हेट स्पीच के बरअक्स सामाजिक समीकरण
By राजीव यादव,
चुनाव आए और गए, पर सवाल उन विवादास्पद बयानों का है जिनसे ‘हेट स्पीच’ के नाम से हम परिचित होते हैं. ऐसा नहीं है कि हेट स्पीच से हमारा वास्ता सिर्फ चुनावों में होता है पर यह ज़रूर है कि चुनावों के दरम्यान ही उनका मापन होता है कि वो हेट स्पीच के दायरे में हैं. हम यहां इस पर कतई बात नहीं करेंगे कि ऐसे मामलों में क्या कार्रवाई हुई? पर इस पर ज़रूर बात करेंगे कि उस हेट स्पीच का हम पर क्या असर हुआ, वहीं उनके बोलने वालों की प्रवृत्ति में क्या कोई बदलाव आया?
Muslim women must press for their rights
(March 8 is International Women's Day)
By Firoz Bakht Ahmed,
When her parents asked her to wear a "burqa" (veil) while attending classes at the Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, Rubina refused to comply with the demand. She was barred from going to the university and sat at home washing dishes.
India, China go their own way in Africa
By Manish Chand, IANS,
China was a looming shadow at India's first summit with 14 African countries held in New Delhi recently that not only revealed the depth and diversity of their relationship but also provided clues to what could give New Delhi a competitive edge in the resource-rich continent.
Kashmir: Tourists’ paradise is also the paradise for non-local beggars
By Bilal Bashir Bhat
Srinagar: With the ongoing peak tourist season in Kashmir and the sacred month of Ramadan, a number of non-local beggars...
Delhi varsity polls: It’s between ABVP-AAP youth wings
By Ashish Mishra
New Delhi: This year the high-profile Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) election - which routinely defaces the capital’s walls and public utilities...
Godhra fire was not a pre-planned conspiracy: Shubhradeep Chakravorty
Delhi-based freelance journalist Shubhradeep Chakravorty is the director of ‘Godhra Tak’, a documentary film on the burning of the train coach in February 2002 at Godhra, that set of a wave of murderous attacks on Muslims in Gujarat. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand he talks about his film and the reactions that it has evoked.
YS: What made you decide to make ‘Godhra Tak’?
Pushing TRPs up for the girl child
By Anjali Singh, CNS,
Lucknow: She epitomises the plight of girl children in India to the neglected, rejected, abused and sold off like property, "Laali", the character that Ratan Rajput plays in the popular tele serial "Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi kijo", has become an instant hit with viewers all over . No prizes for guessing why.
Globalization, religion and Hindi Press: A Case Study of Nav Bharat Times, New Delhi
Read First Part here:
Communal agenda and Hindi press in a globalizing India</a
Read Second Part here:
Religious Diversity and Hinduisation of press</a
Dr Arvind Das,
Global...
Are Nepal Maoists more mature than Indian communists?
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The pragmatic good sense shown by the Nepal Maoists stands in sharp contrast to the ideological rigidity of the Indian communists.
Whether it is a mainline outfit like the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and its allies in the Left Front or the insurrectionary "underground" organisations of the Indian Maoists, their guiding principle is the standard Marxist ideal of a one-party state.
बिन ईंधन का सिलेंडर, फ्लॉप साबित हो रही है मोदी की उज्ज्वला योजना
जावेद अनीस, TwoCircles.net के लिए
मध्य प्रदेश के शाजापुर ज़िले के कांजा गांव की निवासी मंजूबाई का प्रधानमंत्री उज्ज्वला योजना के तहत मिला गैस...
Nitish’s another turnaround story: But will it ensure victory?
By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net,
The fresh political realignment in Bihar is actually the byproduct of a bitter lesson learnt by the former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in the recent Lok Sabha election. He has come to realize that development works do not get translated into votes. This is the line adopted by his former bête noire Lalu Prasad. It is this belated realization that had forced him into the lap of the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, with whom he broke away exactly two decades back.
Disconnected by virtual connection
By Fatima Zehra for TwoCircles.net
In less than a decade or so, things had changed. Things had changed too much. Relationships no longer means the...
यूपी में भाजपा की जीत के बीच कहाँ खड़े है मुसलमान !
आसमोहम्मद कैफ।Twocircles.net
देश के सबसे बड़े राज्य उत्तर प्रदेश में भारतीय जनता पार्टी चुनाव जीत गई है। संभवतः योगी आदित्यनाथ एक बार फिर...
Such was my father, Haji Mohammed Yaseen
By Riyaz Arshad Nazish
Never in my entire life had I found myself so helpless and incapable as I did on the day my father...
Two brothers battle each other in Rajasthan polls
By Anil Sharma,
Dausa (Rajasthan): Two brothers, both former Indian Police Service officers, are pitted against each other in Rajasthan's Dausa parliamentary constituency where the...
Democracy – inclusion or exclusion?
Asghar Ali Engineer,
Barack Obama, who is in the race for being nominated as presidential candidate for America, made a remarkable speech on race relations in America. It was not merely complaining about discrimination against blacks (African Americans) but it was about extending hand of friendship towards whites so that people of America could stand together and form a more perfect union.
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...
India: Non vegetarian majority with a vegetarian ruling class?
By Saeed Naqvi,
The Hindu newspaper, which has its main office in Chennai, has asked its employees not to bring non vegetarian food to the...
Ramadan: A month of personal changes
By Mahmood Asim, TwoCircles.net,
Ramadan brings about many changes at the personal front. Day-long fasts have impact on students as well as worker. How do then Muslims adjust to Ramadan while still going about their lives.
Analysis: Iraq-U.S. pact talks in deadlock, but not dead
By Jamal Hashim, Shaalan Ahmed, Xinhua,
Baghdad : Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's harsh words on "deadlock" over Iraq-U.S. pact talks may not prevent Baghdad and Washington from hammering out a long-term relationship pact, analysts said Saturday.
Maliki could have made the pointed remarks under growing pressure at home and abroad, added the analysts.
Book Review: A brief history of Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat
Majlis-e-Mushawarat: Ek Mukhtasar Tareekh AIMM
Author: Mohammad Ilmullah
Pages: 198
Publisher: Pharos Media & Publications Pvt. Ltd, D-84 Abul Fazl Enclave - 1, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-110025,...
Nationwide initiatives to give soil health cards: PM
New Delhi : There will be nationwide initiatives from Saturday where farmers will get soil health cards and other inputs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi...
In Hailakandi, a father-son duo might hold edge over their rivals
By Amit Kumar, Twocircles.net
Hailakandi: The district of Hailakandi, Assam, has been a hotspot of political activity in the past few weeks, and...
U.S. and Russia: 200 years of diplomatic relations
MOSCOW. (Alexey Isakov) - Although Russia and the United States have different histories, cultures and traditions, they also have much in common: vast territories and natural resources, human and scientific-technical potential.
And the destinies of our two peoples have crossed many times.
Two hundred years is a long time, and over the past two centuries Russian-American relations have undergone many changes, occasionally becoming seriously strained. But ever since regular contact began, Russians and Americans have felt respect and sympathy for each other.
Gujarat pogrom: victims in relief camps living between existence and denial
By Nikhat, TwoCircles.net,
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.
History’s been unkind to man of most budgets
By Arvind Padmanabhan, IANS,
As another budget day arrives, one would like to pay a tribute to the person to whom goes the credit of...
Gharibon ka school
By Nafisul Hasan
Mohammad Salim, a student of Nirmala Convent Higher Secondary School in Madhya Pradesh was debarred from a school for having a beard. The case was taken up to the Supreme Court. The verdict generated only anger but no brain storming among Muslim community. Justice Katju among other comments also said, "You can join some other institution if you do not want to observe the rules. You can't ask a school to change the rules for you,” The question arise which convent such Muslim students should join? How many do we have in every state of India?
The rise of India’s Balcony Class
By Shimul, TwoCircles.net
The last few days have been hard. When it becomes a choice between holding on and giving up, unlike the vast majority...
स्वच्छ भारत अभियान के समानांतर
By सिद्धान्त मोहन, TwoCircles.net,
साल 2012 के अक्तूबर महीने में तत्कालीन केन्द्रीय पर्यावरण मंत्री जयराम रमेश ने कहा था कि देवालयों के निर्माण से ज़्यादा ज़रूरी है कि शौचालयों का निर्माण कराया जाए. इस बयान के परिणामस्वरूप हुए विरोध प्रदर्शनों को भारतीय लोकतंत्र बेहद अचकचाई निगाहों से देखता है, जहां कुछ भाजपा कार्यकर्ताओं को जयराम रमेश के आवास के मुख्यद्वार पर नारेबाज़ी के साथ पेशाब किया.
Gordimer to ‘Post’: Israel must talk to its enemies
By Tom Hope and Steve Linde,
As bitter, disheartening and entangled the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is, Nadine Gordimer's message is emphatic: Don't give up. It can be solved, but only by realising one thing: Talking to your worst enemies is the only way out.
Remembering Hashimpura Massacre: A black chapter for UP Police
By Vibhuti Narain Rai,
There are some experiences that stick with you throughout your life. They always stay with you like a nightmare and sometimes...
‘Protect child rights in first decade when they are most vulnerable’
By Sahana Ghosh
Hyderabad : If India strives to "get it right" for its children in their first decade -- ensure nutrition, health, sleep, education...
Privatising water is denying people a human right: UN President
Questions raised on the legitimacy of Corporate-controlled World Water Forum
Bobby Ramakant, Citizen News Service,
The President of the United Nations General Assembly has told delegates at the 5th World Water Forum (WWF) in Istanbul, Turkey, that, "those who are committed to the privatization of water, making it a commodity like oil, are denying people a human right as basic as the air we breathe."
Cracks in Hindutva camp spells doom for doctrine
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The saffron brotherhood has generally been known for its unity. The reason is despite its long history - the Hindu supremacist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded in 1925 - its constituents have been late entrants to the corridors of power. As such, they did not have to contend with the pulls and pressures of competitive politics or internal personality clashes. It is only now that they have started experiencing such problems, which led to the split in the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
Parents protest ‘lower caste’ women cooking food in schools
By Adnan Alavi,
The outrage among parents over Dalit or Lower Caste [sic] women cooking food for their children in schools has once again demonstrated the casteist face of our society.
'Upper caste' families are insistent that they would not send the kids to school if the children are served food cooked by Dalit women. In several places, villagers have turned violent and the cooks had to be sent away.
Update on the fire In Petrol Pump Basti, Vasant Kunj, Delhi
Current Situation And Information Regarding Help From Civil Society And Concerned Citizens
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE INCIDENT
· The fire started at around 7.30 in the morning and only stopped at around 11.30, after the whole basti leaving 3-4 houses had been destroyed.
Preaching hate through love
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
“Mullah Mulayam’s government has allowed people who kill cows to prosper. In Gujarat, we don’t have any water, but we have milk....
Maggi banned but what about oil, eggs, vegetables, pulses
By Abheet Singh Sethi
New Delhi, June 6 (IANS/IndiaSpend) Maggi two-minute noodles is only the latest food item to be found violative of food-safety standards...
Nehru, Jinah and partition
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
Mr. Jaswant Singh, a senior BJP leader from Rajasthan has written a book on Jinnah which is expected to be published shortly. He has, according to a news item on NDTV, called Jinnah a secular person and thrown responsibility for partition on Nehru. Earlier Mr. L. K. Advani had also described Jinnah as secular while visiting Jinnah’s mausoleum in Karachi and paid heavy price for it as RSS asked him to resign as president of BJP. And now Jaswant Singh, a fairly independent minded leader has called Jinnah a secular person.
मोदी सरकार में बढ़ती बेरोजगारी
जावेद अनीस
पिछले लोकसभा चुनाव के दौरान नरेंद्र मोदी ने हर साल 2.5 करोड़ नौकरियां देने का वादा किया था, लेकिन अभी तक ऐसा...
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...
Citizenship Amendment Bill and the issues of Muslims
By Wahidul Islam
Amidst all the debates of Citizenship Amendment Bill and the clutter of logics and illogic in support and against the bill, the ruling...
Plant inspired solar cells to revolutionise energy storage
New York A new technology developed by scientists at University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) can store solar energy for up to several...
In 2016, Karnataka charged students, union leaders with sedition -— Amnesty latest
Bengaluru : The police investigation against Amnesty International India -- for slogans raised during an event the global advocacy organised -- is the...
Triumphant Shireen steps into Aliah University without veil
By Adnan Alavi,
Shireen Madiha has finally stepped into the university on her conditions. She had refused to bow down to the union's diktat that every woman teacher will have to wear a burqa on campus.
Now she has succeeded and the union is forced to accept its defeat. Shireen [her name wrongly appeared as Sirin Middya in some newspapers] had invited the ire of the students' union in Kolkata's Aliah University, where she taught Bangla literature, for not wearing the veil.
‘Unhappy’ at move to Textiles, Smriti fails to hand charge to Javadekar
By Anand Singh
New Delhi : Smriti Irani may have scoffed at speculation over her ouster with a "Kuch toh log kahengey", but the former...
Modi’s statesman-like Lahore trip: Must create mirror image at home
Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood for Twocircles.net
Narendra Modi's stopover in Lahore to greet Nawaz Sharief's family was a diplomatic gesture combined with a...
A tale of two brothers
By Mohammed Abdul Jawad,
It’s not a story penned down in imagery, but a true one—a desperate son, not much literate, working in Saudi Arabia as an expatriate is eager to call his old mother on a visit visa. But then, there’s an obstacle! His profession is marked as ‘house-driver’ on his residence permit, and with this status he cannot apply for a visit visa for his mother.
How Islamic is the “Islamic State”?
By Maariyah Siddique for TwoCircles.net
About 3 million Iraqis displaced, around 4 million of Syrians fleeing their country in tremendous horror. Women captured, beheaded...
The tragedy of monotheism
By Rabia Terry Harris
Everybody needs a tribe. One person alone faces a frighteningly big, sometimes brutal world. Even a family can be too small to deal with some challenges that come down the pike - while if family relationships are the only ones around, obsessive family closeness can suffocate us. No, tribes are the way to go, which is why most of the human race carefully conserves them.
Appraising the Rohingya refugee situation in India and abroad
By Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood
The New York Declaration on Refugees & Migrants was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly on 19 Sept 2016....
‘Documentary “An American Mosque” needs to be seen by people across the globe’
By Ras H. Siddiqui,
California: Many people in this country are not aware that South Asians came to the United States over a century ago. They gravitated to California and more specifically in the Yuba City and Live Oak areas near the state capital of Sacramento long before British India was partitioned in 1947 into what became India and Pakistan. The vast majority of these immigrants were Sikhs but they also contained a significant Muslim population and the Hindus amongst them ranked third in terms of numbers. The Muslim Mosque in Sacramento has catered to community needs since 1947 but distance and the need for catering to an aging population of worshippers, growth in numbers due to family reunification, other forms of immigration, plus marriages outside the community necessitated the building of more localized Mosques, like a project started in the early 1990’s in Yuba City.
Why the accidental PM is becoming irreplaceable
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
A curious feature of the scams affecting the government is that they haven't undermined Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's position as much as may have been expected.
How a malicious report in Times of India has ruined my life and why...
By Arshad Mohsin for TwoCircles.net
The power of mainstream media in spreading information and forming public opinions cannot be underestimated. We all know that when...
The rural perspective on the India-US n-deal
By Sudhir Rao, IANS
The recent past has seen the Indian polity in a state of entropy as a result of the proposed India-US nuclear deal. The Left Front ideologically considers the deal as a threat to India's sovereignty. The electronic and print media has covered a range of issues related to the deal. However, despite 70 percent of the Indian population being rural, the ongoing debate has ignored the perspective of the 'aam admi', the common man.
For Modi, the real test will be taming ‘gau rakshaks’
By Amulya Ganguli
A year ago, the Prime Minister had admonished the gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) in no uncertain terms. He did so again last...
Zika infection may cause eye abnormalities in infants
New York : Vision-threatening eye abnormalities in infants in Brazil with microcephaly - a birth defect characterised by an abnormally small head -- may...
Divided Sri Lanka haunts a man at the wheels (Book Review)
By M.R. Narayan Swamy,
Title: Noon Tide Toll; Author: Romesh Gunesekera; Publisher: Penguin Books: Pages: 237; Price: Rs.299
How does Sri Lanka fare after the end of a quarter century of ethnic conflict? Vasantha ferries visitors all around the island in a van bought with savings after retiring early. The road journeys are as much an eye opener to the Sri Lankan driver as much to the men and women he transports - mainly foreigners and Sri Lankans now settled abroad. The still bruised north, the Sinhalese south and the now carefree Colombo come alive as Romesh Gunesekera, a gifted writer, uses Vasantha to take readers from one spot to another, from one saga to another.
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj: To Each Ones’ Own!
By Ram Puniyani,
Some concerned citizens have filed a Public Interest Litigation (August 17 2015) to stop the highest award of Maharashtra Government, Maharashtra...
Political leadership in the Indian context
By Amit Kapoor,
The Oxford online dictionary describes leadership as: "The action of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do this."
Fitoor in the Bollywood
By Anayat Ali Shah,
Fitoor, released on February 12, an Indian adoption of Dickens’ novel Great Expectations, set amidst in the disputed territory of Kashmir....
Bill to transfer authority over potable alcohol in Lok Sabha
New Delhi : A bill that seeks to transfer the authority to regulate "potable alcohol" to the states was introduced in the Lok Sabha...
When hate hits home: NRIs wake up to racism
By Jaspal Singh
A forum on hate crimes against Indians and peoples hailing from South Asia is being held at MIT on Saturday May 6,2017...
Modi’s council of ministers: Return of the Aryavrat
By Faraz Ahmad,
There are nine Brahmins in the cabinet of our so-called Neeechee jati born chaiwala’s son Narendra Modi, the 15th Prime Minister of India and all these important members of the BJP/RSS parivar, starting from Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Ananth Kumar and Kalraj Mishra, all five members of the Union cabinet are the top brass of the BJP. Of the 24 cabinet ministers, 16 are upper caste and even if we exclude M Venkaiah Naidu and D V Sadanand Gowda belonging to rura land owning castes of Southern India, the other 14 are pedigreed Aryavrat. So much for Modi flaunting his OBC origins.
This is not a credit crisis
By Mansoor Durrani,
Past:
When Mr Warren Buffet, the richest man in the world, called some financial instruments like the Derivates and Credit Default Swaps (CDS) ‘financial weapons of mass destruction’ over three years back, few of us took notice. The world economy was on the roll. European realty and financial markets were booming. US was winning ‘the war on terror’. And rest of the world was blindly aping this mirage called ‘American Dream’.
The perils of social networking
By Mohammed Abdul Jawad,
O, what a blessed month is this! Yea, of course, I mean ‘Ramadan’—the month of sublime patience, repentance, forgiveness and generous spending. It carries its unique beauty, virtues and rewards. We ought to know the reality of fasting, the acts of worship, the manners of supplications, the essence of piety, the ways to achieve steadfastness and protection from deviations, the etiquettes of night prayer, the virtues of Laylatul Qadr (Night of Revelation) and the significance of charity.
An Eid like no other: Why Muslims of India have a lot of tough...
By Tariq Hasan for TwoCircles.net
The first reaction to Prime Minister Modi’s rather belated words of condemnation of the spiralling incidents of the lynching of...
Jihadistan: A guerrilla nation that Pakistan cannot control
By Harold A. Gould, IANS,
In the face of the mounting military, political and ideological threats emanating from the Taliban-Al Qaeda sanctuary in the tribal areas of Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, it is wrong to think that the US should sit on its hands while Pakistan makes timorous efforts to rein in the Islamic extremists.
CGNet Swara: Voice of the unheard
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
Between Arundhati Roy’s walk with the comrades and corporations-backed government war machine mowing down the jungles in Chattisgarh, there are millions of tribals whose voices remain unheard. Not that they cannot speak but there is a barrier to access because of language and remote areas. Knight International Journalism fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary intends to change that by using technology as a platform to make news & information easily accessible to all.
Muslims are on a trajectory of marginalization: Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot
By Danish Khan for TwoCircles.net,
NRIs often tormented, cheated out of their properties
By Kul Bhushan, IANS
Non-resident Indians' property experiences in India can put any horror film to shame. An NRI couple from the US came to Mumbai on vacation and when they visited their ancestral farm, the illegal occupiers refused to vacate the land. The NRI was brutally beaten and his wife molested and hounded out of their property grabbed by neighbours.
Environmental pollution and India’s competitiveness
By Amit Kapoor,
Walking down most streets in any major city in India, one notices pollution in one form or another. The air most times causes a burning sensation, or if that is missing, one can at least see empty cold drinks' bottles, wrappers and the like thrown across the streets. It appears all-pervasive.
Will Britain’s powerful Zionist lobby forgive Sayeeda Warsi?
By M Ghazali Khan,
The first ever female Muslim Minister in the history of Britain, Sayeeda Warsi, has displayed extraordinary courage by resigning as a Foreign Office Minister over David Cameron Government’s “morally indefensible” stand on Israeli barbarism in Gaza.
Reviving Janata Parivar, target BJP
By Anjali Ojha,
New Delhi: Realising the old adage that divided we fall, old and ageing socialists have got together once again to revive the...
Hajj pilgrim numbers as economic indicator for Indian Muslims
Muslims desirous of going for Hajj is not just a function of religious fervor but also an indication of their economic condition.The number of...
Turbulence ahead for US-bound Indian carriers
By Rohit Bansal, IANS,
For those who don't like point-to-point flights to the US, the choice of a transit airport has hinged on the...
उत्तर प्रदेश : दलित वोटों का बंटवारा और बसपा का विकल्प
विद्या भूषण रावत
उत्तर प्रदेश में बहुजन और दलितों का नेतृत्व करने वालों की कतार लग गयी है. ये कोई बुरी बात नहीं है क्योंकि...
Community Empowerment: A Rights based approach
By Mahtab Alam,
There is no denying the fact that Muslims in India are one of the most marginalised and deprived communities despite a lot of progress across many socio-economic sectors having been made through various macro-economic and political processes in the 63 years of Independence of India. It is not hard to see that most of promises made in the Constitution and by political parties are yet to be fulfilled.
A day for some poor mothers
By Zohra Javed
I just cannot get her out of my mind. That sweet little girl.
How old must she be...?
Two...three...not more in any case.
Old-timers, others miss electoral din in UP’s Agra
By Brij Khandelwal
Agra, (IANS) : As campaigning for the first phase of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh assembly elections gains momentum, many old-timers and other...
Shame on you hoodlums!
By Firoz Bakht Ahmed
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I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to death, your right to say it — Voltaire
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Color coding of communal politics
By Ram Puniyani,
As per the reports from Ahmedabad (as on April 12, 2015), the uniform at Shahpur School, where most of the students are Hindu, is saffron and the color of uniform in Dani Limda School, where almost all the students are Muslim, is green. This is absolutely shocking! One knew that the ghettoization of Muslims in Ahmadabad is probably the worst in the country but, that the things will go this far, is unbelievable. The process of communalization which worsened after the 2002 Gujarat carnage is seeing a new low with incidents like this one.
Jharkhand Turns 24: A State of Identity, Struggles and Aspirations
Dr. Md Tabrez Alam
As Jharkhand celebrates its 24th foundation day, the journey from its birth to its current challenges and future aspirations is one...
Save the dolphin: Join the battle in Assam
By Sanjoy Hazarika
All of us are familiar with its superb leap out of the water, immortalized in paintings and photographs, on film and digitized media, on banners, glass and stone sculptures and room decorations.
Rights body calls internet siege in Kashmir as ‘digital apartheid’, urges international community to...
By Gowhar Geelani, TwoCircles.net
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Society (JKCCS) in its exhaustive report has described the frequent internet shutdowns and communication...
Strengthening India’s institutional framework
By Amit Kapoor,
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the people from the ramparts of the Red Fort on this Independence Day (August 15), he mentioned the need to do away with the Planning Commission as it does not reflect the realities of today. He also emphasized the need for an institution that has team spirit and which strengthens India's federal structure. What the new institution may look like is far from being completely clear. Most experts opine that in all likelihood it is going to be a team of experts drawn from the states and the center and headed by the prime minister. The institutional framework and its real role at this juncture are far from clear.
Is a universal Hijri calendar possible?
By Ajmal V,
Would the day of Eidul-Fitr, Lailatul qadr (Shab-e-Qadr), Milad un Nabi, etc be in different dates around the world?
These are some crucial questions which arise in my mind as we celebrated Eid. As a resident of Kerala we had started to observe Ramadan from 29th of June ie., Sunday while the rest of India began from 30th June (Monday). Then the day of lailatul qadr (shab-e-qadr) would be different along the border between Kerala and its neighbouring states (Karnataka and Tamilnadu). But the Quran mentions only any odd night of last 10 days of Ramadan as the blessed night, which comprises of the rewards of 1000 months. Likewise, other important days of Islam also are being observed in different days around the world.
A study of Indian Muslim mind on 26/11, global terror
By M Hanif Lakdawala,
What do 13.81-crore Indian Muslims, who constitute 13.4% of the Indian population as per the Census 2001 figures, think about the terrorist attack in Mumbai? Unfortunately Indian intelligentsia and authorities are neglecting this multitude in the crucial war against terror.
Muslim participation in war on terror
How can India successfully fight a war without knowing what Muslim thinks and without active participation from one of its major communities?
Communalising the countryside
By John Dayal,
The report of the Intelligence Bureau under the government of the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, demonising Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), and...
Taking directional call on gold risky over next six months
By Vatsal Srivastava,
Gold has been in a narrow trading range of $1,200/ounce-$1,400/ounce so far this year. The yellow metal has managed to trade above the key support of $1,200/ounce mainly because US 10 year yields and the US Dollar index have not witnessed an uptick on the back of the US Federal Reserve taper. Prices have also been supported by factors such as weak economic data releases in the US early in the year due to the weaker manufacturing activity, corporate bond market fears in China, the Ukraine crisis and the militant insurgency in Iraq. Thus, although the US Federal Reserve has maintained its stance on tapering its monthly purchases of bonds and mortgage backed securities to the extent of $10 billion a month, the "fear trade" has been providing upside to gold prices despite the sucking out of cheap liquidity out of the financial system.
Sheikh Hasina does not wish to go the Pakistan way
By Sanjoy Hazarika, IANS,
The crackdown on the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), northeastern India's separatist militants, and its associate groups has partly grown out of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's deep concern to avoid any experience similar to the devastation that Pakistan's involvement with the Taliban and Afghanistan's civil war has wrought on that country.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, who visited India in September, has said her country had "pledged not to allow our land to be used by any terrorist".
Man-made Drought in Maharashtra
By Dr. Parvez Mandviwala for TwoCircles.net,
Drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply-...
Book review: Sufism: The Heart of Islam
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
Sufism is much misunderstood by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. While Muslims think that Sufis are innovators in the religion and qabr-parast (grave worshipper) and therefore unacceptable, non-Muslims think that Sufism offers a peaceful alternative to violent face of Islam and therefore acceptable to them. The truth is somewhere between these two extremes and as Sadia Dehlvi aptly states in her book “Sufism: The Heart of Islam” it is “the spiritual undercurrent that flows through Islam.”
She’s royal but has no qualms bowing before commoners
By Vishal Gulati ,
Naggar (Himachal Pradesh): She comes from a royal family but sheds her royalty when it comes to wooing voters. Two-time Congress...
Should caste matter?
By Nikhat Fatima, TwoCircles.net
Caste system in India, according to a large number of historians and intellectuals began with the advent of the Aryans and...
Family debts main cause of Indian farm suicides
Nearly 70 per cent of India's 90 million agricultural households spend more than they earn on average each month, pushing them towards debt, which...
भाजपा नेता के विवादित बोल – कन्हैया की जीभ काटने पर पांच लाख का...
TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
बदायूं - हिन्दू मूल्यों की रहनुमा भारतीय जनता पार्टी अब फतवेबाज़ी पर उतर आई है. भाजपा की ओर से कन्हैया के खिलाफ...
Farmer’s protest versus public inconveniences
By Dr Ahmed Raza
Experiencing frequent and long-lasting public agitation and protest against government policies can never be a good sign for developing countries like...
A long-fought battle for justice and peace, for policing police
Iqbal A. Ansari
After the award of the 'Citation of Excellence' for Promotion of Human Rights by the JNU Centre For Human Rights Teaching & Research, presented by Justice P.N. Bhagwati on 10th December 2007, AMU's Vice-Chancellor Prof. P.K. Abdul Azis presented a memento to me in a felicitation program on 26th January 2008. The program was held for the first time in the history of the university to give recognition to those teachers and students who brought laurels to the university in 2007.
A look at the Madrasa system of West Bengal
By Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net,
History
Madrasa system in West Bengal came with the arrival of Muslims in this part of India, to impart Islamic education. The Madrasah-i-Aliah founded by Warring Hastings (first governor general of East India Company) in October of 1780 in Kolkata, turned a new leaf by introducing modern education as a full fledged subject along with Islamic studies. The madrasah was supported by government funding and was setup with the purpose of providing man-power for the ever growing bureaucracy of Company Raj.
Created prosperity as the real goal of development
By Amit Kapoor,
Competitiveness is defined as the productivity with which a country’s uses its resources like land (natural resources), labor (human beings) and capital. Productivity is just not about efficiency and yield, it is about how much of the resources a nation/region is endowed with that the production process in able to cater to, in a given period of time. The productivity with which a nation utilizes its natural resources determines its standard of living, which gets reflected in the per capita income of the population.
Muslim quotas in AP
By Aariz Mohammed
Â
It is the duty of the State to evolve criteria to identify ‘Backward Classes’ Irrespective of Caste, Religion, race, Sex and place of birth in accordance with the Philosophy of the Indian Constitutionalism.
Fewer Muslim candidates in Delhi, AAP Muslims’ favourite
By Gaurav Sharma ,
New Delhi: The number of Muslims contesting the assembly polls in Delhi has fallen significantly in comparison to 2013. And Muslim...
Fast food vendor held after 100 kids fall ill in Bihar
Patna: A fast food vendor was arrested on Thursday in Bihar's Bhagalpur district after nearly 100 children fell ill after eating contaminated chow mein,...
Madrasa students need to understand the world in which we live: Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqui
By TwoCircles.net news desk
एक गरीब बूढ़े का घायल जानवरों के लिए सत्याग्रह
सिद्धांत मोहन, TwoCircles.net
वाराणसी: बनारस के जगतगंज मोहल्ले के एक कोने में एक सुनार की दुकान है. दुकान का नाम है ‘श्रीराम ज्वेलर्स’. औसत से...
Sad for Yahoo, gain for Microsoft
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
A sad day for Yahoo! That's the consensus -- a rare one -- across both global technology and investor communities. Yahoo stock dropped 10 percent, Microsoft rose one percent. For once, the markets may have got it right. The decision to work together on their search engines is a big mistake for Yahoo, and a small gain for Microsoft.
But it was coming, even if we didn't see exactly this 10-year deal in which Microsoft's Bing will power Yahoo Search.
BJP likely to be No.1 in Maharashtra, Haryana
By Amulya Ganguli,
The forthcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana have a special significance for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in view of the setbacks it suffered in the recent by-elections.
A ‘volatility’ index in India adapting Chicago model
By Vatsal Srivastava, IANS,
The Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffet once said participants should treat market fluctuations as a friend rather than an enemy. Indian...
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.
Poetry for the soul, all the way from Aldur!
With over 100 awards to his credit, Burhanul Ghani Akmal Aldoori’s service to Urdu through his poetry simply cannot be overlooked. Not just that,...
NCDHR expresses alarm at NITI Aayog’s claims of not being able to monitor Schedule...
By Twocircles.net Staff Reporter
New Delhi: The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights has expressed disappointment at a recent news item which...
Will a Obama presidency be proactive on Kashmir?
By Mayank Chhaya, IANS,
When Chris Mathews, the host of the popular political show 'Hardball' on MSNBC, mentioned as a throwaway comment that Kashmir is one of president-elect Barack Obama's likely priorities, he unwittingly foreshadowed a potentially significant change in America's South Asia policy.
Know thy World: We must succeed here to succeed in the Hereafter
By Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam,
I am returning to this column after a long time. I was kept busy by myriad other pressing engagements. As I had said at the time of the beginning of this column, I intend to reach out to the youth with it, particularly Muslim youth. So far the tradition with this column has been that it has been talking about Islam as lived and practised everywhere. I am getting back to it as a warm-up to the holy month of Ramadhan that looms barely a few weeks away. This time we will be talking more about this world than the Hereafter.