By Abdul Qadir for TwoCircles.net
On Monday, TwoCircles.net published an article titled ‘How a malicious report in Times of India had ruined my life and why I need your support’, authored by Syed Arshad Mohsin. In the article, Mohsin alleged that the actions of Times of India’s Gaya correspondent Abdul Qadir had put him and his family in great danger. Following this article, Qadir got in touch with TwoCircles.net and has sent the following rejoinder to show that his allegations against Mohsin are not without basis and that contrary to the allegations made by Mohsin, Qadir has no personal grudge against him. The following are the questions that Qadir would like to pose to Mohsin and the readers:
At the very outset let me tell you that I do not need any certificate from anybody, more so from Arshad Mohsin, to establish my credentials as a journalist/commentator who, besides being associated with ‘Times of India’ for more than two decades, has covered events and commented on contemporary developments for agencies like the BBC and the Voice of America and several other International media organisations.
Here I do not intend to indulge in rhetorics and without any preface put the following questions to Arshad Mohsin in a yes/no format.
1. Did he not grab the White House compound mosque podium despite his request being rejected by the duly constituted Mosque committee? In their statements made before the police, the committee office bearers, as well as the Imam, have categorically stated that permission was denied to Mohsin.
2. Arshad Mohsin has not directly contradicted, rather he has virtually vetted the TOI report by saying that he holds an ‘alternative view on education’ and this alternative is nothing but the ‘say no to school’ campaign and the canard that rape, murder and immorality are the hallmarks of the school education system. Mohsin has not denied having distributed pamphlets and put up hoardings in support of his ‘say no to school campaign. Did he or did he not?
3. It is clearly mentioned in the newspaper report that Mohsin exhorted people not to study Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and shun nursery rhymes for reasons mentioned therein. Very cleverly Mohsin has skipped this vital part of the news report. Did he or did he not say those things?
4. Is it not a fact that Mohsin did not enrol his teenaged sons in any school?
5. Mohsin has been boasting about being an author whose book was available for sale on e-business sites. What are the contents of this book and has the been book published in a legal manner?
6. So far as the so-called inventions are concerned, the less said the better. Inventions and innovations follow a set protocol and need peer approval and patenting? Has the mosquito net that Mohsin claims to have invented been patented?
7. Is it not true that Mohsin deleted several of his highly controversial Youtube posts?
8. Is not true that Mohsin has been forwarding ISIS messages to his friends in Gaya and elsewhere?
9. Is it not true that Mohsin has been marketing the establishment of a ‘truly’ Islamic city called Medina Square on the outskirts of Gaya town?
10. Is it not true that he wanted only the Islamic law and not the Indian law to prevail in the proposed ‘Medina Square’?
11. Did he not want to have his own police, school, college, water supply and power generating systems in the ‘Medina Square’?
12. Will Mohsin explain what made his immediate family migrated from Gujarat to Gaya?
13. Did he not use mosque podiums to promote Assuffa, an apparently separatist forum?
15. Will he reveal his passport details?
16. Is there any problem with his passport being renewed?
17. Is Mohsin ready to have his computer, hard disk, emails scrutinised by security officials with regards to the ‘Say no to School’ campaign?
A few months back, two Muslims from Gaya were arrested for providing shelter to a Gujarat blast case accused. The two now languish in Gaya jail. If Arshad Mohsin is allowed to execute his nefarious agenda, several Gaya Muslims are bound to meet the same fate.