__._,_.___
https://www.sabrangindia.in/…/dr-zakir-naik%E2%80%99s-%E2%8…
Muslims for Secularism and Democracy
July 13, 2016Statement issued at a Press Conference held in Mumbai
Dr. Zakir Naik's 'Peace TV' preaches contempt, if not hatred, for other religions
We appeal to all peace-loving Indians in general and Muslims in particular to expose Zakir Naik's real agenda and warn Muslim youth to beware of his toxic theology.
We demand that Zakir Naik and all hate-mongers, irrespective of religion, be probed and prosecuted for promoting enmity between different religious groups.
Since the July 1 terror attack in Dhaka there have been several reports in the media that security agencies in India and Bangladesh are probing the possible role of Dr. Zakir Naik in aiding and abetting terrorist acts in Islam's name.Whether the televangelist is guilty of complicity in terrorist activity or not can only be established through an unbiased, fair investigation. But of one thing there can be little doubt. Dr. Naik is no messenger of peace. Far from promoting peace, his 'Peace TV' promotes contempt, if not hatred, for other religions and its followers.
Dr. Naik's and his benefactors' agenda is simple: To uproot the centuries-old tolerant, vibrant tradition within Islam and replace it with the rigid, supremacist, intolerant, dry-as-the-desert Saudi-promoted Wahhabism/Salafism which is hostile not only towards other religions but even towards other Islamic traditions and schools of thought.
The brand of Islam that Dr Naik promotes does violence to the clear Quranic command to Muslims not to ridicule the beliefs of others. Nearly a millennium ago the message which the highly regarded Sufi, Ibn Arabi gave to fellow Muslims was this: "Do not praise your own faith exclusively so that you disbelieve all the rest… God, the Omniscient and the Omnipresent, cannot be confined to any one creed".
Dr Naik's Islam is contrary to the Islam preached and practiced for centuries in our subcontinent by numerous Sufi saints, including Baba Farid, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti ('Gharib Nawaz'). His Wahhabi fulminations are an assault on Islam's tolerant tradition; seeks to destroy India's age-old tradition of unity within diversity, its syncretic culture (Gunga-Jamuni tehzeeb) and shared heritage (saajhi virasat).The following examples of 'Naikspeak' speak for themselves.
Contempt for other religions:
- Islam is the "only true religion", only Muslims have real knowledge in this subject. Therefore, "we" have the right not only to build mosques across the globe but also to prohibit "sinful" religious practices, disallow construction of churches or temples in Islamic countries.
- Accepting prasad after Ganesh Puja offered by a Hindu is haraam (forbidden, sinful) for a Muslim; so is wishing 'Merry Christmas' to a Christian.
- Pig is the only animal where the male indulges in 'wife-sharing'. Those who eat pigs behave like pigs.
- In demolishing the historic Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, the Taliban were "educating Buddhists". Lord Buddha never approved of statues.A frightening flirtation with words: And at a time of global concern over spreading terror in the name of Islam, instead of warning his millions of followers in unambiguous words against extremism and terrorism he chooses to flirt with words.
- "Every Muslim should be a terrorist… for anti-social elements".
- "If he (Osama bin Laden) is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him… If he is terrorising America the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, he's following Islam."Misogynist message: Zakir Naik sermonises that women who step out of their homes without being clad in a burqa have only themselves to blame for sexual violence.
Two pretty sisters are walking down the road. One is in a miniskirt or shorts, the other is fully covered in a burqa. Who do you think is asking for trouble?
Islam permits Muslim men to have sexual relations with their wives and slaves. But vice versa is not permitted. [And that's exactly what the ISIS is currently doing].Death for a Muslim apostate: While Zakir Naik claims the right of Muslims to propagate Islam throughout the world, his prescription for any Muslim who opts of Islam and preaches his new faith is death. His explanation: apostasy is the same as treason.
The most disturbing thing about Dr Zakir Naik and his 'Peace TV' is that his supremacist, exclusionary, divisive message is being lapped up by millions of gullible young Muslims well-educated in worldly subjects but with little grounding in Islam and the tolerant traditions within it.
The last thing that Indian Muslims – who are already victims of prejudice, discrimination, Islamophobia, recurring communal violence – need are the teachings of Zakir Naik. Instead of promoting communal harmony he and his 'Peace TV' have been promoting communal discord.
We appeal to all peace-loving Indians in general and Muslims in particular to expose Zakir Naik's real agenda and warn Muslim youth to beware of his toxic theology.
We demand that Zakir Naik and all other hate-mongers be probed and prosecuted for promoting enmity between different religious groups (Section 153-A of IPC).
Lastly, we appreciate Prime Minister Modi's belated statement, "Preachers of hate and violence are threatening our society." While making this statement we hope that the prime minister had not only Dr Zakir Naik in mind but also some ministers and MPs of his own party and the numerous leaders from his sangh parivar.
Muslims for Secularism and Democracy July 13, 2016Statement issued at a Press Conference held…
__._,_.___
By lessons learnt I meant being aware of Indian machinations to subjugate BD to a situation as that which prevailed before 1947. Complete subordination in economic and foreign policies is the minimum that India desires. It would not like the 2 Bengals to join lest they break away from India together.
In fact, if i remember right, I saw a newspaper article in Karachi in March/April 1970, of the western (read CIA) plan to carve out the seven sister states of Northeast India and along with East Pakistan , create a secular country as a bulwark against communist CHINA.
In one Delhi meeting with Sardar Swaran Singh, the then FM of India, Bongobondhu thundered that he knew the difference between "coordination and subordination". The sardarji was reminding BB about the agreement with the BD provisional govt of coordination in foreign policy between the 2 countries. This was just before the OIC meeting in PK when PK recognized BD and BB went to Lahore and Tikka Khan had to salute him. Also, one of the first questions that BB put to Indira was, "madam, when are you removing your troops from Bangladesh? is spite of all his faults and mismanagement, I, javed helali, will always remain grateful to him for this if nothing else.
The Indians are NOT crazy. If they could not annex Bhutan, there is no way they can BD. However, I wont be very surprised if our patriotic parliamentarians raise their hand in the assembly to "join" India!!. What India wants is Total Control over BD, without annexation! Dhori machh na chhui pani!
One sometimes wonders as to what is better, being a subject of a vassal state or a second class citizen of a free country.!! (Shaheen?)
JH 512-669-5248
--------------------------------------------
On Tue, 7/12/16, Ajmal Sobhan <ajsobhan@gmail.com> wrote:
Subject: Re: Lessons to be learnt for those who want to
To: "bfc1966@googlegroups.com" <BFC1966@googlegroups.com>
Cc: pfc-friends@googlegroups.com, "Khurshid Alam" <bhuiyan08@hotmail.com>, "Iqbal Ahmed" <ahmediqbal.bd@gmail.com>, "Jamal Munshi" <jamalmunshi@gmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2016, 9:27 PM
Sikkim is
the least populous state in India(less then a million),
second least in size after Goa, and is land locked
.Comparisons to Bangladesh is unrealistic and
improbable. The love/hate relationship that Bangladesh has
with India is hardly conducive for India to make
a territorial adventure. After the fall of Dhaka, if the
Indian Army had overstayed even a month within
Bangladesh,the people would have started taking
pot shots at the Indian soldiers.On the other
hand India can and will take advantage of an unstable
Bangladesh. Bangladesh is only second to China
in garment exports in the whole world.That does not sit well
with India.If Bangladesh as a nation continues
its self inflicted injurious policies and hides its head in
the sand like ostriches,India will not need to
invade Bangladesh.Bangladesh will be eating out of the
hands of our great neighbor willingly or
unwillingly.Ajmal.
On Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at
5:48 PM, 'javed helali' via Bangladesh Friendship
Club <BFC1966@googlegroups.com>
wrote:
The Pain
of losing a Nation
May 15, 2016
by Sudeer Sharma
The last Prime Minister of the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim,
Kazi Lhendup Dorji, met an ignominious Death.
On the northern corner of West Bengal state of India, there
is a hill station – Kalimpong, which once hosted
celebrities from all over the world. The hill town, where
most of the settlers are of Nepali origin, no longer retains
its old charm. But until a few weeks ago the last prime
minister of a country – that has lost its independence –
used to live here. Kazi Lhendup Dorji, who died on 28 July
this year at the ripe old age of 103, had played a pivotal
role in the merger of Sikkim into India.
Dorji is seen as a 'traitor' in the contemporary
history. He lived, and died, with the same ignominy.
"Everybody accuses me of selling the country. Even if it
is true, should I alone be blamed?" he asked me, when I
met him in Kalimpong in November 1996. But the allegation of
'betrayal' towards one's own motherland was so
powerful that Dorji could no more lead an active political
life. He spent his solitary life at the 'Chakung House'
in Kalimpong for several decades. Few people chose to
remember Kazi when he passed away nor took pain to recall
his life and times.
So much so that the Kazi was ignored even by Delhi. "I
went out of my way to ensure the merger of Sikkim into India
but after the work was done, the Indians just ignored me",
Kazi told me during an interview for Jana Astha weekly,
nearly 11 years ago. "Earlier, I used to be given a 'Red
Carpet' welcome. Now I have to wait for weeks even to meet
second grade leaders."
When I visited Kalimpong for the second time in 2000,
Lhendup's anger towards Delhi had reached new heights. At
one time, he was received warmly by Indian leaders including
Jawaharlal Nehru and Mrs Indira Gandhi. But later he became
a political actor whose utility had been finished and thrown
away into the dustbin.
The Origin of Crisis
After India got independence in 1947, the Sikkim State
Congress, which was established as per the advice of Nehru,
launched anti-King movement. Sikkim managed to overcome the
crisis then but after Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister of
India, the tiny Himalayan kingdom found itself in a crisis
from which it could never escape. The anti-King movement,
launched by the Sikkim National Congress (SNC) under the
leadership of Lhendup Dorji in 1973, led to the demise of a
sovereign nation.
India openly supported the movement against King (Chogyal)
Palden Thondup Namgyal. The then ADC to the King, Captain
Sonam Yongda, claimed that soldiers of Indian Army in civil
dress used to take part in the protests. Some of the
protesters were brought from Darjeeling and the surrounding
areas. The number of Sikkimese who took part in the protest
was quite small. But that was enough.
Lhendup's protest movement depended mainly on Indian
financial assistance. The money was made available through
Intelligence Bureau (IB). "The people from IB used to
visit me twice or thrice a year. An IB agent, Tejpal Sen,
used to handover money to me personally", Dorji had told
me in a recorded interview.
In fact, the main actor behind the 'Mission Sikkim' was
India's external intelligence agency, RAW (Research and
Analysis Wing). Set up in 1968, RAW was able to disintegrate
Pakistan (and form Bangladesh) within three years. The
annexation of Sikkim was their other 'historic' success.
The strategists of RAW didn't want to repeat a Bhutan in
Sikkim. Bhutan managed to acquire the membership of the
United Nations in 1968. So, they launched a movement under
the leadership of Lhendup, which is described at great
length by Ashok Raina in his book Inside RAW: The Story of
India's Secret Service.
Raina writes that New Delhi had taken the decision to annex
Sikkim in 1971, and that the RAW used the next two years to
create the right conditions within Sikkim to make that
happen. The key here was to use the predominantly-Hindu
Sikkimese of Nepali origin who complained of discrimination
from the Buddhist king and the elite to rise up. "What we
felt then was that the Chogyal was unjust to us", said CD
Rai, editor of Gangtok Times and ex-minister. "We thought
it may be better to be Indian than to be oppressed by the
king."
Lhendup – who belonged to the Kazi family – had a
historic enmity with Sikkim's ruling Chogyals. He said he
wanted to pressurise the King through public protests but
lamented that the King never came forward for
reconciliation.
Under pressure from Delhi, the Sikkimese King was forced to
hold tripartite talks with SNC and India. The talks not only
curtailed royal powers, it also turned Sikkim into an Indian
'protectorate'. In the elections held in 1974,
Lhendup's SNC got overwhelming majority in the parliament.
The government and the king saw each other as enemies.
Ultimately, the cabinet meeting, on 27th March 1975, decided
to abolish monarchy. The Sikkimese parliament endorsed it
and decided to hold a referendum on the future of monarchy.
Four days later, the outcome of the poll in 57 stations
across the country was: 'Abolition of the monarchy'.
In an interview, then Agriculture Minister of Sikkim KC
Pradhan recalled that the referendum was nothing but a
charade. "Indian soldiers rigged the polls by pointing
rifles at the hapless voters", he said. Immediately after
the referendum, Kazi Lhendup moved a motion in the
parliament proposing that Sikkim be annexed to India. The
32-member parliament, which had 31 members from Lhendup's
SNC – passed the motion without a blink. Needless to say
that the entire episode was being orchestrated by India. The
then Indian envoy to Sikkim (known as 'political
officer') BS Das wrote in his book The Sikkim Saga,
"Sikkim's merger was necessary for Indian national
interest. And we worked to that end. Maybe if the Chogyal
had been smarter, and played his cards better, it wouldn't
have turned out the way it did."
But Chogyal didn't play his cards well. When Sikkim was
undergoing turmoil, the Chogyal visited Kathmandu in 1974 to
attend the coronation ceremony of King Birendra. According
to insiders, King Birendra, Chinese deputy premier Chen Li
Yan and Pakistan's envoy advised Chogyal not to return to
Sikkim. "They narrated a 'master plan' to save Sikkim
from Indian hands but the King didn't accept", said
Captain Yongda. "It was because the King couldn't think
even in his dreams that India could use force to annex
Sikkim."
A "Double Game"
In fact, India was playing a "double game". On one hand,
it was supporting Lhendup in whatever way possible against
the King. On the other hand, it was assuring the king that
monarchy would survive in Sikkim. The Chogyal was also an
honorary Major General of the Indian Army. He never thought
that his 'own army' would act against him. It was only
an illusion.
The Chogyal of Sikkim was in his palace on the morning of 6
April 1975 when the roar of army trucks climbing the steep
streets of Gangtok brought him running to the window. There
were Indian soldiers everywhere, they had surrounded the
palace, and short rapid bursts of machine gun fire could be
heard. Basanta Kumar Chhetri, a 19-year-old guard at the
palace's main gate, was struck by a bullet and killed –
the first casualty of the takeover. The 5,000-strong Indian
force didn't take more than 30 minutes to subdue the
palace guards who numbered only 243. By 12:45 pm it was all
over, Sikkim ceased to exist as an independent kingdom.
The Chogyal also lost the second opportunity. The Sikkim
Guards had the capacity to stop the Indian Army for two
hours. If the Chogyal had informed Beijing and Islamabad
about the Indian invasion from the transmitter set up at his
palace, both the countries had assured him – during the
Kathmandu meeting – that they would instruct their
security forces to open fire along the borders with India.
Chinese army could even travel to Gangtok to rescue the
Chogyal.
Captured palace guards, hands raised high, were packed into
trucks and taken away, singing: "Dela sil, li gi, gang
changka chibso" (May my country keep blooming like a
flower). But by then, the Indian tri-colour had replaced the
Sikkimese flag at the palace where the 12th king of the
Namgyal dynasty was held prisoner. "The Chogyal was a
great believer in India. He had huge respect for Mahatma
Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Not in his wildest dreams did
he think India would ever gobble up his kingdom", recalls
Captain Sonam Yongda, the Chogyal's aide-de-camp. Nehru
himself had told journalist Kuldip Nayar in 1960: "Taking
a small country like Sikkim by force would be like shooting
a fly with a rifle." Ironically it was Nehru's daughter
Indira Gandhi who cited 'national interest' to make
Sikkim the 22nd state of the Indian union.
During a meeting, former Chief Minister of Sikkim BB Gurung
told me that the King and Lhendup were just fighting a proxy
war. "The real battle was between an American and a
Belgian lady." If that was true, the real victor was the
third lady – Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Two foreign Ladies
Chogyal Palden met the 24-year-old New Yorker, Hope Cooke,
in Darjeeling in 1963 and married her. For Cooke, this was a
dream come true: to become the queen of an independent
kingdom in Shangri-la. She started taking the message of
Sikkimese independence to the youth, and the allegations
started flying thick and fast that she was a CIA agent.
These were the coldest years of the Cold War, and there was
a tendency in India to see a 'foreign hand' behind
everything so it was not unusual for the American queen to
be labelled a CIA agent. However, as Hope Cooke's
relations with Delhi deteriorated, so did her marriage with
the Chogyal. In 1973, she took her two children and went
back to New York. She hasn't returned to Sikkim since.
Then there was Elisa-Maria, daughter of a Belgian father and
German mother who left her Scottish husband in Burma and
married Kazi Lhendup Dorji in Delhi in 1957. The two
couldn't have been more different. Elisa-Maria wanted to
be Sikkim's First Lady, but Hope Cooke stood in the way.
"She didn't just want to be the wife of an Indian chief
minister; she wanted to be the wife of the prime minister of
an independent Sikkim." With that kind of an ambition, it
was not surprising that with annexation, neither Hope Cooke
nor Elisa-Maria got what they wanted.
Meanwhile, in New Delhi Indira Gandhi was going from
strength to strength, and India was flexing its muscles. The
1971 Bangladesh war and the atomic test in 1974 gave Delhi
the confidence to take care of Sikkim once and for all.
Indira Gandhi was concerned that Sikkim may show independent
tendencies and become a UN member like Bhutan did in 1971,
and she also didn't take kindly to the three Himalayan
kingdoms, Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal, getting too cosy with
each other.
When the Indian troops moved in there was general jubilation
on the streets of Gangtok. It was in fact in faraway
Kathmandu that there were reverberations. Beijing expressed
grave concern. But in the absence of popular protests
against the Indian move, there was only muted reaction at
the United Nations in New York. It was only later that there
were contrary opinions within India – (Former Indian Prime
Minister) Morarji Desai said in 1978 that the merger was a
mistake. Even Sikkimese political leaders who fought for the
merger said it was a blunder and worked to roll it back.¹
But by then, it was already too late.
Lhendup Dorji became the first chief minister of the Indian
state of Sikkim and retained the post until 1979. The Indian
government conferred on him 'Padma Bhusan' in 2002 and
he was also awarded the 'Sikkim Ratna' by the state
government in 2004.
Despite such 'rewards', Lhendup and his wife Elisa spent
their last years in Kalimpong repenting their past deeds.
After the death of his wife in 1990, Lhendup was forced to
lead a solitary life. He neither had any children nor
relatives to take care of him. He cut himself off from his
own people to avoid their wrath and hatred.
In the elections held in 1979, Lhendup's SNC failed to bag
even a single seat in the Sikkim's legislature. This
effectively brought to an end to his political career. At
one time, when he had gone to file his nomination, his name
was missing from the electoral roll. In his resolve to
dethrone the Chogyal dynasty that had 400-year-old history
in Sikkim, Lhendup ended up delivering his motherland into
the lap of India. In return, all he got was a life haunted
from the shadow of the past and an ignominious death.
Shahriar Kabir Pulok
Written by
Shahriar Kabir Pulok
Follow
JH 512-669-5248
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https://www.sabrangindia.in/…/dr-zakir-naik%E2%80%99s-%E2%8…
Muslims for Secularism and Democracy
July 13, 2016
Statement issued at a Press Conference held in Mumbai
Dr. Zakir Naik's 'Peace TV' preaches contempt, if not hatred, for other religions
We appeal to all peace-loving Indians in general and Muslims in particular to expose Zakir Naik's real agenda and warn Muslim youth to beware of his toxic theology.
We demand that Zakir Naik and all hate-mongers, irrespective of religion, be probed and prosecuted for promoting enmity between different religious groups.
Since the July 1 terror attack in Dhaka there have been several reports in the media that security agencies in India and Bangladesh are probing the possible role of Dr. Zakir Naik in aiding and abetting terrorist acts in Islam's name.
Whether the televangelist is guilty of complicity in terrorist activity or not can only be established through an unbiased, fair investigation. But of one thing there can be little doubt. Dr. Naik is no messenger of peace. Far from promoting peace, his 'Peace TV' promotes contempt, if not hatred, for other religions and its followers.
Dr. Naik's and his benefactors' agenda is simple: To uproot the centuries-old tolerant, vibrant tradition within Islam and replace it with the rigid, supremacist, intolerant, dry-as-the-desert Saudi-promoted Wahhabism/Salafism which is hostile not only towards other religions but even towards other Islamic traditions and schools of thought.
The brand of Islam that Dr Naik promotes does violence to the clear Quranic command to Muslims not to ridicule the beliefs of others. Nearly a millennium ago the message which the highly regarded Sufi, Ibn Arabi gave to fellow Muslims was this: "Do not praise your own faith exclusively so that you disbelieve all the rest… God, the Omniscient and the Omnipresent, cannot be confined to any one creed".
Dr Naik's Islam is contrary to the Islam preached and practiced for centuries in our subcontinent by numerous Sufi saints, including Baba Farid, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti ('Gharib Nawaz'). His Wahhabi fulminations are an assault on Islam's tolerant tradition; seeks to destroy India's age-old tradition of unity within diversity, its syncretic culture (Gunga-Jamuni tehzeeb) and shared heritage (saajhi virasat).
The following examples of 'Naikspeak' speak for themselves.
Contempt for other religions:
- Islam is the "only true religion", only Muslims have real knowledge in this subject. Therefore, "we" have the right not only to build mosques across the globe but also to prohibit "sinful" religious practices, disallow construction of churches or temples in Islamic countries.
- Accepting prasad after Ganesh Puja offered by a Hindu is haraam (forbidden, sinful) for a Muslim; so is wishing 'Merry Christmas' to a Christian.
- Pig is the only animal where the male indulges in 'wife-sharing'. Those who eat pigs behave like pigs.
- In demolishing the historic Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, the Taliban were "educating Buddhists". Lord Buddha never approved of statues.
A frightening flirtation with words: And at a time of global concern over spreading terror in the name of Islam, instead of warning his millions of followers in unambiguous words against extremism and terrorism he chooses to flirt with words.
- "Every Muslim should be a terrorist… for anti-social elements".
- "If he (Osama bin Laden) is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him… If he is terrorising America the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, he's following Islam."
Misogynist message: Zakir Naik sermonises that women who step out of their homes without being clad in a burqa have only themselves to blame for sexual violence.
Two pretty sisters are walking down the road. One is in a miniskirt or shorts, the other is fully covered in a burqa. Who do you think is asking for trouble?
Islam permits Muslim men to have sexual relations with their wives and slaves. But vice versa is not permitted. [And that's exactly what the ISIS is currently doing].
Death for a Muslim apostate: While Zakir Naik claims the right of Muslims to propagate Islam throughout the world, his prescription for any Muslim who opts of Islam and preaches his new faith is death. His explanation: apostasy is the same as treason.
The most disturbing thing about Dr Zakir Naik and his 'Peace TV' is that his supremacist, exclusionary, divisive message is being lapped up by millions of gullible young Muslims well-educated in worldly subjects but with little grounding in Islam and the tolerant traditions within it.
The last thing that Indian Muslims – who are already victims of prejudice, discrimination, Islamophobia, recurring communal violence – need are the teachings of Zakir Naik. Instead of promoting communal harmony he and his 'Peace TV' have been promoting communal discord.
We appeal to all peace-loving Indians in general and Muslims in particular to expose Zakir Naik's real agenda and warn Muslim youth to beware of his toxic theology.
We demand that Zakir Naik and all other hate-mongers be probed and prosecuted for promoting enmity between different religious groups (Section 153-A of IPC).
Lastly, we appreciate Prime Minister Modi's belated statement, "Preachers of hate and violence are threatening our society." While making this statement we hope that the prime minister had not only Dr Zakir Naik in mind but also some ministers and MPs of his own party and the numerous leaders from his sangh parivar.