क्या इस्लाम सिर्फ़ लड़कियों पर लागू होता है?
लेनिन मौदूदी, TwoCircles.net के लिए
पिछले साल की तरह इस साल भी मऊ नाथ भंजन में ‘एक शाम, तालीम के नाम’ प्रोग्राम का आयोजन किया...
A letter to the Press Council of India on Hyderabad blasts coverage
To,
Hon’ble Justice Markandey Katju,
Chairman,
Press Council of India,
New Delhi.
Sir,
BJP’S anti-Muslimism
By Asghar Ali Engineer
The CD controversy in U.P. election has proved once again, if any proof is needed, how much BJP hates Muslims. BJP’s anti-Muslim record has touched new heights. How can any politically responsible party taking part in democratic election and taking oath for secularism, can produce such propaganda stuff. The CD is full of hate for Muslims and uses very derogatory language. The only parallel one can find is Nazi’s hate of Jews, no other example could be found.
Talibanizing secularism
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
Secularism is indeed a foreign concept for India. Many Indians have difficulty understanding it and therefore are confused on how to apply it in their personal and professional lives. Latest example is Supreme Court’s Justice Markandey Katju. While denying a request by a Muslim student to keep a beard while going to a convent school, Justice Katju termed it as “overstretching” of secularism.
Modi to deepen reforms; no fiscal deficit concern
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday vowed to move ahead with economic reforms, while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said there was...
Demonetisation: Do not bank on crass communalism for narrow political gains, Mr...
By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net
Demonetisation may not have been the best news this year, but nevertheless, this has been a time when all have...
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.”
Hate speech are not new in Indian politics
By Abdul Hannan
As election temperature increases across India, political parties and their candidates are trying to use new political stunts to catch public’s attention.
Earlier, in Utter Pradesh Mulaym Singh joined hands with Kalyan Singh, in Bihar RJD and LJP came closer, in Jharkhand former Chief Minister Shebu Suren is searching for the allies to strength his hand on power, Ms Mayawati, Chief Minister of Utter Pradesh agrees to support Third Front if it is ready to support her demand to become the Prime Minister of India.
India Islamic Cultural Centre – 1981-2018 Genesis, Aims, Obligations
By Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood
At Aligarh’s Marris Road the sprawling Government of India Complex spanning eleven thousand square yards used to be my office-cum-residence...
Election outcome: Has ‘ghar wapsi’ hurt BJP?
By Amulya Ganguli,
While the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) failure to achieve "Mission 44 plus" in Jammu and Kashmir is understandable because of the party's generally unfavourable image in the eyes of the Muslims, there are two aspects of the elections in Kashmir and Jharkhand which must be a cause of concern for the ruling party at the centre.
Fondly remembering the ‘people’s president’
By K Datta, IANS
As the charges and countercharges flew thick and fast and the muck-raking intensified in the weeks before India elected a new president, one was left wondering if it was worth going through all the mud-slinging for the right of tenancy of a piece of real estate which is a relic of a colonial past the republic has left behind.
As the charges and countercharges flew thick and fast and the muck-raking intensified in the weeks before India elected a new president, one was left wondering if it was worth going through all the mud-slinging for the right of tenancy of a piece of real estate which is a relic of a colonial past the republic has left behind.
Muslim reservation: A dream that never saw the day
By Abu Asim
It may not be wrong to say that many of us are victims of promises made by politicians. They pull wool over...
Where does facilitation stop and bribery begin?
By Vishnu Makhijani,
Some three decades ago, when I was in the government, I made the acquaintance of a senior bureaucrat in an economic ministry...
“Communal” conflict in Tenkasi
By Irfan Engineer,
I was in Tenkasi town for a few hours as a part of field visit, a part of 7 days workshop on "Peace and Conflict Resolution" organized jointly by Institute for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, Mumbai and Society for Community Organisations Trust (SOCO Trust), Madurai. Madurai was amongst the three areas that were selected for field visit. The participants of the Workshop were divided in three groups and they went to three different areas.
India’s upward trend in competitiveness
By Amit Kapoor,
Over the past few years, we have been particularly interested in studying India’s competitiveness. This is because understanding it can yield interesting insights about the country's future trajectory. The productivity with which India has and how it will utilize its resources will ultimately be a determinant of the prosperity level of its people.
Identity, Indian politics and caste census
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured the parliament that caste will be included in the current census. This was after Yadav leaders and OBC members of Parliament raised the issue and there was heated debate. The question arises why is it or is not necessary to include caste in counting people of India. Apart from caste even religion has not been included which also raises doubts in the minds of minorities. Maulana Madani, a Muslim leader and Rajya Sabha member has threatened to launch an agitation if column of religion is not included in the census form.
Is (only) Jamia Nagar ‘bad’ for Women?
By Mahtabnama,
Having lived in Jamia Nagar for almost half of my life (nearly 14 years), last week, I was startled to read the heading of an anecdotal piece of writing in Okhlatimes.com, Is Jamia Nagar bad for women? A firsthand account from Aamna.
यूपी में मजलिस : खेल बिगाड़ रही है या अपना खेल बना रही है...
आसमोहम्मद कैफ़। Twocircles.net
इरफ़ान मंसूरी मुजफ्फरनगर में रहते हैं। 52 साल के है और वो पेशे से दर्जी है। राजनीति में रुचि रखते हैं। पहले...
7 years on, 50,000 riot victims still in relief camps in Gujarat
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
Even seven years after Gujarat 2002 pogrom, 50,000 people are in relief camps, state government is sitting on its share of compensation package, 650 religious places are awaiting restoration; so situation is far away from being completely normal, says Ahmedabad resident and director of Islami Relief Committee of Gujarat in an interview with Mumtaz Alam Falahi of TwoCircles.net.
How do you recall the Gujarat 2002 pogrom today after seven years?
Ghulam Nabi Azad & Medical College of AMU
By Jasim Mohammad,
The Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University which is one of country’s prestigious institutions of its kind, is passing through a very critical stage primarily because of paucity of funds.
A former senior functionary of the medical college, who preferred to remain anonymous, told this writer, “Badly needed funds for life saving equipment and drugs are being denied to this hospital which caters to the medical needs of half a dozen districts in western U.P”.
From Gandhi to Nehru: RSS-BJP’s shifting blame game
By Ram Puniyani,
India’s partition, Gandhi murder and policies of Nehru have been a matter of ceaseless debates. Each political tendency has its own interpretation of these events, which in a way are landmarks of sorts in modern Indian History. As such the phenomenon of Partition of India and assassination of Gandhi are interwoven in the sense that Godse (Mahatma Gandhi’s killer) held Gandhi responsible for appeasement of Muslims. Godse constructed his story around warped understandings of the events of the time to create the ground for murder of the Mahatma.
Iran is looking for trouble
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Goncharov) - Moscow has warned Iran that sanctions will become inevitable if it does not comply with the previous resolutions of the UN Security Council, which urge it to stop all work on uranium enrichment.
Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin made this serious warning at a video news conference for the Russian media.
Some questions related to Muslims and India
By Nasiruddin Haider Khan
Translated from Hindi by TwoCircles.net
By writing this I am taking the risk of being labeled by my friends. Some will try to put me into one stereotype mould or another. This is a risk worth taking for the questions that I have on my mind.
Undermining the SIT’s ‘clean chit’
Why is the Indian media, including the group the author works for, not following up on some of the sensational disclosures made in this book?
Book: The Fiction of Fact-Finding; Modi & Godhra
Author: Manoj Mitta
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 261
Price: Rs 599
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.
Caste in Indian census will set clock back
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The renewed emphasis on caste via census operations does not bode well for India's social and political stability.
That caste has been one of the most divisive forces for centuries has never been in doubt. Its segmentation of Indian society into various mutually exclusive groups, who in many places do not marry or break bread with each other, has enabled politicians in recent years to garner support by pitting one caste against another.
I waited…
By Irfanullah Farooqi,
Like a laborer’s hungry child
waiting for her parent at the doorstep
when the day steps out with reluctance
and night enters with a sense of shame
with tears, I waited for tears in your eyes
for I knew no being is barren in the eyes of love
So, with moist eyes, I waited for those moist eyes
I had heard crime itself punished the doer
I was told guilt was inescapably human
So, with few drops, I waited for those few drops
Is PAGD in Kashmir a Plebiscite Front 2.0 in making?
The trajectory of the People’s Alliance in J&K is somewhat similar to that of the Plebiscite Front in terms of the circumstances in which...
Chai @AMU – it is more than drinking tea
By Nayeem Showkat Khan,
“Tod diya ray.” You may surely be used to this line if you have attended or visited Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Every hour, at least one chai (tea) glass is ‘broken to death’ at some dhaba located somewhere in the vicinity of varsity and dhabawalas keep on repeating the same line.
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...
Will Kejriwal’s gamble pay off?
By Amulya Ganguli , IANS,
Since theatrics have been an integral feature of Arvind Kejriwal's politics, his resignation as Delhi's chief minister...
Please don’t spoil his life if he is not guilty: Gayur Jamali’s father
Special Series on Terror Arrests from Bihar – Part Two
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
Kabul to Delhi: Massacre in the name of faith
Dr. Nadeem Zafar Jilani
I am speechless hearing the news of the attack on Sikh worshippers in a Gurudwara in Kabul. At a time of...
Goodbye Netscape, and thanks for all the fish
By Soumya Sarkar, IANS
Many moons ago, when the world was younger and an infant World Wide Web was tentatively weaving its virtual strands, Netscape Navigator redefined browsing and forever changed the way we looked at the world.
With its owner America Online switching off its life support Feb 1 after a 13-year run, it's time to thank Netscape for all the "fish" we caught on the brave new world of the Internet.
Before Netscape hit the scene, we browsed or leafed through books, and cattle browsed through grass and foliage.
Maulana Abul Kalam warned against India befriending Israel
By Siraj Mirza
In 1948 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru called a conference of Asian countries in which 15 Asian countries participated. The conference emphasized the value of unity and friendship between Asian countries, opposition to war, colonialism and world peace. In this conference Maulana Azad openly favoured helping Palestinian cause and opposed friendship of India with Israel as well as advocated establishment of friendly relations with other countries.
Celebrating ‘Vadh’ of opponents in embedded in Hindutva politics
By Shamsul Islam for TwoCircles.net
The Information and Technology minister in Modi's Cabinet, Ravi Shankar Prasad, a seasoned RSS cadre slammed online trolls for expressing...
Did Ram Madhav err in judgment by giving interview to Mehdi Hasan?
By A Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Ram Madhav, senior BJP leader and national general secretary of the party, has grabbed the spotlight of international media after noteworthy...
A different jihad
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
The word jihad’s literal meaning is to strive, for any thing good including striving for peace, for welfare humanity. If the Qur’anic verses in Qur’an are read with its oft repeated command that the believers should enforce what is good and forbid what is evil (ya’murun b’il ma’ruf wa ynahauna ‘anil munkar) the whole meaning of jihad assumes a new significance.
More women in parliament will change face of Indian politics
By Ranjana Kumari, IANS,
In an inclusive democracy, political power is perhaps the strongest tool to eradicate all forms of inequality. The passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha has brought forward some interesting scenarios for the Indian polity. This struggle for political rights by women's groups has been the longest in the history of independent India as the proposed constitution amendment bill had been deferred several times by successive governments since 1996.
An emerging generation of socially-engaged Ulema
By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net,
Reforms in India’s madrasas are a much talked-about subject today. In discussing the issue, the media tends to give inordinate attention to the views of the older generation of ulema, particularly those who are associated with certain large madrasas or Jamias, especially those that are known to be particularly conservative. Consequently, the voices of younger-generation ulema, particularly those who have also had a university education, tend to be completely silenced.
Obituary: Mukul Sinha
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
Advocate Mukul Sinha passed away in Ahmedabad on May 12th. He had been battling lung cancer for about a year.
I...
Building support for public intellectuals in times of cultural intolerance
(Courtesy: Hindustantimes)
Badre Alam & Sanjay Kumar
It will not be an exaggeration, to say that extremism and cultural intolerance has not been growing...
Douse the fire, now
By Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam
This has been the most polarising election fought around a controversial figure with a highly divisive track record. To turn...
What is there in manifestoes of political parties for the minorities?
By Irfan Engineer
Election time is season for Manifestoes of major political parties participating in the poll. Manifestoes are seen by some members of the...
An apology
By Uri Avnery, CGNews,
This week, the Prime Minister of Canada made a dramatic statement in Parliament: he apologised to the indigenous peoples of his country for the injustices done to them for generations by successive Canadian governments.
This way, White Canada tries to make peace with the native nations, whose country their forefathers conquered and whose culture their rulers have tried to wipe out.
Of Bengali society and absence of political representation
By Biswajit Choudhury,
The absence of representation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet for West Bengal, where the BJP won two seats, was depressing enough to provoke op-eds on the Bengali character.
Babri Masjid: No more an issue for English print media?
Or, to raise a more pertinent question, is the BJP-led government at the Centre a reason why the anniversary-related coverage was so meek?
By M Reyaz, TwoCircles.net,
I have always considered The Indian Express bolder than most in the country, not afraid to take stands on most issues, whether I agree with those views of not.
Will Modi led BJP continue to instill antagonism in supporters against their opponents?
By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has recorded a thumping win in the 16th Lok Sabha election and has crossed over the magic figure of 272 on its own. Narendra Modi is on the way of becoming 14th Prime Minister of India. Finally every political party and leader in the country has acknowledged that there was indeed Modi factor which has overthrown almost all parties except TMC and AIADMK in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu respectively.
Akhilesh’s two years in office: Basic needs answered
By Brij Khandelwal
Agra: As Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav completed two years in office Saturday, questions are being raised over governance and...
Loans & Interest: Banks are discriminating among the rich and the poor
By Syed Zahid Ahmed,
The Politics of Big Capital and the Poor in Narmada Valley
Dr Rahul Pandey,
On the 5th of November I was in Khandwa, a town in central India, taking part in a rally organized by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), or Save the Narmada Movement. About 20,000 rural people, mostly landless farm labourers or small-medium farmers, many of them tribals, had traveled 50 to 400 km on tractors, trucks and buses to participate in the rally, all at their own expense. Every family carried a packet of food cooked at home to last for a day or two. The women with babies carried them along as well.
India’s universities crying for better leadership
By Arun Nigavekar, IANS,
India's higher and professional education system is passing through a phase that is turbulent, non-directional and unsustainable.
सज़ा पूरी पर अभी भी हैं जेलों में बंद…
अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net
नेशनल क्राईम रिकॉर्ड ब्यूरो के ताज़े आंकड़ों के मुताबिक़ देश के विभिन्न जेलों में 1326 क़ैदी ऐसे हैं, जिन्होंने अपनी मुक़र्रर...
A day of Ramadan in Mominpura, Nagpur
Photos by Nivedita Khandekar
Nagpur: Mominpura in Nagpur is the place to be during Ramadan. People from across the city and at times,...
केजरीवाल : क्यों कर रखा है सबको बेहाल ?
By ज़जम for TwoCircles.net,
जब हमारा देश दुसरे गियर से पांचवे गियर में जाने की तैयारी कर रहा है तब 5 फ़ीट 5 इंच का आदमी देश की राजधानी को सर पर उठा रखा है।
जब लोग भारत को सोने की चिड़िया और सुपर पावर बनने का सपना देख रहें हैं तब इस आदमी ने सड़क -बिजली-पानी की बात कर मज़ा ही किरकिरा कर दिया.
क्या मृगतृष्णा बन गया है धर्मनिरपेक्ष गठबंधन?
राम पुनियानी
जनता दल यूनाईटेड (जदयू) के राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष और बिहार के मुख्यमंत्री नीतीश कुमार ने महागठबंधन तोड़ कर अपने पुराने साथी भाजपा से एक...
On Father’s Day: Letting go
By Andaleeb Wajid
My father died when I was 12. For many years, this was what defined me.
While the tears dried up after the first...
UP close UP: Majboor in Rampur
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
UP close UP series: Part 8
Kill the Bill
A critique on a seemingly progressive otherwise draconian Communal Violence Bill
By Nadim Nikhat,
IOS Mourns Dr Barzinji
By TCN News,
New Delhi: The staff of Institute of Objective Studies, led by its Chairman Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam, mourned the death of Islamic...
Ajmer bomb blast: who want communal disharmony in India?
By Irfan Engineer
Another bomb blast on 11th October 2007, this time in Ajmer and the target was Dargah of Moinuddin Chisti, also known as Khwaja Garib Nawaz. People of all communities prayed at the Dargah for ages. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims descend in the town on the Urs of Khwaja Garib Nawaz and the entire town of Ajmer is full of pilgrims.
A case for Muslim quotas in AP
There are 13 Muslim communities in the state that qualify for inclusion in the backward classes list, and that would be constitutional
By PS Krishnan
Rs 180 crore- that is the annual earning of beggars in India
By Mohammed Siddique, TwoCircles.net,
Do you know how many beggars are there in India and what is their collective annual income? How much a beggar spends on his food and where the remaining money goes?
An interesting study by a Hyderabad based sociologist Dr Mohammed Rafiuddin has come up with some interesting and incisive details about the beggars and problem of begging in the country, especially in Hyderabad.
Inquilab 1857 to Sachar Report -Indian Muslims continue to struggle
By Aleem Faizee
The countdown has begun. Leaving behind dark memories of the renewed terror and trauma for the Muslims in India, it will be curtains for the year 2007 in few days from now. But apart from many other things, the year 2007 will always be remembered in the history of Independent India for two things.
India, Pakistan walk the tired road to peace
By M.R. Narayan Swamy, IANS,
The India-Pakistan meltdown took place only days ago. But it seemed one was reading an old novel with a jaded storyline. Except that the leading protagonists were new.
It would be naïve to put the diplomatic disaster in Islamabad last week to the undiplomatic conduct of the host foreign minister or the errors on the part of the Indians.
That would amount to confining a hugely complex and complicated India-Pakistan relationship to the actions of a few individuals.
Tehzib-ul Ikhlaque: Ameliorating the Social Conditions of Indian Muslims
By Areeba Shabbir, TwoCircles.net
An exhaustive audit of Sir Syed Ahmad’s scholarly services laid the foundation of responsible journalism in India. He was the first...
Passport woes are unending: Sushma needs to crack the whip
By M.R. Narayan Swamy,
Ever heard of a government department whose one wing goes en masse for lunch while the other wing efficiently continues to function, leaving scores of people - the elderly and women with crying babies included - cursing their fate? Welcome to the passport office in Delhi.
‘Aaj rang hai’ – Qawwali revisited
From Khanqahs to the auditorium; from shrines to international pop charts, from spirituality and devotion to entertainment – the qawwali has travelled far and wide in its 700 year journey.
Teaching and curriculum of Darul Uloom
By Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net,
Part 3 of the seven part TwoCircles.net series on Darul Uloom Deoband
After the failure of 1857 freedom war, the British East India Company started to target especially Muslims as the commanders of the movement were mostly Muslims. The government hung thousands of Ulema and shut down many madarsas.
Colours of terror
By Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam,
Recently, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at an ASEAN summit that terrorism had no religion, Indian Muslims heaved a sigh of relief. This line, that “terror has no religion”, is a relatively new Sangh refrain, being mouthed as a policy mantra by all persons affiliated to it.
Terrorism: Hashmi and Puniyani’s letter to the PM
Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh,
The blasts in Delhi (September 13, 2008) are another in the series of tragic blasts in which scores of people have been killed. We strongly condemn the blasts and demand a proper, unbiased investigation into the same. We demand that the guilty be punished. At the same time it seems that our investigating agencies are ignoring some thing very crucial in the matters of investigating the acts of terror.
Off-campus branches of AMU: some disturbing questions
By Omar Peerzada,
Recently a budgetary provision has been made for opening off-campus ‘branches’ of Aligarh Muslim University. The idea of opening up opportunities of Higher Education for Muslims is a very laudable one and deserves all support. The lack of higher education among the Muslims has been a major cause of their backwardness. The question arises as to why Muslims are not able to take advantage of studying in the Colleges and Universities already available in the country.
Triple Talaq un-Islamic, inhuman and unconstitutional: Armed Forces Tribunal bench
By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
Lucknow (UP): In a significant decision, the Lucknow Bench of Armed Forces Tribunal has ruled that the declaration of oral...
A critique to “Caste on my back”
(This is a rejoinder to an article published on November 30 on TwoCircles.net titled caste on my back, written by Aishik Chanda.)
By Yogesh Maitreya,
Gopal Guru described that “Indian social science represents a pernicious divides between theoretical Brahmins and empirical Shudras”. Now this divide does not only limit to the social-sciences texts when it discusses the dalits lives through Brahmin-imagination. This divide has an inculcation factor which transmits into other upper castes writers than Brahmins.
How a book sparked of a Cold War battle
By Vikas Datta
Title: The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book; Authors: Peter Finn and Petra Couvee;...
Dravid’s stature as cricketer is undiminished
By K. Datta, IANS,
Close on the heels of the shocking slapping incident involving Harbhajan Singh and S. Sreesanth and those fines imposed on Sourav Ganguly, Shane Warne and Ishant Sharma, the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) has made news with the midstream sacking of the CEO of Bangalore's Royal Challengers because the team had failed to get into the winning habit.
A Jewish voice against the “burqa ban”
By Joshua M. Z. Stanton
Even as a Jew in New York, I know what it is like to be Muslim in France.
While studying abroad in the French city of Strasbourg in 2007, I decided to grow a bushy beard. Little did I know that in France only traditional Jewish and Muslim men don anything but the most finely trimmed moustache or goatee. Since I did not wear a yarmulke or other head covering, people who saw me on the street assumed that I was Muslim.
While studying abroad in the French city of Strasbourg in 2007, I decided to grow a bushy beard. Little did I know that in France only traditional Jewish and Muslim men don anything but the most finely trimmed moustache or goatee. Since I did not wear a yarmulke or other head covering, people who saw me on the street assumed that I was Muslim.
Is ‘Hindu’ our National Identity?
By Ram Puniyani,
From the decade of 1980 the identity based politics has come to the fore in our Country. The Shah Bano issue, the Ram Temple imbroglio and the Rath yatras, brought to fore the issues related identity, the first major casualty of this politics was the demolition of Babri Masjid. Around that the notion that we are a Hindu nation propped up in a serious way and also that ‘we are all Hindus’ came to the fore. Lately with Modi-BJP getting simple majority in the parliament, this formulation is being asserted more powerfully. Around 1990 Murli Manohar Joshi, the then BJP President, said that we are all Hindus, Muslims are Ahmadiya Hindus, Christians are Christi Hindus and Jains-Sikhs-Buddhists are also Hindus as such. Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists are regarded as sects of Hindu pantheon by RSS. It is another matter that when the earlier RSS Sarsanghchalka, K. Sudarshan, said that Sikhism is not a religion as such but is a mere sect of Hinduism, there were massive protests in Punjab.
Prohibition Bihar: Cheers for toddy
By Amulya Ganguli
It is sad to see a promising politician stumble and be in danger of falling flat on his face. Till the...
“We are walking skeletons”
By Somnath Mukherji,
As we stood talking to a woman in the village of Madanpur in Murshidabad, her 6 or 7 year old girl used her body weight to pump water out of the handpump and drank from a bowl.
Why have you come here?” a man rushed towards us.
“We are trying to understand the issue and see what we can do,” we explained.
Congress-BJP pact on n-liability bill is sign of political maturity
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Notwithstanding minor differences over the draft of the nuclear liability bill, the fact that the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - and even the Left - are on the same page on its passage through parliament is a positive sign.
Considering that the BJP had sided with the Left in 2008 to oppose the India-US nuclear deal, its decision to team up with the Congress this time is more than a reappraisal of its earlier stance. It shows that the BJP has become mature enough to put aside partisan interests for a national cause.
BRICS nations must demonstrate their soft power through their media
By Li Congjun,
In the past few weeks, I would sometimes watch the reruns of the exciting World Cup matches. My disappointment at the absence of Chinese footballers on the pitch was somehow mitigated by the fact that many products and services for the event are from China.
It was Dhoni all the way
By Kersi Meher-Homji, IANS,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has that magic touch; whatever he touches turns into victories.
A wakeup call for “Muslim leaders”
By Navaid Hamid for TwoCircles.net
For last several years, I have been cautioning "Muslim leaders" to be more realistic, visionary and attentive to the pulse of the Muslim youth which constitute around sixty percent of the total Muslim population in India, before it’s too late.
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...
Love and be damned: Rizwan’s story
By Ram Puniyani
When Rizanwanur Rahman, a graphic designer, was found dead on the railway tracks of Kolkata, the police chief without 'wasting' any time, instantly proclaimed that it is a case of suicide. He had no patience to go through the proper investigation, postmortem report etc. This raised many a questions about the motives behind his immediate reaction, as the circumstances of his death raised a lot of questions at various levels.
Women’s Reservation Bill: What it means for Muslim representation?
By Md. Mudassir Alam for TwoCircles.net,
I have a pressure cooker and I am not a terrorist: A take on...
By Asma Anjum Khan for TwoCircles.net
Tribal boys in Wayanad under POCSO threat
By Shafeeq Hudawi
Kozhikode: Babu, a 21-year-old from the Paniya community, came out of jail in March after spending close to three months in jail....
Voices of sanity in wilderness
Even as communalism grows in India, some of the fiercest voices raised in defence of Muslims happen to be those of Hindus
By Aijaz Zaka Syed,
नसबंदी का समाजशास्त्र
By मोहम्मद आसिफ़ इक़बाल,
पिछले दिनों छत्तीसगढ़ बिलासपुर में केंद्रीय परिवार नियोजन कार्यक्रम के तहत नसबंदी कैंप लगाया गया. सभी को पता है कि सिर्फ़ छः घंटों में लगभग 83 महिलाओं की नसबंदी कर दी गयी, जिसका अंतिम अंजाम क्या हुआ, वह भी किसी से छिपा नहीं है. कई महिलाएं मारी गयीं और अन्य औरतों की हालत बिगड़ती चली गई. वहीं दूसरी तरफ़ इस घटना में इस्तेमाल एन्टीबायोटिक की प्रारंभिक जांच में चूहे मारने वाला केमिकल पाया गया है.
Biodiversity and Islam
By Dr Mohammad Iqtedar Husain Farooq,
Biological diversity, or the shorter term ‘biodiversity’, means the variety of life forms like human beings, animals of all sorts and plants of different categories in a region or on the globe. Any harm to biodiversity may increase diseases on Earth or in other words less of biodiversity means more of infections.
Bhagat Singh was a humanist – innately secular
By Vipin Kumar
It may be a revelation to many but Bhagat Singh, one of the greatest heroes India's independence struggle produced, never advocated...
Obama’s day and Martin Luther King’s day
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Dmitry Kosyrev) - Such coincidences are not accidental. Nobody aligned Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 19 with the first Black American President's inauguration on January 20. King symbolized the struggle for Black America's civil rights.
Modi: Worrying signs of a one-man show
By Amulya Ganguli
What has been feared about Narendra Modi is proving to be true. The rough-and-ready manner in which he has been...
Muslim-Hindu Relations in Jammu Province – Part 1
By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net,
Full Series: Muslim-Hindu Relations in Jammu Province
Headley bargains for pardon in 26/11 terror case
Mumbai : Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Coleman Headley, currently imprisoned in the US, informed a court here late on Thursday night that he was...
Faces of Terrorism in India
By M. Burhanuddin Qasmi,
The media and and law inforcement agencies' onslaught with assumptions and deliberate repetitions of Muslim names after each terror attack in India made a penetration into common hearts and it ultimately implies that terrorism is a Muslim specialty in the country.
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.
Four years of community news
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net,
Four years ago, with one part-time employee and $1200 as budget, we started a daily news media in English focusing on Indian Muslims. I had no idea that we will still be here four years later and reaching new heights with every passing month. Credit for this success goes to our friends, staff, and supporters who have contributed immensely to this cause.
Nitish model prevails over Modi model
By Soroor Ahmed,
When Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar clasped his hand with his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi in Ludhiana on May 10––after the election was over in his own state––he was roundly criticized. However, what needs to be eulogized is that he maintained an arms distance from the ‘BJP’s Prime Minister-in-waiting for the 2014’ Lok Sabha election.
Life sentence for Tariq Qasmi, bail for Sadhvi Pragya
By Masoom Moradabadi,
A court in UP has sentenced the accused of Lucknow and Faizabad bomb blasts, Maulana Tariq Qasmi, to life imprisonment. A fine of Rs100,000 has also been imposed on him. Another co-accused in this case, Maulana Khalid Mujahid, had already died in 2013 while in police custody.
For a change, let’s listen to him
By Nirmala Deshpande, IANS
I was just six years old when I had the first 'darshan' of Mahatma Gandhi. I cannot really say that I talked to him, but it was a rare and unique experience. I belong to Nagpur and Gandhiji's Sabarmati Ashram was just 80 km from there. Gandhiji used to travel by train in a third class compartment. That day my mother sent me and my cousin to the railway station to receive my uncle. The train was coming from Mumbai via Nagpur to Howrah.
Wheel chairs, ramps for disabled voters this election
By Rupesh Dutta
New Delhi: Delhi’s over 80,000 disabled voters, including the visually challenged and hearing impaired, will get special attention on April 10, the...
President Pratiba Patil has a formidable task ahead
By Gilles Verniers, IANSNow elected, President Pratibha Patil is confronted with the arduous task of forging a name for herself in Raisina Hill and...
Walks to remember: Memories of Kalam
By Radhika Bhirani
New Delhi : "What would you want to be when you grow up," he asked. "Sir, I just hate maths...
Kalam’s frisking: some burning questions
By Tanveer Jafri,
Former President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was frisked by the security staff of the US based Continental Airlines at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi on his way to Newark, USA. While Dr. Kalam, in his well known polite and generous way, followed all the security checks as asked by the security staff, the staff people, by not having any trust in the former President of India, frisked him as usual, (read rudely).
Nawaz Sharif government has an opportunity to redeem Pakistan
By Kaleem Kawaja,
When Allama Iqbal and Mohammad Ali Jinnah dreamt of creating a homeland for the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent, it was to be a nation based on Islam's most egalitarian principles of justice, equality and progress that was to preserve the distinct ethnicity and identity of the six hundred year old Indo-Islamic civilization.
Why Microsoft’s $45 bn bid is good for Yahoo
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS
One may call this a hostile bid, but it's good for Yahoo - for the valuation. If Yahoo agrees, it needs to cross shareholder and regulatory roadblocks. But even so, Microsoft and Yahoo together won't add up to becoming serious competition for market leader Google.
This could be the mother of all tech mergers: a $44.6-billion bid by Microsoft for Yahoo, at 62 percent premium over the market price for Yahoo stocks.
Every booth in Bengal assembly polls to have central police
Kolkata : The Election Commission on Thursday said central police forces would guard all polling booths during next year's West Bengal assembly elections and...
Team Manmohan has a settled look, despite faltering start
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
If the Manmohan Singh government appears to have made a faltering start, the blame falls on the unavoidable exigencies of coalition politics. However, of all its partners, it is the regional ally from Tamil Nadu, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which must be held responsible for creating most of the problems.
Its antics started with its ailing leader, M. Karunanidhi, leaving Delhi in a huff and returning to Chennai with his band of relatives and party members because he was unhappy with the ministerial berths being offered to the party.
Pot of gold at both ends for India, Britain
By Karan Bilimoria, IANS
As India and the United Kingdom celebrate 15 years of their renewed economic engagement under the aegis of UK-India Business Council (UKIBC), the two great nations have only scratched the surface of the potential that exists today for bilateral trade and investment.
The potential for bilateral trade, which has doubled to 10 billion pounds in the past five years, is truly immense. So it is for investment opportunities that are highlighted by the Tata-Corus and the Essar-Vodaphone deals.
Boycott, not burn: Protest by burning copies of Asomiya Pratidin will only make it...
By Aman Wadud,
A lot has been written after the barbaric attack on Charlie Hebdo killing 12 people. In its first edition after the attack, Charlie Hebdo published cartoon of a bearded old man holding a placard which says ‘Jesuis Charlie’ or ‘I am Charlie’, the cartoon is supposedly of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
The photographer from Kabul
By Martin Gerner,
Photographers occasionally share the same lot as literary translators – people know their work, but not their names. Massoud Hossaini, for instance, has had his photos emblazoned across the front pages of international newspapers in Hong Kong, New York, and Germany. The 28-year-old Kabul native works in the Afghan capital as photographer for the AFP news agency.
How to utilise the occasion of Eid Ul Azha – ‘Bakri’ Eid wisely in...
By Dr Sajid A.H Khan
On Monday 11 th August 2019, majority of India’s Muslim community will celebrate Eid ul Hajj or Eid ul Azha...
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.
By-poll shocks for ruling parties, except in Gujarat
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Within four months of the Congress's success in the parliamentary polls, the party has been rudely jolted in the latest round of assembly by-elections.
After a severe drubbing in Gujarat, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wrested five seats from the Congress along with one in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress lost two seats - Okhla and Dwarka - in its supposed stronghold of Delhi to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the BJP.
Promoting Muslim entrepreneurship
By Shahid Sayed,
'Threshold India 2009' is brain child of Shahid Sayed to promote entrepreneurship amongst the Muslim youth, to bring them closer to the mainstream and make them committed global citizens that value life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as a goal worth achieving by their own efforts.
‘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...
The right to change one’s religion
By Shaykh Abdallah Adhami, CGNews
From the Code of Hammurabi to the Code of Maimonides, most major systems of law have affirmed that apostasy must be punished.
In the renowned code of the Roman emperor Justinian (483-565 CE), corpus juris civilis — the basis of all Roman canon law and of modern civil law — apostasy was "to be punished by death" and there was "no toleration of dissent".
What Sunderbans’ closed schools say about climate change
By Nagraj Adve and Partha Kayal,
At the Boatkhali Kadambini Pre-primary School on Sagar island in the Sunderbans, classes stop for five-six days each, twice...
Outgoing Russian President Putin makes impressive achievements
By Liao Lei, Ma Mengli, Xinhua
Moscow : Incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin has made numerous impressive achievements during his two terms including the consolidation of the Kremlin's power and the marked improvement of economy, analysts say.
Dmitry Medvedev, first deputy prime minister of Putin's cabinet, has won Russia's fifth presidential election, according to the preliminary results announced by the Central Election Commission (CEC) Monday.