Owaisi’s partymen abort Taslima Nasrin’s visit to Aurangabad

July 31, 2017

Arriving at the airport from Delhi, the exiled Bangladeshi writer proceeded to Mumbai on police advice

Following protests against her by the local leaders and workers of the All-India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), the exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin was forced to abort her planned visit to the heritage Ajanta and Ellora Caves.

Curiously, the AIMIM seems better informed than the Aurangabad police about Taslima’s movements. Around 6 p.m. on Saturday evening a large number of protesters assembled outside a five-star hotel where Taslima was to stay in Aurangabad en route to the caves. That’s when the police first came to know that Taslima was due to arrive in the city. Meanwhile, a second contingent of protesters assembled outside the airport, shouting anti-Taslima slogans.

The Delhi-Mumbai Air India flight via Aurangabad in which the writer was travelling landed at Aurangabad airport at 7.30 p.m. While the flight was in transit, the police spoke to Taslima inside the airport to apprise her of the situation. Having done so, the writer reportedly was offered security cover if she wished to continue with her travel plans. Alternatively, the police offered to find her a seat for her forward journey to Mumbai in the same aircraft which had brought her to Aurangabad.

Taslima “readily agreed” to abort her planned visit and proceed to Mumbai, the police told the Indian Express. She was put back on the Air India flight which took off from Aurangabad for Mumbai at 8.30 p.m.

It may be recalled that Taslima was attacked at a book launch function in Hyderabad in August 2007 by a group of MIM workers led by three of the party’s MLAs. The party had subsequently defended the hooliganism and had warned of serious consequences if she dared enter Hyderabad again.

The situation in Aurangabad has already been tense in recent days on account of demolition of illegal religious structures.

“Police personnel have been deployed in large numbers. If Taslima visited the city at such a time, a major law and order problem would have broken out. Therefore, I spoke to senior officials from police and the administration and asked them to stop Nasrin from entering the city,” the MIM MLA from Aurangabad, Imtiaz Jaleel, told The Indian Express.

“If she had been allowed to reach her hotel, protesters would have greeted her with eggs and tomatoes. While we are all for freedom of speech and expression, she writes against the Prophet and Islam. Youths cannot stand her and as a responsible legislator, I ensured she is sent back,” Jaleel added.

Batra’s Textbook Project: Undoing Democratic-Secular India, the RSS Way

July 31, 2017

The RSS brigade is fond of ‘surgical strikes’. Though, there is still a dispute in the rational sphere about whether or not these surgical strikes against Pakistan have secured any favourable results for India, militarily or even tactically, back home on the ground, it is India’s minorities, especially Muslims, Christians and even Dalits, who have been the sacrificial goats at the altar of this aggressive militarism. The lynching, maiming and robbing of fellow Indians, in the name of ‘ghar wapsi’ (a misnomer for the forcible conversion to Hinduism), ‘Holy Cow’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ (an aggressive, supremacist slogan)is part of a cynically crafted strategy. Executed by the brown shirts of an ideology that strikes at the heart of secular democratic India, the Modi regime has also in the past 26 months been attacking (even destroying) all that has been positive within the Indian system of education.

Image: Hindustan Times

The central MHRD ministry has been busy in waging war against universities like Hyderabad Central University, JNU and Jadavpur University. In turn, the teachers and students bodies of these Universities have been heroically resisting this supremacist, Hindutva take-over by both the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Vice-Chancellors owing clear allegiance to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The latest instance in this deplorable saga, a calendar of de-modernisation let loose by the Modi regime, is that the VC of JNU has demanded the display of an army tank at all the Central Universities specially the JNU campus! This demand for a symbolic display of military hardware is a precursor to a scenario when active army columns with tanks will control or rule over such universities as happened in Bangladesh under Pakistani military rule and Indonesia under General Suharto. In fact, such a warning was issued in unambiguous terms by G D Bakshi at the JNU on July 21, the day when India under Modi commemorated ‘victory in the Kargill war’ against Pakistan. Bakshi spoke these words in the presence of many central ministers. Not a votary for free expression and dissent, he said that after the government’s”victory over JNU” there “are many forts like Jadavpur and Hyderabad University which our army will (also) capture”. This militarist terminology aimed at free speech, independent political thought and dissentis illustrative of the values that the regime represents.

Apart from physical attacks and clear and unambiguous threats of elimination made by the ruling political and military class to these centres of learning, a far more insidious game-plan to undermine democratic India is underfoot. At the helm is RSS pracharak, Dina Nath Batra. He, as the father-figure of the RSS’demolition squad against India’s largely liberal-democratic-secular system of school education, aimed at producing inquiring and questioning minds who, as citizens, then question the status quo. Batra has recently come out with a new ‘hit list’: of content that he, and the RSS believe should be cleansed from educational content in Indian educational curricula.

According to press reports, the RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (Nyas) headed by Batra sent to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) five pages of recommendations, clearly demanding the removal of certain contents from school text-books.

This Nyas had earlier succeeded in getting removed renowned historian, A K Ramanujan’s book ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation’ from the syllabus of University of Delhi. This work chronicled the hundreds of versions of Ramayana which existed in the Indian past in different regions of India thus challenging the singularity of the text of this Epic which the supremacist, Hindutva brigade wants to declare as the Holy Scripture. The Nyas also forced Penguin India Publishers to withdraw the original (and highly regarded) work on Hinduism titled ‘The Hindus: An Alternative History’ by the American Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Wendy Doniger. Penguin India capitulated rather easily, withdrawing the author’s book without so much as informing the author.

[[Note: Even before the RSS combine set it’s eyes on ‘cleaning of the NCERT text books via Batra, the RSS/BJP-run state governments in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and MP have already removed/curtailed references to Gandhi and Nehru from the history and social studies texts, and added, in its place, the glorification of personalities like Savarkar.Education is a subject on the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution: emboldened by their successes in changing school text books in the states, it is the national level text books and their content which is the target now. ]]

Remove References which Challenge Patriarchy
Where the Hindutva, supremacist right stands on gender relations stands exposed with some of the ‘subjects’ on the Batra ‘Hit List’: they expose a rather sharp gender discrimination of the RSS.

For instance, the reference in a grade IX Hindi bookwith explanatory-note of a poem by renowned Hindi poet, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar is sought to be removed as such contents “misguide children and cause the loss of their character”.

Second, the ‘cleansing’ from the NCERT text, of a chapter on the great Kannada Bhakti poet Akka Mahadevi which describes the unique protest by shedding of her clothes of the protagonist is another instance. According to Batra such a“description of naked women” is an “attack on Hindu culture in the name of woman’s freedom”.

Batra also demands that an extract from the 19th century activist Tarabai Shinde’s milestone book A Comparison Between Women and Men, which attacks patriarchy and is considered the first feminist text to have been penned in modern India should be removed from class VIII text book. All references to the caste (Varna) system should be dropped too, demands Batra on behalf of the RSS, the ideological fountainhead of the Modi government.

Remove References to Violence Against Minorities
Looked at in their entirety, the removal/rectifications demanded from the NCERT textbooks by the Nyas follow a pattern determined by the discourse of Hindutvasupremacists.

Any reference to systemic violence against minorities referred to in these textbooks must to be removed, is the demand.

The references to the apology tendered by former PM Manmohan Singh (a Sikh) over the 1984 riots (which was in fact, was a pogrom against the Sikhs) must also be deleted.

The specific objection is to this portion of the text in the class XII political science book. “During his parliament speech in 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed regret over the bloodshed and sought an apology from the country for anti-Sikh violence.”

Another sentence that “nearly 2,000 Muslims were killed in Gujarat in 2002” must be deleted.

The RSS-backed Nyas demands there be ‘no discussion’ on ‘riots’. “Several things (in these books) are baseless, biased. There is an attempt to insult members of a community. There is also an appeasement… how can you inspire children by teaching them about riots?”

On this flimsy intellectual justification, recurring violence against minorities –a major illustration of internal conflict within India– is sought to be kept out of the social science texts, and thus sought to be brushed away from the living memory of students.

Remove References to Amir Khusrow
The political project of the RSS, the Modi regime, articulated through the demands of the Nyas, are potent and clear. Committed to attacking the basis of Indian syncretism and co-existence, especially epitomized by many Sufi mystics and saints, one of the most outrageous and blatant demands relates to the medieval Sufi mystic Amīr Khusrow (1253-1325). Manipulating both historical record and fact, this rebid organization ahs demanded that Khusrow should be identified as a person who “increased the rift between Hindus and Muslims”.

There cannot be a lie worse than this one. Amīr Khusrow was the person who laid the foundation of modern-day Hindi which the forces and organisations of Hindutva today identify as‘Hinduism’, with demands that it be imposed on all of India as Hindavi. He wrote in Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic and Punjabi. He is credited with the development of qawwali as a singing genre, dastangoi, an art of story-telling and musical instruments like both the tabla and harmonium.

Due to his deep commitment to Sufiism and a liberal outlook on Islam he has forever remained an eyesore of conservative Muslim clergy and rulers of Delhi while he lived.

Now, close to 800 years after his death, the forces of Hindutva –the flip side of Islamism—find his life etachings of tolerance and syncretism, anathema.

Remove Tagore’s Writings
The Nyas has also demandedthe deletion from school text-books of the writings and thoughts of one of the greatest literary-cultural icons of modern India, Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore a great poet, dramatist, author, musician, calligrapher, sculptor, orator and painter (also a recipient of the Nobelprize for literature), according to Nyas and Batra ‘needs to be censured because “an attempt has been made to show a rift between nationality and humanity by citing thoughts of Rabindranath Tagore”.’

It is no doubt true that Tagore with many great contemporary philosophers of the world like CHJ Hayes, Renan, EJ Hobsbawm and BR Ambedkar condemned the concept of nationalism as it fostered the growth of sectarianism, separation and violence against ‘others’ who were different from ‘us’.

According to Tagore: “The idea of the nation is one of the most powerful anaesthetics that man has invented. Under the influence of its fumes the whole people can carry out its systematic programme of the most virulent self-seeking without being in the least aware of its moralperversion,in fact, feeling dangerously resentful if it is pointed out”

Tagore was the artist who penned, not only the National Anthem of India but also that of Bangladesh. Despite being opposed to a poisonous nationalism, he remained rooted and committed to India and its people.

He returned all awards as protest to the barbarous massacre of Indians at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, by the British army in 1919. While renouncing the awards he wrote to the then Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford: “The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in the incongruous context of humiliation, and I for my part, wish to stand, shorn, of all special distinctions, by the side of those of my countrymen who, for their so called insignificance, are liable to suffer degradation not fit for human beings.”

India and the world need to compare these actions of Tagore with the contemporary RSS leaders who have kept mum on this brute massacre. The Hindutva right, not only opposed the freedom struggle but joined hands with the Muslim League in dividing the joint freedom struggle on the basis of religion.
Tagore’s scathing critiques of narrow versions of patriotism and his espousal of universalism are clearly a bitter cultural medicine for the supremacists to follow.

Remove the Poem of Avatar Singh Pash
Batra and the RSS also want the removal of renowned Punjabi poet, Avtar Singh Pash’s poetry from school texts. Pash’s verses are passionate and heart-rending. His poetry is a cru against divisive, hate-driven forces trying to divide Hindus and Sikhs in Punjab. A courageous cultural activist, he formed the literary-cum-political organization, ANTI-47 FRONT, inviting the ire of some pro-Bhindranwale elements. He with his close friend, Hans Raj was shot dead on March 23, 1988 in Punjab.

Is it any surprise that the RSS wants references to voices against communal division removed from our texts?

Remove Ghalib’s Verse and MF Husain’s Biography
Among the list of Hindutva demands for cuts from school texts, the verse of Ghalib also must face the axe. The couplets of Ghalib (‘Hum ko malum hai jannat ki haqiqat lekin/dil ko khush rakhne ko Ghalib ye khyal achchha hai), a poet who defied Islamic clergy throughout his life must go. The biography of MF Husain whose sketches of Hindu gods/goddesses were once most popular and sought after in the calendar publishing industry of Indiamust be removed because the “central government considered his activities a threat to the country’s unity and sovereignty”.References from school texts of any or some Mughal emperors as benevolent and the reference to BJP as party committed to Hindutva also need to be removed.

English Words like Vice Chancellor and Urdu Phrases like Mehman Nawazi Have no Place in the RSS Worldview
The Nyas is also clearly attempting language cleansing. English words like vice-chancellor, worker, margin, business, backbone, stanza, royal academy must be dropped, they say.

Aggressively against Urdu, they have also demanded that some Urdu/Persian/Arabic words must be removed. These are, poshaak (attire), taakat(power), ilaaka (territory), aksar (often), imaan (belief),mehman-navaazi(hospitality), sare-aam (openly).Interestingly, if it is the beginning of cleansing of the words from Urdu/Persian/Arabic languages then the word Hindu also will also have to be dropped. According to Swami Vivekananda,the word Hindu was coined by the Persians.

RSS pracharaks seem to be launching an era of language McCarthyism.

The project is manifold. While the rulers wedded to Hindutva are facilitating the cleansing of minorities (through their cadres of saffron shirts) on the one hand, we find its ‘professors’ working overtime to turn Indian school education into Daronacharya’s gurukul where the interests and ideas of the ‘higher’ castes are the only ones that would be served. Eklavyas –Eklavya an accomplished archer from a subordinate caste had his thumb chopped off so that any competition to his more privileged competitors could be removed –have no place in the supremacist Hindutva nation.

Which is why and how the project of Hindutva for the Hindu Rashtra is eroding the foundations of secular, democratic India.

Bursting the Myth: A Muslim woman claims divorce and also retains her Mehr

July 31, 2017

“It is so much more than I expected. I wanted to get out of a bad marriage but everyone said I would have to give up my right to Mehr.”

Zeenat was shown a rosy picture of marriage. A well settled loving husband, an understanding family… she thought she had it all. After completing her B.Com choose to get married rather than pursue a career. Taking care of a family and home was after all a full time task. The wedding was a big affair. Zeenat was presented with a Mehr of 10 Tolas of gold and some valuables.

But soon after marriage reality struck and the rosy picture began to melt away. Differences arose and harassment from his family began. Zeenat and her husband were asked to live separately. It was then that Zeenat saw the true picture of her husband. She soon realised that her husband was not ‘well settled’ infact he did not earn enough to maintain their needs. There were times when there was no electricity or water as the bills were not cleared. Not able to make ends meet he blamed Zeenat for his condition and accused her of breaking up his family. When Zeenat told him she too could work and contribute he refused and started suspecting her intentions. He then put restrictions on her, even refusing to let her speak to her mother. Her life was filled with drudgery, despair and loneliness. When Zeenat could not take it anymore she left and came to live with her mother.

Sneha a local NGO whom Zeenat had approached, referred her to Majlis. Zeenat’s immediate question was that her husband had called her to bank to open their joint locker claiming he would give her the gold that her mother gave her but not her Mehr. We advised her against going. We feared that once the joint locker was open her husband may take away the entire gold and she would never be able to trace it again. We advised her it was best we get her belongings and Mehr from court as both were legally and rightfully hers.

We filed her case under the Protection of Women under Domestic Violence Act, 2005, through a Protection Officer. We argued for interim maintenance and return of her belongings and Mehr. The husband claimed he was not earning and hence could not pay maintenance. We produced bills of his treatment at Jaslok hospital and pointed out to the court – if a man can afford an expensive hospital for his own treatment he could definitely pay maintenance to his wife. Zeenat was granted interim maintenance. The Court also passed an order for the release of Zeenat’s belongings and her Mehr. The Protection Officer was ordered to help Zeenat regarding the same. Zeenat was relieved that her rights had finally been protected.

But her relef was shortlived. Her husband appealed against the maintenance order in Session court. Simultaneously he filed a case in family court under “restitution of conjugal rights’ asking her to come back. In the Sessions Court we placed all facts before the judge and explained that Zeenat did not want to go back to her violent husband and wanted a Khula. The Judge was supportive of her decision and convinced the husband to settle the matter. Her husband finally agreed and Zeenat not only got her Mehr but also a lumpsum settlement amount of Rs. 2,75,000/-. We simultaneously approached the local Kazi where her Khula was granted. The entire case took a year to end.

“It is so much more than I expected. I wanted to get out of a bad marriage but everyone said I would have to give up my right to Mehr. Majlis helped me secure my dignity and my rights” says a relieved Zeenat. “It is a common misconception that Muslim women cannot ask for divorce. Or that if she asks for divorce she wil have to give up her right to Mehr. Since marriage is a contract the Quran has ensured that the scales are even. A wife cannot be made to feel indebted to the husband forever. We have to protect her rights.” reiterates her lawyer at Majlis. Today Zeenat has started working and is negotiating her own life.

This article is a part of the ‘Umeed:Stories of Hope’ published by Majlis Legal Centre.

Republished with permission from Majlis Legal Centre.

Noam Chomsky extends support to Narmada Valley struggle, as indefinite Fast enters fourth day

July 31, 2017

Eminent American linguist, social critic, and political activist, Noam Chomsky extended his support to the project affected people of the Narmada Valley when the indefinite fast and dharna of 100s people are underway in Narmada valley.

Signing the petition started by former IIM Kolkata professor and environmentalist Jayanta Bandopadhyay, Chomsky joins 100s of other people from different walks of life demanding justice from Prime Minister Modi for the project affected people. So far, the petition has gathered signatures from 29 countries.

The support from Chomsky comes on the third day of the indefinite fast of Medha Patkar and 12 other project affected people in the submergence village Chikkalda, on the banks of river Narmada, in Madhya Pradesh. People are on fast against the forced displacement and demanding just rehabilitation, and intimidation with 100s of armed police camping in the submergence zone. The claimed rehabilitation sites are far from habitable, with even basic amenities like drinking water missing.

The petition said, “The Supreme Court order clearly states that Resettlement and Rehabilitation of the Project Affected Families to be complete in all respects before any forcible displacement of these villages is directed. Closing of the gates is de facto a method of forcible eviction and thus, not only a barbaric act but also a disrespect of the court order.”

The petition demands a comprehensive re-survey of project affected people giving priority to rehabilitation first by following orders of the Supreme Court so that no family is evicted without rehabilitation. It also demands directions to Madhya Pradesh Govt. and authorities to provide the benefits to farmers as per the Supreme Court orders to ensure alternative livelihoods and to constitute a committee to assess the impact on environment, river and forests by submergence and also the impact in downstream flow of the river.

Chomsky said in the petition that meeting the rightful demands of the people is “essential to ensure the faith of people in non-violent, democratic and constitutional governance and struggle for their rights. I, on behalf of the people of Narmada valley, now appeal to you for immediate attention and intervention to save the people threatened by submergence.”

Link to the petition is HERE.

Courtesy: India Resists

Armed Forces Veterans Speak Out – ‘Act Now to Uphold the Constitution’

July 31, 2017

In the midst of all the cacophony and shrill pseudo-nationalist rhetoric that is destroying the fabric of a plural India, often in the name of the Armed Forces, 114 veterans of the Indian Armed Forces have spoken out. They have spoken out in no uncertain terms against targeted attacks on Muslims and Dalits and against the attempts to destroy the Constitution – upon which arose the new, independent India.

Image: PTI

An Open Letter from Veterans of the Armed Forces

To: the Prime Minister of India, Chief Ministers of the States, and Lieutenant-Governors of the Union Territories.
30 July, 2017

We are a group of Veterans of the Indian Armed Forces who have spent our careers working for the security of our country. Collectively, our group holds no affiliation with any single political party, our only common commitment being to the Constitution of India.

It saddens us to write this letter, but current events in India have compelled us to register our dismay at the divisiveness that is gripping our country. We stand with the ‘Not in My Name’ campaign that mobilised thousands of citizens across the country to protest against the current climate of fear, intimidation, hate and suspicion.

The Armed Forces stand for “Unity in Diversity”. Differences in religion, language, caste, culture or any other marker of belonging have not mattered to the cohesion of the Armed Forces, and servicemen of different backgrounds have fought shoulder to shoulder in the defence of our nation, as they continue to do today. Throughout our service, a sense of openness, justice and fair play guided our actions. We are one family. Our heritage is like the multi-coloured quilt that is India, and we cherish this vibrant diversity.

However, what is happening in our country today strikes at all that the Armed Forces, and indeed our Constitution, stand for. We are witness to unprecedented attacks on society at large by the relentless vigilantism of self-appointed protectors of Hinduism. We condemn the targeting of Muslims and Dalits. We condemn the clampdowns on free speech by attacks on media outlets, civil society groups, universities, journalists and scholars, through a campaign of branding them anti-national and unleashing violence against them while the State looks away.

We can no longer look away. We would be doing a disservice to our country if we do not stand up and speak for the liberal and secular values that our Constitution espouses. Our diversity is our greatest strength. Dissent is not treason; in fact, it is the essence of democracy.
We urge the powers that be at the Centre and in the States to take note of our concerns and urgently act to uphold our Constitution, both in letter and in spirit.

Signatories (in alphabetical order of last name)

Lt Col EN Ambre
Brig VKS Antony
Maj MK Apte
Col CT Arasu
Lt Col Israr Asghar
Cdr CR Babu
Lt Cdr PS Bal
Lt Cdr Rakeh Bali
Maj Gen Dipankar Banerjee
Lt Gen CA Barretto
Brig Noel Barretto
Col TS Bedi
Surg Cdr P Bellubi
Petty Off Gajanan Bhat IN
Cdr PG Bhat
Gp Capt AV Bhagwat
Col V Bopiah
Maj Gen PR Bose
Vice Adm A Britto
Col RT Chacko
Lt Col M Chandrasekhar
Cdre R Clarke
Col KS Choudhry
Brig TPS Chowdhury
Brig Dileep Deore
Col Samuel Dhar
Lt Gen FT Dias
Lt Col AP Durai
Gp Capt MP Elangovan
Maj Gen Shyamal Ghosh
Col V Nanda Gopal
Cdre EC Govindan
Col V Govindarajan
Col RP Grover
Cdre PC Gulati
Cdr M Hari
Lt Col Muzaffar Hasan
Brig Prem Hejmadi
AVM Kapil Kak
Col AT Kalghatgi
Maj Gen MPS Kandal
Col MS Kapoor
Maj Gen TK Kaul
Lt Col PB Keskar
Lt Col V Kharkar
Wg Cdr R Khosla
Brig Anil Malhotra
Col Arun Malhotra
Lt Col RC Malhotra
Brig GK Malik
Cdre G Menezes
Wg Cdr SN Metrani
Maj GN Misra
AVM RP Misra
Col Biman Mistry
Col RB Mistry
Col AK Mitra
Col Pradip Mitra
Maj Gen H Mukherji
Maj Gen RPRC Naidu
Col Pavan Nair
Lt Col VK Nair
Col RLV Nath
Cdr M Nirmal
Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi
Rear Adm Alan O’Leary
Air Cdre Tanpat Pannu
Lt Col Niraj Pant
Col RC Patial
Cdr Hector Poppen
Capt Subbarao Prabhala IN
Brig Ranjit Prasad
Brig VHM Prasad
Wg Cdr KV Raghuram
Brig RS Rajan
Col SS Rajan
Cdr SM Rajeshwar
Air Marshal Philip Rajkumar
Col TN Raman
Admiral L Ramdas
Vice Adm IC Rao
Col TK Ravindranath
Air Marshal DS Sabhikhi
Lt Col Nagaraj Sastry
Lt Gen KM Seth
Col PD Shah
Brig Baqir Shameem
Lt Gen YN Sharma
Lt Col HD Shirmane
Vice Adm MR Schunker
Cdr MA Somana
Brig Amardeep Singh
Gp Capt DR Singh
Brig Joginder Singh
Brig Mastinder Singh
Cdr Rajiv Singh
Col Salam K Singh
Col S Srikantha
Brig M Sudandiram
Flt Lt R Suresh
Sgt MN Subramani
Lt Cdr P Subramanyam
Maj Gen L Tahliani
Cdr SP Taneja
Cdr TP Tharian
Lt Col JK Thomas
Cdr M Thomas
Cdr N Tripathy
Air Marshal NV Tyagi
Capt AK Varma
Wg Cdr BJ Vaz
Maj Rajah Velu
Lt Col R Venugopal
Maj Gen SG Vombatkere

After fatwa for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’, Muslim minister in Nitish cabinet repents, granted “re-entry” into Islam

July 31, 2017

Was Bihar’s JD(U) MLA, Khurshid alias Firoz Alam rewarded with the post of the Ministry of Minority Affairs in the Nitish Kumar cabinet for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ outside the Bihar Assembly after the trust vote last Friday?

Image: Inquilab Urdu

Maybe, maybe not. But Khurshid’s exuberance at the JD(U)-BJP reunion has proved to be short-lived. Faced with a strong backlash from the community he has had to make a quick U-turn, apologised to fellow Muslims and repented before maulanas in order to gain “re-entry” into Islam.

When criticised for his ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chant, Khurshid had earlier asserted: “If my ‘Jai Shri Ram’ can help some Muslims, I am willing to chant it morning, noon and night”. He added: “I worship Ram as I worship Rahim and I bow my head before all religious places in the country”.

The statement attracted a fatwa from Mufti Sohail Ahmed Qasmi of Bihar’s Imarat-e-Shariah, expelling Khurshid from Islam. The fatwa, among other things, meant that Khurshid’s wife was no longer “lawful” to him.

According to the Urdu daily Inquilab, Khurshid was slammed by infuriated fellow Muslims at a meeting of his own minorities affairs department convened by the chief minister on Sunday.

Khurshid initially protested saying he was not even given a chance to explain himself before the fatwa was issued against him. But this further inflamed sentiments. Nitish then reportedly advised Khurshid to apologise for causing hurt and seek the advice of the maulanas who were present at the meeting.

“The CM told me that if anyone felt hurt by my statement I should apologise. My intention was not to hurt anyone. I have come to serve the people,” said Khurshid.

As advised by some maulanas, the rattled minister presented himself before Mufti Qasmi and other ulema at Imarat-e-Shariah to apologise to them, repent, seek Allah’s forgiveness and recite the kalima afresh to gain reentry into Islam.

Following this, a statement issued by Mufti Qasmi stated that since Khurshid has repented, sought Allah’s forgiveness and has recited the kalima he should be treated as a Muslim by co-religionists. The statement also urged everyone to cooperate with Khurshid in the discharge of his duties as Minister for Minorities Affairs.

Hashtag Waah/ #Waah / #Manto

July 30, 2017

Building a space for Indian literary giants with the Khwaab Tanha Collective

I first discovered the Khwaab Tanha Collective like I discover most things – on my facebook newsfeed. Between a photograph of a recent graduation and an article from buzzfeed was a bright yellow picture that caught my eye. On it, an unfamiliar face sat alongside a very familiar name – Saadat Hasan Manto.

I remember Manto from my first year as an undergraduate student at Delhi University. It is through him that I began to understand a history of partition beyond the bare accounts of textbooks, learning of a time and an India that I had never known. His name made me pause but what I was struck by was the image that accompanied it. In delicate black and white brushstrokes, leaning slightly away from the viewer, a thoughtful looking man stood smoking a cigarette. His hair was pushed back, his jacket hung open. He was not what I expected.

Then again, I am not sure that I expected anything at all. In the peculiar way that some writers can become a part of your consciousness with no images to accompany their names, Manto – with his striking portraits of Partition – has become a name without a face.

This is what Shiraz Hussain, the man behind the fascinating Khwaab Tanha Collective, wants to correct.

In his hands, the greats of Indian literature – Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Ghalib, Amrita Pritam – emerge in incredibly detailed portraits, their faces alongside their words, reaching out to new audiences in refreshingly new ways.

Over the past year, Hussain has created illustrations for dozens of works of Urdu literature, bringing generations of Indian writing to modern mediums, using gifs, videos, and social media platforms to create a contemporary, multi-lingual catalogue of great literature.

To better understand what this project means for the place of an ancient language in a dynamic digital age, I speak to Shiraz Hussain.

The title of your project Khwaab Tanha Collective, translates loosely to ‘ a loner’s dream’. What is the significance of this title to your work?

This title has many stories and few intersecting meanings. As a teenager I remember how Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead strongly affected me, how this man does not compromise on his artistic perspective … his take on the world was quite moving. Like the protagonist, I believe that the occurrence of a dream or an idea is quite lonely at first. Later, one can share one’s dream and vision with others. And the other word in the title – collective – is a bit ironic since I am alone in this endeavor though I have planned to collaborate with musicians and actors in future. The conceptual artist Shea Hembrey, who creates artwork through fictional characters, also inspired me.

Your work introduces new audiences to Urdu literature at a time when a lot of young Indians are unaware of its ubiquity or significance. What do you think your position as an artist achieves in this regard?

Degas has said that art is not what you see but what you make others see. With Khwaab Tanha, I try bending things which most people see as a straight line. Celebrating our literary giants in visual culture is a big responsibility. I have to tune a visual frequency which is “hash tag wow’’ for the youth and “waah” for the older audience. It’s totally wonderful and motivating that ‘Khwaab Tanha’ is connecting spreading love among literature enthusiasts not only from India but also from Poland, America, and Pakistan.

There are sections of this nation that maintain an opposition to Urdu and view it as a ‘foreign’ language. What do you believe your art can achieve in the face of such responses?

What they are calling a ‘Foreign language’ is actually a language which was born by the people, for the people, and of the people of India.

I am similarly saddened by the act of angry protesters, where they deface Hindi and English nameplates in Bengaluru because they want to have Kannada everywhere. Love your language but don’t disrespect or hate others.

One of my friends recently showed me a picture of two women on a social media website. To my surprise they were holding ‘Khwaab Tanha’ posters in Urdu and Hindi at jantar Mantar, protesting the terror attack on Amarnath pilgrims. At that moment I realized I am not alone to believe in ‘Khwaab Tanha’ and I never will be.

Urdu writing has, in the pre Independence era specifically had a distinct, irreverent, radical, and humour laden element. Do you think this aspect of the language and culture of Urdu can serve a valuable function today?

The beauty and design of this language that it can adapt, survive, and flourish even in the most unfriendly environment. Urdu is around us but we don’t realize or recognize it easily.

For example, in Bollywood movies Urdu is everywhere. Film writers and lyricists simply can’t do without using Urdu words and poetry styles.

Our minds are like parachutes – they work well when they are open. Urdu can function astonishingly well but for that we have to open up first.

Your work has adapted to new digital forms such as gifs. What potential do you think these forms have for art projects like yours? Do you have plans to expand into other forms like animation or short films?

As an artist, I work in multiple disciplines – my personal drawings are different from Khwaab Tanha. When I work on poets and their couplets, my work is not abstract.

I keep experimenting with different visual styles like GIFs, short videos and even audio clips to make the experience of Khwaab Tanha more enriching and engaging.

At present, I am planning some short videos with my friends at the National School of Drama – musicians and performance artists. If all goes well, I will be out with a wonderful line of art works in the third quarter of this year, called ‘Soorat nikli’.

How do you view the status of Urdu literature in Indian academia today? For instance, as a student of literature in India, I had fairly limited exposure to Urdu writing, even in translation. Do you see a need or a way to correct this?

To be frank and straight forward, the status of this language is not very good. But we cannot always blame the ‘Sarkar ‘for this cold behavior. We have to work towards solving this problem. I agree that Urdu has fairly limited exposure and the line of translation is quite skinny. Quite recently in a meeting at Urdu Ghar at Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu, which is the premier organization working for the promotion and dissemination of Urdu, we were discussing the availability and importance of translation of contemporary writers and how necessary buying and not borrowing is when it comes to Urdu books, magazines and newspapers. You are free to like and share a moving picture of a beggar at red light but you are equally free to get up and feed a starving soul. As a visual artist I am working and trying in the best possible way I can. As a writer, you can act in way which is best known to you. There should be more employment when it comes to Urdu. This problem needs actual participation, apart from addressing the ‘foreign language’ treatment from some lunatics.

Though the state of this language is serious, I am not disheartened at all because I am witnessing an emerging crop of writers and literature enthusiasts very eagerly learning the nuances of Urdu, from all regions and religions of India. There is a thin silver lining which is widening slowly.

Nikaah halala is a slur on Islam; un-constitutional

July 29, 2017

While much of the dust has been cleared on the triple talaq issue, the concept of halala still continues to be shrouded in confusion. It is shocking that Muslims are treating halala as a means of fulfilling their immoral imputes, giving it a derogatory connotation.

Representational image. Courtesy: satyavaijayi

In Islam, ‘Halala’ is a term that finds its roots in ‘Halal’ that translates to something that is permissible, and therefore ‘lawful’. In context of marriage then, it means that a divorced woman can become ‘Halal’ (lawful) for her husband again after the process of Nikah Halala.

Islam dictates that a Muslim man has the liberty to divorce and remarry the same woman twice. However, if he decides to dissolve the marriage for the third time, he can only remarry the same woman if she first marries another man, consummates the marriage and only if the man dies or willingly asks for divorce, can the woman go back to her first husband and remarry him.

Once the wife is divorced she becomes haram (forbidden for the husband).it is a highly erroneous belief that if she wants to remarry the earlier husband she will have to consummate her marriage with another man and then get a divorce from him to become eligible to join her former husband. This is not an issue of how you debate or argue a case to make it a perfect crime. It is a matter of one’s spiritual intention. it is a matter of one’s connection with the Supreme. Halala is actually a provision which allows a woman to remarry a husband if such circumstances occur in the normal course and are not pre-engineered. The Qur’an visualizes pre-ordained marriages between the estranged couple while laying down this stipulation.

What is being talked of today are pre-planned halala marriages to circumvent the Islamic law of talaq.

What is being talked of today are pre-planned Halala marriages to circumvent the Islamic law of talaq.

The Qur’an expounds:

“So if a husband divorces his wife (for a third time), he cannot, after that remarry her until after she has married another husband and he has divorced her. In that case, there is no blame on either of them if they re-unite, provided they can keep the limits ordained by Allah. Such are the limits ordained by Allah which He makes plain to those who know”. (2:230).

A man is entitled to take his wife back twice after two respective talaqs and for a third time also before the expiry of her Iddat (menstrual cycles) after he gives her a talaq for the third time. But after that the separation is irrevocable. She is then free to be married to any other person of her choice. If then in the normal course of life a dispute between them develops leading to first talaq by the second husband, she is again free to be married to any person of her choice including the second husband (by whom she has got the first divorce) and also including the first husband as well.

The relevant point here is that a halala cannot be planned in advance, as a nikah between her and the second husband with an understanding of a divorce afterwards will not be valid. If she does so, it will be an illegitimate relationship with the second husband and with the first husband also with whom she comes to live after a pre-planned halala.

Imam Sufian Sauri says: “If someone marries a woman to make her halala (for her ex-husband) and then wants to keep her as wife, he is not permitted to do so unless he solemnises a nikah afresh, as the previous nikah was unlawful.” (Tirmizi)

The distorted interpretation is used as a ploy to circumvent the Shariah which is not just emphatic on this rule but is very stringent about it.”

In his ‘Marriage, Divorce and Re-Marriage (Halala) in Islam’, Zafar Iqbal Kalanauri elaborates this theology:

“There is no concept of halala in Islam. This is something that has been made by some Muslims and unfortunately is now seen as part of the Shariah by some Muslims. The rule of the Holy Quran is that if a man divorces his wife for the third time in one marriage contract, then the wife cannot go back to the man unless she (genuinely) marries another man and then (genuinely) is divorced by that man… this rule should not be dealt with by pre-planned marriage and divorce.”

Prophet Muhammad declared halala as profane, Caliph Umar considered it worth stoning, and Caliph Usman considered it devoid of the trait of the nikah (marriage contract).

There are two Hadiths (sayings of Prophet Muhammad):

• It was narrated by Ali that the Prophet said: God’s Curse be upon the one who marries a divorced woman with the intention of making her lawful for her former husband and upon the one for whom she is made lawful.(Sunan Abu Dawood, Book 11, 2071-Sahih)

• It was narrated that Ibn Abbas said: The Prophet cursed the Muhallil (upon the one who marries a divorced woman with the intention of making her lawful for her former husband) and the Muhallal Lahu.(upon the one for whom she is made lawful.) (Sunan Ibn Maja, Book 9, Hadith 1934-Sahih)

Article 25 of the Indian constitution speaks of religious freedom. It begins with the words, “Subject to morality, health and public order, and all other fundamental rights, people shall have freedom of religion.”
Conditions come first; parameters come first, permission comes later.

The Article does not say that everybody will have unrestricted freedom of religion or what he believes to be freedom. It begins with, “Subject to.…” Other provisions mean right to equality, equality before law, gender justice, etc. It is subservient to other articles within this part. If there is a conflict, other provisions prevail.

Thus halala marriage is thus just not immoral; it is against the national laws.

Moin Qazi is the author of the bestselling book, Village Diary of a Heretic Banker. He has worked in the development finance sector for almost four decades .

This article was first published on New Age Islam.

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Nikaah halala is a slur on Islam; un-constitutional

While much of the dust has been cleared on the triple talaq issue, the concept of halala still continues to be shrouded in confusion. It is shocking that Muslims are treating halala as a means of fulfilling their immoral imputes, giving it a derogatory connotation.

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