10-18-2006, 11:41 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Populism gone overboard </b>
Pioneer.com
<b>Mulayam Singh Yadav has opened the doors of Hardwar to Islamic festivities, showing utter disregard for Hindu sentiments, says Anuradha Dutt </b>
In Malaysia, Islamic clerics and scholars have criticised joint celebrations of two impending festivals, one Hindu and the other Muslim. Diwali and Id-ul Fitr, which marks the end of fasting during Ramzan, fall within three days of each other. The Government has refrained from interfering in such observances so far though the outcry against them is getting shriller by the day.
Some rabid Muslims have forbidden their community from extending traditional greetings to Hindus, who are a significant minority group in this multi-cultural society. These include an influential scholar, Fauzi Mustaffar, head of the Islamic law department at Takaful Malaysia as well as Harussani Zakaria, a top cleric, who is the mufti in Perak state and a member of the National Fatwa Council. Non Muslims have understandably come out against this show of fundamentalism
Here, in Hardwar, one of the most important Hindu pilgrimages, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav organised an Iftar party at Har ki Paudi on the banks of the Ganga on October 14. The event is being seen as a gimmick to woo Muslims, hitherto considered out of bounds for them for religious purposes. <b>Hardwar is reported to be officially a Hindu holy site, with activities that offend religious sentiments being prohibited under city bylaws</b>.
Though about 30,000 Muslims live in the town, it has no mosque. The nearest one is eight-km away at Jwalapur. Violations invite penalty, either a fine or imprisonment, or both. In fact, the municipal bylaws instituted by the colonial administrators in 1940 forbade Muslims from living in Hardwar and building a mosque. Nor can meat and liquor be sold and consumed.
The Samajwadi Party chief's opponents in the Congress and the BJP view his choice of venue for the function as a calculated move to consolidate his Muslim vote-bank. He has consistently played to the minority gallery over the years, ignoring Hindu concerns. Now, by attempting to open the doors of Hardwar to Islamic festivities, a sacrilege for many, <b>he appears to have taken on the onus of extending the frontiers of Islam into Hinduism's most sacred precincts</b>.
And the town's strategic location at the foot of the Himalayas, along the Ganga, but adjacent to the Muslim-dominated Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor, makes Mr Yadav's sharing of kebabs and the like with the faithful more than simply a gesture of camaraderie. <b>For, to the town's west is Saharanpur, which harbours Deoband, the seat of Islamic learning. Nearby is Bareilly, another centre of Islamic theology, that of the Barelvis. His eye is clearly on the Muslim electorate that comprises 15 per cent of the total voters in UP</b>.
Soon after the party, <b>Mr Yadav visited Malegaon to commiserate with victims of the blasts. He is not alone in kow-towing to the minority community, with appeals to spare Parliament attack mastermind, Mohammed Afzal Guru, the death sentence marking minorityism of the most sinister kind. Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, by first raising this demand, has betrayed the trust reposed in him by the Indian state.</b>
Since Parliament building symbolises the very edifice of democracy, any assault on it is really a plan to subvert the nation. Any ruling politician, who lobbies for clemency for the perpetrators of such an attack on the plea that capital punishment is inhuman, should be removed from office. Sadly, the UPA Government remains mute witnesses to these shenanigans, which makes them suspect too for the electorate.
The Supreme Court, which bestowed the sentence, finds itself defied by the political class at every turn. Whether it is the issue of the proposed quota for OBCs or safeguarding India's interests by awarding the harshest penalty to adversaries, the court's actions and orders are constantly being stymied by politicians, driven by ulterior motives. Such defiance serves to weaken the judiciary and makes the nation vulnerable to outside interference. It is for this reason perhaps that Pakistan has been trying to get Afzal Guru a pardon.
Since<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'> so many Indian leaders are similarly inclined and they fear a Muslim backlash, the neighbouring country has dared to influence a domestic matter. By constantly bending backwards in a bid to please Muslims, a section of our ruling class may irrevocably barter our interests for votes.</span>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Under this government rule, they arrested Seer on Diwali eve, now Muslim part at Har-ki-Pauri.
No words for these digusted ruling party of India.
Pioneer.com
<b>Mulayam Singh Yadav has opened the doors of Hardwar to Islamic festivities, showing utter disregard for Hindu sentiments, says Anuradha Dutt </b>
In Malaysia, Islamic clerics and scholars have criticised joint celebrations of two impending festivals, one Hindu and the other Muslim. Diwali and Id-ul Fitr, which marks the end of fasting during Ramzan, fall within three days of each other. The Government has refrained from interfering in such observances so far though the outcry against them is getting shriller by the day.
Some rabid Muslims have forbidden their community from extending traditional greetings to Hindus, who are a significant minority group in this multi-cultural society. These include an influential scholar, Fauzi Mustaffar, head of the Islamic law department at Takaful Malaysia as well as Harussani Zakaria, a top cleric, who is the mufti in Perak state and a member of the National Fatwa Council. Non Muslims have understandably come out against this show of fundamentalism
Here, in Hardwar, one of the most important Hindu pilgrimages, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav organised an Iftar party at Har ki Paudi on the banks of the Ganga on October 14. The event is being seen as a gimmick to woo Muslims, hitherto considered out of bounds for them for religious purposes. <b>Hardwar is reported to be officially a Hindu holy site, with activities that offend religious sentiments being prohibited under city bylaws</b>.
Though about 30,000 Muslims live in the town, it has no mosque. The nearest one is eight-km away at Jwalapur. Violations invite penalty, either a fine or imprisonment, or both. In fact, the municipal bylaws instituted by the colonial administrators in 1940 forbade Muslims from living in Hardwar and building a mosque. Nor can meat and liquor be sold and consumed.
The Samajwadi Party chief's opponents in the Congress and the BJP view his choice of venue for the function as a calculated move to consolidate his Muslim vote-bank. He has consistently played to the minority gallery over the years, ignoring Hindu concerns. Now, by attempting to open the doors of Hardwar to Islamic festivities, a sacrilege for many, <b>he appears to have taken on the onus of extending the frontiers of Islam into Hinduism's most sacred precincts</b>.
And the town's strategic location at the foot of the Himalayas, along the Ganga, but adjacent to the Muslim-dominated Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor, makes Mr Yadav's sharing of kebabs and the like with the faithful more than simply a gesture of camaraderie. <b>For, to the town's west is Saharanpur, which harbours Deoband, the seat of Islamic learning. Nearby is Bareilly, another centre of Islamic theology, that of the Barelvis. His eye is clearly on the Muslim electorate that comprises 15 per cent of the total voters in UP</b>.
Soon after the party, <b>Mr Yadav visited Malegaon to commiserate with victims of the blasts. He is not alone in kow-towing to the minority community, with appeals to spare Parliament attack mastermind, Mohammed Afzal Guru, the death sentence marking minorityism of the most sinister kind. Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, by first raising this demand, has betrayed the trust reposed in him by the Indian state.</b>
Since Parliament building symbolises the very edifice of democracy, any assault on it is really a plan to subvert the nation. Any ruling politician, who lobbies for clemency for the perpetrators of such an attack on the plea that capital punishment is inhuman, should be removed from office. Sadly, the UPA Government remains mute witnesses to these shenanigans, which makes them suspect too for the electorate.
The Supreme Court, which bestowed the sentence, finds itself defied by the political class at every turn. Whether it is the issue of the proposed quota for OBCs or safeguarding India's interests by awarding the harshest penalty to adversaries, the court's actions and orders are constantly being stymied by politicians, driven by ulterior motives. Such defiance serves to weaken the judiciary and makes the nation vulnerable to outside interference. It is for this reason perhaps that Pakistan has been trying to get Afzal Guru a pardon.
Since<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'> so many Indian leaders are similarly inclined and they fear a Muslim backlash, the neighbouring country has dared to influence a domestic matter. By constantly bending backwards in a bid to please Muslims, a section of our ruling class may irrevocably barter our interests for votes.</span>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Under this government rule, they arrested Seer on Diwali eve, now Muslim part at Har-ki-Pauri.
No words for these digusted ruling party of India.