Israel and Palestine – Bush’s cowboy ways
MOSCOW. (Political commentator Maria Appakova) - After the talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah, George W. Bush said that a peace agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis would be reached by the end of the year.
He was less optimistic on the settlement within Palestine - he is not sure that the head of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Mahmoud Abbas will be able to resolve this problem in the foreseeable future.
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...
Jihad, crusades and tolerance: a Christian scholars view
By Marty Martin
Chicago, Illinois - Over the past five years, as part of a project on religious fundamentalism, I've studied and talked with Muslims from Houston to Auschwitz. And as I've gained a better understanding of how Christians and Muslims see each other, I've learned that how we communicate is as important as what we communicate.
5 percent of Indian marriages inter-caste; in Mizoram, 55 percent
By Prachi Salve & Saumya Tewari
Christian-dominated Mizoram - 87 percent of the population is Christian - has the most inter-caste marriages in India, a...
UP elections and the missing ‘madam, chacha, neta and babuji’
By Mohit Dubey
Lucknow, (IANS) : The first phase of the elections to the 403-strong Uttar Pradesh state assembly, that ended on Saturday, was marked...
Worshipping Gods in the times of Elections
By Ram Puniyani,
Arun Shourie, who was part of NDA, a fellow traveler and an ideologue of BJP wrote several books, many of them against minorities and dalits in particular. One of these which was strongly protested against by large sections of people, dalits in particular, was his “Worshipping False Gods”. In this book he expressed the mind set of RSS-BJP politics towards Ambedkar. In this long bulky volume he was heavily critical of Ambedkar’s ideology, his agitations for democratic values and his struggles for social justice. Now a decade and half later on one side many a dalit leaders, Ramvilas Paswan, Udit Raj, Ramdas Athwaley are vying to sit in the lap of the politics of BJP for apparently their own personal gains on one side and on the other the BJP’s Prime Ministerial Candidate Narendra Modi is going miles to woo the sections of dalits. It is another matter that while doing this in his usual trade mark style he has no qualms about misrepresenting the events, speaking lies and putting the blame of all that has not taken place to his political adversaries.
SIO president on state terrorism, SIMI, minority witch-hunting and ragging
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
Suhail K K is the newly elected president of India’s largest Muslim youth group Students Islamic Organization of India. In an interview with Mumtaz Alam Falahi of TwoCircles.net he talks about targeting of innocent Muslim youths, state terrorism, difference between SIO and banned SIMI, and ragging and campus politics.
What is the top priority of Students Islamic Organization of India (SIO) today?
Antulay bashing: Inverted argument.
By Prof. Abdur Rahim,
Now that the union minister for minorities Mr. AR Antulay has agreed with the Government's version that there is no need to promote the Hindu terrorist factor behind the killing of Hemant Karkare, the fact remains that his demand was seen with prejudiced glasses.
Here we deal with a senior journalist MJ Akbar's views making mockery of the senior minister.
Parliamentary Committee needed to monitor minority welfare: Moosa Raza
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
Indian government spends about 5000 crore annually for minorities welfare. A number of schemes and programmes specifically designed for the minorities are on the books for a number of years. But still Muslims have not seen much of the benefits of these programmes.
Moosa Raza, a former bureaucrat blames poor implementation for the failure in benefits reaching the targeted population. He says that monitoring of the government programmes is lacking.
Muslim legislator’s bill for ban on trade of cow bones and fat defeated by...
By IndScribe,
It was a major embarassment for the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh Assembly. The lone Muslim legislator, Arif Aqueel of Congress came up with a private bill for ban on trade of bones and fat of the cows.
One Year of Modi Sarkar: Hate Speech Galore
By Ram Puniyani,
The coming to power of Narendra Modi in a way gave an open license to all the affiliates of RSS combine to indulge in open hate speech against the religious minorities. The current agenda behind the hate speech is to consolidate the communal polarisation of the society along lines of religion. The well-known case of MIM’s Akarbar-uddudin Owaisis’ hate speech has been despicable and very rightly Akbarudin Owaisi had to be in jail for some time. The case against him should be pursued and the legal course of action must be followed. At the same time, what about the hate speeches indulged in by the likes of Pravin Togadia, Subramaniam Swami, Giriraj Singh, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Sadhvi Prachi, Sakshi Mahraraj, Yogi Adityanth, Sanjay Raut and company?
सोशल मीडिया पोस्ट पर कार्रवाई को लेकर सुप्रीम कोर्ट नाराज़, कहा ‘ ...
सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने एक मामले में कोलकाता पुलिस को कहा है कि आम नागरिकों को सरकार की आलोचना करने के लिए प्रताड़ित नहीं किया...
India should read tea leaves on Chinese military spending
By C. Uday Bhaskar, IANS
Over the past week, both India and China have announced their respective annual budgetary allocation towards defence spending and the contrast is striking. This contrast has long-term implications for the South Asian strategic framework.
Let’s celebrate disrobing of ‘Rekhta’!
By Alim Naqvi,
Scepticism is bound to raise its head as the well-oiled machinery is firing on all its cylinders. There won’t be another such opportunity to act at will.
‘Jashn-e-Rekhta’ has raised a valid question. The vital one is if it was long drawn and well planned attempt to bereft Urdu of its beautiful script. Jashn-e-Rekhta was held at New Delhi on March 14-15 to “celebrate Urdu”.
Dark Diwali for 500,000 families – thanks to Chinese firecrackers
By Venkatachari Jagannathan,
Chennai: It may not be a cracker of a Diwali this year for about 500,000 families in Tamil Nadu's Sivakasi town -...
The Left’s rickety new ‘third’ platform
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS
The Left's fascination for an anti-Congress and anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) third front led by it stems from a desire to play a meaningful role in Indian politics.
As the agenda outlined by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat shows, the front will be "anti-communal, will advocate pro-people economic policies and will fight for an independent foreign policy".
Hindutva terrorism: Who will bell the cat?
By Abdul Hannan Siwani Nadvi,
P. Chidambaram’s saffron terrorism remark angered BJP, RSS and their followers. BJP has objection at association of terrorism to particular organization. BJP, which has a long history of blaming whole Muslim community and calling Muslim areas as epicenter of ISI and terrorism, is now objecting at the term.
There are two things that should be clear to everyone: One, associating terrorism to particular community; and second, terrorism of Hindutva.
Of Beautiful vistas, perfect past and future tense
All this wealth produced by them goes out of their hands and reduces them into welfare recipients from the government. All this great wealth...
Another accidental PM after the elections?
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Like the TV game show "Kaun Banega Crorepati?" the million dollar question in Indian politics today is who will be the next prime minister?
Although the Congress has stood by the present incumbent, Manmohan Singh, there is speculation that he may be asked to stand aside in case the party needs the Left's support to form a government.
Jharkhand Movement and Muslim Contribution
Special series on Jharkhand’s Muslims- Part—2
By Mahtab Alam and Mary Abraham,
Maulana Minnatullah Rahmani’s role in India’s independence
By Imteyaz Rahmani,
Elimination of British rule from India and independence of the country are great events of human history which not only abolished British kingdom but also left indelible mark on constitutional and political history of Arab world. The British were ruling in their own way on Arab countries due to their rule in India and almost the whole world was under their control as a super power.
Is new Industrial Revolution in offing post COVID-19 pandemic?
By Md Arif Hussain
With the nationwide lockdown in India easing from June 1, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be far from over. Safety, precautions...
BJP’s Muslim leaders: Their induction in party is an RSS strategy
By Kulsum Mustafa, TwoCircles.net,
Eyesores or cynosures, they are for keeps. The saffron robed Muslim leaders are now an inseparable part of the Hindutava campaigner Bharatiya Janata Party. And it is not by chance but because of a well thought-out Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) strategy that these ‘opportunist Muslim’ leaders have been allowed to prosper in the party.
Rains start to batter Chennai again
Chennai : After one-and-a-half days, rains started to lash Chennai again on Friday evening, causing more worry to residents already suffering from torrential rains...
The ‘Belcha’: Allama Mashriqi’s powerful symbol for the Khaksar Tehrik
“We have Spade as our symbol…Spade is another sign of humility and our carrying it on our shoulders shows that we are out...
Movement against rape should be taken to its logical conclusion: Kaneez Fatima
By Mohd. Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net
Odisha to conserve 700 sacred groves to protect tribal culture
By Chinmaya Dehury
Bhubaneswar : An integral part of tribal culture, 700 sacred groves in Odisha -- out of 2,100 identified by the state government...
No breakthrough for Iran nuclear stalemate in sight after IAEA report
By Wei Jianhua, Xinhua
Beijing : A breakthrough in the deadlock over Iran's controversial nuclear activities remains as elusive as ever, two days after a report by the world's nuclear watchdog threw up more questions than it answered.
While the report, circulated by IAEA Director General Mohamed El Baradei Friday, made no final judgment on the Iran nuclear issue, it did succeed however in stimulating contradictory responses from Iran and some western countries.
Boost development to enhance women’s role in preventing conflicts: India
By Arul Louis
United Nations : Drawing attention to the challenges posed by women's under-representation in roles for preventing and ending conflicts, India has said...
Smart villages may help keep cities smarter
By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net,
When there is a dire need to convert our 6.5 lakh-odd rural settlements in India into smart villages, we are planning to build 100 new smart cities, which in the process may end up uprooting a big population and gobble up thousands of acres of agriculture land.
Love Thy Neighbor: Nawaz Sharif’s Visit to India
By Ram Puniyani,
India Pakistan relations have always been mired with in various controversies, which have been preventing the friendly relations with our neighbor, who in ‘popular perception’ is seen as an enemy. It is due to this that while all the members of SAARC countries have been invited, the one to draw maximum popular attention has been the coming of Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. In a deft move India’s the then Prime Minister designate sent an invite to all the heads of SAARC countries for his swearing in ceremony, (16 May 2014)which was held with great pomp and show.
Gujarat riot victims still in relief camps: Muslims should ask Antulay
By Dr. Mookhi Amir Ali,
“Gujarat Muslims still live in fear,” says the UN Human Rights Council in its latest report, slamming India for denial of justice to the victims of the communal violence in 2002. The Congress party was quick to use the report as a stick to beat the Gujarat government with, but did little for rehabilitation of the riot victims.
The India that Narendra Modi inherits
By Amit Kapoor,
India is looking forward to the tenure of its 14th Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, with the expectation that he would take the country out of the muddle and disorder that is driven by deeply ingrained thoughts and beliefs. We, as Indians would have to fight battles of the mind to overcome the challenges we face.
Iranian film shows that tragedy breaks down barriers
By Vanessa Arrington and Kowsar Gowhari
The film Bam 6.6 weaves the drama of Tobb and Adele, a Jewish-American, with other accounts of the catastrophic natural disaster that killed more than 40,000 people and destroyed 90 percent of the buildings in the historic city of Bam, which means "high place", in southern Iran. It goes beyond the tale of these two Americans and other survivors, however, to show how quickly divisions of nationality and politics break down in the face of major tragedy.
Socrates, demonetisation and UP elections: A ‘walk’ with the philosopher in the streets of...
By Rashmi Bhushan for Twocircles.net
I looked at the weather and murmured, “There are ominous dark clouds gathering overhead”. A voice from behind asked– “Are...
Smokers who quit 15 years ago still at high lung cancer risk
New York: People who kicked the butt as long as 15 years ago are still at high risk for lung cancer and should be...
India preparing a revolution in the arms market
(RIA Novosti correspondent in India Yevgeny Bezeka) - All participants in DEFEXPO-2008, which opens in New Delhi on February 16, are bound to see the beginnings of a revolution in the Indian military-industrial complex.
This revolution is certain to acquire global dimensions, because India is in the top ten in arms spending - in 2007-2012 it will buy $30 billion worth of weapons.
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...
Zahida Khatun Sherwani: The walled poetess of Urdu literature
Zahida Khatun Sherwani (1894-1922) is one of the early female poets of Urdu literature who took the giant leap of challenging the normative structure....
Are Muslims’ indirectly helping in making India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’?
By Hem Raj Jain
Since late eighties and especially after the demolition of Babri Mosque in 1992 by Hindutva forces in the presence of the...
Let’s prioritise ‘Safe in India’ this December
By N. Hamsa & Divashri Mathur
Since 2012, December has become synonymous with a rally of activity around women's safety. We however need to...
Coronavirus pandemic and Indian Muslims: Action Plan
By Kashif-ul-Huda and Dr. Shamsuz Zaman
India is anarchy at the best of times. The reason the country seems to be functional is due to...
तीन तलाक़ पर उग्र राजनीति के ख़तरे
अभय कुमार
सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने जैसे ही तीन तलाक़ के मसले पर अपना फ़ैसला सुनाया, वैसे ही इस पर फ़िर से उग्र राजनीति शुरू हो...
Is there a Modi Wave in India?
By Syed Ali Mujtaba,
Comparing Modi Wave with other waves in India, it’s really hard to call it a wave as it does not match up to wave length of the wave witnessed earlier in India. Just match the Indira wave with the slogan ‘Adhi Roti khaenge Indira ko Bulenege’ in 1980 with ‘Ab ki bar Modi Sakar.’ Do both waves have the same wave length? Well you may be kidding if your answer is yes!
British NRIs expect immigration cuts, pro-rich policies
By Kul Bhushan, IANS,
NRIs may well grit their teeth at the new Conservative-Lib Dem government. The new British government will probably come down hard on immigration and introduce economic policies that help the rich. Plus, the Tories usually have cool relations with India.
Mandsaur cow vigilante attack: 27th this year
By IndiaSpend Team
The attack on two women in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh suspected of carrying beef (though it turned out to be buffalo meat)...
India’s veto doesn’t mean collapse of global trade talks
By Arvind Padmanabhan,
India's demand for concessions on food subsidy as a quid quo pro to a pact to simplify procedures on global commerce may have blocked the first major step forward in the 19-year history of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). But that does not mean the global trade talks have collapsed.
Book Review: Oxford Handbook of Muslims in India: Empirical and Policy Perspectives
Name of the Book: Oxford Handbook of Muslims in India: Empirical and Policy Perspectives
Edited by: Rakesh Basant & Abusaleh Shariff
Publisher: Oxford University Press, New Delhi
Year: 2010
Pages: 308
Price: Rs. 850
ISBN: 0-19-806205-2
Reviewed by Yoginder Sikand
The RSS Hand in Militant Hindutva
By Shaj Hameed,
The February month cover story of the popular narrative magazine, The Caravan, published from Delhi, has already been discussed and debated a lot. Hindutva extremist Aseemanand, speaking to the magazine’s journalist Ms. Leena Regunath, revealed that all the bomb blasts carried out by his team had been with the RSS leadership’s knowledge and approval. Furthermore, the RSS’s national leaders including its general secretary Mohan Bhagwat and national executive member Indresh Kumar had met Assemanand in person and pleaded with him to go ahead with the attacks, at the same time advising him to take care as to not link such terror acts with Sangh Parivar Organisations, especially the RSS. Aseemanand, who has been accused in five bomb blasts across the country which killed a total of 199 innocent people, also revealed that Narendra Modi, Gujarat’s chief minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate for the next general elections, was a fan and supporter of his extremist activities.
Shibli Academy: gearing up to face the challenges of the 21st century
By Salman Sultan, TwoCircles.net
Azamgarh: Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy is a 95-year old institution based in Azamgarh. Established by Allama Shibli Nomani, this academy was a unique experiment in housing writers so that they can focus on research and write books that will advance human understanding and knowledge.
India’s inevitable rise to the top
By Bhim D. Asdhir,
India's meteoric rise to global prominence is inevitable. Perhaps, US President Barack Obama, writing in Time Magazine on April 16, puts India's and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rise to prominence best: "Today, he's the leader of the world's largest democracy, and his life story - from poverty to prime minister - reflects the dynamism and potential of India's rise."
One Month of Modi Government: Muslims’ apprehensions and aspirations
By Jasim Mohammad, TwoCircles.net,
Narendra Modi government has completed one month after winning thumping majority in the 2014 general elections. Though one month time is not suitable to analyze the working of any government but just for the intellectual exercise and to point out certain lapses on the part of the newly formed government the analysis is necessary. After taking oath of office of the Prime Ministership, Narendra Modi has said on several times that he wishes to carry on every section of Indian society with him on the developmental path, so that whole country may be progressed. This was the welcome declaration at least for the masses and deprived classes of India.
बाबरी मस्जिद के लिए धरना, मायावती ने कहा मस्जिद ही था विवादित ढांचा
By अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net
नई दिल्ली: बाबरी मस्जिद विध्वंस की घटना को 23 वर्ष बीत गए हैं लेकिन दिल्ली में आज भी यह दिन...
Anees Rasheed Khan: Great success story of a physically challenged man
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
I was made a suspect because of my name
A research officer from TISS was harassed in Hyderabad only because of his name
By Mohd. Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net
No arms, no problem: Kashmir youth’s indomitable cricket dream survives
By Aadil Mir
Srinagar: He was eight when he lost both his arms in a machine accident. Twelve years later, he is a cricketer playing...
Indian woman with drug-resistant TB sets off scare in US
By Arul Louis
New York:An Indian woman infected with a rare drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis has created a health scare in three US states and...
Minority status will not help Muslims but may open Pandora’s box
By Firoz Bakht Ahmed
Since the government has done away with the minority status of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), a debate has set in...
Will the Congress pick up Rane’s gauntlet?
By Shyam Pandharipande, IANS
Mumbai : Revenue Minister Narayan Rane has taken a calculated risk by upping the ante against the Congress in Maharashtra and at New Delhi a day before the announcement of the Gujarat election results.
The maverick Shiv Sena rebel, who joined the Congress two years ago on the promise of being made the chief minister, has virtually served an ultimatum to the party to fulfil the promise or face early elections.
Bihar: Protests and politics over OBC status to “Ashraf Muslims”
By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net
Patna: A controversy is in offing on the issue of inclusion of Shaikh into OBC category in Bihar. Many backward caste groups, including those among Muslims in the state, have registered their protest with the State Commission for Backward Castes (SCBC) against attempts by Shaikh, an upper caste Muslim group, to get OBC status.
Dalit auto rickshaw driver Chitralekha attacked allegedly by CPI (M) workers
By Shafeeq Hudawi
Kozhikode: While the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and its associate organisations have been vociferously protesting against the crackdown in JNU and...
Is the BJP’s hold on Gujarat overrated?
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS
Since Gujarat was advertised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a laboratory for its experiments with Hindutva, the ideology that accords primacy of place in Indian society to Hindus, an electoral outcome in the state has considerable importance for the party. While the BJP's success will show that the saffron agenda is alive and kicking, a setback will mean much more than a similar failure in any other state.
Let not competitive politics get constitutional sanctity
By Parmod Kumar,
Sikh politics is on the boil in Punjab and Haryana. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is insisting that Haryana roll back the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Act, 2014, creating a separate body to manage the gurdwaras in the state.
Dawn of new era in Aligarh Muslim University
By Jasim Mohammad
As a result of hectic campaign launched by a section of the AMU Biradari including this writer, the AMU court in its meeting portrayed its choice of an academician as the Vice-Chancellor of AMU, Prof. P.K. Abdul Azis, Vice-Chancellor of the Cochin Engg. & Technology University, Kerala secured 104 votes out of total 111 votes breaking the cycle of bureaucrats capturing the Vice-Chancellorship of the AMU. Prof. Azis took the charge on 11 June 2007 and at once embarked upon setting the things within the campus.
Hurdles slow down AMU Kishanganj construction
By Muhammad Mudassir Alam,
After a long wait of around five years, the construction work of Aligarh Muslim University’s (AMU) Kishanganj Centre has started a couple of weeks ago. The construction work of boundary wall of AMU’s Special Centre at Chakla village is currently in progress but alleged hurdles waged by local suppliers of construction materials such as sand, bricks, concrete etc. somehow have affected the pace of the work.
By joining hands with the BJP, Nitish Kumar might have just ended his political...
Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net
Nitish Kumar has resigned. Again. Keen watchers of the career of Nitish would have noticed that in the past fifteen years, resignations...
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...
Civility against Caste: Dalit Politics and Citizenship in Western India
Title: Civility against Caste: Dalit Politics and Citizenship in Western India
Author: Prof. Suryakant Waghmore
Publisher: Sage India
Year: January, 2014
Review by: Yogesh Maitreya for TwoCircles.net,
Civility is the least discussed discourse in India. In post-constitutional Indian society, the idea of civility has formed a binary: on one hand, ‘civil society’ that has been propagated by media and resources which are dominated and owned by Brahmin-Bania associations and on the other hand, the civility which has been practice by NGOs and political organisations led by Dalits. The latter had started with the core motive of annihilation of caste and, found its genesis in the struggles of Mahatma Fule and Dr. B.R.Ambedkar in Maharashtra. The idea of civility, practiced by Dalit NGOs and political groups, is contrary to the idea of civility which Brahmin-Bania possess and propagate in India, simply because idea of civility practiced by Dalits aims at annihilation of caste; precisely, Dalit civility is the ‘Civility against Caste’. 
Time to revive the spirit of 1942
Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam
After decades of politics under the British Raj the Indian National Congress decided finally on August 8, 1942 that enough was...
If the Bhopal tragedy had happened in the US?
By Mayank Chhaya, IANS,
It is rarely, if at all, remembered that the Dec 2-3, 1984, Bhopal industrial disaster had capped off five weeks of what was probably the bloodiest time in independent India's history until then. In a macabre sort of way, the Bhopal disaster seemed to provide perfect denouement to the series of dystopian events that preceded it during the Orwellian year.
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...
Is getting elected as MP from UP a pre-requisite for being in race for...
By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net,
Perhaps getting elected as a member of Parliament from any Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, especially from its eastern half, has become a sort of pre-requisite for being in the race for the post of prime minister. So apart from other considerations the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial pick, Narendra Modi, might have taken this fact into account before deciding to file his nomination papers from Benaras, along with Baroda in Gujarat.
Al-Qaeda’s video and Media
By Pramod Kumar for TwoCircles.net,
The NDTV, on 7th September 2014, in its weekly programme, We The People, held a discussion on the “Global Jihad Comes to India” and the participants included a “secular fundamentalist”, two “ultra cultural nationalists”, two Muslims, three representatives from intelligence and law enforcing agencies and an outsider who happened to be a Muslim. The trigger was the release of a video on 3rd September, 2014, by al-Qaeda announcing the formation of a new Branch of “al-Qaeda in the South Asian Continent”. The release of video revealed al-Qaeda`s own concern about having ceded space to its splinter group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).
Every fifth candidate in Bengal first phase has criminal cases
New Delhi : As many as 58 of the 296 candidates contesting the first phase of the West Bengal assembly polls have declared that...
RBI’s policy to set the tone for equity markets
By Rohit Vaid
Mumbai : The final monetary policy review of the fiscal, amidst the third quarter results season and the interest of the foreign...
Janseva co-operative credit society: a step in Islamic finance and banking in India
The main objective of the Islamic Finance is to create a society of investors, unlike the conventional banking system, which has made and created the society of borrowers and lenders from the past 800 years.
By Tameemuddin Humble,
Islamic finance activism in India should not be limited to the conferences and meetings, asking government to allow and operate interest-free banking for those whose faith prohibits interest-based transactions; it should also be to challenge the stereotype that the Shariah investment can’t yield the profit, even if professionally managed. We can’t sail the boat of Islamic Finance with the people having such perceptions. We can’t reach to its logical end without building an environment of Sharia compliant investment in the country, availing the limited opportunities in the given regulations.
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.”
India’s Regional Politics Remain Immature
Syed Ali Mujtaba
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The jubilation for the victory of India?s first women president Prathibha Patil seems to have drowned one of the ugliest episodes of the Indian democracy. Tamil Nadu?s main opposition party the AIADMK and its ally the MDMK defied its own whip and voted for Bhrion Singh Shekhawat, an independent candidate backed by the National Democratic Alliance in the recently concluded presidential election.
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The jubilation for the victory of India?s first women president Prathibha Patil seems to have drowned one of the ugliest episodes of the Indian democracy. Tamil Nadu?s main opposition party the AIADMK and its ally the MDMK defied its own whip and voted for Bhrion Singh Shekhawat, an independent candidate backed by the National Democratic Alliance in the recently concluded presidential election.
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Digital chaos causing real troubles in India
By Wahidul Islam for TwoCircles.net
The nation has unfolded into a new kind of chaos, digital chaos. Social media like Facebook, Twitter are flooded with...
New Zealand dollar could be best performer
By Vatsal Srivastava,
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is all set to raise its benchmark interest rate at its monthly monetary policy meeting...
Varanasi, India’s oldest city, desperately needs a makeover
By Karishma Saurabh Kalita ,
You would be forgiven if you thought that Varanasi, one of the oldest cities known to man, which is now...
Make in India but Make it Green
By Rajendra Aneja,
A century back, on January 9, Mahatma Gandhi made his determined journey to India with a singular goal to Make in India. He wanted to make in India a movement of freedom from foreign oppression, discrimination, and social apartheid. The capital needed for this was in the form of bold assets of non-violence and civil disobedience.
Manmohan Singh’s second term: Drift, disunity, unfulfilled expectations
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Expectations about the Manmohan Singh government performing better in its second term as the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) completes a year since it returned to power are yet to be fulfilled. It was hoped that a more secure majority in parliament and the absence of an obstructionist Communist bloc would enable the prime minister to push ahead faster with economic reforms and provide more purposeful governance.
The other Pakistan – that is different, yet like us!
By Shilpa Raina,
For anyone living either in India or Pakistan, even the faint prospect of travelling to the other side is no less than a lifetime's opportunity. The strained sub-continental relations have however resulted in strict visa procedures, turning dreams into distant desires.
First click for NRI Investors
By Kul Bhushan
When an NRI wants to invest in India, what is his first step? Look for opportunities in India through different government bodies promised as 'a one-stop shop'. As if all the existing bodies to attract investment were not enough, the ministry for overseas Indians launched a new one last week - the Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC).
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.
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.
Permanent Resident Bill of J&K is Anti-Women
By Balraj Puri
On International Women's Day when Rajya Sabha passed a bill for reservation of 33% seats for women in Parliament and state legilatures, Jammu and Kashmir State assembly admitted a bill which would deprive women status of permanent resident of the State if they married an outsider.
Interview: Malayalam daily Madhyamam’s Editor on Anna’s movement
By Najiya O., TwoCircles.net,
मौजूदा नतीजों से खुलता उत्तर प्रदेश विधानसभा चुनाव का रास्ता
सिद्धांत मोहन, TwoCircles.net
चार राज्यों और एक केन्द्रशासित प्रदेश में चुनाव के नतीजे सामने आ चुके हैं. असम में भाजपा ने जीत दर्ज की है....
‘Crop damage by wild animals declined 33%’
By Shreya Mittal
As two senior Indian ministers tussle over the declaration of some wild animals as "vermin", the damage to crops from animal attacks...
Understanding Pakistan’s tribal areas
By Frankie Martin and Hailey Woldt,
The vows of the new Pakistani coalition government to begin a dialogue with militants has turned many heads. To Washington's dismay, the new government led by Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari seems to have a different perspective on fighting terrorism. Here's why we should pay attention.
From angry young man to angry father: Vinod Khanna’s cinematic voyage
By Vikas Datta
New Delhi, (IANS): He came into prominence playing an angry young man in a 1970s classic and one of his last major...
What Makes Modi Angry
While Modi’s belated rebuke to the cow brigade is welcome, it is unfortunately selective and is motivated by the upcoming polls in UP,...
Shaitan ki khala: Hinglish Vinglish
TwoCircles.net presents a new column by self-proclaimed "Shaitan ki khala" Asma Anjum Khana. TCN is not responsible for her shaitani ideas but they are worth reading and pondering.
By Asma Anjum Khan for TwoCircles.net,
English-Vinglish! #english#englishvinglish#sirsayyedahmedkhan#education
Ladies and gentlemen, have you got over your Mid May crisis? I did. Holidays, books and mangoes, helped. So now? Ready to take the new flight?
Scholarships for minority students
Andalib Akhter, Journalist
Keeping its promise to share the fruit of development with all section of society, the UPA government at centre on Wednesday generously approved a handsome amount for the educational upliftement of minorities in the country.
Remembering children of riot affected families on Children’s Day
Study reveals the terrified children in relief camps badly need social, emotional and administrative support
By Nikhat for TwoCircles.net
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...
Police cover sought for Ghulam Ali during Mumbai visit
Mumbai: The makers of Bollywood film "Ghar Vapsi" have demanded police protection for Pakistani ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali, who will arrive here on Thursday...
BJP manifesto bids farewell to Vajpayee era
By Amulya Ganguli ,
Even as an ailing Atal Bihari Vajpayee sits incommunicado in his lonely bungalow in New Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)...
Nepal’s Terai calls for mature leadership
By Shubha Singh, IANS
The resignation of Mahanta Thakur, senior Nepali Congress minister, and other senior politicians from mainstream political parties earlier this month to set up a new political front has created an opportunity for the emergence of a mature leadership, which the Terai region requires.
JNU issue raises questions which must not be ignored
By Jaspal Singh for Twocircles.net
News reports from India have been full of demonstrations, counter-demonstrations about the JNU events and there have been plenty...
Media misinformation in India: Spreading terror when it suits them
By Indscribe
First an example about contrast in coverage of the following two incidents:
Paris: Peshawar and Boko Haram – Religion, Politics and Violence
The question is; are such acts due to Islam or Muslims as such? How does one understand the association of label of religion with acts of violence and terror?
By Ram Puniyani,
Massacre of hundreds of children in Peshawar by Pakistani Taliban; the atrocities – murders-kidnappings by Boko Haram, an Islamist group and the attack on Paris cartoon magazine Charlie Hebdo killing 12 have occurred in a short span of few months. The popular perception of relationship between violence and Islam got a further boost. The phrase ‘Islamic Terrorism’, which was created by US media in the aftermath of 9/11, got a further shot in the arms. It got a booster dose of unprecedented level. The debates regarding freedom of expression, sharia laws, education for girls continued to be in the fore and columns after column either dissociating Islam from these mindless acts or boosting the perception of Muslims being in the business of merciless killing of their own kith and other with gay abandon; dominated the visual and print media in January 2015.
Maulana Azad and partition
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
In the current debate on partition started by Jaswant Singh’s book every one is talking about the role of Jinnah, Nehru and Sardar Patel in partitioning of India but hardly anyone has mentioned what Maulana Azad, an important leader of Indian National Congress and an eminent scholar of Islam who held post of President of the Congress for six long years before partition, had done to avert partition.
Bhutto death augurs unrest, lawlessness in N-armed nation
By Rahul Bedi, IANS
Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination could not have come at a worse time for turbulent Pakistan and threatens to conflagrate a highly volatile security situation in a largely lawless country armed with nuclear weapons.
Other than the prevailing political chaos ahead of next month's proposed general elections - exacerbated by Bhutto's killing - Pakistan is under siege by Islamists and suicide bombers who have the army in retreat.
People with diabetes lose more than money
By Amit Dwivedi,
"It is not about money. No amount of money will give back my limb" said a 65 years old woman with diabetes (name withheld on request) who underwent limb amputation at the Gandhi Memorial & Associated Hospitals (GM & AH).
She couldn't have been right in conveying the message in the lead up to the World Diabetes Day, 14 November 2008, to prevent many diabetes-related complications that are extremely devastating.
When will Mehbooba take oath? The suspense continues
By Sheikh Qayoom
Jammu : Even as PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has decided to continue the alliance with the BJP, it is unclear when she...
Congress should support government on GST: Naidu
New Delhi : The Congress should support the government to pass the Goods and Service Tax (GST) bill as it is the need of...
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.
Can we put a brake on rampant Islamophobia?
Dr Ram Puniyani
Islamophobia as a word came more into vogue after 9/11 2001 twin tower attack. In the aftermath the American media popularised the...
CPI-M is damned if it does, damned if it doesn’t
By B.R.P. Bhaskar, IANS,
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo meets July 5-6 to grapple with the worrying problem of sectarianism in its Kerala unit. Few political observers believe it is in a position to act decisively.
Gujarat 2002: Do we still need proof?
By Faisal Hashmi
Tehelka-Aaj Tak sting has not brought out anything that we did not know already. Its real worth lies in the clear confession by some of the major actors in the stage-managed massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002.
The latest sting operation by Tehelka lays out the horrors of Gujarat 2002 in all its gory, chilling detail. The major accused in the massacres – Babu Bajrangi, Haresh Bhatt, Madan Chawal, Dhimani Bhatt, Rajendra Vyas and others – boast how they cut Muslims into pieces and set them on fire.