How Indian Muslims see Pakistan How is Pakistan seen by India's Muslims? Since 2001, the view has turned increasingly negative. Let's have a look at such views in three very different Indian publications. One is the conservative Urdu daily Inquilab, read almost exclusively by Muslims. The second, the liberal online paper New Age Islam, published in Urdu and English. Lastly, the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's organ Panchjanya, published in Hindi and read almost exclusively by Hindus. – Aakar Patel in Friday Times, Lahore. Radical Islamism & Jihad 18 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com How Indian Muslims see Pakistan By Aakar Patel Concerns about growing religious extremism in the neighbouring Islamic republic...

Radical Islamism & Jihad 30 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com Extremists Need a Dose of Reality Innovations always would be initially resisted and labelled as “Bidaa,” meaning an un-Islamic practice, before finally being accepted by society. For example, the introduction of photography, and television were met with great resistance before they were accepted or tolerated in the 1960s. They perceive any change as a threat that would undermine their authority and control. Their ideology still remains the same — intolerant of any change. The resistance to modernize Saudi Arabia by the religious scholars during the early rule of King Faisal was far greater than it is today, yet he continued to modernize the country and defied the fundamentalists...

Islamic Society 30 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com Death of a language, Urdu, that Pakistanis call India's Stepchild Every morning I open the Urdu newspapers with dread. Will I have to read yet another regressive rant by those who call themselves the custodians of Islam, or one more litany on the wrongs done to the Muslim community worldwide? Sadly, the answer is yes. What better example of this kind of bigotry than the headline in the Urdu Times on January 9: 'Sharon ki maut par jashn manaya jayega' (Sharon's death will be celebrated)? Muslims, madrassas, reservations in a Muslim university, a mosque under threat, another lavish one being built, Muslims being oppressed from Kashmir to Kandahar and Baghdad to Bradford, Bosnia, Palestine, Afghanistan. These are the staples that Urdu dailies...

Islam, Women and Feminism 30 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com Harassment: Fact, Perception and Law The honourable judges also held that “girls are as much entitled to fresh air as boys and that by permitting them to go unescorted and without purdah they are fostering in them a feeling of independence, confidence and self-reliance. A substantial number of incidents of harassment occur in schools, colleges, universities and academies, as well as on the Internet. Second, the amendment has failed to address the issue of procedure and its accessibility for women in relation to the offence. -- Hina Hafeezullah Ishaq Harassment: Fact, Perception and Law By Hina Hafeezullah Ishaq “The fact that a girl old enough to look after herself decides to walk in a public place without someone...

Spiritual Meditations 30 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com How I Met Tagore’s Kabuliwala at Khyber Pass! I halted at the State Tourism Guest House outside Taxila Museum. Archaeological sites dating back to the 5th century B.C. offers a glimpse of rich Gandhara arts, architecture, sculpture and learning of the Buddhist heritage of the central Asian civilization. Entire site of this great historical vintage was well preserved and protected by armed guards. Security officer’s room was echoing with popular Indian songs. Looking at the artefacts of the ancient heritage one wonders what had gone wrong with the people of this great civilisation. Just a few kms. away, beyond the Khyber Pass, monumental structures of the great civilization, 5 storey tall, mountain statues of Bamian Buddhas were,...

Current affairs 30 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com Chinese Mining Companies Make Inroads into Gilgit's Mineral-rich Region At a time when the distance between American and Pakistani priorities in the post-Osama period continues to grow, China is passionately vouching for Pakistan's entry into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is seen as the upcoming Asian NATO. For some time now, China and Pakistan have aspired to create a regional alliance comprising the Arab countries, Central Asian Republics, Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey, and SCO could most likely help that dream come true. But there is more to it than meets the eye. The lynchpin connecting these countries will be Gilgit Baltistan, a disputed region rivaling Serbia...

Radical Islamism & Jihad 18 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com How Indian Muslims see Pakistan How is Pakistan seen by India's Muslims? Since 2001, the view has turned increasingly negative. Let's have a look at such views in three very different Indian publications. One is the conservative Urdu daily Inquilab, read almost exclusively by Muslims. The second, the liberal online paper New Age Islam, published in Urdu and English. Lastly, the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's organ Panchjanya, published in Hindi and read almost exclusively by Hindus. – Aakar Patel in Friday Times, Lahore. How Indian Muslims see Pakistan By Aakar Patel Concerns about growing religious extremism in the neighbouring Islamic republic...

Islam and Sectarianism 29 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com PAKISTAN: Legitimizing Murder On June 10, 2011, the All Pakistan Students Khatm-e-Nubuwat (End of Prophethood) Federation issued pamphlets branding members of the Ahmadiyya community as "wajib-ul-qatl" (obligatory to be killed). The pamphlet, circulated in Faisalabad District of Punjab Province, read, "To shoot such people is an act of jihad and to kill such people is an act of sawab (blessing)." To identify 1,468 news articles and editorials promoting hate, intolerance and discrimination against Ahmadis in 2010. The monthly Persecution Report for March 2011 stated that the figure of hate literature increased from 1,033 news items in 2008, to 1,116 items in 2009. For instance, Ilyas Chinioti, a member of the mainstream political...