‘Neither me nor my colleagues have cheated anybody’
TMMK chief MH Jawahirullah clarifies about his conviction in an alleged cheating case
By MH Jawahirullah,
Expectations from Mamata’s budget: Muslims want education, homes
By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net,
Democracy’s noblest moment
Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam,
Universal adult franchise is the cornerstone of democracy. It is not restricted or conditional “democracy” like the one where franchise is limited to only propertied classes as it was sometimes in pre-Independence India, or the sham “shoora democracy” as operative in some Muslim countries, the consultative body (shoora) being only decorative.
India’s Education System is in total disarray
By Syed Ali Mujtaba,
The controversy surrounding the four-year undergraduate programmes (FYUP) by the Delhi University and its disapproval by the UGC has opened a Pandora box of issues that has set the India’s education system into total disarray.
मज़हब पर उठती उंगलियों से भरा रहा बीता साल
जावेद अनीस
पिछले डेढ़ सालों में इस देश में अभिव्यक्ति की आज़ादी और लोकतंत्र के दायरे कम हुए हैं और बहुसंख्यकवाद का अहंकार सामने आया...
Interview: Malayalam daily Madhyamam’s Editor on Anna’s movement
By Najiya O., TwoCircles.net,
I don’t want people to think that military rule has come: AMU VC
By Jasim Mohammad
Recently-appointed as Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Zameeruddin Shah talks to Jasim Mohammad about his plan for the university.
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...
Allah Baksh: Unsung hero of India’s freedom struggle
By Shamsul Islam,
On this May 14, 2014 falls the 71st anniversary of the martyrdom of one of the greatest freedom fighters of India, Allah Baksh. He lived and sacrificed his life for a free and all inclusive India. Allah Baksh was the Premier (those days chief minister was known by this designation) of Sind during the eventful days of ‘Quit India’ Movement of 1942 as head of the ‘Ittehad Party’ (Unity Party) which represented all sections of Sind and did not allow Muslim League to have any foothold in the Muslim majority province of Sind. Allah Baksh and his Party were not part of the Indian National Congress but when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a derogatory reference to the Indian freedom struggle and the ‘Quit India’ Movement in a speech in the British Parliament, Allah Baksh renounced in protest all titles conferred by the British Government.
Indian Muslims are not well served by their leaders
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS
It may be a coincidence, but both India and Pakistan have started talking in terms of reforming the traditional madrassa system of education. While Pakistan's initiative has understandably followed the tragic Lal Masjid episode, the Indian government's proposed measures are evidently the fallout of pressure from the Hindu communal outfits.
IPI pipeline a good option – but a security nightmare
By Gurmeet Kanwal, IANS,
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmud Qureshi said after a visit to New Delhi last month that most of the outstanding differences on the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline had been resolved and that the three countries were now in a position to reach final agreement at the next round of joint talks. In order to allay India's apprehensions, Qureshi also conveyed Pakistan's offer to guarantee the physical security of the gas pipeline.
Abul Hussain – A different story of a differently able person
By Diganta Sharma and Anjuman Ara Begum,
Polls for 5 Assemblies: A mid-term ‘referendum’ for UPA-II?
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
An interview with Dr Shariq Nisar, the architect of India’s Shariah Index
By Rehan Ansari, TwoCircles.net,
Dr Shariq Nisar, the architect of India’s Shariah Index (i.e. BSE TASIS Shariah 50) has been the man behind the launch of many shariah compliant products in the country such as Taurus Ethical Fund (By Taurus Mutual Fund), Pure Stock Pension Fund (By Bajaj Allianz), Secura India Real Estate Fund (India’s only Shariah compliant SEBI approved real estate venture capital fund). Most recently Dr Shariq has been associated with the launch of Shariah compliant commodities trading by National Spot Exchange Ltd.
Do Muslims ever follow ‘Imams’ in elections?
By Ashfaque Khan,
Self-proclaimed tellers of the imagined Muslim Vote Bank are not going to influence voting behaviour in any significant way.
Dispatch from Kashmir: Afzal Guru hanging and the ‘core’ of Indian nationhood
Transforming Kashmir from ‘the issue’ to ‘one of the issues’ is a rich reflection of India’s diplomatic craftsmanship, even though Pakistan continued to harp...
Quirks of History: How Jinnah forestalled Fazlul Haq’s gambit
By Prof. Refaqat Ali Khan,
Write Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh, an NGO, invited me to attend the SAARC Literary Festival in Dhaka on 27-28 February, 2014. Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives were participants. The seminar / festival proposed a discussion / review “Beyond Borders, Trust and Reconciliation”.
AAP’s Bhopal candidate Rachna Dhingra finds support at MIT
By TCN News,
Boston, USA. Supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) from the Greater Boston area gathered to screen award winning documentary (on the Bhopal disaster) Bhopali on Sunday April 6th at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The event was organized by the Boston chapter of University Students for Aam Admi Party (us4AAP), an organization with chapters in more than 100 campuses, and AAP - New England who have been actively working on supporting AAP candidates in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in India.
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.
Gordimer: Chronicler of apartheid and South Africa’s transition
By Saeed Naqvi,
The world was in ideological transition when I met Nadine Gordimer in her bungalow in a Johannesburg suburb. Nelson Mandela had been released that very month after 27 years in the “White Man’s prison”. Earlier, the Soviet Union had collapsed.
‘General Muslims fall victims to selective media; Safe for groups and orgns to raise...
By Abdul Basith, TwoCircles.net,
See no reason why Bangladeshis would come to India: Prof. Monirul Hussain
Over four months have passed since violence broke out in the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) in July 2012. In this special series on...