NRIs can gift cars online, no extra charge for blessings!

By Kul Bhushan

When an NRI buys his first new car on returning to India, he knows that he has made it.

Rights of Minorities under the Constitution of India

By Irfan Engineer The recent Judgment given by Justice S. N. Srivastava of Allahabad High Court to the effect that, Muslims in UP are not a minority within the state, came as a surprise to many. The media – both electronic and print media gave prominent coverage to the judgment. The Judgment has now been stayed by the Division Bench of the same Court. The legal and Constitutional merits and demerits of the proposition will be gone into by the Appeal Courts upholding or overruling the judgment of the single judge of the Allahabad High Court in the coming days.

Three factors that influenced Uttar Pradesh elections

By Faraz Ahmad, Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi: The decision of the electorate in Uttar Pradesh to give Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati a clear majority in the assembly and an opportunity to rule India's most populous state for five years with no crutches or obstacles has not been an overnight development. The defeat of Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party in the latest election, and also the reverses for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, has not surprised many in the state, whatever the reaction in the national capital may be.

Pakistan creates army commands to mollify restive military

By Brigadier Arun Sahgal (Retd) Nearly six decades after the country came into being, Pakistan's military junta recently announced the reorganisation of its army's operational deployment into three geographical commands with the ostensible aim of improving efficiency and strengthening its overall command-and-control structure. The Northern, Southern and Central Commands that are being created are to be responsible for the administrative arrangements of the country's nine corps that fall under their respective commands.

What is in BJP’s CD: script in Hindi

नासिरूद�दीन

भाजपा की सीडी में �सा क��या है 

The importance of being Mayawati

By Amulya GanguliThe Uttar Pradesh election results carry two significant messages, which may have a positive impact on political tactics at the national level....

Lesser known heroes of India’s first war of Independence (1857)

By By K. K. Khullar An in-depth study of the great rebellion of 1857...

A new EU constitution – a matter of the right packaging?

By Gaby Mahlberg When the European Union celebrated its 50th anniversary in March, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she intended to present a roadmap setting out how Europe should go forward before Portugal took over the EU presidency this summer. Yet, the word "constitution" was strangely absent from the speeches that marked the great occasion in Berlin. With the German EU presidency ending on June 30, the people of Europe are left wondering what has happened to the proposals to place Europe on a renewed common basis.

Role of madrasas in the 1857 War of Independence

By Firoz Bakht Ahmed More than half a million Muslim clerics sacrificed their lives for India during the various phases of the great 1857 revolt - a fact almost buried like the mutineers themselves. These Indian freedom fighters came from the same madrasas that have been under scanner all over the world since 9/11.

Gen. Jacob, don’t twist the reality of Bangladesh

By Major General (Retd) Sheru Thapliyal

Lt. Gen. J.F.R. Jacob - or Jake as he is popularly known - is a delightful person. Intelligent, witty and eccentric, one has to be fully alert to keep in step with him. Of late, however, whenever one meets him, usually in the library of the United Services Institute, one is dismayed to note that he is so full of himself and obsessed with his role in the liberation of Bangladesh.

An Islamic scholar who served in olive green uniform

A persona tribute to Col. B. K. Narayan By Rudra Narasimham, Rebbapragada

Value of Hussain: life, not painting

ह�सैन की कीमत: पेंटिंग की नहीं, जान की 

नासिरूद�दीन हैदर खॉं 

Say no to condomned sex

By MAHTAB ALAM The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has taken a unilateral decision to introduce Sex Education (better to say Condomed Education) for school students from VI to XIIth in coming academic session (July 2007) in CBSE affiliated/recognized and Govt. funded schools. Thousands of schools Teachers, Resource persons, Experts have been trained and lakhs of rupees has been spent for this purpose THE PROCLAIMED RAITIONALE

Geopolitics and oil supply disruption: Is India prepared?

By Bhamy V. Shenoy IANSWhat do we do when crude price touches $250 a barrel? Even with high foreign exchange reserves, India will have...

Rabindranath Tagore – his work will live for generations

By Amulya Ganguli

If one individual is to be singled out for representing the values and traditions of India from the ancient times to the modern age, it cannot be any one other than Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941).

Summer safaris and spirituality for NRIs

By Kul BhushanUnlike most NRIs who would not go to India during summer, Siddharth 'Sid' Verma landed in New Delhi this month. With temperatures...

Rahul Gandhi prepares ground for a political future

By Gilles VerniersIANSThe election campaign in Uttar Pradesh has sunk into relative apathy, the main parties involved in the competition waiting quietly in the...

Investigating Mehdi Foundation’s beliefs and claims

By Yoginder Sikand A fortnight ago, the walls of my locality in New Delhi were plastered over with posters depicting a bearded man bearing a ponderous turban, below which were etched slogans fiercely denouncing Pakistan. 'Pakistan Promotes Islamic Terrorism', 'Islamic Terrorists Rule Pakistan', 'Declare Pakistan a Terrorist State' and so on the posters proclaimed. They were issued by The Mehdi Foundation International (MFI), a little-known outfit with a rather bombastic name.

SEZs: Government must clear misgivings before moving ahead

By Sushma Ramachandran

IANS

The controversy over the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) appears to be unending with the latest agitation at Nandigram highlighting the depth of feeling in this country over these new entities. The disturbances have taken place even though West Bengal has dropped the idea of SEZs for Nandigram and Singur.

Can NRIs celebrate India’s trillion-dollar economy?

By Kul Bhushan

IANS

If an American NRI visits India now, his dollars will buy much less. This is because the Indian rupee has strengthened against the dollar since 2002, crossing the watershed of Rs.41 to one dollar last week.

Gujarat’s killer cops reflect a communal mindset

By Amulya Ganguli

IANS

Five years after the communal riots in Gujarat, during which a secret collusion between the Narendra Modi government and the police against the Muslims was suspected, several police officers of the state have again been accused of killing Muslims in cold blood.

Fundamentalists – of love and hate

By Vishal Arora

The attack on a Christian priest allegedly by members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the evangelistic zeal demonstrated by the victim right after the assault April 29 in Jaipur brings to light the contrast between the Hindutva and Christian "fundamentalism" in our country.

Islamic ethics and inter-faith relations

By Waris Mazhari

In today’s global village a major challenge is that of relations between different peoples and communities. According to the rules of nature, familiarity should breed love, not contempt or conflict. However, precisely the opposite is happening today. This is because the links that are being established today across cultures through new technological innovations are artificial, not real. They have been brought about by external changes and circumstances.

Army and the peace process in Kashmir

By Ram Puniyani  Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of People's Democratic Party, the party ruling in alliance with Congress in Kashmir, recently called for demilitarization...

advertising war in UP for Muslim votes

 म�स�लिम वोटों के लि� इश��तेहारी जंग 

नसीरूद�दीन

 

बेचारा बनाकर रख दिया

Mayawati’s social engineering proving successful

By Gilles Verniers, IANS One significant trend emerging from the current assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh is the attempt made by most parties to broaden their support base by wooing social groups that did not figure in their traditional support base earlier. The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which occupies the frontrunner position in every exit poll, best embodies this strategy of social coalition building, by mobilising the upper castes, not so long ago depicted as the arch-enemy of its core Dalit support base.

The Muslim Ulema and status of women

By Asghar Ali Engineer

 

The other day I read a news item in the Urdu daily from Mumbai Inquilab about the coming session of Muslim Personal Law Board. I was utterly shocked to read that Personal Law Board is worried that the Government of India has passed a law against domestic violence whereas our ‘Ulema and fuqaha’ (jurists) have always permitted beating of women. According to the law against domestic violence Muslim men have lost right to beat their wives.

 

A step forward with TwoCircles.net

By TwoCircles editorial team

A year ago, in the month of May, we set on a journey to unknown future. We had budget for six months of minimum operation but were hopeful that somehow we will pull it through. Even then it was an uncertain future, but we just wanted to show that it can be done. Muslims can have their own media and their own voice in the ever increasing din of media.

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