By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
From thousands of original stories that we do every year, it is not easy to select just a few. But to give our readers a recap of the year, we present 12 stories, one for each month of 2013. These stories are not necessarily the “best” story of that month but chosen to reflect the diversity of topics and regions that we cover through out the year.
January
The year began for us with wrapping of a series on Bodoland violence: The nine-part series looked at the history of the conflict and the condition of the camps.
February
Irresponsible and sensational media coverage glooms over Hyderabad twin bomb blasts: Hyderabad saw two blasts on Feb 21st that killed 17 and injured over 100. This piece analyzed media’s prejudiced reporting when it comes to terrorism.
March
Alienated and angry Muslim youth: A very disturbing development in the country is the alienation and anger of Muslim youth. This has to be moderated and controlled by the community leadership. The failure to do so could be very harmful to Muslims and also to the country.
April
78000 cheques given in pre-matric scholarships to minority students in WB are invalid:West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (WBMDFC) have disbursed the pre-matric scholarship for the year 2012-13 to nearly 12 lakhs minority students.However, several thousands cheques are reported to have ‘bounced’ from the WBMDFC account due to either insufficient funds or as the cheques reached concerned schools or students after the expiry of the dates, accepted Abu Ayesh Mondal, Chaimen of the WBMDFC when contacted by the TCN.
May
SDPI and WPI: A critical glimpse on their performances in Karnataka Assembly elections: Both SDPI and WPI contested Assembly polls in the hope and desperation to make a pan Karnataka presence; however, as the results were declared none of them were able to win a single seat. But it became clear that while the former succeeded somewhat in proving it’s ‘worth’, the latter failed miserably in making a mark in the state
June
Muslims in Sikkim: “There is only one masjid in Gangtok. This area is called Apar Arithang. There are around six to seven thousand Muslims here. The masjid was constructed in 1942-43. It was then constructed with wood. It is said that a wealthy Tibetian Muslim from Ladakh, named Sabila Sardar had acquired the land for the masjid from the local ruler. The descendants of Sabila Sardar still live in Gangtok.”
July
It is not always the Mullah!: I think it’s high time for those among us with the sobriquets of moderates and liberals, that it’s not always the Mullah! By saying so, you are insulting my intelligence and doubt my capability of comprehending things for myself and entirely on my own. There may be and there are increasing instances of women opting for Islamic veil, of their own free will, of their own accord. It’s their choice, made without any sort of compulsion.The Mullahs won’t be able to make any moolah here, with us the educated Muslim women of today.
August
Hilal hangover: Why Indian Muslims turn Moon sighting into Moon fighting?: The strike of crescent gets the knack to bring Muslims at loggerheads, every year it’s the same dilemma which engulf the spirit of Ramzan or Eid ul Fitr across India, the mess over Moon sighting. TwoCircles.net spoke with different players across India umpiring the Moon Match to bring out a perspective on why the supervision is going astray and how this crescent chemistry is igniting strong reactions among Indian Muslims.
September
Muslim youth and Muzaffarnagar violence: Be it the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar in UP or relatively small one in Nawada in Bihar it is time for the Muslims, especially its leadership, to make introspection before lambasting anyone else.But unfortunately the community leadership has reacted in immature manner. Some went to the extent of equating Muzaffarnagar with Gujarat while others alleged that Mulayam has become Narendra Modi. The All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat sought dismissal of the Akhilesh government––as if that is the best solution.
October
The Qurbani Revolution: Bakerid as an empowerment device for downtrodden: A young man dressed in bureau formals with a laptop bag on his shoulders is chasing a young lamb for a customer. Mohammed Mahboob Ali a business management graduate with 15 years of expertise with MNCs like Nestle and Heinz India has now found a new solace in sheep trading. For him it’s not just any job it’s a virtual Muslim social revolution.Millions of Muslims in India who slaughter animals during Eid-ul-Azha or Bakreid doesn’t give a second thought that this multimillion dollar event could hold more avenues to please Allah than by just shedding animal blood.
November
TCN Impact: 99acres to put checks for discriminatory ads: Leading property website 99acres.com has responded to the TCN story on contained offensive references to the religious minority community. The website has advertisements that openly discriminates against Muslims.Referring to the posting of a classified advertisement placed by M/S Jacinta Estates for sale of a property at 99acres.com, the website managers accept that “the said listing contained offensive references to a religious community.”
December
Salma: Writing the poetry of freedom: When Rajathi Samsudeen, was 13 years old, her family forced her to discontinue her studies and shut her away in the four corners of the house for nine years, later tricking her into marriage, against her wishes.In those nine years of solitude, shunned from the outside world, words and words alone became her sole companion. After marriage, her husband insisted she stay indoors, forbidding her from writing, which by now had become her only mode of expression. Finally when her poems reached the hands of a publisher and were published, Rajathi, who by then had taken the pen name Salma, to conceal her identification, had become a sensation among Tamil readers. Today she is one of the most renowned Tamil poets and her journey so far has only been a beginning.
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