By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Taking a bold and likely to be a revolutionary step the Mumbai-based Urdu daily Inquilab has decided not to publish any news of political Iftar parties. The decision is bold because political parties and political leaders are said to be the backbone of a news media organization.
Reasoning the decision Shahid Latif, Editor of the Urdu daily, said that the politicians who hardly take care of Muslims’ interests, always make their presence felt in the community by organising iftar parties. “They think that will garner them the community’s support, especially for the upcoming elections. So they wear skullcaps in an attempt to show solidarity with the community. But as soon as the show is over, they dump the community in the political dustbin,” said Latif.
“Muslims are fed up with such gestures. They feel humiliated whenever such ‘iftar showoffs’ take place. After 62 years of continuous struggle, they now want to say: “Mr Politician, please don’t try to fool us. You are not a friend because you wear a skullcap. Hoardings wishing us Ramzan Mubarak don’t help us solve any of our problems like inequality, identity crisis and lack of security that gravely concern us. We ask you to do what is legally and constitutionally justified.”
Inquilab on September 2 decided not to cover any of the political iftar parties from the day itself.
Describing Inquilab’s as a great step, Kashiful Huda, Executive Editor, TwoCircles.net, has decided to join the Urdu daily in its movement. The leading Muslim news portal will also not publish any news of political iftar parties.