दिल्ली के मुसलमान ISIS से कोसों दूर – दिल्ली पुलिस कमिश्नर
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
नई दिल्ली: दिल्ली के मुसलमानों के जानिब यहां के पुलिस कमिश्नर भीम सिंह बस्सी ने एक बड़ा बयान दिया है. एक...
Interaction with a warrior in the battlefield of Muslim reservation
By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Modi leads over 37,000 to mark International Yoga Day
New Delhi: unprecedented demonstration of India's soft power as a record-breaking 37,000 people, including senior officials and diplomats, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi...
SIO – BHU और संघ के जुड़ाव पर SIO की सफ़ाई
काशिफ़ अहमद फ़राज़,
SIO और काशी हिन्दू विश्वविद्यालय द्वारा आयोजित सेमिनार के बाबत SIO के एक पूर्व सदस्य सोशल मीडिया में मुख्य मुद्दे से हटकर...
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.
Agenda for India: Biotechnology
TwoCircles.net presents “Agenda for India”. Series editor is Charu Bahri.
Professor M Saleemuddin, Professor and Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit and former Dean, Faculty of Life Sciences and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University shares his thoughts:
Tamil Nadu – the land of rising sons
By Venkatachari Jagannathan
Chennai: It seems to be all in the family as far as the Congress and the DMK are concerned in Tamil Nadu,...
Importing imams
By Aftab Ahmad Malik
While it is commendable and encouraging that the British government is making a concerted effort to work with Muslims to combat the scourge of radicalisation, its recent proposal to draft moderate imams from Pakistan indicates that there is still much to learn.
TCN special: Misra Commission report excerpts- Part 6
By TwoCircles.net news desk,
Misra Commission report excerpts - home page
Chapter 6: Criteria for Identifying Backward Sections among Religious Minorities
Pulling the strings the RSS way
By Hamid Ali Khan,
Three events in the recent past are enough to suggest that the process of saffronisation of democratic institutions has begun.
Some two months ago, slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ were chanted by BJP workers present in strength in the Raj Bhawan at Jaipur during the oath-taking ceremony as Rajasthan governor by Kalyan Singh, an ex-chief minister of UP and the ‘hero’ of the demolition of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya.
“If the resources of the States do not increase commensurately, how is the Finance...
Member of Parliament E Ahamed from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) tore open the budget speech presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Following is Ahamed's speech in the Lok Sabha disapproving various provisions, rather lack of it, on Monday, March 16, 2015.
India is Darul Aman Mr. Singhal
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
The ulama in medieval ages had broadly divided the world into two categories: Darul Islam and Darul Harb i.e. abode of Islam and abode of war. In those days there was no democracy and there were monarchs and autocrats everywhere. There was no concept of citizenship but the ruled were treated as subjects. Where monarchs or sultans were ruling those regions were called Darul Islam and where non-Muslim monarchs ruled and persecuted Muslims, those regions were called Darul Harb i.e. abode of war.
A Response to Hindu Rashtra and Idea of India
By Saif Ahmad Khan,
In an article published for The Millennium Post titled “Hindu Rashtra and the idea of India” (25th August, 2014), Delhi University Associate Professor Dr Sangit Ragi argued, “A river is always identified with and known after the dominant stream. So is the culture. When RSS talks of Hindu Rashtra it signifies the majoritarian makeup of this nation, which defines both its character and distinctiveness.” If we try and reconcile this analogy of Dr Ragi with the idea of India then we would but obviously conclude that India as a nation represents a culture which is Brahminic in nature, masculine in terms of gender and heavily tilted in favour of Hindi-speaking and comparatively fair skinned North Indians.
Why General Kiyani did not mount the tiger
By Rajiv Dogra, IANS,
Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, may have missed a historic opportunity to act and this may see him end up as a mere footnote in the country's turbulent history. Had he decided to stage a coup in the wake of the just-concluded lawyers' agitation for reinstating the judges sacked in 2007, he would have become the first Pakistani general in this millennium to do so.
Conflict to peace via women: Helping distressed women in J&K
Peace and conflict in Kashmir are linked to patriarchal interventions in Kashmir. “The women don’t have a slightest idea about it. They feel it...
Time for head to rule the heart for India
By Anand Philar, IANS,
For sure, the hotel floor occupied by the Indian team would have come to life only late Monday morning with the players given some free time following their spectacular 4-1 drubbing of Pakistan in their opening league match of the 12th men's Hockey World Cup Sunday night.
Jawaharlal Nehru: His story is not simply history
(May 27 is Nehru's 50th death anniversary)
By Shashi Tharoor,
In January 1889, or so the story goes, Motilal Nehru, a 27-year-old lawyer from Allahabad,...
India warns against terrorists getting nukes, says nations responsible to prevent it
By Arul Louis
United Nations : India has warned of the "catastrophic dangers" of terrorists getting weapons of mass destruction and said that nations...
Remembering Muzaffarnagar
By Abul Kalam Azad,
"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce" - Karl Marx
Trumpets blaring, announcing the ending of a prolonged beginning! Delirious...
नौजवान साथियो… तो 2014 के पहले यह सब नहीं था
नासिरूद्दीन
हाल ही में व्हाट्सएप पर एक मैसेज मिला. इसे चुटकुला कहना ज्यादा सटीक होगा. चुटकुला कुछ यों था:
हमारे एक मित्र का बेटा 18...
Sociology of Muslim deprivation: some thoughts in the context of the Sachar Committee Report
By Yoginder SikandThis presentation is not a rigorously-argued academic paper. Instead, it seeks to offer tray thoughts on the very complex issue of the...
Is BJP nervous about Delhi polls?
By Amulya Ganguli ,
Even though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to pip the Aam Admi Party (AAP) at the post in the Delhi assembly elections, doubts remain as to how much ahead it will be of its rival.
In the last election, too, the BJP won more seats than the AAP although it fell short of the half-way mark in the 70-member legislature. In the forthcoming contest, therefore, the BJP's first wish will be to win at least 35 seats although its combative president, Amit Shah, is predicting success in two-thirds of the seats.
A visit to Darul Uloom Deoband – reflections of an NRI
By Anis Ansari,
My visit to Darul Uloom Deoband was on Sunday, 9th March 2008, unannounced for my own convenience. I was surprised to note that the historic madrasa was located right on the main highway between Saharanpur and Meerut (Uttar Pradesh). Its campus is spread out throughout the town surrounded entirely by Muslim neighborhood. The population of Deoband is about 100,000 with Muslims constituting 65% of it.
No to appeasement politics
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
Taslima Nasrin has nothing to do with Nandigram, but for some illogical reason she was moved out of Kolkata as an answer to months of protest against the Nandigram violence in West Bengal. This is the latest in a long list of examples of politics of appeasement practiced in India since its independence.
Pakistan wants to involve Islamic group on Kashmir, criticises SAARC ‘regional domination’
By Arul Louis
United Nations: Pakistan launched a thinly veiled criticism of India over the functioning of SAARC as it tried to involve the Organisation...
Why not a uniform, complete Muslim Family Law Act for entire India?
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
Do you think there is a Muslim family law act in India that covers all familial issues and that is applicable on all Muslims living in any part of the country, be it Gujarat, Goa or Jammu & Kashmir? If you think so, you are, sorry to say, absolutely wrong.
Religion as I view it
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
I am now about to complete 70 years of my life. I have faced many challenges and have gone through much turmoil in life. However, on the whole I am quite satisfied with my life and my modest achievements. I initially gave up my engagement with philosophy and theology in favour of engineering for better material prospects. But with hindsight I feel that it was not a correct decision that I had taken.
Manjula Pradeep: Working tirelessly to ensure equal rights for Dalits
By Amit Kumar
For Manjula Pradeep, growing up in Baroda and attending an English-medium school meant her childhood was like any other child, at least...
Of Chutzpah and Bhajpah: Sangh Parivar’s art of appropriating historical figures
By MahtabNama,
The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is once again in news, even before it had time to disappear from the front page of some of the daily newspapers, especially The Times of India. However, unlike the previous episode, the ‘regressive’ administration or students of AMU are not responsible for the news this time. Okay, but what’s then news this time?
Recalling Jamshedpur riots of 1979
Recalling Jamshedpur riots of 1979
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
This month in the year 1979, the Hindu-Muslim violence in Jamshedpur took the lives of 108 people. The number of dead could have easily been 114, but as it turned out, my family and I survived the mayhem, to write about it thirty years later.
People refused to work with me when I fell ill: Kader Khan
Mumbai: Versatile actor-writer Kader Khan has said that after his illness, producers and directors were unwilling to take him in their films.
Kader Khan, who...
Indian scholar debunks ISIS claims about slavery in Islam
Islam does not allow enslavement of civilian population
By The Milli Gazette Online,
Zafarul-Islam Khan, senior Indian Muslim scholar, who is an alumnus of Al-Azhar and Cairo universities and holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Manchester, said it is a lie to claim that Islam allows enslavement of ordinary men and women of conquered lands.
Kanhaiya: From the cauldron of secession charges, a leader is born
By Sarwar Kashani
New Delhi: On a dark Thursday night in the noisy JNU campus, when Kanhaiya Kumar called for “azaadi”, the student leader little...
The Gandhis must vacate for an opposition to take shape
By Saeed Naqvi,
After the vigorous opening speech in the Lok Sabha by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi's rump of a party looked even more battered and bruised.
Why India’s construction slowdown threatens to increase poverty
Abhirup Bhunia
The construction sector in India, which employed more than 44 million people at the end of 2010 (the last date for which official...
On safety, small-car-makers must look beyond pricing
By Rohit Bansal, IANS,
Some years ago in the US, Saurabh Narain, a top banking executive, was hit by a distracted trucker. His BMW turned...
Nari Shakti Zindabad
By Somnath Mukherji,
I went for a quick visit to Nishtha’s day and night shelter for the children of the sex workers of Baruipur in South 24 Parganas. About 30 children are here during the day while 40 to 45 children spend the night here. The children, as in any other place were very lively and animated. Some of them recited poems while some danced to music from the mobile phones. Children come here for a few hours before they go to school and then again after school. Some teachers support them with academics as well games & music.
Faux journalism and democracy
By Pramod Kumar for TwoCircles.net
The media is indeed the Fourth Pillar of democracy and is, therefore, by implication and extension, as relevant as the...
दलितों की लड़ाई के अहम योद्धा मंगनाराम मेघवाल
अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net
नोखा (राजस्थान)- इस शहर का एक गुमनाम लड़का जब यह बोलता है कि ‘मुझ जैसे गरीब के पास खोने के लिए...
आडवाणी के पीछे संघ कभी रहा ही नहीं…
लालकृष्ण आडवाणी के पास सीमित प्रतिभा है, यह संघ को शुरू से पता है
दिवाकर
राष्ट्रपति चुनाव ख़त्म हो जाने के बाद भी लालकृष्ण आडवाणी को...
Can Pakistan be saved from going the Iraq way?
By C Uday Bhaskar,
The Pakistan military launched Zarb-e-Azb, a major offensive operation against terror groups operating from North Waziristan Sunday, a week after the Karachi airport was audaciously attacked by the Taliban. In the last 48 hours, it is reported that more than 170 terrorists were killed while six soldiers died during the operation which is still continuing.
‘If Modi can demonetise, he can also revamp higher education and research’
By Sahana Ghosh
Mohanpur : The Narendra Modi government should show decisiveness of the kind that was on display over demonetisation to depoliticise and revamp regulatory...
Book Review: Justice before Reconciliation: Negotiating a ‘New Normal’ in Post-riot Mumbai and Ahmedabad
By Dipankar Gupta,
Routledge, New Delhi, 2011, 186 pp., Rs 595, Hard Bound, ISBN 978-0-415-61254-8
By Mahtab Alam,
BJP-Congress misusing Sohrabuddin fake encounter for political gains
By Fatima Tanveer, TwoCircles.net
Defeated in poll, Hindutva forces rearing their ugly head in Delhi
By Subhash Gatade,
Wahidbhai, who is nearing sixties, is feeling low since last few days.
A doctor by profession, he is suddenly contemplating shifting to his paternal home in Jama Masjid area from his own flat in Rohini. In fact it was only a few years ago that he had purchased this flat despite opposition from his other relatives.
The Mahatma’s murder: Battle lines drawn between Rahul, RSS
By Amulya Ganguli
A Belgian admirer of India's saffron brotherhood, Koenraad Elst, said in his book, "Mahatma Gandhi and His Assassin", that the...
A critical exposition of popular Jihad
By Maulvi Chiragh Ali
India’s Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram recently blamed Jihad for creating terrorism. This is not the first time that ignorance and prejudice prevailed over scholarship and policy when dealing with Islam or Muslims. In 1885, Chiragh Ali wrote a book A Critical Exposition of Popular Jihad to remove misunderstandings about Jihad. This book will also be instructive to those Muslims who try to masquerade their violence as jihad. This is the complete text of chapter 12 of the book. --- Editor
Nine myths about the Gujarat Genocide of 2002
By Shehzad Poonawalla,
This article was first published in DNA but removed after a day.
For those who have developed “selective and motivated” amnesia...
Indian Muslims and Israeli propaganda
By Alan Hart
The Israeli report on the first ever “extensive tour” of the Zionist state by a delegation of “Indian Muslim leaders” is a prime example of pure propaganda masquerading as news. It’s not often that grotesque misrepresentations are hysterically funny, but this one is.
Courage of my truth
By Bilkis Yakub Rasool Bano
Today I stand before you vindicated. For my truth has been heard. For 20 days I was cross-examined in a courtroom in Mumbai and the courage of my truth saw me through. On Friday January 18, 2008 the Honorable Sessions Judge in Mumbai pronounced a judgement that has finally meant some closure to a long and very painful journey that was forced upon me and my family. Of course, many wounds will never heal but I am stronger today, and for that I am thankful.
‘Farmer suicide report a cover-up’
By Anurag Dey
Kolkata: With agrarian distress being a major crisis accounting for thousands of farming lives every year, the latest data by the National...
Derasar and Dargah coexist in Gandhi’s Gujarat
By Rupa Abdi, TwoCircles.net
To the uninitiated, no two religions could be as far apart as Jainism and Islam. The former, carries the principals of non-violence to the extreme, wherein even the lowest life forms such as insects are not to be harmed; while in the latter consumption of certain birds and animals for food is a part of everyday life.
Minority hostels crying for government attention
By Tarique Anwar, TwoCircles.net,
Shams Alam Khan is doing M. Phil in Economics from Patna University. Resident of Brauli block in Gopalganj district in Bihar, Khan from a poor family is staying at the Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi Hostel in Patna College campus in the state capital.
Special Court order may act as deterrent for ATS applying MCOCA in terror cases
By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net
Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act 1999 (MCOCA) was enacted by the State of Maharashtra in 1999 when BJP/Shiv Seva was...
Rape Raj: Shrouded in Shadow
By Shahnaz Islam, TwoCircles.net
A frenzied attack or bouts of insanity; “rape is rape”! Every 30 minutes one rape is committed in India. A woman...
Anand model: Community approach will work best for Swachh Bharat campaign
By Animesh Banerjee,
During his first Independence Day speech on Aug 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clarion call for a nationwide cleanliness drive, emphasising the imperative of cleanliness in our lives and its role in improving the overall health and hygiene of the nation. In order to make it more inclusive and driven by citizens, he then invited several leaders, celebrities and noted citizens to participate in pushing this movement further in their regions of influence.
What is RSS’s idea of ‘Bharat Mata’?
By Shamsul Islam
While speaking at RSS headquarter, Resham Bagh, Nagpur in the 3rd week of March Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS chief declared: “Now...
हम ऐसे समय में जंग की तैयारी कर रहे हैं जब देश में बेरोज़गारी...
नैय्यर इमाम सिद्दीक़ी
बहुत पहले कहीं पढ़ा था कि शांति के लिए युद्ध ज़रूरी है और हर देश के पास सेनाएं इसीलिए ही होती...
Varanasi set for epic battle as Kejriwal comes calling
By Mohit Dubey
Varanasi: AAP star Arvind Kejriwal arrives here Tuesday to kickstart an epic Lok Sabha battle that his supporters say will surely...
The creative genius who bore suffering silently
By Sankar, IANS,
Six feet two inches in height, Rabindranath Tagore had to strive hard to hold his head high. The 14th child in a family of 15, he alone was sufficient reason why India should not worry too much about family planning. And 150 years after his birth, he continues to grow in stature as the subcontinent's greatest creative genius.
Those who know many languages claim he has no equal anywhere on earth. The issue is not whether he is the Mt. Everest, but, say after another 150 years, will anybody believe that such a man ever walked this earth?
Kerala warns of administrative, legal steps in Mullaperiyar dam case
Thiruvananthapuram : As an opposition legislator accused the Kerala government of adopting a "callous attitude" on the Mullaperiyar dam, a state minister on Monday...
The return of the natives – global Indians are returning home
By Shubha Singh, IANS
Global Indians are wooing and are being wooed by top Indian corporates to return home to India. It is not just techies but Indians working in different sectors of industry are homeward bound to be part of a booming Indian economy. The number of returning non-resident Indians (NRIs) has swelled in the past one year as expatriates find better job offers in India.
Bihar: Nitish Kumar’s Masterstroke or His Last Trump Card
By Tariq Hasan
There is no doubt that by changing tracks overnight, Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar has proved that he is the ultimate master...
नोखा: जानिए एशिया की सबसे बड़ी मोठ मंडी को
अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net
नोखा (राजस्थान): दलित छात्रा डेल्टा मेघवाल की मौत ने राजस्थान के बीकानेर जिले के नोखा शहर को चर्चा में ला दिया...
The Tauhidic basis for inter-community peace and justice: Lessons from Dara Shikoh
By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net,
Pakistani military bleeding through ‘someone else’s war’
By Rahul Bedi and Brigadier (retd) Arun Sahgal, IANS
The series of strikes on Pakistan's military battling Al Qaeda fighters and tribesmen aligned to the Taliban and its recurring operational setbacks are a pointer to the forces' declining morale and the overall will to fight.
Nearly 1,000 Pakistani soldiers have died fighting insurgents over the past year. And the army, under pressure from the US and other Western powers, appears increasingly unwilling to engage the well armed, battle hardened and cunning insurgents waging civil war against the state.
Professionalising Urdu Journalism
By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net,
Set up in 2004, the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), Hyderabad, is the only institution in India to provide a Master's degree programme in Urdu journalism. Housed in a spacious, brand new building, the School has three Lecturers, a Reader and thirty seven students on its rolls.
Ehtesham Ahmad Khan, Director of the school
Ehtesham Ahmad Khan, Director of the school
Pakistani jehadis didn’t foresee global fallout of Mumbai massacre
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The patrons of terrorism in Pakistan seem to have miscalculated the impact of their murderous attack on Mumbai. It is unlikely that they anticipated the immense diplomatic pressure which the US would put on Islamabad.
They probably expected that like other major acts of terrorism which India experienced at least five or six times in a year, the Mumbai incident too would evoke nothing more than expressions of sympathy from the outside world and a sense of impotent rage in India.
Modi’s success: can he emerge as national leader?
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS
Prima facie, Narendra Modi can be said to have pulled off a famous victory in Gujarat. Apart from trouncing the Congress party, he has also defeated the detractors in his own party, including those in the supposedly all-powerful Sangh Parivar, as well as a patently hostile liberal English media, which has habitually painted him in the darkest of hues, especially after the 2002 anti-Muslim riots.
Indian Muslim media of 2007
A review of English publications
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
Last year, after much contemplation, I decided to publish a review of major Indian Muslim magazines in English. Some of the people associated with these magazines appreciated the review and a neutral assessment of their publication’s strengths and weaknesses. So I will continue the tradition and present my review for the year 2007.
Pre-poll goodies in times of falling GDP growth
By Sushma Ramachandran, IANS,
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government was looking forward to a "Jai Ho" moment with the electorate after the series of poll sops that have just been announced. But the GDP growth data released this week has put a dampener on its hopes as recessionary trends are much stronger than had been envisaged till now.
Anti-Americanism: is it a spent force in India?
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The influence of the continuing anti-American sentiments in India, dating from the Cold War days, was very much in evidence before and during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit.
Even before she arrived, this lobby noted the suspected American efforts to undermine the India-US nuclear deal by persuading the G8 to deny to India the enrichment and reprocessing technologies, which had earlier passed muster at the meetings of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on the deal.
Cautioning NRI workers and spouses with TV ads
By Kul Bhushan, IANS
Any NRI will be horrified to see a TV ad in which an Indian housemaid is slapped by her employer. But these shocking stories of NRI workers being exploited, abused or beaten keep appearing in the Indian and global media with sickening regularity.
In most cases, these silent and suffering NRIs cannot get redress from their employers, employment agents, the local authorities or the Indian missions. Since they are not so well educated and lack information about their rights and how to get a fair deal, they suffer endless travails.
kise vakil karen, kis se munsifi chahen?
Unheard & Unspoken: Terror stories from Madhya Pradesh: Part 11
By Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net
संघवाद से आज़ादी की नयी संभावनाएं
जावेद अनीस
विश्वविद्यालयों का काम क्रिटिकल सोच को बढ़ावा देना है. इस मानी में विश्वविद्यालय विचारधाराओं की नर्सरी होते हैं. आज देश के कुछ...
Unite world’s religions through spirituality: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
By Fakir Balaji
By IANS,
Buenos Aires: Indian guru and Art of Living (AoL) founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has exhorted religious leaders the world over to unite people through spirituality.
Election season: The importance of being earnest small parties in Kerala
By Sanu George
Thiruvananthapuram: With assembly elections round the corner, small political parties in Kerala have begun scrambling for their place in the sun. During...
How to explain these unsystematic investigation?
By Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam for TwoCircles.net,
Recently there was a talk about how people have been killed in fake encounters. The police have claimed...
‘Parents’ of Nordic crime – Sjowall, Wahloo and the Martin Beck series
By Vikas Datta, IANS,
Browse through the crime fiction section of any bookshop or online store and, apart from American and British writers, the largest...
Ram and Rahim as Good Neighbors
By Ram Puniyani,
The leak and tabling of Liberhan Commission report has created a big turmoil in the country. While most of the sides have been shouting hoarse about their own position on the issue, not much has been talked about the future solution of this vexed problem.
The purpose of Muslim community is to establish peace, says Jamaat e Islami President
By Qudratullah Faraz
Addressing a public gathering organised by Jamaat e Islami Hind (JIH) in Aligarh, JIH president Jalauddin Umri declared, “The purpose of Muslim community...
Recurring debate over Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Maadar E Vatan & Vande Mataram
Repeated debate has always meant more TRPs but never really a step forward
By Nita Khan for TwoCircles.net,
It was August 22, 2011. A week...
Can this “Peace” Exhibition be the vision of Islam?
By T. M. Zackriah Badsha
Readers may recall that the Peace Exhibition was forced to move out of Chennai to Injambakkam, a suburb of Chennai, thanks to the efforts of the mainstream Sunni and Shia Muslims. The exhibition is deceptively entitled "Peace" when it really means "Peace on our terms."
Is Social Distancing: Myth or Panic?
Istikhar Ali, Lochan Sharma
Diseases have always harmed society’s cohesion, not just with its consequences, but the myth that broadens distance within family and society...
Impact of Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025: Potential Threats to Muslim Community’s Religious and Property...
Dr. Intekhab Alam
New Delhi: Days after its passage from both houses of Parliament following marathon debates, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, got assent of...
Sacrificing Justice under the veil of Nationalism
By Somnath Mukherji
Nationalism cannot be the last word. An evolving sense of justice can be. Justice cannot be sacrificed at the altar of nationalism....
Iraqi Israeli, Arab Jew or Mizrahi Jew?
By Vered Lee,
A violin wailed in one of the auditoriums on the Tel Aviv University campus. Violinist Yair Dalal was demonstrating the creative powers of Salah and Daoud al-Kuwaiti, two brothers considered to be among Iraq's greatest musicians. With immense skill and delicacy, Dalal mastered the notes, careful not to bring the emotional audience to tears.
Hate Speech: a contemplation in Indian legal regime
The term ‘hate speech’ has not been formally defined in any of the Indian legislations, however, it is a term created out of social...
Inside the Golden Temple, life moves on
By P.P.S. Gill, IANS,
It has been 25 years since prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated Oct 31, 1984 perhaps, as a consequence of Operation Bluestar at Amritsar's Golden Temple four months earlier. Eents of those days are still fresh in memory.
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...
The persistence of myth: Greek Gods in modern fiction
By Vikas Datta,
What attracts us to mythology? Is it the human fascination for tales, particularly those personifying natural phenomenon, or explaining the creation of...
Why the life and achievements of Allama Mashriqi is worthy of a documentary
By Nasim Yousaf for TwoCircles.net
Nobel Prize nominee Allama Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi was one of the great minds of the 19th and 20th centuries –...
The role of Islamic faith-based organisations in the education sector in West Bengal
Taqdeer-e-Umam Kya Hai, Koi Keh Nahin Sakta
Momin Ki Firasat Ho To Kafi Hai Ishara
Who knows the nation’s fates?
But signs abound, If Muslims are...
Dispatch from Kashmir: Afzal Guru hanging and the ‘core’ of Indian nationhood
Transforming Kashmir from ‘the issue’ to ‘one of the issues’ is a rich reflection of India’s diplomatic craftsmanship, even though Pakistan continued to harp...
Can national anthem really instill patriotism?
By Shiba Aamir for TwoCircles.net,
On November 30, the Supreme Court of India ordered all the cinema halls in India to play national anthem to...
Will the contradict the diver?
By Mamoun Fandy,
The visit of US President George Bush to the region and the realisation of the two-state solution are governed by four determinants of which anyone interested in the peace process should not loose sight.
The first determinant is the time limit attached to President Bush's departure from the White House in eight months. Is this long enough for the US Administration to establish a Palestinian state? Will the remaining time be sufficient to establish a Palestinian state, even under international supervision in the manner of the independence of Kosovo?
Vishwa Hindu Parishad warns J&K govt against disbanding defence committees
By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
Jammu: Right-wing organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has warned the Jammu and Kashmir government against any move intended...
Marathi author claims receiving death threats for anti-Modi remarks; files FIR
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Pune : Well-known Marathi author Dr. Shripal Sabnis has lodged a complaint with the Maharashtra Police, alleging that he received...
Yaqub Memon’s ‘strong role’ paved way for ten men in commutation of their death...
By A Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Every coin has two sides and visibly these sides will always remain completely contrasting to each other. Incidentally this standard...
Malegaon bomb blasts and Hindutva extremists
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
Now the BJP leaders are protesting, and rightly so, on use of the term 'Hindu Terrorists'. But they would have been indeed more consistent if they had similarly objected to the use of the term 'Islamic Terrorist's. Mr. L.K.Advani who is so exercised at the use of the term 'Hindu Terrorists' is not known to have ever objected to the term 'Muslim Terrorists', let alone 'Islamic Terrorists'. I wish he had objected to use of the term 'Islamic Terrorism', he would have sounded much more authentic.
Telangana movements turn towards Hindutva
By Kaneez Fathima,
“I think in Urdu, speak in Telugu and write in English”
- Prof. Jayashankar
BJP may split if RSS takes charge
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
It's never been a secret that the Hindu supremacist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is the friend, philosopher and guide of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The gurudakshina, or tuition fee, which the BJP leaders routinely pay to the head of the umbrella Sangh Parivar, testifies to their master-pupil relationship.
For NRIs, India has now arrived
By Kul Bhushan, IANS,
"Oh nooooo!" groan many non-resident Indians (NRIs) as they stood in long queues for immigration after arriving at Delhi airport. Battling jet lag after a long-haul flight and then waiting in an almost immobile queue becomes their first experience of coming to their motherland. No more.
Politics at the cost of others’ lives
By Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam,
In a burst of anti-Muslim violence in a village of Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, hundreds of homes have been torched and the occupants made to flee for safety in the biting January cold.
Kashmir challenge: Modi could write history or blot it
By Saeed Naqvi,
A principal reason for Narendra Modi being swept to power in May was disgust with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh - indecisive, short on ideas, bereft of charisma and supervising a government of scams. In a house of 543, the Congress had 209 seats. The shortfall of 63 was made up of coalition partners.
In Bastar, state violence is not an aberration, but a norm
By Rajaraman Sunderasan for Twocircles.net,
Between the theaters of war, the tribal population of the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh is under severe repression of the...
In Meghalaya, end of mining activity has workers facing an uncertain future
By Amit Kumar, TwoCircles.net
Ladrymbai (East Jaintia Hills): For Mohammed Abdullah, May 15 is an important, and probably a life-changing, date. The 45-year-old, a...
Assam hoping BJP will live up to promises
By Aditya Baruah ,
Guwahati: With the BJP making it to Dispur, people in Assam will now be watching the change that the saffron party...
Madras HC asking rapists to settle matter ‘unethical’: Legal experts
By Amiya Kumar Kushwaha
New Delhi: Terming the recently delivered order of the Madras High Court that directed the rapist to mediate with the victim...
Dangerous social engineering in Delhi ahead of assembly elections
By M Reyaz, TwoCircles.net,
What had started from Meerut to Moradabad has come to play out in Delhi neighbourhoods. From Trilokpuri to Bawana to Okhla, a unique and dangerous kind of social engineering is at play. Drum up a riot, no casualty only some people injured but you have the desired impact – communal polarization.
Masrat Alam’s detention under PSA quashed
Srinagar : The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Tuesday quashed the detention order of hardline separatist leader Masrat Alam under the stringent Public...
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.
After 74 days of struggle, Jayalalithaa is dead
By Venkatachari Jagannathan
Chennai : Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, one of India's most charismatic political leaders, died here on Monday night after a bitter...
Space militarization
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Kislyakov) - Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced a new priority for his department - protection of America's satellites. As if to underline the importance of the task, he demanded in early February that Congress allocate 10.7 billion dollars for the purpose in 2009.
Russia has voiced similar concerns. Air Force Commander Col.-Gen. Alexander Zelin told a conference at the Academy of Military Sciences in mid-January that the biggest threats to Russia in the 21st century come from air and space.
Anti-Israel protests are futile
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
We are in the last one third of the month of Ramadan, a period marked by increased time spent in worshipping and...
Yemeni conflict a threat to global trade: India
By Arul Louis
United Nations: India has expressed concern over the serious economic impact of the fighting in Yemen on global trade and urged the...
Conditions remain same, but Raina makes the difference
By Veturi Srivatsa,
The conditions for the One-Day Internationals (ODI) were as they prevailed for most of the five-Test cricket series against India -- typically English. Both sides retained the core of their teams and beefed up by bringing in limited-overs specialists Suresh Raina and Eoin Morgan, respectively.