The minorities in Andhra Pradesh are receiving a fair deal. The Minorities Welfare Department disbursed Rs. 115 crore towards scholarships among 6.7 lakh minority students in the State. The Department, which has been severed out of the Social Welfare Department, was allocated Rs. 176 crore during 2008-09. Of the Rs. 115 crore spent for scholarships, Rs. 76 crore were utilized for reimbursing tuition fee of the minority students. The Department has identified backward communities from among minorities in order to fulfil the specification sought by the Andhra Pradesh High Court to justify reservations.
These facts emerged at an interactive meeting of the Muslim NGOs with Mr. Basheeruddin Babukhan, a former minister of Andhra Pradesh and an advisor to AP chief minister Mr. Y. S. Rajashekhar Reddy at the behest of the Karnataka Minister for Minority Welfare, Haj and Wakf Prof. Mumtaz Ali Khan at Vikasa Soudha.

Mr. Babukhan who runs the two trusts, namely FEED and HZCT in Hyderabad, said the AP Government has sanctioned 12 pre-matric and 16 post-matric hostels for the minority students and 12 residential schools exclusively for minorities. He informed that NABARD sanctions Rs. 75,000 to a minority Self-Help Group (SHG) if it raises Rs. 5,000 on itself for running small entrepreneurship schemes. This follows central government DWCRA (Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas) programme.

He pointed out that Andhra Pradesh has taken a lead among the states in India in allocations for the promotion of Urdu. Currently, nearly Rs. 18 crore are being allocated to the Andhra Pradesh Urdu Academy which has sanctioned 11,670 scholarships for Urdu medium students. Urdu has now been given second official status in 15 districts of the State. Urdu speaking people could go to court if the authorities do not sanction Urdu medium schools in Urdu speaking areas. The Academy also organised computer training to the community at 45 such centres and also undertakes printing and publication of Urdu textbooks. The Government is giving salaries to teachers who teach English, Mathematics and Science at the madrassas.

Rupees six crore has been allocated for the purposes of coaching of minority students for competitive exams at five centres. The AP Minority Department has initiated measures to look into the cases of indiscriminate arrest of innocent Muslim youth in terror related incidents by Gujarat Police in the state of Andhra Pradesh in collaboration with AP Human Rights Commission. Under various housing schemes, 10 per cent houses or housing sites are being allocated to minority communities. White card holders who have incomes up to Rs. One lakh annually can avail of the scheme. A total of 2.65 lakh minority individuals are being given houses under the scheme.

Rupees five crore has been allocated for mass marriages of minority couples. Under the scheme, Rs. 20,000 worth material is gifted to such couples. The Government is also allocating Rs. 10 crore for repair and maintenance of wakf properties while Rs. 1.2 crore has been set apart for development of wakf properties. The Department’s budget has provided Rs. 2 crore for enabling Christians to visit holy places. The current budget has also devoted Rs. 4 crore for repair and maintenance of churches in the state.

The AP government is also giving Rs. 400 towards pension to 1.5 lakh minority individuals.

Nearly 40 representatives and officials of the Minority Welfare Department participated in the meeting. Minister for Minority Welfare, Prof. Mumtaz Ali Khan presided.

Akbar Chhipa, small-time signboard painter in Shah-e-Alam area, has a passion for Japanese.

Akbar has formed a strange attachment for the Land of the Rising Sun and its lingo. He’s fluent in Japanese and what’s more, he’s self-taught.

The 30-year-old artist, who lives with his wife and two kids, was drawn to Japan since childhood. “When I was in school, I came to know about the Hiroshima and Nagasaki tragedy. Since then, I have explored every possibility to know the country. In the process, I learnt the language,” he says.

How he learnt Japanese is an interesting tale. He went hunting for Japanese tourists in Ahmedabad and became friendly with one. The tourist was impressed and moved by his earnestness to pick up the language, sent him books.

“I have many friends in Japan. They are in touch with me and we communicate via e-mails and letters. They even sent me marriage invitations and gifts,” says Akbar.

He wanted to formalise his knowledge of Japanese and went to Delhi to apply for a certificate course at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and at a couple of other places. “I can speak the language as good as their graduates. I was also willing to pay. But, since I don’t have any formal education, I was refused admission,” he recounts with disappointment.

Still, never-say-die Akbar has not given up his desire to improve his grasp of the language and has bought books on Japanese grammar from Delhi.

CBK Secondary School (Proprietary School) situated in Bundelawad near Bhagal, a Gujarati medium school, has around 750 students of which approximately 70% are Muslims.

The school made special arrangements for these Muslim students to offer namaz during Ramadan in the school premises itself. The principal, Bharat Aitoda, who introduced the concept said earlier, the Muslim students used to seek permission for going to the mosques or their homes to offer namaz during Ramadan. ”This disturbed their studies as well as the school schedule, which is why we decided to make an arrangement for them to offer namaz in the school building itself,” he added. The school has arranged for a hall on its premises, where the boys offer namaz, while the girls do so in their respective classrooms. The school Trust, whose majority trustees are Hindus, is following this system during Ramadan since 2004. “There has been no unpleasant incident. On the contrary, it has taught our students to accept and respect one another’s religion and faith,” said Aitoda.

Gati, the roadways company introduced the quick parcel service to carry the Hyderabadi cuisine ‘Haleem’ and ‘Khubani ka mittha’ across the cities like Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Coimbatore, and Ahmedabad. The ‘Haleem e Khas’ prepared by Hyderabadi restaurant Pista House was carried across these cities this year in vacuum packs by the Gati Supply Chain Management Company during the month of Ramadan. It also introduced the toll free number 1800-180-4284 for the aspirants of the cuisines.

The noted Islamic seminary, Darul Uloom Deoband has begun webcasting its annual examination results from the current year. According to a press note from the deputy rector of the Darul Uloom, the results of the annual exams held around the second week of Shaaban, the eighth month of Islamic Hijri calendar, will be placed on the Darul Uloom website at http//www.darululoom-deoband.com from the current year. The website already displays the fatwas (religious opinion) of the seminary in English and Urdu.

Yoga guru Ramdev has brought together Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists and Muslim clerics for a campaign to save the Ganga river from pollution. The “Save Ganga” campaign was launched recently by Ramdev at a meeting organised under the banner of the Ganga Raksha Manch in Kanpur. At the event, Qazi Qamar Shahjahanpuri and scholar Nawab Mir Jafar Abdullah shared the dais with VHP leaders Swami Chinmayanand and Sadhvi Rithambara. “We wish to urge the prime minister to declare Ganga a national heritage and to make pollution of the holy river a cognisable offence,” Ramdev said.

Abdullah compared the holiness of the Ganga water with “Ab-e-zam-zam” - the holy Mecca water, while the Qazi recited excerpts from the Quran to highlight the importance of pure water of which he termed Ganga as the biggest source in the country. A delegation of Hindu and Muslim leaders, headed by Ramdev, will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. They also want his help to spike the Uttar Pradesh government’s ambitious plan to build a 1,000 km Ganga Expressway connecting the state’s eastern tip to the national capital. The much publicised Ganga Expressway would not only affect the sanctity of the river, but also lead to the displacement of at least 6,000 families.

AMU relief team comprising twenty junior doctors of the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University has left for the flood-hit areas of Bihar. This medical-relief team is expected to provide consultancy and medicines to people in relief camps in the most hard-to-reach of the flood-hit areas. Junior Doctors’ Organization (JDO) took the lead by donating a day’s salary as well as canceling the annual iftar, diverting the amount to the relief fund. A sum of more than four lakhs was thus collected.

British Justice Secretary, Jack Straw has said that terrorism is against the basic tenets of Islam and it would be unjustified to identify the perpetrators of the violence with the faith. Interacting with Muslim leaders at an Iftaar Party hosted by the British High Commissioner, Sir Richard Staag here last month, Straw said: ‘’A terrorist is a terrorist whatever religion he may belong to, so one should guard against the use of language while referring to such incidents.’’ Straw said that Islam was the fastest growing religion in UK, and called upon its followers to join hands with his country to face the common threat of terrorism.

The Rajasthan government has decided to conduct a comprehensive survey of madrasas in the state. The initiative has been taken following the Jaipur serial blasts. Muslims in the state are wary of government plans as they think the survey might be politically motivated and could malign the seminaries. The survey is expected to cover an estimated 4,000 madrasas with about four lakh students in the state and will gather information on the background of students. It will focus on educational content, including nature of class work, profile of teachers, including their educational qualifications and institutions from which they took their degrees.

Most of the poor among India’s 138 million Muslims do not get subsidised food grains in rural India, says Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH). “94.9 percent of Muslims living below the poverty line (BPL) in rural areas do not receive free food grains and only 3.2 percent get subsidised loans,” JIH has said in a recent document called Vision-2016. The document is a roadmap for educational, economic, and social eman-cipation of Muslims. It says that only “1.9 percent of the community benefits from the programmes meant for preventing starvation among the poorest of poor”, while “60 percent of Muslims do not have any land in rural areas”. “The socio-economic and educational plight of Muslims continues to be abject. Although several schemes have been started to uplift them, they have still miles to go,” said K.A. Siddiq Hassan, vice-president of JIH.

Amidst the wave of raids at madrasas, mosques and Muslim localities in the wake of terrorist bombings across the country and recently one in New Delhi, the Delhi Wakf Board has decided to compile all necessary information about Imams, Muazzins and students attached with board-run madrasas and mosques in the national capital. The decision has been taken in view of investigations by security and intelligence agencies after every terrorist bombing. The programme is aimed at giving protection to these people and also to help agencies if needed. Asked if the step has been taken at government order, Chaudhry Mateen Ahmad, chairman of the Delhi Wakf Board, told TwoCircles.net: “We are doing it at our own and the government has not ordered us to do it. We are doing it because sometimes people attached with madrasas and mosques get caught in trouble, their information with the board will help them come out of the trouble.” There are 215 mosques in the national capital managed by the board. Profile of every new imam, muazzin and student will be maintained.

The editor of an Assamese newspaper who was dropped from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s trip to the US and France because he could not get a US visa blames the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and says the treatment meted out to him forced him to think he was a minority. Haider Hussain, editor of Assam’s highest circulated Asomiya Pratidin, was dropped from the team of journalists scheduled to accompany the prime minister with the US embassy allegedly denying him a visa. “I am a victim of being a Muslim and blame the ministry of external affairs for the goof-up rather than holding the US embassy in New Delhi responsible,” said Hussain.

Hussain was the lone media representative from the northeast to have been formally invited by the MEA to be part of 35 journalists accompanying the prime minister on the 10-day visit. Accusing the Indian government for failing to get his visa cleared despite being formally invited to be part of the prime minister’s entourage, Hussain said he was hurt at the discriminatory attitude meted out to him by MEA officials who failed to take any initiative in helping him get the visa.

The Supreme Court has decided to examine the question of whether a Muslim serving in forces can be prevented from sporting a beard.

The petitioner, Mohd Zubair a corporal in India Air force has challenged the IAF authorities’ “confidential order” dated February 24 2003, prohibiting Muslim personnel from sporting beards. According to Zubair, the order was in contravention of the Fundamental Rights of the citizen and also a Government letter issued through the Ministry of Home, dated July 18, 1990. The Bench of Justices, C.K Thakker and D.K Jain on September 12 issued notices to the Defence Ministry, the Air-Officer-in-charge-Personnel at Air Headquarters, and the Air Officer Commanding (Chandigarh), where Zubair was posted as Corporal, to examine the question whether Zubair is entitled to keep a beard as part of his constitutional right to practise his religion. Hearing the arguments by senior advocate, Rajiv Dhavan representing Zubair, the apex court indicated there was chance for Zubair to succeed. The Government orders of February 24, 2003 and June 9, 2003 allowed Muslims to keep beard and moustache provided they have it before entering the service. It was this distinction that has helped Zubair get a notice issued from the apex court.

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