COMMUNITY ROUND-UP

The Delhi based Institute of Objective Studies (IOS) has resolved to make effort to set up a specialized IOS Global Council for Youth Development here. The resolution is part of the decisions taken here at the two-day international conference on challenges before the youth in the contemporary world.
It was also resolved that IOS will set up a separate fund to support Muslim youth appearing for civil services examination at the State and Central level. It was also resolved to make a survey of the Muslim youth and their family members who had undergone physical and mental agony during their incarceration in prisons for several years.
The conference held in New College, was inaugurated by Dr. Ibrahim bin Hamad al-Quaid while the valedictory address was delivered by Justice M. G. Akbar Ali of Madras High Court. Prof. Jawahirullah, MLA also participated in the conference.

Dr. Farhan Mujib, noted artist of international repute and former faculty member of the Aligarh Muslim University, passed away on December 15. He was 65. He leaves behind his wife Dr. Fouzia Mujib, a Reader in the Physics section of the Aligarh Muslim University Women’s College. Dr. Farhan served the AMU as Physics teacher and took voluntary retirement in 2004 to pursue art as a profession. His painting exhibitions were held in several cities of India. His family had close relationship with noted Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai. Farhan Mujib painted the cover pictures of more than two dozen books including the cover pages of most of the books by Jnanpith award recipient poet, Shahryar.

Karnataka Zakat & Charitable Trust Gets into Action

Philanthropy and ‘Community Social Responsibility’ (CSR) were seen in bounteous camaraderie here on December 11, a Sunday, when over 1,500 students were given scholarships in a public function organized by Karnataka Zakat and Charitable Trust (KZCT).
The Loyola Hall of the St Aloyssius Pre University College turned into a flowing ocean of black burqa-clad girls as nearly 75% scholarships went to girls studying in various professional courses in the Dakshina Kannada (Mangalore) district. The nearly 50 social workers who had done a meticulous screening of the nearly 5,000 applications and investigated the deserving cases, disbursed Rs. 75 lakh through cheques.
The entire Rs. 75 lakh was donated by Mr. Khalil Ahmed Khan, an industrialist and philanthropist from Hyderabad who hailed from Mangalore. Mr. Ahmed had made a fortune through a biotechnology firm that he set up in 1990s. Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Ahmed said he decided to invest in nurturing the young talents taking a cue from his own life. He said he had risen from a humble origin through hard work, constant struggle and by entrepreneurship. Ahmed said the work of Mr. Ghiyasuddin Babukhan inspired him to take up the scholarship scheme in several districts of Karnataka. Mr. Khalil Ahmed said India was a unique country as its democracy offers tremendous opportunities and secularism offers equality of opportunity. He said none of the Muslim countries he had visited was on par with India in matters of liberty, liberal ethos, and environment for research in science, technology and entrepreneurship.
Mr. Ghiyasuddin Babukhan, secretary of the Hyderabad Zakat and Charitable Trust (HZCT), who is funding the studies of nearly 15,000 students in Andhra Pradesh for the current year, said such philanthropy for promoting education brings dividends in geometrical proportions. He said there was no substitute for education. Only a generation of Muslims equipped with education, skills, discipline and character can bring about a change in the destiny of Muslims. Mr. Babukhan asked the students to build harmonious relationship with non-Muslims students.
Mr. S. M. Beary, another entrepreneur from DK district said only imaginative steps will alleviate the sufferings of the community. Mr. Feroze Abdullah from Bangalore spoke of Mr Ghiyasuddin Babukhan’s work in Andhra Pradesh in glowing terms. Mr. Maqbool Ahmed Siraj, journalist from Bangalore urged the community to take up literacy for all, higher education for sizeable majority and attainment of knowledge all through one’s life as the mission for future. Mr. A. S. Puthige, editor, Kannada daily Vaartha Bharthi said God helps only those who struggle and trust in Him. Social worker Umar wanted better coordination among investigators and inspectors in future for selection of applicants.
Sixteen ranki students who had scored more than 90 % marks were given certificates in recognition of their academic excellence. Among them was a lone boy and five non-Muslim girls.

Social activist, Samsur Rohman Choudhury has been awarded with ‘Dr. Ambedkar Sewashree National Award 2011,’ by Bharatiya Dalit Sahitya Akademi, Delhi. The award was handed over to him by the national president of Dalit Sahitya Akademi, Dr. S. P. Sumanakshar at the 27th national conference of the Akademi held on 11th December, in New Delhi. Samsur Rohman Choudhury who is also known as John Choudhury fought tirelessly against large scale corruption and embezzlement of government funds meant for the development of poor, rural and downtrodden people, by the officials of District Rural Development Agencies (DRDA) and Block Development Offices (BDO) in Cachar district of Assam. For his mission, he used his NGO, named AGRADUT and submitted various memorandums to the chief minister of Assam, minister of rural development, Assam, and other officials.

Photographer Ahmed Anwar’s photograph of Kadri Kambala Photography was adjudged as one among the best photographs. The bullock race is organized once in a year in a paddy field within the Mangalore city limits. Ahmed Anwar works as staff photographer for Coastal Mirror magazine from Mangalore. Some of the rare pictures shot by leading photojournalists of Mangalore were displayed at the photography competition-cum-exhibition on the eve of the festival.

NCPUL Grants

Karantaka lags behind Kerala in matters of utilizing funds allocated for promotion of Urdu, despite the fact that nearly nine per cent of Karnataka consists of Urdu speaking people. This was disclosed by Mr. Ubaidullah Sharief, who has been recently inducted in the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) from the state. Mr. Sharief who attended the NCPUL meeting on November 24 in Delhi, said only two proposals for grant of Rs. 50,000 each were received from Karnataka this year, while proposals received from union territory of Delhi demanded Rs. 11.55 lakh, Maharashtra Rs. 11.25 lakh and UP 7.25 lakh.
Mr. Sharief told Urdu newspaper journalists that few NGOs from Karnataka were registered under the Planning Commission to be able to receive financial grants for the promotion of Urdu from Karnataka. He said the NCPUL grants Rs. 3 lakh for international level conventions, workshops and mushairas, Rs. one lakh for national level conferences, and Rs. 50,000 for the state level conclaves and Rs. 25,000 for the district level seminars. Rs. 50,000 is given in grant for publication of books on manuscripts submitted and approved by the expert committees.
He said the expert committee was dominated by 68 members from Delhi area while majority of others were from UP and Bihar. He was the lone representative from Karnataka in the Council while there was no one from the State in the expert committee. He urged the representation from the State to be enhanced to ten persons.

The mosque of Vandrala village which went under adverse occupation in the aftermath of Partition in 1947 following mass exodus of Muslims from this village in Mohali district of Punjab was restored to the community in the last week of November. Village sarpanch Harvinder Kaur and District Collector Narendra Sharma handed over the mosque to the Muslim community which has 14 families in the village. Maulana Muhammad Asghar Qasimi led the first prayers in the mosque almost after 64 years. Ms. Kaur addressed the gathering on the occasion and said very minuscule community of people in India were communal minded and they need to be alienated from the secular mainstream.

They are suspected to be part of a racket that sends handicapped persons to Saudi Arabia to beg during Hajj.

An inquiry has been sought into the disappearance of around 100 pilgrims hailing from the Indian state of West Bengal, who went missing here after the Haj, 2011 which ended last month.
“We have brought the case to the notice of the Indian government,” B.S. Mubarak, Consul Haj and Head of Chancery at the Indian Consulate in Jeddah was quoted by the Saudi Gazette.
The last flight for Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, left Jeddah on Dec. 5.
All these missing pilgrims are from the city of Murshidabad, and their whereabouts in Saudi Arabia are not known, said Mubarak.
The matter was raised in the Indian parliament also where Moinul Hassan, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) member, sought action against the “irresponsible behavior” of the national and state Haj committees.
According to sources, these pilgrims – most of whom were physically disabled – had arrived here on Haj visas with the sole intention of begging.
After Haj they were either caught by the police while begging and put behind bars or have gone into hiding.
To curb the exploitation of Haj and Umrah visas for begging, the Saudi Ministry of Haj earlier this year issued a circular to all Haj and Umrah companies to turn down visa applications from elderly and disabled persons physically incapable of performing pilgrimage rites.
Chief Executive Officer of India’s Central Haj Committee (CHC) Shakir Hussain has reportedly called for an inquiry into the matter, putting the blame on the West Bengal State Haj Committee and the Kolkatta-based Regional Passport Office (RPO).
“It is a matter of concern how so many handicapped pilgrims were allowed to go to Saudi Arabia from Kolkatta,” he was quoted as saying by an Indian newspaper.
Mubarak, however, says that it is difficult to ascertain the intention of a pilgrim and check his or her physical condition from the application.
There are 21 embarkation points in India for Haj pilgrims. In most of the states, Haj applications exceed the number of quotas, said Mubarak.
But in some states – like West Bengal – the number of applications falls below the quota. So every applicant gets a Haj visa, the Haj Consul added.
Shakir Hussain and Vice Chairman of CHC Hassan Ahmed have reportedly asked for a probe into the involvement of an organized syndicate suspected of sending physically challenged people on pilgrimage for begging.

From Huda’s Zoo to Evolution of Houses, students of Wisdom International School put up an impressive display of exhibits at Wiz Expo 2011.

Little boys dressed in white Arab robes explaining the origin of the Masjid-e-Nabavi, another little girl in fluent English telling the story of the Kaaba, artifacts carved out of vegetables and environmental pollution and much more, constituted the fourth Science Exhibition organised by the Wisdom International School in Bangalore last month. Titled ‘Wiz Expo-2011’ the topics covered this year were wider and more comprehensive as compared to the past.
Despite constraints of space, the exhibits were vast and impressive. The theme of Wiz Expo-2011 was “Life of the Akhirah” (Hereafter). Students from the nursery section stole the show with pretty displays on wildlife. While stuffed pelicans and parrots added colour, the kids were dressed up as tiger cubs and kangaroos. This was innovative and also a very good way to educate the children about the importance of wildlife. Another section explained the nutritive value of fruits and vegetables.
A first aid box, a farmhouse, a dam project, germination of seeds, international currency, history of the postal system, mass media, invention of the wheel, mountain ranges, conservation of forests, nesting of birds, crops of India and means of transport were painstakingly created by the older children. The ‘Wisdom International Airport,’ evoked a wondrous gasp.
‘Huda’s Zoo’ by a third standard student housed rare species of birds and animals, of course all stuffed! Another show stealer was the exhibit by children of the first standard on types of houses, starting with caves, palm leaf house, timber wood house, tent house, caravan to the high rise apartments. The ninth standard students confidently explained the in and out of a computer, global warming and hydraulic lift system. Wiz Expo 2011 by Wisdom International School sent a positive message to the rest of the community that new ideas and innovations should be encouraged among youngsters. But the deeniyat section left a bit of cussedness. The ‘Hell’ in the reward and punishment section had only female dolls. To boot, this reporter was offered the explanation: “there will be more women in hell as our religion tells us.” It is a poignant commentary on the poor gender-sensitivity in Islamic schools.
Another slip on the part of the organisers was the display of two cages with colourful birds inside. Caged birds are certainly not the way to conserve nature. Hope the Wisdom School organisers are wiser enough for the next time.

The Rajasthan Chief Minister’s claim that the State Police had solved Jaipur blast case has proved to be a tissue of lies with the fast-track court here releasing 11 of the 14 persons falsely accused for the blast. According to the CM Ashok Gehlot, who had made this claim in a national conference on internal security in New Delhi nearly two and half years ago, the accused—and arrested—persons were activists of Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). The police and the IB had been using the term Indian Mujahideen sleeper cells for all such falsely accused persons.
It may be recalled that 69 persons had been killed in a blast in Jaipur on May 13, 2008.
The fast-track court while absolving the accused from all charges declared them innocent. Additional Sessions Judge Nepal Singh held that the acquitted persons had no links whatsoever with the banned SIMI and were not promoting enmity between different communities, far less being involved in any terrorist activity.
Some of the released youth who met the press on December 10 a day after being released, demanded ‘an unconditional apology’ from Mr. Gehlot for the pain, trauma and agony that they and their families underwent during the past three years during which they were held in cramped and dingy cells of the Central Jail in Jaipur. They claimed that the jail staff and other hardened criminals tortured them physically and mentally during their imprisonment.
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s assertion during one of his visits here in 2009 that the Jaipur blasts case was linked with the controversial Batla House encounter of September 2008 reportedly emboldened the jail staff. On Id-ul-Fitr, the day following Mr. Chidambaram’s visit, the security personnel dragged them out of their cells and thrashed them when they sought permission to offer Id prayers along with other prisoners.
Narrating their traumatic experiences to journalists, Sohail Modi, 33, and Azam Gajdhar, 31, hailing from Jodhpur, said the torture and humiliation they suffered first at the hands of ATS officials and later the jail staff was something they could never forget. “The regime [in Rajasthan] changed during our imprisonment, but there was no change in the attitude of the government officers,” said an indignant Mr. Modi.
“After the change of government, our family members met Congress leaders several times seeking a review of our case, but had to return bare-handed every time,” said Mr. Modi, whose handicrafts business has been wiped out in the past three years.
The Rajasthan Muslim Forum, which has pledged its support to the acquitted persons, said Mr. Gehlot had consistently rejected its demand for changing the investigating team appointed during the previous BJP regime and accepted “without demur” the ATS claim of having cracked the case. “Our stand has been vindicated. The court has found no evidence against 11 innocent persons,” said Forum convenor Qari Moinuddin.
The acquitted men demanded legal action against the authorities, including former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, former Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria and some police officers, for implicating them in the false case. While they would lodge individual complaints in this regard, the Muslim Forum demanded an assistance of Rs. 25 lakh for each of them, even though it would “not recompense for [their] pain and suffering”.
Mr. Gajdhar, who was working with his father on marble, granite and tile fitting before the Special Operations Group picked him up, said a senior police officer who had ordered his arrest and was now in jail in connection with an encounter case had told him that he had acted under the State Government’s pressure to “show results” and achieve a certain figure of the accused to depict success in solving the case.
Gajdhar’s father Mr. Adil Gajdhar claimed that the ATS had proved its incompetence in bringing to book the real culprits behind the blast and mass murder and said it targeted vocally and socially active youths of the Muslim community to cloak its failure in getting to the bottom of the blast case. He said their family had to under severe social pressure during the period of incarceration of the youth.
Kota-based elderly physician Ishaq Qureshi and his son Taufeeq, a unani medicine student, said their family back home faced complete social boycott during their three-year jail term with the denial of bail. “Our medical practice is finished. My son’s career is ruined. We don’t know how we will pick up the threads of life,” said a dejected Dr. Qureshi.
Following the collapse of the ATS case against 11 persons in the court, the focus has now shifted to three other accused who have been implicated in the Ahmedabad blasts of July 2008 as well and taken to Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat. Their trial in the Jaipur case is yet to start. Muslim Forum member M. Salim Engineer said their trial, as well as the hearing of others in the main blasts case should be expedited so that all the accused can prove their innocence.

The 30-member new managing committee of the Central Muslim Association (CMA) was elected on November 27. Leading the pack are noted builder Irfan Razack, outgoing president of the CMA Haji Maqbool Ahmed, Attar Syed Murtaza Hussain, noted social worker Ateeq Ahmed of Jamia Masjid Charitable Trust, Mukhlis Ali Mehkri, former minister Sadath Ali Khan and Syed Sadaqath Peeran of Al-Ameen Educational Society.
Voting for the Association took place on November 27. Of the 5,218 members of the general body, only 985 cast their votes. There were 41 candidates in the fray for 30-member body.
Among others who were elected are: Hussain Shariff, Afsar Beg, Dr. L. A. Javed, Javed Ahmed Khan Patel, Mahmood Omar Sait, noted industrialist A. Shaikh Dawood, Muhammad Siddique Sait, Maqsood Ali Khan, Riaz Ahmed Shariff, M. Sirajullah Khan, Muhammad Haneef, Dr. Zaheeruddin Ahmed, Agha Sultan Ahmed Murtaza, Abdul Wahab Khan, Syed Noorul Ameen Anwar, Muhammad Ghaus Peer, Rahman A. R., Syed Altaf, Syed Shahid Ahmed, Arif Pasha, J. Shafiullah and Zulfiuar Ahmed Khan.
Mr. Mohammad Saleem, KAS acted as the returning officer. The committee will conduct the affairs of the CMA for the next three years.
The CMA is likely to take up the construction of the new boys hostel and shopping complex at the recently purchased Das Compound in Basavanagudi locality of the city on a priority basis. The Das Compound property—10,000 sq ft—was purchased only two years ago as the old hostel of the CMA behind the City’s K. R. Market was acquired by the Metro rail network for its station in lieu of Rs. 40 crore. The old CMA Hostel at this site had served the accommodation needs Muslim students for well over 75 years. Nearly 13,000 sq. ft. area is still with the CMA. Several Muslim civil service officer currently serving the government had stayed in the hostel during their tenure as students in the city.
The CMA also runs four high schools, a polytechnic and CMA Abbaskhan Girls College in Bangalore.

Fourteen students from minority communities were selected and presented cheques for overseas studies by the Chief Minister Mr. D. V. Sadananda Gowda on December 1. This is under the new scheme introduced in the current year budget under which the Government of Karnataka has allocated Rs. One crore. In a brief ceremony organized at the state secretariat Vidhana Soudha, 14 students were given cheques worth Rs. 5 lakh each. Of them, 10 were from the Muslim community, three Christians and one Sikh. The selection was done by the Minority Welfare Department.
The Chief Minister also attended the meeting of the newly established Christian Development Council to discuss the allocation of Rs. 50 crore set aside for the Christian minority. The meeting was attended by state finance secretary Mr. Anil Jha, secretary for Minority Welfare Mr. Zameer Pasha, Director of Directorate of Minorities Ateeq Ahmed, Director of KMDC Mr. Salahuddin and others. Under the Minority Overseas Scholarships, students belonging to minority communities are given scholarships for studies abroad for 23 selected courses for such students whose annual family income is less than Rs. 4 lakh. The courses selected should be either post-graduate or doctorate.

Last year, the Government of Andhra Pradesh and its Ministry of Tourism had signed an MoU with the Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA). Based on the MoU, the government had to hand over 105 acres of the 150 acre land, in and around the Golconda fort. This land was meant for developing a golf club to attract tourists. The 105 acres of land comes under the Naya Qila area of the fort, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monument. The ASI readily gave its consent to the MoU with provisions demanding special care to protect the two heritage mosques, Mustafa Khan and Mullah Khayali in the Golconda limits. But now, it is the land in the vicinity of these mosques, which has turned out to be the golf club land. The graveyard and the wakf land of the mosque which has been now earmarked for the golf course is worth Rs.800 crore. A controversy erupted when a local resident of the Golconda fort area filed a writ petition in the Andhra Pradesh high court claiming that an ancient graveyard that existed close to the mosque was destroyed by the Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA). The high court passed an order on November 2, 2011, by which, the court directed the Wakf Board to segregate its land in cooperation with the ASI. The ongoing construction work on the Golconda fort area was stopped on the orders of the District Collector of Hyderabad. A survey was done on the Masjid Mustafa Khan and the adjoining Muslim graveyard. The Board discovered that the HGA had destroyed a well and a canal that supplied water to the mosque. The HGA claimed that they had kept these mosques and graveyards excluded in its project to develop the golf course. But this is how quite often in Hyderabad, precious Wakf properties owned by ancient mosques are converted into government properties and sold away to different firms.
(Reported by Mohd Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net)

Erring cops to cough up money from their salaries

Perhaps in the first instance of victims of police torture in a terror case, being paid compensation in India, Andhra Pradesh has released Rs.7 million for innocent Muslim youth arrested and tortured in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case. A day after chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy announced in the State Assembly that the compensation would be paid, the Minorities Welfare Department issued an order releasing the amount. According to officials, out of 70 victims identified, 20 would be paid Rs.300,000 each, while others would get Rs.20,000. The government released the compensation amount on the recommendations of the National Minorities Commission, which also asked the government to consider deducting the amount from the salaries of erring police officials. Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and other Muslim groups had been demanding that the government pay compensation. Nine people were killed in the blast during Friday prayers at the historic Mecca Masjid on May 18, 2007. Five more people were killed in the subsequent police firing on protesters outside the mosque. Following the blast, the police arrested dozens of Muslims youth and filed cases against them. The arrested youth were acquitted by the courts during the last one year.