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Saturday, January 8, 2011

[mukto-mona] Indian Muslim Intellectuals Condemn Pak Punjab Governor's Killing





STATEMENT CONDEMNING THE KILLING OF SALMAN TASEER
 
 
We are shocked by the killing of the Governor of the province of Punjab in Pakistan, Salman Taseer by a member of his bodyguard force. He had dared to support Asia Bibi sentenced to death for having committed Blasphemy according to the infamous Blasphemy law of Pakistan.
 
He was one of the liberal and democratic voices in Pakistan who have been fighting for the  repeal of this reprehensible law. More appalling than the killing is the cynical and vocal support of a section of the society of Pakistan to the killer of Governor Taseer. We are worried by the trend of increasing religious intolerance in Pakistan and feel that if not fought with resolve and courage, it might lead to a deathly silence in Pakistan for a long, long time to come.
 
While concerned for the safety of democratic and progressive voices   we are equally  worried for the general well being of the common people of  Pakistan and express our solidarity with them.
 
1.      A Kamila, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Chennai
2.      Aban Raza, artist, Delhi
3.      Aijaz Ilmi - Journalist - Delhi
4.      Aijaz Zaka Syed - Journalist – Dubai
5.      Ali Javed, University of Delhi
6.      Arjimand Hussain Talib, Writer-columnist, Kashmir
7.      Arjumand Ara, University of Delhi, Delhi
8.      Arshad Ajmal, social activist, Patna
9.      Barkat ul Nisa Kamili, Student, Kashmir
10.  Basharat Hussain ,Human Rights Activist, Jammu
11.  Dr. Sarkar Haider - Doctor - Bareilly
12.  Dr.Mohd.Arif,Centre for Harmony and Peace,Varanasi
13.  Faiz Raza, Computer Engineer, Delhi
14.  Faizan Haider Naqvi, Entrepreneur, Delhi
15.  Farhat Amin, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Cuttack
16.  Farida Khan – Professor, University of Wisconsin, US
17.  Farukh Shaikh, Actor, Mumbai
18.  Gauhar Raza, scientist, filmmaker, poet, Delhi
19.  Haider Naqvi, HT Bureau Chief, Kanpur
20.  Hanif Lakdawala, social activist, Gujarat21.  Hasan Kamal, Editor, Sahafat Daily, Lucknow
22.  Hassan Kazim - Journalist - Delhi
23.  Hozefa Ujjaini, Aman Samudaya ,Gujarat
24.  Imtiyaz Hussain,Civil Servant,Srinagar
25.  Inder Salim ,Artist , Delhi
26.  Iqbal Niazi, Delhi
27.  Irfan Engineer, Social Activist, Mumbai
28.  Ishrat Jamil - Theatre - Delhi
29.  Jamal Kidwai, Director Aman Trust, Delhi
30.  Jamil Malik - Entrepreneur - Delhi
31.  Kamran Siddiqui - Service - Noida
32.  Kashif-ul-Huda, Editor, TwoCircles.net
33.  Khatun Shaikh, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Mumbai
34.  Mantasha Binti Rashid, ANHAD, Kashmir
35.  Mohd Kazim, University of Delhi, Delhi
36.  Muhammad Tauqeer - Business - Delhi
37.  Mushir ul Hasan, academician, Delhi
38.  Muzaffar Bhatt ,RTI Activist, Srinagar, Kashmir
39.  Nagma Shaikh, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Bangalore
40.  Nasiruddin Haider Khan, journalist, Delhi
41.  Nazim Naqvi - Journalist - Delhi
42.  Noorjahan, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Mumbai
43.  Nusrat Sheikh, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Osmanabad
44.  Prof.Nadeem Hasnain, Professor & Head Department of Anthropology, Lucknow University,
45.  Rashida Ansari, grassroot activist, Gujarat
46.  Raza Imam - Educationist - Gurgaon
47.  Rehan Haider - Service - Bareilly
48.  Rizwan Shahid - Media - Delhi
49.  Sadiq Naqvi - Hardnews Magzine - Delhi
50.  Safiya Akhtar, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Bhopal
51.  Sania Hashmi, filmmaker, Delhi
52.  Seema Mustafa, journalist, Delhi
53.  Shabir Hussain Senior journalist Srinagar Kashmir
54.  Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist-ANHAD, Delhi
55.  Shafiq Mahajir, advocate, Hyderabad
56.  Shaheen Nazar, Journalist, Aligarh
57.  Shahid anwar, playwright, Delhi
58.  Shaiq Ali Khan, Banker, Dubai
59.  Shama Zehra Zaidi-Filmmaker-Mumbai
60.  Sharmila Tagore, actress, Delhi
61.  Sheba George, Social Activist, Gujarat
62.  Sofiya Khan, Director Safar, Gujarat
63.  Sohail Hashmi, filmmaker, writer, Delhi
64.  Syed Hassan Kazim, Journalist, New Delhi
65.  Syed Zulfeqar - Business - Rae Bareli
66.  Tanveer Hussain Khan, social activist, ANHAD, Srinagar, Kashmir
67.  Tauhid Alam, Business, India
68.  Wasi Haider, Professor and Chairman, Dept of Physics, Aligarh
69.  Zaheer Anis - Lawyer - Lucknow
70.  Zakia - Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Bangalore, Delhi
71.  Zoheb Kamal, Content Editor, New Delhi
72.  Zoya Hasan, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
 
Contact
 
23, Canning Lane, New Delhi-110001 Tel- 23070722/40/ mobile 9811807558



--
Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

--The Buddha



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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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[ALOCHONA] Free press



5 journos killed last year

A total of five journalists were killed and 335 victimised in different sorts of repression last year, said a study of Mass-Line Media Centre (MMC). Of them, 124 were assaulted while on duty, 112 after publishing report and 99 out of vindictiveness.

The deceased are Fateah Osmani, Sylhet correspondent of Saptahik 2000; Shafiqul Islam Mithu, senior cameraman of ATN Bangla; Rafiqul Haque Rashel, senior video editor of Bangla Vision; MA Hasan, Khulna bureau chief of My TV; and Monir Hossain Rari, president of Muladi Press Club.

Political leaders, influential cadres, police officers, local government representatives, businessmen, drug peddlers and war criminals are responsible for repressing the journalists, said the study.
 


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[ALOCHONA] Faith and religion



Faith and religion

Humayun Gauhar

The other day I heard a debate between Tony Blair and the author Christopher Hitchens on the BBC on whether religion had done more harm than good. Blair is an ardent Catholic, Hitchens an atheist. Blair doesn't have much of a formal education; I presume Hitchens does. Both, however, are intelligent and experienced. I know people with fantastic degrees who are uneducated idiots and I know people who cannot read or write but who have great wisdom. As I once said, wisdom doesn't wear a suit.

Anyway, I was surprised that both gentlemen were using the words 'religion' and 'faith' interchangeably, as if they had the same meaning. They do not. There is a vast difference between religion and Faith that even most ardent believers in God are not always aware of. Faith or Iman has to do with belief in whatever it is that one believes in, be it God or the opposite, the absence of a Supreme Creator. Religion, or mazhab is a collection of customs and rituals (and sometimes man-made laws) reduced to dogma run by a bureaucracy called clergy in a formal or informal, de jure or de facto institution called a church. These rituals and customs have been superimposed on the Holy Scriptures of every faith and have come to be regarded as part of the faith, like honour killings, though such things find no mention in the Holy Quran. In Arabic mazhab is pronounced madhab and refers to which sharia one follows. Within a mazhab there are many sects divided into numerous groups and sub-groups following different schools of interpretation and different movements, which is why there are different laws in different mazhabs.

What is the faith of a true Muslim?

1.     Belief in One God, without beginning or end, the Supreme Creator of all the universes and everything therein.

2.     God has no equal or partner.

3.     Muhammad (PBUH) is the Messenger of Allah – there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

4.     Muhammad (PBUH) is the last Messenger of Allah.

5.     The Quran is the Word of Allah as passed on to Muhammad (PBUH) by the Archangel Gabriel.

6.     Belief in the Day of Judgment and life in the Hereafter.

7.     One should observe prayers, fast during Ramadan, go on Haj if and when one can afford to and pay alms or zakat. That is all.

All the above fall in the category of Haqooq Allah (Man's duties to Allah) except zakat, which also can simultaneously come under Haqooq ul Ibad (Man's duties to God's creation of which humankind is the greatest – ashraful makhlukaat). Those who observe Haqooq Allah do themselves a favour – God does not need favours from us. Those who observe Haqooq ul Ibad do a favour to God's creations and to themselves again, for God says that if someone is good to my creation I am in his debt.

Islam is a revolutionary religion that brought in revolutionary concepts. For the first time not only women and children were given rights, but so were animals. Rules of war and the treatment of prisoners of war were determined just before the first battle of Islam at the wells of Badr. One of the most revolutionary was that all wealth belongs to Allah and what we have we hold in trust to be used for the benefit of mankind after we have catered for our families and ourselves. The other is that there is no intermediary between man and God and thus there is no need for clerics; when there is no need for clerics there is no need for a church. One can, however, go to true and qualified Islamic scholars for advice, which one may accept or reject. One should do Ijtehad or interpretation with analogy if it concerns only oneself. If it has any effect on society one needs consensus or Ijma and that only qualified scholars can do. We are all members of an ummah that comprises all monotheists within which is the Muslim ummah. Fatwas or edicts can only be issued by those qualified to do so and they should preferably be members of an institution recognized to issue fatwas, which is called Dar ul Ifta. Ideally, there should be one central Dar ul Ifta for the entire Muslim ummah; without it every two bit cleric can arrogate to himself the right to issue fatwas and his semi-literate flock will take it as the gospel truth, which has done Islam great damage. 

The fulcrum of an Islamic society is Adl, which means balance. In a balanced society there is justice with due process and egalitarianism where all men are equal before the law regardless of their station in life. Ah! Justice! It seems so distant from this Islamic republic of ours. Due process is intrinsic to justice; without it justice is just a sham. It means an accused has the right of defense, to furnish evidence in his defense, to produce and examine witnesses. Only after he has been heard to his satisfaction can a qualified judge pass judgment. So important is due process that Allah says that on the Day of Judgment He will call upon our limbs, organs and senses to bear witness as to what we did. Allah is all knowing, all seeing. He knows what is in men's hearts. He does not need witness, but nevertheless He promises to produce them so that we are satisfied that justice has been done to us. That is how important due process is.

Now put Salman Taseer's brutal murder by one who he trusted to guard him in this context. What a betrayal. What does it tell you? That some men – far too many – have taken upon themselves even more than what God does by acting as judge, jury and executioner without even bothering to go through due process.

"Kiya hua jo teray mathay peh hain sajda kay nishan

Koi aisa sajda bhi kar jo zameen peh nishaan chor jaye" – Allama Iqbal

humayun.gauhar786@gmail.com



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