Why the ‘Liberal’ Support to Firoz Khan Must Not be Dependent on His Bhajan Singing Father

By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam 23 November 2019   Support is pouring in from unexpected sources, including the BHU Chancellor, for Feroz Khan facing protests by ABVP against his appointment in the Sanskrit department ----- The appointment of Firoz Khan in the department of Sanskrit, Banaras Hindu University, should have been welcomed by one and all. After all, in an age where less and less students are opting for Sanskrit, here is a man, from a different religion, who had not just studied the language but also excelled in it. He was duly selected through a selection panel chaired by the vice chancellor of the university and amongst all the candidates who appeared for the interview, he was found the most suitable....

Indian Muslim Clergy to Counter ISIS Propaganda: But they should go beyond rhetoric to a genuine counter-narrative that refutes Jihadism based on traditional Islamic theology

   By Sultan Shahin, Founder-Editor, New Age Islam 19 November 2019 India has started creating an internet-based "non-official channel of religious leaders" to stop Muslim youths from falling into the trap of ISIS''s literature of jihad, a report on Outlookindia.com has revealed, quoting government sources. It quotes a senior IPS officer posted with Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) saying "this (ISIS online propaganda) needs to be countered in a similar way," and that merely arresting Muslim youths is not going to solve the imminent threat. “The Muslim clergy will be trained to create YouTube channels, podcast, accounts on social media and websites to counter ISIS narrative,” says this report.  This is...

Who Are These People Who Want A Review Of Babri Judgment And Why Are They Allowed To Represent Us?

By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam 22 November 2019 Writing in these pages, I had suggested that in all probability, the all-important judgment in decades will be in favour of the temple. The reasons for this was certainly not that the Muslim claim rested on a weaker premise, but that given the recent judgments of the highest court on the finer points of personal liberty, it was becoming increasingly clear that there was a certain worrying closeness between the government of the day and the highest court of appeal in the country. Therefore, in its essence the judgment was an act of political management rather than that of legal jurisprudence. Even those who are sympathetic to the right wing Hindu ideology are having difficulty in justifying...