Urdu will be second official language in Mamata’s West Bengal

By Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net,

With an aim to strengthen her grip on Muslims, a must for a long inning, Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has started acting upon her poll promises concerning the minority community. In her first step towards the goal, Mamata on Thursday announced to accord Urdu the status of second official language.


Mamata, who came to power after uprooting the 34-year rule of communists, declared that Urdu would be given second official language status in the districts that have 10% or more Urdu-speaking people.



A campaign poster of Trinamool Congress candidate in Kolkata

It should be noted here that the Urdu speaking people have long demanded the status to the language but the Left Front regime failed to heed to the demand. In 2009 Lok Sabha elections as well as 2011 Assembly election, Mamata Banerjee included the demand in the election manifesto of her party Trinamool Congress and during the poll campaigns she promised that if her party came to power she would make Urdu second official language in areas with 10% or above Urdu speakers. The status will benefit the community in several ways.


Talking to TwoCircles.net, Ahmad Hassan Imran, Executive Editor of Urdu daily Azad Hind, said: “The step is most welcome as it will fulfill the long-standing demand. The announcement is very good news for Urdu-speaking people if it is transferred into practice. The Jyoti Basu government had also vowed in 1990 to grant Urdu second official language but it never happened. We are hopeful that Mamata will do the different and implement the announcement on the ground.”


On how the new status is going to benefit to Urdu speaking people, Imran, who is also editor of popular Bengali weekly Kalam, said: “If the government implements it properly it will benefit the Urdu speaking population in various aspects. For instance, they will be able to convey their message to government departments directly without hiring Bengali or English knowing people. Besides, the Urdu speaking people will be appointed as translators, clerks and typewriters in government offices that will surely end the financial problems of a number of families.” Moreover, Urdu teachers will be appointed in schools and also Urdu schools will be established in concerned areas, Imran told TCN over phone from Kolkata.


As far as Urdu newspapers are concerned, he said “They will also get benefits as they will get the government’s advertisement like dailies of other languages. Besides, the step will increase the interest about Urdu learning that will increase the readers of Urdu newspapers.”


Besides Urdu, Mamata announced that Hindi, Oriya, Nepali, Gurmukhi and Santhali languages will also be given the similar status in the areas where the speakers of these languages are 10% of the total population.

“A small amendment would be needed for the purpose. For that the drafts will be prepared soon and would be passed in coming Assembly session,” Mamata has been quoted as saying in media on 27th May.


Another Muslim pleasing announcement that Mamata, first woman CM of West Bengal, made on 26th May is that the word “Madrasa” will be restored to the name of Aliah University. The word was dropped by Left Front government when it gave the madrasa the status of a university in 2007.


West Bengal Madarsa Students Union has since been demanding the inclusion of the word ‘madarsa’ to Aliah University. The Madarsa was founded as Calcutta Madarsa in 1780. After more than 225 years, the madrasa was upgraded to Aliah University through an act which was passed in the state Assembly in 2007. The university started its activities in 2008.


To put pressure on the government, the Students Union of the university had also organized protest rallies and a section of students sat on hunger strike in 2010 but Left Government remained unmoved. It was Mamata who reached the students who were on fast on December 27, 2010 and assured them that after coming to power she would add ‘madarsa’ to the university’s name. After that the students called off the hunger strike.

Neyaz Ahmad appointed chairman of Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission

By Manzar Bilal, TwoCicles.net,

Patna: Neyaz Ahmad, former Director General of Police (DGP), Jharkhand has been appointed chairman of the state’s Staff Selection Commission (SSC)—an agency responsible for the recruitment of subordinate services employees in the state.

The Personnel and Administrative Reforms department of the state issued a notification for Ahmad’s appointment last week. With his appointment, Mr. Ahmad has become the first regular chairman of the Commission, as no one was appointed for the post since the state was carved out from Bihar in 2000. He has taken charge from Commercial Taxes secretary, Alka Tiwari who was holding additional charge of the agency.



Neyaz Ahmad greeting the Governor of Jharkhand M.O.H. Farook

Ahmad, who retired as Jharkhand DGP in February this year, hails from Asthawan, a locality in Nalanda district of Bihar. He did graduation from Saint Stephen, New Delhi and cleared Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam in his first attempt in 1974.

He served different posts as IPS officer in the undivided Bihar. He was given the responsibility of Director General, Vigilance Bureau of the newly formed Jharkhand. While being on the post, he handled corruption cases against former chief minister, Madhu Koda and his former Cabinet colleagues, Enos Ekka, Hari Narayan Rai and Kamalesh Singh.

In January 2010, then Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren appointed him Director General of Police (DGP) of the state. He became the first Muslim chief of the state police. As the DGP his works got appreciation from people of both government and public classes. He took several steps successfully to curb the Naxal threat to the state.

The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) is responsible for making about 90 per cent of the total recruitments in the government jobs including constables, teachers and assistant grade staff for secretariat. The rest is done by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC).

Soon after taking the charge, Ahmad has been quoted as saying in media “It was huge challenge for the agency to streamline the recruitment process, which has been marred by irregularities. I will try to justify the role and expectations with which the government has appointed me.”

Is Ahmad’s appointment a ray of hope for Muslim candidates? “Of course, most Muslims complain that despite being talented they are discriminated in selection for jobs. So, I hope Mr. Neyaz will do justice with the candidates of all sections including Muslims and will select the candidates only on the basis of talent and qualification and not religions or castes,” said Mohammad Tanveer of Urdu daily Sangam (Jharkhand)reacting to the news of Ahmad’s appointment.

While welcoming the appointment of Ahmad, Rizwan Ahmad of United Milli Forum said that, “indeed he is an honest officer and hopefully he will reform the system of the Commission. But still we should not be optimistic that he is going to do anything special for Muslims because as DGP we did not see that he took any step to increase Muslim representation in Police.” he said.

“We should not forget that his appointment is an attempt by BJP to get Muslim’s sympathy. Obviously, he will follow the government’s guidance while selecting the candidates and everyone knows the agenda of BJP about Muslims,” he added.

Controversy over Prophet’s picture and Muslims

By Manzar Bilal,


Patna: The issue of publishing Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) imaginary picture once again came to light recently as a Delhi based magazine Diamond Comics published Prophet’s image in its special issue, inviting anger of Muslims who unanimously condemned it. The Muslim Students Organization of India (MSO) organized a protest rally at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on 17th May 2011 demanding stringent action against the publisher.

Despite the fact that the real picture of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is not available and drawing of any kind of image is not permissible in Islam, the tendency to print and publish fake image of Prophet (PBUH) is on rise in the country which has been hurting the religious sentiment of the Muslim community.

Talking to TwoCircles.net, Advocate Shahnawaz Warsi, National Secretary of MSO, said: “Diamond Comics in its special issue published Prophet’s image with an ordinary article on him. When we contacted the publisher, he said that the magazine was published in 2008 and not now. He offered apology terming it a mistake. But after enquiry we came to know that he was lying as we found the same magazine published in 2011 which means the magazine has been published continuously. So, we sent him a legal notice. Replying to the notice he passed the same lie that he did earlier.”


MSO members protesting against Diamond Comics for publishing Prophet’s image

Adv. Warsi said that then two FIRs have been lodged against publisher of Diamond Comics—one in Delhi and second in Saharanpur, UP.

“Meanwhile, we organized a dharna at Jantar Mantar and our delegation met Delhi Chief Minister Shila Dixit and Prime Minister Mamnmohn Singh and informed them about the matter. They expressed concern and dismay at the incident. The Delhi CM assured us of action against the publisher. The legal process of the case is going on and we are sure the publisher will be arrested” he added.

About the demands, he said: “We want public apology from him through mainstream media and immediate ban on publishing of the controversial magazine.”

Such incident is condemnable

Maulana Waris Mazhari, editor of monthly Tarjuman Dar ul-Uloom, said that such activities are not only condemnable from Islamic prospective but also a crime according to Indian as well as International laws because it is an attempt to hurt religious sentiment of a community.

“It is a severe crime and government must take action promptly against those who are involved in such filthy activities whenever it takes place. Because it may disturb the peaceful environment of the country as it is a matter of religious sentiment” said Maulana Abdul Hamid Nomani, Secretary of Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind.

Maulana Anisur Rahman Qasmi, Chairman of Bihar Haj Committee and General Secretary of Imarat Shariah, said: “Such things should be banned according to law and offender of the crime must be punished by government because it puts the communal harmony on risk which cannot be acceptable.”

While echoing Maulana Anisur Rahman’s views, Rehan Ghani, Editor of Patna-based Urdu daily Pindar, said: “We condemn the publishing of Prophet’s image in any form and demand from publisher apology and clarification.”

Why is it repeated time and again?

It should be noted here that it is not for the first time when the controversy over Prophet’s picture sparked the protests. In 2007, a book written by G Parthasarthy and published by Delhi's publisher Vijay Goel created a controversy for publishing the Picture of Prophet.

In 2009, a book titled, 'Udayimaan Bhartiya Samaj Mein Shikshak' (Teachers in Emerging India), earned anger from political class as well as Muslims for carrying a picture of Prophet Mohammed. The book was written by Yuvraj Dutt, a former faculty member at a post-graduate college in Lakhimpur Kheri.

Similarly, in 2010, New Jyothi Publications of Kerala published a book entitled ‘Stepping Stones’ with Prophet’s Picture that made the state tense.

The list of such incidents is long. Though all the above mentioned books were banned by the concerned governments later, the question is: why it is repeated time and again?

“It is being done time to time for two reasons. One is to get cheap publicity through media and second is to provoke Muslims so they would do anything that will malign the image of Islam and Muslims. Otherwise, they know well that it is wrong deed” opined Waris Mazhari.

Maulana Anisur Rahman and Rehan Ghani also pointed out the same reason and said that it is part of conspiracy against Muslims to show them aggressive and intolerant. So, Muslims need to be careful.

“Muslims are most emotional compared to others. So, such incident is a game plan to provoke them for unwanted deeds” Rehan Ghani added.



While Maulana Abdul Hamid Nomani said that it is an attempt to divert attention of Muslims from the necessary issues related to the community in the country. “You must have seen that whenever Muslims started to focus on their necessary issues, then unnecessary issues have been raised and made the topic of discussion only to divert their attention” he pointed out.

How Muslim should counter such incident?

All the Muslim religious leaders and intellectuals that TCN talked to on the topic were of the opinion that Muslims should counter such incident legally and advised them not to react emotionally which can provide chance for anti-Muslim forces to defame the Muslim community.

“We must protest against the publication of Prophet’s image because silence may encourage publisher but it should be within the law. But I am sorry to say that a section among Muslims reacts to such incidents adopting wrong ways that is incorrect. We have witnessed several such incidents in the past that were done by emotional people but media criticized whole Muslim community and Islam” said Maulana Waris Mazhari.

Rehan Ghani said that whenever such incident happens first of all Muslims should approach the publisher as sometimes it happens due to lack of knowledge.

“The first thing that should be done is to approach publisher. If he did that due to lack of knowledge, we should make him understand about the fact that it is unacceptable according to Islam and ask him not to repeat the same in the future. And if he did it knowingly then also we should try to convince the fact. In case of insistence on the act, we should use the weapon of law against him. I think if we adopt this way, most of the cases will be solved easily without any violence” he said.

“It is democratic country where we have right to go court against those who hurt our religious sentiment. But we must be cautious and must not take law and order in our hand. Otherwise, it will strengthen the people who are making all efforts to project Muslims as terrorists and aggressive” said Maulana Abdul Hamid Nomani.

While Maulana Anisur Rahman said that to counter such incident Muslims should use legal courses as well as political pressure to make sure that such incident would not be repeated in the future by the same person/company or anyone else.

Muslim women call for codification of personal laws

By Manzar Bilal

Patna: One of the prominent organizations working for the rights and empowerment of Muslim women, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), has called for the codification of personal laws. “There are many countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arab, Yemen, Jordan and Malaysia wherein Muslim personal laws have been codified but India which has a large number of Muslims is still behind in this regard,” said Naish Hasan, one of the founders of BMMA. She was speaking at a round-table discussion organized by BMMA on May 7 at Gandhi Sangharalay here in Patna.


“It’s a fact Muslims are in bad condition in the country but it is also true that Muslims women are worst compared to others. It is only because the rights that Islam has given to women are not being implemented in the society. So, we want codification of personal laws on the basis of Quran and other authentic sources of Islamic Shariah,” Hasan demanded.



Noor Jehan speaking at the program

Speaking on the occasion, Noor Jehan, another founder member of BMMA, said: “People are misusing the provision of divorce and destroying women’s life. There must be mutual talks before divorce as it is before marriage. Similarly, polygamy is allowed in Islam but Quran has clearly mentioned several conditions for that. But people are using it for their sexual desire.”



“The age of marriage for Muslim girls should be codified as in various cases they are married in minor age. Islam has instructed to seek girls’ permission for marriage but it is not practiced in the society. Mostly meager amount of meher is fixed. That too is something women never get in their lifetime. Islam has declared mehr-e-moajjal nikah) as the best meher. The amount of meher should be fixed keeping the income of husband and at least it should be income of his one year,” Noor Jehan added.



Noor Jehan putting her words while Naish Hasan looks on

Making a very important point Noor Jehan said, there is an urgent need to research personal laws on the basis of Quran and Hadith in women’s perspective. “Researchers and scholars of Islam, who have been mostly men, approach various issues related to women from men’s perspective. The need of the hour is to rethink that approach,” she added.


“We call upon Islamic scholars, Muslim leaders and dignitaries to come out and help us in preparing a draft bill for codification of personal laws that will be submitted to the law ministry,” Jehan appealed.




View of audience

BMMA was established in 2007 by a group of Muslim women. Besides other issues, it has been demanding for the codification of Muslim personal laws. The program was to intensify the demand and to create awareness among Muslim women of the state.

A true follower of religion cannot spread hatred: Swami Harinarayanand

By Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net,

Patna: In an effort to bring the people of different religions together and remove the misunderstandings against each other, Patna based Islamic Dawah and Research Foundation (IDRF) organized a program on May 1 at Anjuman Islamia Hall in Patna.

Speaking on the occasion, Dharamacharya Swami Harinarayanand, General Secretary, Bharat Sadhu Samaj, said: “The goodness of people lies in establishing justice, extending helping hands towards needy irrespective of their religions, caste and creed. The good character and morality make people big in the eye of God as well as human beings” he added.


Swami Harinarayanand speaking while Acharya Shri Sudarshan ji Maharaj (in green dress) on his right

He said that every religion commanded its followers to protect and respect humanity but some people especially politicians are using religion for wrong purpose to avail their own benefits. “These mischief mongers should remember that their power and posts will not remain always with them as they have to leave this world one day. Therefore, they should work for the betterment of humanity and not for destroying it” he said.

In his lecture on ‘Similarity between Islam and Hinduism’ Engineer Khurshid Imam from Bangalore said: “The main reason for misconceptions about each other is that we do not try to understand each other, we do not read the original religious sources of each other. In this context such interfaith program is very important”.

He said that there are many things that are similar in both Islam and Hinduism. To prove his claim, he gave various examples with the reference of verses from the scriptures. “We need to read religious scripture of both the religions then we would find similarity in various aspects. For example, Quran says that there is no God but Allah. The same message is given in original Vedas and Bible but most of the people do not know because they did not read it. Similarly, Quran asked human beings to worship Allah alone. The same commandment is available in Vedas and Bible” Khurshid Imam said.


Audience


“A religion shows a healthy way of life which brings people close to God. When human beings surrender themselves completely then he became a true follower of religion” said Acharya Shri Sudarshan ji Maharaj from Gurgaon.

Commenting on prayer system in Islam he said: “Today, people are adopting yoga for good health but Muslims were taught to offer prayer hundreds of years ago. One who offers prayers five times a day will never need yoga to maintain his health.”

Emphasizing on continuous interfaith dialogue he said that we all need to come on one platform to understand each other and establish peaceful society.