Kipling’s poetry: Of soldiers, monarchs and revenue-raising
By Vikas Datta,
Gifted novelists have never been confined to a specific genre, or even to a form of literature - for they are adroit in weaving magic with words, using them in sentences of matchless prose or evoking their aesthetic and rhythmic aspects in verse. But somehow their poetic contribution is always overshadowed by their prose corpus. Sir Walter Scott, Hans Christian Andersen, Thomas Hardy, right down to Michael Ondaatje, Alice Walker, Russell Banks, John Updike, Vladimir Nabokov, Erica Jong and their ilk are not exactly more famous as poets. But there was one who strode both spheres with aplomb - and Rudyard Kipling's art was recognised by conferment of the Nobel Prize for Literature - the first ever to an English writer.
Let’s commemorate 1857, search for Rani Jhansi’s stolen insignia
By Saeed Naqvi,
On March 10, 2014, President Pranab Mukherjee had promised a Citizens Group for 1857 that he would obtain from the government details on how India's First War of Independence will be commemorated. A change of government may have delayed the inquiries Rashtrapati Bhavan intended to make.
Meanwhile, another anniversary will have gone unnoticed.
Wonderlands of illusion and other miraculous tales
By Vikas Datta, IANS,
Cloaks of invisibility, small bags holding far more than their apparent capacity, appearance-changing potions, spells that can enable you to assume...
Media causing undue public anxiety about swine flu
By Girish Bhaskar, IANS,
What started as an epidemic of swine flu in Mexico in March 2009 has now spread to 100 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been alerting countries for the past eight years to get prepared for a major influenza outbreak. It seems to have finally arrived.
Has corruption really increased in India?
By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net,
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Realty industry has reason to expect better days
By Vinod Behl,
With projects worth over $100 billion stalled or abandoned due to poor sentiments, the realty industry in India expects better days ahead, riding on the mood generated by the political stability expected in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government. There are strong indications of that as well, with the realty index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rising almost 45 percent in May alone.
Why Bihar can treat only 0.3% of its malnourished children
By Shashank Srikant & Nishant Ojha
Of 5 million malnourished children under five in Bihar, no more than 0.3 per cent, or one in 340...
Sitapur Endowment: Land without rent
By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net
What is the Sitapur Endowment?
Missing prior strategy reduces Muslims’ representation in Assembly
By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: Maharashtra Muslims have collectively managed to send total 9 MLAs of their community to the assembly for the next five years which was made clear on Sunday after the counting of votes for 15th October elections in the state. Earlier there were 10 MLAs from the community belonging to different parties.
Form of big names made selectors’ job easy
By Veturi Srivatsa,
The list of 30 probables for the 2015 World Cup in the Antipodes has no surprises unless someone thought Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan or Harbhajan Singh would make it.
Justice Krishna Iyer’s praise for Modi – just another paradox
By Abdul Basith, TwoCircles.net,
Equal speak: Let the inclusion begin at home
From the month of June, we are starting a monthly column called “Equal speak” by disability activist and researcher Mohammed Yousuf. – TwoCircles.net.
Stitching a new “Pheran” : An agenda for the Omar Abdullah Government
By Prof. Amitabh Mattoo,
Saffron calling in West Bengal…
By Shiveshwar Kundu
Bengal's society can't function without ideology. The upsurge of Hindutva in the eastern state can be seen through the aspect of an...
The saffron brotherhood becomes a hydra-headed monster?
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swings between the conflicting positions of the present and former party presidents, Rajnath Singh and L.K. Advani, on the issue of "Hindu terrorism", the party cannot be unaware that it is dealing with perhaps the most explosive issue in its 28-year life.
European Central Bank has acted strongly to combat deflation
By Vatsal Srivastava,
The markets began 2014 looking to move in the direction of how two underlying themes play out - the "great rotation" and the "great normalisation". Asset managers were bullish on equities. Since the financial crisis, money had largely been pumped into debt and as a gradual recovery gathered pace, this "great rotation" would push equities higher (above their 2013 highs) as money flowed from bonds to stocks.
Cabinet decision to constitute Equal Opportunity Commission: Two steps backwards
By Irfan Engineer,
“Half a step forward, two steps backwards” would be an appropriate phrase to describe the measures taken by the UPA I & II towards ensuring justice and equality for the marginalized sections, particularly the religious minorities in India. It takes half a step and then seems to lose courage, perhaps fearing the much hyped “backlash” of the “majority community” and takes two steps backwards in penance for having taken half a step in the first place. The UPA misleads the minorities with the ineffective and often counterproductive half a step taken, while the BJP and the RSS blow whistle and go to the town claiming it to be appeasement of minorities and huge “injustice” to the “majority community”. This leaves minorities more vulnerable, insecure demoralized and discriminated than ever before. The latest decision of the Union Cabinet taken on 20th February to constitute an Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) is yet another example of such an approach.
Why Muslims are a punching bag
By Bobby Naqvi
The Indian Right has always used Muslims as a stepping stone to power in Delhi and elsewhere since the 1930s. Almost every...
US-based NGO helps Kashmiri student become first in village to study engineering
By TCN News
Srinagar: Ghulam Haider Lone, who lives in a village in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, started losing sleep after his...
A train and a resolve: Symbols of hope for South Asia?
By C Uday Bhaskar, IANS,
History was made in South Asia last week by two seemingly different but yet inter-connected events that could become symbols of hope in a region that has been blighted by terrorism and discord for well over a decade.
Will return award if Sahitya Akademi fails to protect writers’ rights: Vikram Seth
By Preetha Nair
New Delhi: Famed author Vikram Seth says that he would return his award, if the Sahitya Akademi fails to protect the lives...
Early warning: increasing hate crimes alarm religious minorities
By John Dayal,
Several political columnists have in recent weeks noted how elements of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, professing a right wing ultra-nationalist and Hindu majoritarian political ideology, have moved from the fringes where they were for decades, to the centre stage of the national discourse in India after Mr. Narendra Modi came to power in May this year in the wake of a massive electoral victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP.
A need for more “Inspired by Muhammad” campaigns
By Fiyaz Mughal,
The "Inspired by Muhammad" campaign was launched a few weeks ago to highlight British Muslims who are contributing to UK society. The campaign, sponsored by the UK-based Exploring Islam Foundation - which publishes creative resources and materials on Islam, aims to break down misconceptions by showing Muslims as campaigners for social justice, gender equality and the environment.
The mob at Dadri could lynch as they knew they have Impunity
Violence is very much part of Hindutva politics, and sadly large number of BJP voters seem to have no problem with it.
By M Reyaz,
Few...
Traditionalist ulema lead educational revolution in Kerala
By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net
Who shall lead the opposition front at the hustings?
By S.M. Anwar Hussain
There is an undercurrent realisation among the non NDA party workers and common masses, that the big promises made by BJP have...
गरीब और बेबस समाज के आईने में स्मार्ट सिटी योजना
जावेद अनीस
पिछले साल केंद्र सरकार द्वारा शहरी विकास के लिए 3 नए मिशन ‘अटल नवीकरण और शहरी परिवर्तन मिशन (अमृत)’, ‘सभी के लिए...
“Kerala history is learned mainly by non-Keralites” – Dr Ausaf Ahsan
By Najiya O, TwoCircles.net,
Gujarat pogrom: victims in relief camps living between existence and denial
By Nikhat, TwoCircles.net,
From Madrid to Annapolis – peace conferences are not enough
By Daoud Kuttab
As Palestinian and Israeli leaders were meeting at the Annapolis Naval Base last week for yet another attempt at peacemaking, I remembered how my journalistic career led me to cover the Madrid peace conference in 1991. I vividly remember how then-US Secretary of State James Baker had kept everyone in the dark about the location of the international meeting. Once he declared the site, many of us Palestinians felt a sense of jubilation at the looming discussions, even though the exact nature of the Palestinian delegation was still unknown until the last minute.
Demise of Tablighi Jamaat Ameer spread sadness among Muslims
By Mahmood Asim, TwoCircles.net,
There are two kind of people came to this world, one who live for others and the others who live for themselves. Maulana Zubair ul Hasan lived for others. Born in Kandhla village of Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh on March 30 in 1950 Maulana Zubair Hasan, the Amir of Tablighi Jamat worldwide Muslim reform movement that originated from India, passed away on March 18.
Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill
Who failed the law?
By Abdul Hannan Siwani Nadvi,
Parliament query shows Work Population Ratio lowest among Muslims
By TCN Staff Reporter
Delhi: Work population ratio, which is an indicator used to analyse the employment situation in the country, continues to remain the...
Afghanistan keen on April 5 presidential poll despite repeated terror attacks
By Mohammad Reyaz,
More than terror strikes, the impeding withdrawal of NATO forces or foreign aid, Afghans are most worried about the peaceful transition of power.
Anti-Muslim pogrom planning had begun months before Godhra: Fr. Cedric Prakash
A Jesuit priest, Fr. Cedric Prakash is the official spokesperson of the Christian community in Gujarat and the Secretary for Social Communications of the Western
Region Catholic Bishops Council. He is a noted human rights activist and is the head of Prashant, a social action-research institution in Ahmedabad. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand he talks about the challenges facing Dalits, Tribals, Muslims, Christians and other marginalised communities in Gujarat today. The interview was conducted in 2005.
देश में उलटे पांव चलता बाल संरक्षण
कैसे तमाम राष्ट्रीय व अंतर्राष्ट्रीय प्रयासों के बावजूद देश में बाल संरक्षण की हालत किसी बद से बदतर होती जा रही है...
जावेद अनीस
26 साल...
Dhoni’s men can get inspired by Paes
By Veturi Srivatsa,
Late last week, three things kept Indian sport in focus. The cricket team failed to make the tri-series final to end a dreadful tour of Australia, a Dutchman has been named the new national hockey coach and Leander Paes partnered another Martina (Hingis) to win his seventh Grand Slam title in mixed doubles to add to his eight in the men's doubles.
Chinese Puzzles: Qiu Xialong’s Inspector Chen and his cases
By Vikas Datta,
"When I am satisfied questions of state security are not involved, then you begin," a secret police operative tells homicide investigator Arkady Renko in Martin Cruz Smith's "Gorky Park", stressing order, not justice - the basic objective of policing not only in authoritarian polities, but frequently in free, democratic societies too. It is especially prevalent in a country where economic liberalisation has led to prosperity, and even affluence, but also crime and corruption as governance remains opaque and autocratic. It is in such a setting that Shanghai's Inspector Chen Cao has to work.
Everybody loves a trust vote
By Chitra Padmanabhan, IANS,
I have a confession to make. As the recent debate on the trust vote sought by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Indo-US nuclear deal neared its climax and news channels dizzyingly zoomed in on the display board that would announce the results, I caught myself wondering how many runs the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government would score against the opposition.
Runs? Dash it, this was a trust vote! So why watch it like an IPL match or a reality show?
Back to the past: Cycle of violence takes toll on Kashmir youth
By Sheikh Qayoom
Srinagar : Has the death of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani acted only as the trigger to set off the kind of widespread...
SIO-BHU Conference: Why I don’t need to apologise to SIO and its apologists
By Mahtab Alam
On June 13, I received an email from Thouseef Madikeri, a national secretary of the Students’ Islamic Organization (SIO) of India, with...
Khap panchayats: No room for a parallel justice system
By Ranjana Kumari, IANS,
The khap has been a system of social administration and organisation in the northwestern states of India since ancient times. Written references are found as far back as 2500 BCE. During and since that time, there has been a shift from the nomadic way of life to settled agricultural practices. From this time on, the Indian social fabric was organised around the village unit and the mode of governing was often that of a council of five, which is called a panchayat.
Babri Masjid speaks
If Babri Masjid can speak, what will it say? Rehan Ansari of TwoCircles.net imagines.
My Kids, the Indians,
May peace and blessings be upon you.
Scholarly research in the madrasas: A brief overview
By Maulana Waris Mazhari
(Translated by Yoginder Sikand)
Some days ago, I had the chance to meet a leading Islamic scholar, an author of several books. During our conversation he remarked that the biggest and most influential madrasa in India had, in the last thirty years or so, produced only two well-researched books. This, he said, was evidence of the pathetic state of scholarship characteristic of the vast majority of the Indian madrasas today.
Trend toward fewer conflicts seems to be reversing
By TwoCircles.net news desk
Since 1990s, researchers who specialize in peace and conflict studies have reported a downward trend in number of conflicts in the world. But the latest report by a Swedish university shows that this trend seems to be reversing and since 2002, number of conflicts is increasing.
Hindutva terrorism: Who will bell the cat?
By Abdul Hannan Siwani Nadvi,
P. Chidambaram’s saffron terrorism remark angered BJP, RSS and their followers. BJP has objection at association of terrorism to particular organization. BJP, which has a long history of blaming whole Muslim community and calling Muslim areas as epicenter of ISI and terrorism, is now objecting at the term.
There are two things that should be clear to everyone: One, associating terrorism to particular community; and second, terrorism of Hindutva.
Pragya Singh Thakur, symbol of BJP’s political ideology
By Ram Puniyani
Pragya Singh Thakur is no ordinary member of BJP, the ruling dispensation in the country. She is a MP from Bhopal and...
Meet the frightened mother of Abdur Rahman in Darbhanga
Special Series on Terror Arrests from Bihar – Part Five
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
Vinoba Bhave and his understanding of Islam
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
A friend of mine Daniel Mazgaonkar gave me a Hindi copy of Vinoba Bhave’s book on Islam to see whether the Qur’anic verses and hadith have been correctly quoted. I am reading it particularly those portions wherein Vinoba Bhaveji has quoted Qur’anic verses and ahadith. I have yet to go through the whole text but meanwhile certain portions which I read are worth writing about.
A Kashmiri activist arrested, a Dalit leader detained, a Muslim killed by Gau Rakshaks:...
By Amit Kumar, TwoCircles.net
The lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh was a gruesome incident. But that was last year. Now, Dadri has...
Saving the devoured monuments of a neglected history
By Firoz Bakht Ahmed
Ignorance reigns supreme in each lane and bylane of the historic city of Delhi that was the hub of Urdu 'tehzeeb' (culture), the glorious memories of the five hundred years of Mughal ambience fading away slowly.
Teen suicides jolt Kashmir
By Shamshad Ali
Srinagar: After her wake-up knocks at Mohsin's (name changed) door in the morning got no response, the worried mother called her husband....
AMU Alumni Association: A living link with the alma mater
By Shaheer H Khan for TwoCircles.net
This short article was a modest attempt to pay respect to Aligarh fraternity owed to one of the greatest personalities...
BJP: Undermining Nehru to Glorify Patel
Ram Puniyani
From last few years, around October 31, lot of statements from BJP stable have started coming which eulogize Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. This year (October...
Will anything change in India with new prime minister?
By Amit Kapoor,
The mood for change in the country is strong, and it is imminent that we would have a new prime minister and quite likely with a significant majority. We are all under the veil of the audacity of hope thinking in assuming that the office of the new prime minister will sway a magic wand and things will immediately start remarkably improving.
California city pressured to renounce Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh praise
Roseville, California faces sustained pushback for platforming RSS’s international wing.
Pieter Friedrich | TwoCircles.net
UNITED STATES — When Roseville, a quiet suburb of California’s capital city of...
किस पर बरसेंगे ये बाण?
By उमंग कुमार,
८००० मिसाइलों का कोई क्या कर सकता है ? कहाँ-कहाँ तैनात होंगे इतने मिसाइल ? किन-किन दुश्मनों के सिरों, ज़मीनों, घरों, अस्पतालों इत्यादि पर गिरेंगे यह अस्त्र? कितने बड़े या व्यापक युद्ध की आकांशा की जा रही है ? यह पूछना वाजिब है क्योंकि अभी हाल ही में, अक्टूबर की खबर के मुताबिक़, भारत ने इस्रायल से ३२,००० करोड रुपयों की लागत से ८,००० से अधिक "स्पाइक" नामक मिसाइलों की खरीद पक्की की है | वैसे, यह ८,००० मिसाइल तो पूर्ती मात्र हैं - भारत के सेना की ज़रूरत ४०, ००० मिसाइलों की बताई गयी है | आप ही अंदाजा लगाइए की कितना भारी इंतज़ाम है यह |
‘Rationalists and progressive people should be vocal against regressive-aggressive Hindutva’
By Mohammed Anas for TwoCircles.net
Rai Bahadur Maakhan Singh of Kohat (present day Swat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) was a legendary landlord and an...
Anatomy of Sangh Parivar
By Ram Puniyani,
The arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the context of Malegaon blasts of September 29, 2008 has been an important step in the investigation of bomb blasts which have been blowing the social peace and communal amity. Along with her the arrest of army officers, retired and serving, has unfolded the whole new dimension about investigation of acts of terror. The involvement of Bhonsala Military School has also come under the scanner of investigating agencies.
यदि आप उर्दू में लिखते हैं तो देशप्रेमी होने का सबूत दीजिए
TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
दिल्ली – उर्दू के प्रचार-प्रसार के लिए गठित संस्था ‘राष्ट्रीय उर्दू भाषा विकास परिषद्’ यानी National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language...
New Vice Chancellor of AMU offers olive branch to teachers
By Tariq Hasan for TwoCircles.net
The newly-appointed Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University, Prof. Tariq Mansoor has, in his first week in office, taken...
Do not let vested interests tarnish the image of the great Tipu Sultan
By BP Mahesh Chandra Guru for TwoCircles.net
Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan were indeed the great rulers of Southern India, who did their best...
Development of minorities in Maharashtra: An assessment
By Aamir Edresy,
The achievements for 15% targets under various National level schemes earmarked for minorities are not satisfactory in the State. The remedy could be done by enhancing opportunities for the minorities in national flagship programs like ICDS, SSA, IAY, SGRY and JNNURM.
Nine years in office
Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam of Institute of Objective Studies (IOS) comments on the nine years of UPA in office.
Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam,
Nawab Sikandar Begum’s Hajj memoir
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and for over fourteen hundred years a journey of a lifetime for millions of Muslims living in different corners of the world. These hajis returned to their homelands to tell a tale of physical and spiritual journey of extraordinary proportions. Hajj is obligatory for every Muslim man and woman who are able to undertake this journey. A large number of Muslim women from India made this pious trip but one of the first to write an account of her hajj journey was Nawab Sikandar Begum of Bhopal.
Through the haze, a better democracy
Patti Lynn
Although you wouldn’t know it from the rhetoric and actions of the Trump Administration, the U.S. is part of the global society. And...
Group protests against US Ambassador Atul Keshap’s RSS visit
“Keshap has got to go,” say protestors outside US Congressman Ami Bera's California office.
Pieter Friedrich | TwoCircles.net
As controversy continues to surround US Ambassador Atul...
Al Jazeera journalists jailed: Saudi vendetta
By Saeed Naqvi,
Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt were given severe sentences because that is the way the Saudis wanted it. The Qatari channel was always an eyesore to the Saudis but was recently being tolerated, even encouraged, by Riyadh for the limited purpose of stalling the Arab Spring.
अलीगढ़ मुस्लिम विश्वविद्यालय : अवैध है सरकार के लिए मुस्लिमों की शिक्षा
नैय्यर इमाम सिद्दीक़ी
जामिया के छात्रों (वर्तमान और पूर्व) और शिक्षक संगठन द्वारा प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी के दीक्षांत समारोह में आने का विरोध करने की...
That blissful dawn, those ringing headlines
By Manish Chand, IANS
New Delhi : "Birth of India's Freedom", "Freedom Era Begins", "India Awakes to Life and Freedom", "Free India is Born", "India Independent"... These were the ringing headlines in top Indian newspapers capturing that history-making moment on the morning of Aug 15, 1947.
As midnight revelry and frenzied rejoicing gripped the country, editors and reporters toiled well into the wee hours to record a newly born nation's "tryst with destiny".
Beyond Homosexuality and AMU: Why ‘Aligarh’ is a must-watch movie
By Mahtab Alam for Twocircles.net
Last week, a day after Hansal Mehta’s latest film Aligarh was released for public viewing in theatres across the country...
The Congress is Congress: Ravi Kishan
By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai: The Congress party "is out of shape right now", but "the Congress is Congress," said party candidate and Bhojpuri...
Judges should come clean
By Dr. Mookhi Amir Ali,
The Law Minister Veerappa Moily and the Chief Justice of India are keen on safeguarding Judges against public probity by clause 6 in the proposed Judges [Declaration of Assets and Liabilities] Bill 2009. While the bill mandates the judges to declare their assets, the clause 6 in it keeps such declaration outside the purview of the Right to Information [RTI] act.
Contemporary issues in an ancient setting: A band of Gauls and their exploits
By Vikas Datta,
Can humour continue to work its magic across translations? Can key contemporary issues figure - and even be deliciously satirised - in a comic book, and that too when the setting is far in the nearly unrecorded past? Can stereotypes evoke laughter, not xenophobia?
100 years of Jamia Milia Islamia: Why the university is not ‘anti-national’?
By Md Mustafa
This year Jamia Millia Islamia University is celebrating 100 years of its founding (1920 to 2020) and in all these years, it...
Front Line Defenders urges India to immediately release Khurram Parvez
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
Srinagar: International human rights watchdog Front Line Defenders expressed concern on the harassment, arrest and detention of human rights defender...
Oman-India gas pipeline a most promising option
By H.S. Ramakrishna,
Natural gas, a very highly consumed commodity in India, is at present supplied from two sources: domestic production and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). Energy demand and supply projections indicate that by 2021-22, due to rising demand, India will also need to start sourcing natural gas from cross-border pipelines to fill the gap between demand and availability. In such a situation, India will have to examine its options carefully to minimise the cost of imports and consider appropriate sources of natural gas to keep the import bills under check.
Indian police evolve in crime fiction
By Vikas Datta,
The roles have been reversed in crime fiction. As the genre was born, it was amateur detectives like Sherlock Holmes who...
Mystery of PMO’s vanishing Twitter followers
By Prasanto K. Roy,
On May 20, four days after the Congress party and its ruling alliance conceded the mother of all mandates in three decades to the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party, the Twitter handle of the Prime Minister's Office, @PMOIndia, vanished mysteriously.
Kashmir’s rock band ‘stormed’
The all-women character of Pragaash is said to have attracted the ire of fundamentalists. But music and dances of local women artistes have been...
अमेरिकन फेडरेशन ऑफ़ मुस्लिम्स ने किया मेवात के होनहार बच्चों को सम्मानित
By TCN News,
आपकी नज़र में मेवात की चाहे जो भी इमेज हो, लेकिन यह सच है कि मेवात में प्रतिभाओं की कमी नहीं है....
AMU system should evolve like the IIT system
By Kaleem Kawaja,
The Genesis
When Sir Syed first decided to improve his qaum by imparting modern education to them he built the Aligarh Movement. The clear objective of the pioneers in that movement was to build several Muslim schools that will grow into Muslim colleges. Even though Muslim, they enrolled some non-Muslims as students and quite a few non-Muslims as teachers, for obvious reasons of producing Muslim youth with broadminded viewpoints. They started with one school (the MAO school) that soon became MAO college in Sir Syed's lifetime.
Muslim youth: India’s most wanted!
Death of Khalid Mujahid has once again brought into focus atrocities on Indian Muslim youth in the name of terrorism. This special TCN series...
Asif Zardari as next Pakistani president: Hope and Despondency
By C. Uday Bhaskar, IANS,
Pakistan is scheduled to elect its next president on Sep 6 after the resignation of General Pervez Musharraf from that office on Aug 18. From current evidence, it appears that Asif Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), will emerge victorious in the three-way contest. Given his dramatic rise from what the Pakistan media has characterised as "playboy to first husband" - and later "Mr. 10 percent" - to grieving widower of Benazir Bhutto, Zardari is now a few days away from the highest constitutional office in Pakistan.
Force of faith trumps law and reason in Ayodhya case
If left unamended by the Supreme Court, the legal, social and political repercussions of the judgment are likely to be extremely damaging
By Siddharth Varadarajan,
Mushawarat appeals to Muslims to link vote with reservation
By TwoCircles.net news desk,
The All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat (AIMMM), the umbrella body of Indian Muslim organizations, has appealed to Muslims to vote for strong secular candidates in their respective constituencies and shun candidates of parties which reject reservation for Muslims on the lines of Ranganath Mishra Commission or have communal and divisive agendas.
Turkey: a maturing democracy
By Nigar Goksel, CG News
Istanbul : Despite efforts by political rivals to spin the 22 July elections as a confrontation between Islamism and secularism (and the convenient adoption of this rhetoric by some in Europe who conceptualise global affairs and Turkey's EU membership along these lines), the focus in Turkey was largely on democratisation, economic growth and stability.
The dark side of Asia with Inspector Singh
By Vikas Datta,
Well-settled around the world, the Indian diaspora has a lively literary tradition but this is somewhat deficient in their depiction of people in a work setting. Overseas Indians write about themselves, but a fictional character in a public role - law enforcement, for example - in the increasingly multi-ethnic societies they inhabit is a rare exception.
Wearing Burqa will now be a crime?
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
Now a draft bill is under consideration of French Parliament imposing a fine of Euro 700 on any woman wearing burqa covering her whole body in any public place and her husband twice as much if he forces hear to wear burqa. This is for the first time that women would be penalized for wearing burqa. Earlier France had banned Muslim girls wearing hijab in schools. It argued that these religious symbols interfere with its commitment to secularism and its secular culture.
Bachchans push India to a regressive low
By Minu Jain
The family that prays together stays together. That seems to be the mantra of the Bachchans as they hotfoot it from one temple to another in the run-up to son Abhishek's wedding to Aishwarya Rai. And a star struck nation, denied of any real news of the wedding of the year, eagerly laps up the superstitious journeys of Bollywood's numero uno family.
All Dalits should be equal before the law
By Madhu Chandra
The struggle between Upper Caste and oppressed communities of India has reached its crucial juncture. The presidential reservation facilities preserved in Indian Constitution is most precious gift given to Indian oppressed class community. This legal framework to protect and preserve the underprivileged communities of India has been under attack again and again by high caste minority ruler of the country.
Nadwi on Maududi: a traditionalist maulvi’s critique of Islamism
By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net
The late Sayyed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (or Ali Miyan as he was also known) was one of the leading Indian ulema of modern times. A noted writer, he headed the famous Nadwat ul-Ulema madrasa in Lucknow from 1961 till his death in 1999. He was associated with several other Indian as well as international Islamic organisations, a mark of the high respect that he was accorded among Muslims all over the world.
Manipur’s woes find no echo in Delhi
By Ninglun Hanghal
More than a month has passed since the public uprising and subsequent agitation in Churachandpur district of Manipur after three controversial...
Harvard India Conference sees protests against Rohith Vemula’s suicide
By TCN News,
Cambridge (USA): The 13th annual edition of the Harvard India conference saw protests against the death of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research...
In 2 years, BJP govt electrified 13,523 villages; only 8% completely
By Mukta Patil
As many as 73 per cent of the 18,452 villages that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government identified for electrification in 2015...
Why polygamy should not be encouraged?
Need to repeat and reassert that polygamy is only an option not a compulsion in Islam.
By Dr Kouser Fathima
First and foremost. Let it be...
Fatwas and Muslim Women
By Irfan Engineer,
The Supreme Court on 7th July 2014 ruled that fatwas had no legal sanctity and the defiance of fatwas would not have civil or criminal consequences as it had no place in independent India under our constitutional scheme. Though the Apex Court did not injunct Islamic religious authorities like the Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband, Dar-ul-Qaza or Nizam-e-Qaza from issuing fatwa as issuance of fatwas per se were not illegal in its opinion, it clarified that “it is not a decree, not binding on the court or the state or the individual. It is not sanctioned under our constitutional scheme”.
Muslim voices of sanity must get louder
By Firoz Bakht Ahmed, IANS,
Ahmedabad and Bangalore, like many others, are global cities and the terror that struck these on consecutive days too is a global phenomenon. As a human being and an Indian Muslim, I literally wept over the needless deaths of those who died or were maimed.
In the last decade, a significant number of moderate Hindus have started supporting anti-secular and anti-minority groups that want to transform India into a theocratic Hindu nation. This bodes ill for the nation.
The situation calls for introspection by Muslims, India's largest minority community.
Don’t wait for others to give you rights, President tells women
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday exhorted women not to wait for others to give them what was their right and empower their...
Pakistan creates army commands to mollify restive military
By Brigadier Arun Sahgal (Retd)
Nearly six decades after the country came into being, Pakistan's military junta recently announced the reorganisation of its army's operational deployment into three geographical commands with the ostensible aim of improving efficiency and strengthening its overall command-and-control structure.
The Northern, Southern and Central Commands that are being created are to be responsible for the administrative arrangements of the country's nine corps that fall under their respective commands.
Violation of minorities’ human rights increasing fast in India
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net
The Congress-led UPA government at the centre has admitted that the violations of human rights of minorities in the county have increased, with Muslims, India’s largest minority, being the prime victim. TwoCircles.net has talked to human rights activists in Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. They say minorities’ human rights violations have increased in recent years in the garb of terrorism.
From memorial gates to schools: NRI philanthropy in Punjab
By Shubha Singh, IANS
As one drives down one of the rural roads in Jalandhar district, or almost anywhere in the Doaba region of Punjab, it will not be long before one comes across a towering gate on the outskirts of a village. Large memorial gates built in memory of one's parents or some other similarly deserving people have been one of the hallmarks of NRI (non-resident Indian) contribution to the home village.
Re-Imagining Islamic Ethics in the Context of Fiqh
The Quran is firstly a book of morality and ethics and only later a book of law. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) mentioned that he had been sent to the world in order to fulfill morality or ethics. This is why we would need to re-read the Quranic revelation within the framework of the universal Islamic morality, which is based on human nature.
How realistic are Chidambaram’s fiscal projections?
By Arvind Padmanabhan, IANS,
One would have expected Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to go a little easy on the fiscal deficit front, given that he...
When the pen stops writing!
By Shafaque Alam,
Supreme Court notice (Mar 4) to Advani and other Sangh Parivar leaders, in connection with the Babri Masjid demolition, has once again brought them back to the limelight.
Teaser of Film on Savarkar: Lies Galore
Dr. Ram Puniayni
Currently as the right-wing wing ideology is gaining ground many a film have already come to promote divisiveness, to glorify the icons...
Jitan Ram Manjhi: Will he succeed in his gamble?
By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net,
Though the outgoing Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi earned political martyrdom, yet it is debatable who inflicted more wounds on him. True, the last bullet was fired by his mentor-turned-tormentor Nitish Kumar, the injuries caused to him by the BJP in the first seven months of his nine-month regime proved no less fatal.
Why Mysore beat Chandigarh as India’s cleanest city
By Manu Moudgil
Chandigarh : India’s first planned city -- known for wide roads laid out in geometrical precision and large, green spaces that adorn...
Kashmir’s independence cannot be an option
By Rajiv Sikri, IANS,
After many years of relative peace, stability and economic progress, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has been allowed to reach a dangerous point over the last two months. There have been mistakes, even serious ones, in the way the Amarnath land transfer issue has been handled. Despite these lapses, the answer to the problem cannot be to suggest that the Kashmir Valley be allowed to secede from India.
Mockery of Ideals
By M. Burhanuddin Qasmi,
The West precisely Britain has been campaigning for its humane values over the world for centuries. As ‘Rome was not built in a day’, the ideals that the United Kingdom earned as champion of freedom of speech and expression, for some, were also not established in a day or year. Without going by the liking or disliking of people in the East some Western countries including the UK have stood by and openly supported controversial people like Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen in the recent past on grounds not other than freedom of expression.
Myth, History and Politics
by K.N. Panikkar,
Now that Ayodhya is no more a potent force, Ram Sethu has emerged as a possible alternative.
The path from Dadri
By Sana Khan for TwoCircles.net,
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un - From Allah we came, and to Allah we shall return.
The Muslims...
Remembering children of riot affected families on Children’s Day
Study reveals the terrified children in relief camps badly need social, emotional and administrative support
By Nikhat for TwoCircles.net
अफ़रोज़ की ‘बिहार डायरी’ – बिहार नाही सुधरी
अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net
गरीबी, बेचारगी, मायूसी, क़त्ल, चोरी, डकैती, भ्रष्टाचार, बात बात पर रिश्वत और नेताओं के झूठे वादे व आश्वासन... कई भोजपुरी धुनों...
NRI investors, have your cake and eat it too!
By Kul Bhushan, IANS,
NRI investors are watching the current bearish days on the Indian stock market with trepidation. From the peak of the bull run at over 20,000 on June 8, the Sensex has plummeted to less than 14,000 now. The rise in crude prices has fuelled inflation at over 11 percent and the recent monetary policies to curb demand have accelerated the decline of the Sensex.