Islam and Politics *Indian Elections: Mysteries of The Muslim Mood <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1380>*
Zaheer Ali Khan, editor of Urdu daily Siyasat, which has carried out a valiant fight against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.R. Reddy on corruption and communalism, told Covert that discrimination and injustice were two major issues that were agitating minorities across the country. Zaheer Khan was as categorical as Muslim intellectuals and politicians from other parts of the country: “Muslim parties will have a future only if they align with secular forces. Otherwise, they could polarise opinion and this will not work to anyone’s advantage.” He was particularly happy that these elections in Andhra Pradesh were being fought on development and real issues concerning the minorities for the first time. “Earlier it was always Babri Masjid, or Taslima Nasreen or other such issues. This indicates a change in the Muslim mindset, they are just fed up of emotional issues,” Khan pointed out. Not a single Muslim party in the fray is even wasting time on these matters, promising instead safety from illegal arrests, and a life of respect and dignity. “This is what matters,” a young teacher, Safia Qadeer said. THIS WAS THE MESSAGE from all spoken to: in Assam, UP, Bihar, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra. The Muslims have made it clear that they are now looking not just for hard talk, but hard action. They are fed up with the status quo and the same promises by the so-called secular parties. The five years of NDA rule made them optimistic of change when “secular” UPA came to power. The last five years have convinced them that the secular parties are no different on the ground, and except for rhetoric, have little to offer. The issues taken up by the Muslim parties and candidates range from domestic issues of arrests, harassment, discrimination to foreign policy concerns about the strategic alliance with the US and the growing friendship with Israel. Secularism is recognised as the bedrock of politics, and as Amaresh Mishra said, “We might not win, but at least we will have to spread the word that we are all together in the fight for justice and equality. And that there are alternatives when the so-called organised parties fail the citizens of India” [¼] -- *Seema Mustafa* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1380> Current affairs *Where silence prevails, justice will not <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1378>* *Sri Sri Ravishankar’s silence over Gujarat and Kandhamal symptomatic of wider silence of most Hindu religious figures over anti-Muslim, anti-Christian pogroms* This omission of Muslims and Christians from the story of displacement is, I believe, not accidental or innocent. It is of a piece with the new age guru’s elliptical moral orbit which appears to be drawing him closer and closer to the sangh parivar. One manifestation of this is his pronouncement on various topics like the Babri Masjid. Another is the warning issued to his Art of Living foundation by the Election Commission that its Mantranaad programme in Gujarat not be misused to lend political support to any political party during the ongoing election. The warning was sent following a complaint by the Congress which alleged the foundation was backing the Bharatiya Janata Party. But the omission is also symptomatic of a wider silence maintained by most Hindu religious figures over the blatant distortion and misuse of their great religion by organizations like the RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Ram Sene, Shiv Sena and BJP. Whenever terrorist incidents suspected to be the handiwork of jihadi groups take place, dozens of Muslim clerics issue immediate statements of condemnation. It is a different matter that our media usually doesn’t bother to report these statements. But when the large-scale killing of Muslims was orchestrated in Gujarat in 2002 by organisations claiming allegiance to Hinduism with the backing of the State administration, hardly any Hindu religious preacher stood up to denounce the profaning of their faith by these politically motivated groups. And this in a region where the concept of ahimsa was born and took deep roots, and where the followers of influential preachers like Morari Bapu or Asaram Bapu or sects like the Swaminarayans run into millions. -- *Siddharth Varadarajan* 1 Comments More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1378> The War within Islam *Out of the frying pan into the fire: Journey from Tableeghi to Ahl-e-Hadeesi <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1379>* *I*n these times of group polarization, *ta'assub* (bias) towards one's * madhhab* (school of thought) and sectarianism, it is a great blessing for someone to seek guidance and accept the truth, especially, if one's source of livelihood and hard-earned respect are at stake. One such fortunate individual is Br. Mohammad Anas, the owner of Idara Ishaat-e-Diniyat - a publishing company that publishes the *Fazaail-e-Amaal *(also known as the *Tableeghi Nisaab*) in four languages and other numerous books of the Deobandis. The *Fazaail Aamaal *authored by Moulana Zakariyyah Khandelwi is the book that the Jamaat Tableegh uses to spread its dawah. It is the *only *book that the Tableeghis allow to be read in their gatherings and a lot of stress is put on reading it regularly to the extent that this book is read by the Tableeghis five times a day after every prayer. This book has in it many false beliefs and baseless stories that have been corrupting people's * Aqeedah* for half a century. Br. Mohammad Anas, the publisher of the *Fazaail Aamal*, after identifying the vile errors of the Fazaail-e-Amaal, has openly declared his abhorrence towards this book and the Tableeghi-Deobandi nexus that spreads its teachings. He has open-heartedly accepted the way of taking the religion from the Qur'aan and the Sunnah, which is the way of the Ahle Hadees - And All praise is due to Allah. -- *Sajid A Kayum * 1 Comments More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1379> Radical Islamism & Jihad *Pakistan: The Swat Model Could Be Replicated In South Punjab <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1374>* *Deadly social change* So, it is lack of understanding of this background that leads people to show surprise that south Punjab, which was considered a hub of Barelvi Islam, is moving towards Deobandi and Wahabi ideologies. A closer look, in fact, shows that a lot of Barelvis have shifted towards other ideologies and are part of the jihad industry without abandoning their original ideology. The gap between the Barelvis and Deobandis has narrowed most peculiarly in south Punjab. Is it because of the hundreds of madrasas that mushroomed in this belt especially in the 1980s? The answer is yes and no. Yes because the new madrasas, which were different from the traditional ones in the area, introduced a more dramatic curriculum that nurtured in the students an appreciation of sectarian and ideological differences. Hence, the sectarian violence in the region, which predates the current shift, dates back to the 1980s and 1990s. The radicalisation, including sectarian violence, represents an urge for social transformation because some prominent landowners in this area are Shia as opposed to the underdogs most of whom are Sunnis. The growing radicalisation in southern Punjab shown up in the inability of the state to carry out land reforms and shift the socioeconomic and political power structure from a pre-capitalist society to a capitalist one will have its consequences in the years to come. So while the proliferation of madrasas is part of the problem it does not explain the social development in its entirety. Not to mention that southern Punjab as a sub-region has suffered due to the gradual, reverse migration of the elite to other parts of the country creating a power vacuum that is ready to be filled by another lot. -- *Ayesha Siddiqa * 1 Comments More..<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1374> -- Syed M. 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