honor.

Even though Ashwariya will be seen in movies like Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ‘Guzaarish’, Vipul Shah's ‘Action Replay’, Abhinay Deo's next film produced by Farhan Akhtar and Vishal Bharadwaj's next directorial venture, the success or failure of ‘Raavan’ and ‘Endhiran’ is going to set the tone of her future career that’s right now on a cliffhanger.

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

My Name is Amitabh Bachchan, and I am Not a Moralist

2010-05-06T06:26:00.000-07:00

My Name is Amitabh Bachchan, and I am Not a Moralist
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Amitabh Bachchan, India’s living film icon was recently at the centre of controversy when Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who heads a Congress led government, invited the actor at an official function.

The Maharastra Chief Minister went by the criteria that the actor is the citizen of Mumbai, a national figure, and some one who fitted all the parameters for being the guest of honor. He had the least clue that the party high command may not approve his invitation to and his innocent liking for Bachchan may put him in a spot.

Ever since Bachchan accepted to be the brand ambassador of Gujarat, the state ruled by the BJP with hardliner Narandra Modi, as its Chief Minister, the Congress high command in New Delhi did not approve his conduct and would like to disassociate with the actor.

Congress anger against Bachchan stemmed from the fact, that the actor being once a Congress MP and someone who has sworn by the party’s ideals of secularism and pluralism has sold his self respect to a person who is alleged to have organized a state sponsored program that has killed more than 3000 Muslims in the state.

When the Congress showed its reservation against Bachchan, the BJP jumped in defense of the actor, saying that the Congress leaders were harassing an iconic figure of India because he chose to be brand ambassador of a BJP-ruled state and has fallen out with the first family of the ruling party.

The spat between the Congress and the BJP continued for a while, with the former showing its dislike for the actor and the later going all out in support of him, given an impression that the ex superstar was about to join the saffron brigade.

However, this did not happen and what actually happened in the process was that Mr Bachchan, lost the contract of being the brand ambassador of Indian Railways and also the state of Kerala, euphemistically called Gods own country.

There is no denying the fact that Amitabh Bachcan owns his stardom to the backing of India’s premier ruling family. The Bachcans and the Nehru’s both hailed from Allahabad, with former being a poet and later being a politician. Both families together had a shared history of participation in the freedom struggle.

It was Indira Gandhi, the democratic dictator of India, who vouched for then small B, when he was making rounds of the film studios in Bombay. The much needed push at the formative stage of the career did matter to the struggling actor then, even though Bachcan earned the superstardom by the dint of his merit.

The proximity between Congress and Amitabh Bachchan, became closer when young Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi came at the helm of affairs, after the brutal assassination of her mother. He gave the party ticket to the reigning superstar to contest from his hometown Allahabad.

Amitabh riding on his stardom status defeated the top political leader late Hemwati Nandan Bahugana, raising eyebrows among the political circles of the Congress methodology to use actors to silence the opposition in the country.

Amitabh after becoming an MP has to choose a career in politics or cinema. Soon he realized how easy was to become a MP but how difficult it is to become a politician. The superstar finally opted to remain in his profession and left politics for those who were best suited for it.

Since then Amitabh Bachchan and the Congress drifted in their own course. There was little meeting ground between the two. While the Congress was bamboozled by the BJP’s Ayodhya’s juggernaut that set the country on fire, Bachchan tried his hand in business setting up Amitabh Bachchan Corporation, Ltd. (A.B.C.L.). It since then he got the title Big B and that continues to stick on his persona.

His business venture turned out to be his nemesis and he lost heavily in the attempt to build a corporate empire. Once the highest paid actor in the country was on the verge of bankruptcy and looked for solace in Tirupati, the temple town in south India.

His sulking fortunes turned around when Amitabh along with Anil Ambani and the then Star TV’s CEO went to pray at Trupati for the success of the television serial, Kuan Banega Cororpati, that went to inspire Danny Boyle to make Slumdog Millionair.

Call it a blessing of Lord Venkateshwara or whatever, the TV serial Kuan Banega Cororpati rewrote the history of reality shows in the country and in the process changed the fortunes of a man who was struggling for funds.

Money from then onwards was the main motivator for Amitabh Bachchan. He was not bothered about tarring his image and started appearing in commercials that was too low for his status. India’s one time heartthrob and undisputed super star was ready to endorse any thing for a price.

In lighter vein someone commented that it won’t be a surprise, to find Amitabh endorsing ladies inner wear and shown stretching bra and panties delivering the punch line; yeh aarm ka mamala hai {its all about comfort).

Therefore, in this context one has to see Big B’s acceptance being the brand ambassador for the state of Gujarat. He chose to do so as he was motivated by crass commercial interest and got nothing to do to do with the ideology of the party ruling that state. It would also be a misnomer to view his conduct as an endorsement of Narnder Modi’s ideas.

In the lexicon of Amitabh Bachchan there was no place for words like morality and dignity. He was ready to associate with anyone who can afford to pay his fee. It is indeed sad but true that the commercial interest dominates the mindset of the ageing man and he has reduced himself to a money making machine.

The duel between the Congress and the BJP for owning and disowning Amitabh Bachchan was interesting one. While both the political parties were pushing the agenda of their conflicting ideology centering on the ex super star, where as the ageing actor and had nothing to do with the ideals of either of them and was driven by his sheer commercial interest.

However, this brings to the final point; how important are principles, values and morals, in ones life? To some these inner guiding virtues are very essential as they give a sense of containment and fulfillment in life.

To others, such concepts are a figment of imagination and they feel the fetters of morality should not come in the way of living their life king size.

Well these are philosophical and ethical thoughts and subject to individual choices. It would be quite improper to cast a judgment on Big B’s acts of omission and commission. In this public trial, he is his own advocate as well as the judge.

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

Only 1411 Tigers Left- Where Do We Go From Here?

2010-04-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

Only 1411 Tigers Left- Where Do We Go From Here?
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The advertisement campaign that there are only 1411 tigers left in the India has attracted many eyeballs. The ad campaign has also moved a large number of hearts. People from Kashmir to Kaynakumari and from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh want to know the root of the problem. They are perplexed how come such a catastrophe is taking place right under their nose and no solution could be found to stem the decline of the population of the Tigers in the country.

One of the reasons for the decline of the population of the Tigers is poaching. Poaching is done because there is huge demand for tiger body parts and its skins. Tiger’s body parts are used in a wide variety of traditional medicine and black magicians uses its skin as a seat. In order to meet these demands there are criminal gangs that fund the poaching operations in India. It’s an organized crime conducted in collusion with local people, forest communities and the wild life protection officials.

The poor infrastructure is another reason for the decline of the tiger population. The under-equipped forest guards find it difficult to protect the Tiger reserve. Most of the reserves have very limited frontline staff and each person may have has to cover an area of 65-70 square kilometers. This is ridicules task and most often forest officials inflate the figures of the Tigers to save their jobs.

Tiger reserves exist in an environment where thousands of indigenous communities also live side by side with the Tigers. The relationship with the local communities and the forest is the "weak link” in the conservation effort of the Tigers.

Of late Tiger conservationist want the local communities out of the reserve as it felt that they are a hindrance in protecting the Tigers. The local communities are shifted from the core areas of the reserves without being given any alternative access for grazing or fuel collection. They have no other go but to turn to the reserves for their survival and poach tigers for their livelihood.

The developmental priorities of the government are causing an irreversible ecological transition in the tiger reserves resulting in the decline of their population. Extractive industries like mining and manufacturing and power plants are found in the tiger reserves. The insidious encroachment of the development projects comes in the way of saving the Tigers.

The fate of Tigers is entwined with the area of forest reserves. The depleting forest area poses a challenge to the conservation plan of the Tigers. It is estimated that 726 sq km of forest area had decreased in past one decade in the country.

Tigers are territorial animal. They literally need land to roam freely. With the birth of a male tiger, this search starts. Either the old tiger gives way or the male has to look beyond the protected areas of the forest and move into the guarded area of the forest. The tigers could expand its space when the outside world was forested, but now when the forests are degraded, they have no where to go except outside the reserve zone.

The total core area of a national park is about 17,000 sq km. A Tiger needs a minimum 10 sq km territory to roam, mate and live. If we compare this with the dwindling forest space, then we can rationalize why we have so few Tigers left.

The Tiger census revealed that many more tigers lived outside reserves than those inside. The 2001 census put the number at about 1,500 tigers inside and as many as 2,000 outside. The next census in 2005 found the number of tigers in the reserves between 1,165 and 1,657 but does not account the tigers living outside.

What happened to the Tigers living outside? Where did they disappear? Were they all killed by those who live outside the reserve? This could be true because the people who live outside the reserve are poor and resent these animals. The Tigers kills their cattle, the herbivores and wild boars in the reserve eat their growing crop. These people living around tiger land are at the receiving end. So it was in their best of interest to kill the Tigers and its preys.

So where do we go from here? How do we save the Tigers? Do we plan to expand and increase the forest area or save those people who live outside the reserves or save the Tigers? The best way would be a combination of all three. We have to protect the forest from getting depleted. The conservation of the Tigers should not be at the expense of the indigenous people who live outside the reserve. The best way would be a co existence model between the forest the Tigers and the indigenous people.

Unless we re-imagine the conservation efforts differently there is little hope to save the Tigers. The hard fact is more forest land is needed to safeguard the tigers. For this systematic planning has to be done. The tract of land outside the reserves has to be to be planted with trees that survive cattle and goats.

Then we have to look after the people who live outside the tiger reserve. They should be generously compensated for the crops destroyed or their cattle killed. They should be provided with alternative access to grazing and fuel collection.

It should be ensured that there is substantial and disproportionate development investment in the areas adjoining a Tiger reserve. This should be meant to benefit the people living by the side of the reserves and they must be made partners, owners and earners from the Tiger conservation plan.

This however does not mean that we should not improve the infrastructure and manpower to watch and ward the forest. This is essential to stop the poaching. There should also be efforts made to improve the prey population so that Tigers can feed upon them easily. More camera traps should be set up to monitor the tigers and their prey. The camera traps could also be used for surveillance against the poachers and the timber cutters, who are depleting the forest with impunity.

The entire apparatus of the conservation of the Tigers from bottom up should be streamlined. The in charge of the Tiger reserve should be made accountable and their work should be periodically monitored. Any one who is found neglecting its duties should be taken to task.

The Tiger conservation plan is infested by lobby and pressure groups that call the shots. They are the ones who block the positive move to conserve the Tigers. It’s thus imperative that the wings of such groups should be clipped. .

The media campaign should move from making noises that there only 1411 tigers left. It’s the duty of the media drum up new the agenda for the conservation of the Tigers. The focus should shift to reclaim the forest land and how to add on it. It should also address the issues confronting the indigenous communities.

Finally, the countrymen must wakeup to the reality and identify with the solutions and volunteer to monitor the changes taking place on the ground. Unless something drastically is done to change the discourse of Tiger conservation, nothing is going to come out from making noises that there are only 1411 Tigers left.

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

Riots after Riots- It happens only in India

2010-04-25T06:03:00.000-07:00

Riots after Riots- It happens only in India
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Communal riots have become part and parcel of Indian social life. The birth pang of the country was on the throes of communal riots. The history of last sixty years or so to a section of the Indian society, who has been on the receiving end of communal riots, is nothing but a history of wanton destruction of their lives and properties.

The irony is, the psyche of the countrymen has become immune to such development that there is little effort either from the government of the day or the civil groups to stop such well planned and well orchestrated communal mayhem in the nation that swears by the word peace, unity in diversity, peaceful coexistence and such blah, blah….

The year 2010 so far has witnessed two communal riots, one in Bareilly a small city in Uttar Pradesh, the other in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh. While the incidence of communal violence in Bareilly is rare, Hyderabad remains on the seismic zone of communal flare-ups.

Genesis Barielly riots

The genesis Barielly riot was the Bara-wafaat procession taken out by the Muslims on the occasion of birthday of Prophet Mohammad. This was on March 2, 2010 when a small group of Muslim boys not more than 30, were coming to join in the main procession and they passed through a Hindu locality. They were challenged and hot words were exchanged and this followed a volley of brickbats on these boys making them bleed profusely. The fact that the brickbats in such huge quantity were kept on roof tops suggests some planning must have been done before the flash point

However, the group of boys somehow made it to the main procession, which characteristically was not a procession where some 30-40 thousand individuals gathered, but of much smaller in number who after seeing their co religionist bleeding retaliated by burning the shops that was indiscriminate.

Unlike the popular belief that it was only Hindu shops were torched, the fact remains that there were many Muslim shops which were completely burned down.

This resulted in the clamping down of the curfew, and after six days when every one thought the curfew would be finally be lifted, the administration on March 8, arrested the powerful Sunni Muslim cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, the National president of powerful Ittehad e Millat (IMC) on the charges of inciting the trouble.

Bareilly is great seat of Barellvi sect of Sunni Muslim School and the Maulana is no baby sheep. The arrest made the supporters of Maulana to sit on dharna, demanding his unconditional release. Their number was around 30, 000 and their number kept increasing with each passing moment. In spite of such large numbers the supporters displayed remarkable discipline and none reported to have done anything negative, except peacefully sitting in Satyagrah for over 30 hours.

In was after three days Maulana Tauqeer was released from jail on March 11, 2010. His supporters after hearing the news of the release of their leader started dispersing peacefully to their homes.

At this moment the goons of the Bajrang Dal and the BJP started attacking the unarmed returning Muslims in which two of them sustained severe cut injuries by sword. At the same time the belligerent mob got busy vandalizing, looting and burning Muslim owned shops and property.

This continued unabated on March 11 and 12, 2010 and the police and paramilitary forces had tough time containing them. It was only by March 15, when the curfew was lifted after two weeks that the city limped back to normalcy.

Genesis of Hyderabad riots

The communal riot in Hyderabad city is a basket case of communal incident. It’s once again the same old story where the state apparatus has failed to preempt the situation and only bolted the doors when the horses had fled!

The riot in Hyderabad had its origin in rabble rousing speeches at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad conference on March 24th, 2010. This led to filing of the cases against those provoking violence against minority communities. This happened three days before the breakout of actual violence that took place on Hanuman Jayanti day on March 30, 2010.

Hanuman Jayanti, a festival that was hitherto celebrated with relative simplicity in Hyderabad city saw an unprecedented mobilization by Hindu extremist organizations that blanketed the entire city with Saffron flags.

The belligerence of the Saffron brigade was at height when they provocatively planted Saffron flags and other Hindu religious symbols on Mosques, Churches and other sites of such religions.

This provocation was enough for retaliation from the fearful community and according to reports it was free for all where three lives were lost, ninety people were left injured.

Police arrested two hundred and seventy two suspects, most of them Muslims, imposing curfew within the jurisdiction of twenty five police stations of the city. It took several days for the situation to come back to normal and peace to be restored.

In both the cases, Bareilly and Hyderbad, the role of state administration is dubious. It is unfortunate that both the state governments allowed the riots to unsettle the state of communal harmony and did little to preempt the situation.

In both the cases the Hindutva groups were the main culprits and agent provocateurs in destabilizing communal harmony and provoking religious violence.

The general public had begun to sense the communal tension but not the administration that has the intelligence gathering apparatus. It seems the police intelligence agency were either oblivious to the fact or deliberately remained silent.

These copy book cases of communal riots in the country has been recurring in pauses each year in the country from last sixty years or so. Not a single year passes when there are no communal riots in India.

On a rough estimate there could be an average three to five riots each year. Still no one in this country gives a damn about it. Every one forgets about it when thing gets normal after some fire fighting exercises, till it recurs again. This sounds bizarre but it’s true fact about the history of communal riots in the country.

Ask those who has been reeling under violence, terror and curfew. Imagine living under the looming shadow of uncertainty, danger and the threat of violence and state imposed restrictions under curfew. What kind of wound it may inflict on the minds of the sufferers.

I some time wonder how long this madness will be allowed to perpetrate by the collusion of the state and the central government. Are they not responsible for producing Jhadis in this country? It’s a murky game that going in this country from last 60 years or so, where first you produce the Jhadis, and then go after them.

The irony of my country is each one us get carried away by the symptoms and none care of thinking of the ways and means to control the disease. The biggest, stakeholder in this, the state, seems to be wavering in its commitment to uphold the secular credentials that’s guaranteed in the constitution of India.

At the end, would be a regular investigation is ordered to probe these riots and what it would lead to. A step further may be a judicial probe of these incidents. But will that be sufficient to get to the real story behind these riots? Even if we are able to get one, will that avoid further loss of life in yet another riot on yet another pretext? Your guess is as good as mine!

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

Myanmar Election - All is Not Well

2010-04-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

Myanmar Election - All is Not Well
Syed Ali Mujtaba

With the announcement of the Political Parties Registration Bylaw, the scene is now set for the holding of the long-awaited 2010 elections in Myanmar. While some groups are registering parties, many existing opposition parties remain undecided.

The parties do not now have the leisure of debating the legality of the Constitution or the electoral laws since they have to register within 60 days of the announcement of the Political Parties Registration Bylaw. Decisions will need to be made quickly if they want to compete, while at the same time, the parties will need to focus on their election manifestos.

At least seven political groups are now preparing to register with the Election Commission. They include: 1. National Unity Party (NUP) formerly the Burmese Socialist Programme Party, 2. Democratic Party (DPM), 3.Union of Myanmar National Political Force, 4.88 Generation Students Union of Myanmar, 5.Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), backed by the SPDC.

The government-backed USDA and some of its allied parties have been allowed to campaign extensively even prior to the promulgation of the election laws, for over a year now. It is learnt a prominent Shan political leader, Shwe Ohn is also planning to contest the elections.

The Kachin State Progressive Party (KSPP) led by Dr Manam Tuja, former leader of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) is entering the electoral fray with the requisite 15 Central Committee members and a minimum of 500 party members in Kachin State. The party is now preparing to register itself within the 60 days as stipulated in the party registration law, and its leaders have promised to work for the progress and development of education, health and the social status of Kachin nationals.

The Democratic Party - Myanmar (DPM) headed by veteran politician U Thu Wai along with few alliance partners are gearing up to contest the forthcoming elections. The DPM has been working towards forming a political party since the end of last year to contest the elections but could not do so officially because electoral laws were not announced till recently.

A group of Chin politicians are now preparing to participate in the general elections. It maybe recalled in the 1990 elections, Chin State was divided into 13 constituencies and Chin National League for Democracy won four seats, Zomi National Congress won two seats, Mara People’s Party won one seat, National United Party won one seat and the National League of Democracy won four seats in Parliament. However, as part of a crack-down by the regime on politicians and parties, many parties including the Chin National League for Democracy-(CNLD), Zomi National Congress-(ZNC) and the Mara People’s Party-(MPP) were banned. Now Chin political activists want a new party to contest the election, which can include all politicians in the various townships in Chin State.

Similarly, several prominent Karen nationals are reportedly busy forming political parties to contest this year's general election, while others are preparing to stand individually. Three Karen political parties were formed at the time of the 1990 elections: the Karen State Nationals Organization (KSNO), the Union Karen League, and the Karen National Congress for Democracy. The KSNO won in one constituency while the National League for Democracy (NLD) won in 10 of the 14 constituencies in Karen State.

The ruling Junta have issued the white ID cards used for foreign nationals to Muslim communities in northern Arakan State to vote in the election However, its likely that Muslim communities in Maungdaw and Buthidaung may vote for their Muslim leaders and not junta associates. This is due to their dislike of the regime and the oppression and discrimination of Muslims in Myanmar.

However, Myanmar’s biggest Opposition party the National League for Democracy (NLD) has announced that it would not register for 2010 election because it’s of the opinion the election laws are unfair and unjust. This means Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s party; NLD will have no role in the military-led political process

The NLD is angered by the military junta’s restrictive election laws, which bar current and former prisoners from taking part. Many NLD members are among the 2,100 political detainees in Burma, the most famous of whom is Ms Suu Kyi. The party faces dissolution if it refuses to register. The NLD won the last election in 1990 by a landslide but was never allowed to rule.

Similarly, some of the Kachin, Chin and Karen nationals have taken the decision not to take part in the election. This will allow the ruling SPDC to disband them or take whatever necessary measures against them. However, if the SPDC miscalculates and the ethnic ceasefire groups fight back and the fighting intensifies, the SPDC may change its game plan and use the instability as a pretext to postpone elections indefinitely.

The election in Myanmar has been widely dismissed as unfair. This is because while electoral laws provide for a relatively ‘free’ vote on voting day with representatives of political parties present at the polling station, the extensive powers given to the Election Commission effectively nullifies that ‘freedom’.

In other words, the Election Commission will pre-screen political parties and candidates that will be allowed to run. Only those who are not deemed ‘dangerous’ to the SPDC will be allowed to proceed to the voting stage. At that point, the people will be ‘free’ to choose between SPDC candidates and candidates that are friendly to the regime.

Once again these measures expose the well-orchestrated strategies of the regime and its determination to shape the outcome of the elections. The political parties and the candidates that want to compete and represent their constituencies will have to come up with strategies that will not disqualify them prior to voting day.

The reluctance of the opposition parties and ethnic parties, to participate in the elections suggest it’s a sham electoral process orchestrated by an oppressive military regime that’s in power for nearly three decades.

Similarly it also reflects that Myanmar’s national reconciliation process leading to democratization of the country could not be achieved without the participation of all the ethnic groups and political parties in Myanmar. All this reflects that every thing is not well with the election in Myanmar.

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

Remembering CK Prahalad – The Management Guru

2010-04-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

Remembering CK Prahalad – The Management Guru
Syed Ali Mujtaba

The news that the management guru, Coimbatore Krishnarao Prahalad, popularly known as CK Prahalad is no more has disturbed me. This is because as a small time city reporter in 1998 I remember covering the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) conference in Chennai, where he was the key note speaker.

Let me confess I belong to the rare breed of reporter, who have little clue of the person whom he is sent for reporting and comes to know about the person only after the event is over and has filed the report.

My first and last acquaintance with CK Prahalad, was when he was introduced to the audience and I could sense this guy is no small fry because he was given utmost importance by the captains of the industry.

When Prahalad, started talking and I started taking notes, I could gauge the depth and range of knowledge and realized why he was given so much of importance. He sounded like a management thinker, talking about many things big and small that I had no clue about and it was a learning experience to me.

No wonder I still preserve some of his thoughts that I jotted down on “How to Manage India”. Here are some excerpts of his speech.

‘India’s political agenda is still not driven by economics. The economic strategy is still an elitist preoccupation. There is no consensus on the roadmap of improvement of India,’ said CK Prahalad, the management guru.

‘India is still fighting with the past. It has yet to begin its innings of competing with the future,’ he added.

‘In India population is seen as a drag and not an opportunity. Population could also be a positive thing; it can become largest consumer market. Can India create a world-class market,’ Prahalad quizzed.

He suggested ‘India has to get out of the box and cannot remain insular. India does not have many choices. Its can’t do attitude will do no good, and if it has to progress, only can do and must do attitude has to be cultivated.’

Talking about the global economy, Prahalad said, ‘The characterization of new economics is de regularization and privatization. Global open standards, focus on competition, eco sensitivity, transparency, accountability, more people can participate in opportunity. De regularization and privatization, delimitation of local monopolies, outlet capacity, separate the assets from the people. Capital shortage, some capital is required.’

Talking about India, he said, lack of transparency can create lot of problem and advocated transparency and accountability. In order to contain the social upheaval there is the need for employment generation and this could be done only through the growth of the private sector,’ he suggested.

‘Diversified business groups have the scale and scope to sustain and exploit institutional development. Market institution takes a long time to develop,’ he said.

A sound strategic response to liberalization is rationalizing not reduced business, scope emphasizes internal institution building, exploit new opportunities even if it means increased diversification, fresh efficiency, improvement in current business, he added.

Prahalad suggested that the strategy in India should be tailor made and not imported from the west. India should develop unique core competence in an emerging market context.

‘Be fixated on internal institutional development not on increased business focus, look at diversification but from own point of view,’ he told the captains on Indian Industries.

Prahalad talked about many more of things of which I had little clue. I just jotted them as points and reproducing them as it may make sense to those who understand such theories better.

“Global local industries, Entire process of de regulation, Globalization – competition, customers’ opportunity, Global standards – major global pressure shifts. Global suppliers – competition for talent, Global markets- competition for markets, Local global – competition for distribution channels, Supply system – global consolidation of industries.”

'Global products are sold locally, Global recession – shifts will take place. Competition for talent is global, open standards – technology driven. Not stalled and size, quality speed cost features need to critical suppliers.'

'Capacity building – quality speed cost open standards, tremendous volatility – scaling up and scaling down new products , speed competition is leading to the growth of bullishness. Growth formally re write the portfolio, total opportunities view, help people viable local business, re thinking solution, pollution control compact fluent camp verses power generation, choice of technology,'

'Nuclear verses coal, concern for accountability, employer share holder, deep change or slow death, new level of competition, domestic market. Standard managers, new basis for competition for capital talent and customers. '

'Response to liberalization, diversify or focus, relative cost and benefits, value of internal institutions, time to develop eternal institution, strategy verses efficiency, need to be efficient what ever be the strategy.'

CK Prahalad a distinguished University Professor at the University of Michigan was rated as the most influential management thought leader twice in a row by Thinkers 50 listing of the world’s top business management gurus.

Three of his boldly original ideas—Strategic Intent, Core Competence and Bottom of the Pyramid—became part of the rule book for a whole generation of executives, shaping winning strategies for their companies.

His bottom-of-the-pyramid approach that challenged conventional thinking about targeting only the most profitable segments of the market acquired a permanent place in the lexicon of chief executives.

His theory and vision behind the viability of the high-volume, low-cost business models were path-breaking. A sharp and analytical mind, his ability to drill down to the core of the problem and come up with innovative solutions was legendary.

The obit note on Pralahad describes him one of the foremost strategic advisers to those at the very top of the corporate pyramid, who has passed away on Friday in California, United States, after a brief illness. The 68-year-old was battling lung disease the past few days.

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

Indian Muslims should emulate Super 30 model

2010-04-18T02:41:00.000-07:00

Indian Muslims should emulate Super 30 model
Syed Ali Mujtaba

There is a view among a segment of Indian Muslim that instead of seeking favors from the government and hankering for reservation for shedding the burden of backwardness, some members of the community should come forward and emulate the Super 30 model of Bihar to uplift the fellow members of the community.

The Sachar Committee report reveals the abysmally low share of Muslims in professional courses, especially in institutes of excellence in the country. In 2006-07, only 3.3% of all students in all IITs and around 1.3% in all IIMs were Muslims. In IAS, the representation of Muslims was only 3% and it was 4% in IPS.

Super 30 is an initiative under which poor students are giving educational coaching free of cost to crack the highly competitive Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE).

The coaching institutes’ takes 90 students every year divided into a batch of 30 students each and it has repeatedly demonstrated that how professional coaching can make the under privileged students crack the entrance test of the top engineering colleges of the country.

The 30 students are selected from among 3,000-odd aspirants who write the Super 30 entrance test. The entrance test is held in Lucknow, Agra, Gorakhpur and Varanasi in UP, Ranchi, Bokaro, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur in Bihar.

Once selected, the students are provided professional coaching, food and lodging facilities, all free of cost. Parents of most of the students come from the bottom rung of the society, some being brick kiln workers, domestic help and doing menial jobs.

The institute was started in 2003 by two dynamic persons, one a mathematician and other a police officer. In the first year, 18 of its students made it to the prestigious IITs and the number rose to 22 in 2004 and 26 in 2005. In 2007 and 2006, 28 students made it through ITT-JEE. In the last seven years, 182 students out of 210 have made it to different IITs of the country. And for the last two years, all 30 students of Super 30 have made it to the IITs and this includes students from the Muslim community as well.

A British filmmaker narrated the success story of Super 30 trough the Discovery Channel and also a Japanese documentary film maker made a film on this innovative and successful attempt to send poor children to India’s top most engineering colleges.

The Super-30 success has made the government of Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh to replicate the model in their respective states. A team of government officials of these states are making a beeline in Patina to study this model of teaching and are preparing a blue prints for its implementation in their states.

Is the Muslim community in India being aspired by the initiative like Super 30? This is a big question mark as I have discovered that there are small and big, more than fifty coaching institutes run by the Muslim community in different parts of the country.

Many of these insinuations are receiving funds from the government, and are making tall claims to run the show and receive more funds but contrary to the claims these institutions are no more than government offices, providing employment and money to those who run them.

A close look at the functioning of Muslim run coaching institute provides a very unrealistic picture. Most of them have taken umpteen numbers of courses and they could hardly do justice to any of them. There is hardly any desire or inclination to provide a specialized training. No wonder, the bright students of the community keep themselves away from such institutions.

The Super 30 has provided a direction how a success story could be scripted in the most humble way. Now the onus is on members of the Muslim community to take this idea forward and replicate it for uplifting the not so privileged members of their faith. This they can do through professional approach and with utmost resolve and commitment and dedication to the cause.

The Rahmani Foundation, Munger, Bihar leads the way by adopting the Super 30 model for under privileged Muslim students of Bihar to crack IITs exams. The Foundations picked-up poor average Muslim candidates from Bihar and coach them in Patna providing them free coaching, lodging and foods to appear IIT Jee test. It costs Rs. 80,000 per year for each student’s expenses.

Additional Director General of Police Abhyanand, who coached and helped 30 students from poor families to join the prestigious IITs is heading this institution. Abhyanand began working for Rahmani 30 after disassociating himself from Super 30. The idea of coaching Muslim students to the police officer struck because Super 30’s successful students included Muslim students as well.

The Rahmani foundation announced that students who have scored more than 60+ marks in 12th can appear in the test at selected locations throughout Bihar. About 2,300 candidates appeared in the test and finally selected 10 candidates. All the 10 students enrolled in the special coaching institute passed the IIT-JEE exams.

It’s high time that some dynamic persons from the community should come forward and try to start specialized coaching institute in a professional way on the lines of Super 30 and Rahmani 30 in other parts of the country. They should hire the best faculty available and Muslim philanthropist should come forward to foot their bills. Similarly, the food and loading arrangement should made by members of the community.

A good administrator can do wonders in running such institutions and there is no dearth of them in the community who can produce results. If this happens with a missionary zeal, it won’t be long when Indian Muslims can too write a new script that can become a talking point in every nook and corner of the country.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a working journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com