Community Round-Up

Call any Muslim, and he is afraid to comment on the Malegoan blast.


Malegoan, infamous for communal disturbances came back to haunt the entire nation when several bombs exploded on September 8, killing around 38 people and injuring more than 200 people.


It is strange even in these hours of crisis, media and the so-called ‘security experts’ are towing the official line about the role of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence in the Malegoan blast. These security experts - some of them are now the members of the think-tank of the Sangh Parivar- have not ever attempted to ask the Parivar to have an introspection on their own role in master-minding a large number of communal riots in the country.


It is more than unfortunate that the security agencies are working with single-minded pursuit of a Pakistani hand in these blasts. While nobody denies these facts for which the ISI is notorious, yet would it be wise to ignore our own communal organisations?


Is it because that in these terror times, it has become fashionable to dub only Muslims as terrorists? Any news about Muslims and their involvement in terror activities is big news in India. But the media and the officials have no inkling about Muslims being killed by the right-winged fanatic organisations, may be supported by Israeli secret service Mossad. Hence official agencies and the media do not have the guts to called a spade- a spade in the Malegoan bomb blast case.


Urdu newspapers have also criticised the government’s reaction to the blasts. Mumbai’s leading Urdu daily, Inquilab, has alleged, the authorities and the national media, which took no time to point accusing fingers at certain organisations after the July 11, blasts have reacted very differently after the Malegaon blasts. Elaborating on the need to enlarge the scope of investigations into terror acts, Inquilab suggests the Malegaon blasts should be seen as being of the same pattern as the earlier blasts at the mosques in Parbhani and Jalna. “Why does the needle of suspicion never point to other organisations?’’ the Inquilab asks.


Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, which has editions in many cities, including Delhi, Lucknow, Patna and Hyderabad, has commented on the never-ending attempts to link terrorism with Muslims and the demonisation of Muslims has led to the community’s growing mistrust of the government and intelligence agencies. “Muslims are increasingly getting marginalised and going away from the mainstream. It is a dangerous trend,’’ the paper warns. The Urdu Times’ dramatically headlined front-page editorial, “Musalmano Ka Allah Hi Hafiz (Only Allah is there to take care of Muslims)’’, attacks the government for soft-pedalling on the probe into the Nanded and Parbhani blasts. In another first-page analytical piece, the same paper refuses to accept the theory that any Muslim organisation could have perpetrated the heinous crime on fellow Muslims who had assembled for Friday prayers on Shab-e-Baraat.


Sarfraz Arzoo, editor of Urdu daily Hindustan, which has an edition in Malegaon, has asserted Muslim alienation happened much before the Malegaon blasts. “The blasts have only accentuated the Muslim alienation. The way Muslims were harassed in the name of investigations after the terror on train tracks in Mumbai left the community wondering if they were second-class citizens in this country,’’ Arzoo has said.


On the other hand, the Muslim community is totally confused. Call any Muslim and he is afraid to comment on the Malegoan blast. Abdul Ahad ‘Saaz’, eminent poet, offered explanation for the reticence amongst Muslims. “Most of them are still trying to figure out what exactly happened,’’ he said. Ahad said he felt communal parties could have engineered it to stage a comeback into mainstream politics. “Why will any Muslim terror group explode a bomb outside a mosque, that too on the occasion of Shab-e-Baraat?’’ he asked.


There are many factors that have traditionally made Malegaon a communally sensitive place. From the geographical organisation of the city Muslims in the inner circle and Hindus in the outer, to the poor literacy, poverty and unemployment to the intra-community tensions between the natives and the migrants, Malegaon is a manipulator’s dream.


Added to this is the struggle for economic control between Hindus and Muslims who control different parts of the industrial mainstay… the power loom business, and you know why the air in Malegaon often becomes thick with tension.

Starting a new chapter for the country in Urdu, Jamia Millia Islamia here has proposed establishment of an Urdu Teachers’ Training and Learning Academy. The proposed academy would go a long way in promoting the language by not only translating textbooks, but also developing curriculum for schools.The proposal was made by Jamia Vice-Chancellor, Mushirul Hasan at a recent meeting of the Monitoring Committee on Minorities. The academy would be required to train teachers for Urdu and organising translation of textbooks and facilitating their access. The Academic Council of Jamia Millia Islamia University has set up a five-member committee to prepare the blueprint for such an academy. The members of the committee are Akhtarul Wassey, M. Akhtar Siddiqui, Zahid Husain Khan, M. Asaduddin and Rakhshanda Jalil. According to the committee, the proposed academy would function under the aegis of Jamia, but enjoy autonomous status as far as its activities are concerned. The academy would get books written in Urdu, translate from other languages and develop question banks in all subjects for Urdu medium students. It would develop study material for competitive examinations, arrange for training in competitive examinations and develop curriculum for schools and higher levels.

The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) Maharashtra Zone organised a workshop on Human Resources Development at the Maulana Azad Memorial Hall in Pune on September 2 and 3, 2006. The keynote address was presented by the Zonal President of JIH Maharashtra, Nazar Mohammed Madoo. Prof Azhar Ali Warsi, Head of the Human Resources Development Committee, Maharashtra Zone, presented the idea and methodology of the HRDC. The topic, ‘Islamic Movement and HRD’, by Ghulam Akbar threw light on the Prophet’s (Pbuh) life and his companions. The post-lunch session included a presentation- JIH- Achieving Excellence and HRD’ by Mansoor Ahmad, Deputy Gen Manager INCAT (formerly known as Tata Technologies). Topics like, ‘Self Learning and Development’ and ‘Our Targets and Implementation’, was presented by Sadatullah Husaini (former President SIO of India).


(Reported by Md Ziyaullah Khan, writeziya@gmail.com)

A Muslim Girls Hostel set up under the aegis of Hameed Shah Dargah Waqf Committee was inaugurated in the Frazer Town locality of the city recently. A permanent building would come up behind the Hameed Shah Complex in the city’s Cottonpet area at an estimated cost of Rs. 3 crore. It will be funded by an NRI based in Saudi Arabia. According to plans approved, it will have 120 rooms and will accommodate 250 girls. The current building has been taken on a rent of Rs. 33,000 a month. Chairman of the Karnataka Board of Wakf said, six more girls hostels would be coming up in six districts of Karnataka. He thanked the Hameed Shah Dargah Waqf Committee which has set up the hostel. He said the income from rents of the Hameed Shah Dargah Waqf Committee has gone up from Rs. 1,20,000 to Rs. 8 lakh.


Riyaz Ahmed Khan, President of the Hameed Shah Dargah Waqf Committee, said the Committee would soon set up a CT Scan Centre for free diagnostic help of the poor patients at an estimated cost of Rs. one crore. He said the Committee has already set up a computer training centre with 30 systems in the complex. A convention centre too has come up within the Complex which has nearly 200 shops, offices and advocates’ chambers.

Delhi is under facelift as part of preparations for the Olympic Games and other international events that the government of India is hosting by 2010. While the authorities never leave any stone unturned, the famous haveli of the great Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib in old Delhi too is in the list of “protected monuments for renovation”.


To obey the Court order for restoring the haveli, chief minister of Delhi, Shiela Dixit has initiated all possible efforts to restore it. She has reassured that the visitors to the haveli would get to hear the strains of his Urdu ghazals wafting across the rooms of the house where the legendary poet lived. The deadline for complete restoration, as the Delhi government has announced would be completed before Ghalib’s birth anniversary on December 27, 2006. The Delhi State Archaeological Survey Authorities have been instructed to clean the old mansion by scrubbing away the posters plastered on it. They are further ordered to remove the signboards and other objects hindering its clear view.


The haveli, located on Mir Qasim Jaan street in the busy Chandni Chowk area of old Delhi was formally opened for public viewing on December 27, 2000. Pawan K. Varma, Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) who is associated with the facelift of the haveli, said, “there are plans to install a statue of the 19th century poet in South Delhi’s Nizamuddin area.”


The government plans to celebrate Ghalib’s birth anniversary with all grandeur this year with a series of events, including candlelight march from Red Fort to the haveli. The legendary poet lived here in his last years till 1869. But his haveli is in dilapidated condition for years. It housed shops selling wood and iron until the court asked the authorities to evacuate them with immediate effect. It was acquired by the Delhi government in December 1999 and is on the verge of restoration to its original splendour. Later, it was given the status of a monument and opened to the public by Shiela Dikshit and Lt Governor of Delhi, Vijay Kapoor on December 27, 2000 to celebrate the 203rd birth anniversary of the poet.


The haveli is a treasure house for those who loved Ghalib’s poetry. It houses framed pieces of his ghazals, books on him, his handwritten letters and a few brass utensils from his time. It has several portraits and a seated statue of the bard.


Though Ghalib was a preceptor of King Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last laureate of Mughal Delhi, he never owned a house of his own. But during the last years of his life, Ghalib resided in this house in Gali Qasim-Jaan. The house belonged to his in-laws, the Nawab of Loharu. Ghalib defined it so about this accommodation …“have built a house under the shadow of mosque. Though a mean fellow, I am neighbour of God”. A couple of years ago, the house was used as a storeroom for bags of charcoal. The Delhi administration was shaken up. Justice C.M. Nayer of Delhi High Court ordered, on August 18, 1997, in his historic judgement that the state government will provide funds to repair the haveli and build an impressive memorial to honour the great poet. After the High Court’s judgement in 1997 that an impressive memorial would be built at the place of Mirza Ghalib’s haveli, no heed has been paid as mere cosmetic repairs are being carried out in the name of restoration. The Delhi High Court ordered the Centre and the Delhi government to ensure safety of the haveli, popularly known as `Mahal Sara’ where the renowned poet lived and composed verses. Mirza Asad Ullah Khan `Ghalib’ was, the court acclaimed, “the last classical poet and the first modern poet of India. He was the symbol of the cultural ethos of the country”.