Objectives Resolution and Secularism-Part 16, Urdu Section, NewAgeIslam.com

Urdu Section

Objectives Resolution and Secularism-Part 16

By Wajahat Masood

By merely having a bird’s eye view of the religious division of the population in the affected areas, it can be understood which community had the possibility of having an upper hand in case of riots. It should not be surprising then that while giving shape to the Punjab Boundary Force with a view to the possible deterioration of the law and order situation in the end of July 1947, these areas were not brought under consideration because the non-Muslim population there had almost been wiped out or had migrated.

It would not be unrealistic to say that after the formation of Pakistan, no one from the Muslim League leadership except Jinnah made any serious effort to retain Hindu-Sikh population in Pakistan and protect them. Liaqat Ali Khan was trying to consolidate his electoral base by bringing more and more Muslims from the Muslim-minority areas. The Muslim League leadership was impatiently waiting to grab the urban properties, businesses, costly assets, agricultural land and jobs of the non-Muslims by driving them out.

Take the example of the Sindh province where 36% of the agricultural land was pledged to the Hindu population. Interestingly, not a single statement of any religious peshwa condemning the incidents of killing, plundering, arson and rape came into light during the riots spanning several months. Even if a voice was heard, it was of the flag-bearer of the Hindu-Muslim unity, Md Ali Jinnah who had long been declared kafir (infidel) by the religious peshwas.

http://newageislam.com/objectives-resolution-and-secularism-part-16/urdu-section/d/2778

Khuda Hafiz, Pakistan?, The War within Islam, NewAgeIslam.com

The War within Islam

Khuda Hafiz, Pakistan?

Sudheendra Kulkarni

Jan 10, 2010

‘Khuda Hafiz, Muslim India!’ I was taken aback by this editorial in the December issue of the highly influential monthly journal founded by Syed Shahabuddin. I didn’t expect the redoubtable fighter for the cause of Muslims in India to give up, saying, “Muslim India was my favourite child, nurtured with love, time, energy and money for more than twenty years...Agonisingly, I realised that, with poor health and faltering finances, I had no option but to call it a day. So, the last issue is in your hand.”

I have been an avid reader of Muslim India, also an admirer of Shahabuddin. Not because I agreed with him. Indeed, I disagreed with much of what his journal contained and the sectarian perspective that he brought to bear on the issues he championed. I had first criticised his approach way back in the 1980s, when in a letter in response to his article in the Illustrated Weekly of India (now long-defunct), I had objected to his use of the phrase ‘Muslim India’ and argued that ‘Indian Muslims’ was a proper, non-communal alternative to it. The difference between the two phrases is salient to how we view the past, present and future of the place of Muslims in India.

Despite my differences with Shahabuddin, I have continued to admire him for two reasons. First, persons like him with deep conviction and commitment, who struggle tirelessly for a cause that transcends their personal interests, are always worthy of praise. In spite of the high profile he had in public life, he ran his journal from a very humble office. Genuine respect for the person with whom you disagree is a prerequisite for meaningful dialogue for the larger cause of Hindu-Muslim harmony.

http://newageislam.com/khuda-hafiz,-pakistan?-/the-war-within-islam/d/2362

The 'United Nationalism' of Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madni, The War within Islam, NewAgeIslam.com

The War within Islam

The 'United Nationalism' of Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madni

From Mansoor Hallaj, Date: 22 October 2008 05:15Subject Response to: Tablighi Jamaat in the light of Facts and Truth by Maulana Arshadul Qadri, http://NewAgeIslam.Com - 20 Oct, 2008Dear Sultan Sahab,I wonder if Maulana is even aware of Late Hussain Ahmad Madni's and Deobandi Contribution in India's Freedom Movement. Madni Sahab was very near to All India Congress and very allergic to Jinnah and Mawdudi [JI] as well!I will quote Respected and Learned Indian academic Mr Yoginder Sikand's article in two parts:PART 1: ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVESThe 'United Nationalism' of Maulana Madni - IBy Yoginder SikandWrongly reviled today as the ‘epicentre’ of ‘Islamic terrorism’, the Dar ul-‘Ulum in Deoband, one of the largest madrasas in the world, played a leading role in spearheading India’s freedom movement. The active involvement of many Deobandi ‘ulama in the struggle against the British is today a little-remembered story. Indian school textbooks refuse to mention it, probably deliberately in order to reinforce the stereotypical, yet misplaced, image of Muslims as congenitally ‘anti-national’. At the same time, however, they extol the alleged exploits of Hindutva activists in the fight against the British, while records have proven beyond doubt that leading Hindutva spokesmen, in the Congress, the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha, actually collaborated with the British and worked against the freedom movement. In this they played a similar role as that of the Muslim League.One of the leading figures of India’s freedom movement was Maulana Husain Ahmad Madni (1879-1957).

http://newageislam.com/the--united-nationalism--of-maulana-hussain-ahmad-madni-/the-war-within-islam/d/911

Campaigners fight to stop schools recruiting staff based on religion, Islamic Ideology, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Ideology

Campaigners fight to stop schools recruiting staff based on religion

Leading academics, authors and scientists are launching a campaign to stop state-funded faith schools from discriminating against students and teachers on the grounds of religion.

From Monday, such schools will be allowed to include faith as a selection criterion for teaching and non-teaching posts, reserving more places for people from the same religious background.

In some schools this will expand to include the headteacher while in others this would apply to non-teaching jobs, such as classroom assistants and cooks.

The new rules coincide with the launch of Accord, a coalition of Hindu, Christian and Humanist organisations, which claims that they will further restrict the employment rights of staff in state-funded faith schools and that discrimination of this kind is illegal in other state schools.

Accord's supporters also include the scientist professor Colin Blakemore, the former education secretary Tessa Blackstone, novelist Philip Pullman and the philosopher AC Grayling.

Prominent Jewish figures are angry that two rabbis from progressive movements, David Goldberg, emeritus rabbi of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St John's Wood, and rabbi Jonathan Romain, of Maidenhead Synagogue, are involved with Accord, with Goldberg saying that faith schools caused people "to live parallel lives".

http://newageislam.com/campaigners-fight-to-stop-schools-recruiting-staff-based-on-religion/islamic-ideology/d/704

Kashmir: Lal before the storm, Current affairs, NewAgeIslam.com

Current affairs

Kashmir: Lal before the storm

By Rajmohan Gandhi

August 19, 2008

Above all, as a 1947 refugee from Sindh and as a former Home Minister, Advani has an idea of the incalculable costs of Hindu-Muslim conflict. He must, therefore, know, as do the rest of us, that the real clash in India, and within the subcontinent, is not between Hindus and Muslims, or between Indians and Pakistanis, or between nationalists and traitors, or even between the people of Jammu and the people of Kashmir. Instead, it is between all those (of every or no religion and of every region) who cherish life, with all its vagaries and, therefore, seek to solve problems through peaceful means, and a relatively small but dangerously dedicated number of those (Muslims, Hindus and others) who are willing to kill people, including the innocent and themselves, to achieve a goal. He knows this well. Yet, when he saw a political springboard, he just went for it.

Finally, Advani’s demand for a transfer of land in the Kashmir Valley to the Amarnath Shrine Board is also unwise. Something other than a transfer should be entirely acceptable.

http://newageislam.com/kashmir--lal-before-the-storm/current-affairs/d/609