Dan Minette wrote: > It may also be worthwhile to know what the nature of these > Indian Muslims > who spoke out was. If they were people who Ritu happened to > know, it would > be as anecdotal as Erik suggested.
These weren't people I knew on a personal basis. These were people I saw on the news and TV programs, people I read about in newspapers and magazines, people who wrote in to the print media: movie stars, politicians, social activists, writers and poets, teachers and professors, college students, rickshaw-wallahs, vegetable vendors, people being interviewed inside mosques, people about whom all I know is this: their names indicated they were were muslim, they were shocked by 9/11 and they hailed from small towns of India. > But, if one could list important > Islamic teachers and leaders in India and point out that they have > consistently spoke out against the actions of OBL, then it > would be in line > with what Gautam asked for. I don't think any of the above could be accurately called the important Islamic teachers and leaders in India. Sure some of them are in a position of leadership, some are famous and exert a lot of social influence...but none of them are Islamic leaders. They are just political-social leaders who happen to be muslim. It would also be inaccurate to say that they have consistently spoken out against OBL - they did so right after 9/11 but by the end of the year, they were busy with other things [the attack on Indian Parliament, Akshardham temple]. Come February and the Godhra-Gujarat carnages, OBL just dropped off their radar. I would say that they have been consistently speaking out against the Modi govt. and the BJP, but then their lives are directly impacted by the latter's actions. If we are talking of Islamic leaders and teachers, well, I am not sure where they stand. Certain Islamic scholars have certainly written many articles on OBL's strategy and theology, stressing on the need for Islamic reform; I know the Shahi Imam thinks OBL is a wonderful guy but that is about it really. I don't know what the other Imams, or the Sunni Waqf board etc. think or say about OBL. They might easily have expressed their reactions and opinions in the first few days after 9/11 and I would have missed the same. I started noting the religious affiliations of the people expressing disgust only *after* I read about Shahi Imam's statement. Ritu _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
