Pakistan to play important role in achieving world peace: governor
LAHORE: Governor Khalid Maqbool said president Musharraf had adopted the best foreign policy based on the <span style='color:blue'>âlive and let liveâ principle, while keeping in view the geo-political importance of the country.</span> The governor said this during an open forum titled, Pakistanâs Role in International Politics, held for international relations and political science students and political experts at Governor House on Thursday. Maqbool said that by following the presidentâs foreign policy, the country achieved greater respect and had earned positive attention worldwide. He said that in the coming days, Pakistan would play an important role in establishing world peace. He said that it was an honour for the country that its troops played an important role in establishing peace in 19 countries of the world under the United Nations. Forum participants expressed satisfaction with the development of dialogue with India and Afghanistan and agreed that Pakistan was moving towards a better future. staff report
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Hyderabad clues </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Sectarian war first step to terrorism
At one level, last Friday's bomb blast in Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid is validation of the assertion that Muslims themselves are the biggest victims of the currents driving contemporary jihad. By all accounts, the act of terror that was executed in the Andhra Pradesh capital was not aimed at Hindus or any other group of 'infidels' but was the direct result of a sectarian crisis, a civil war almost, within the city's Muslims. The growing presence and influence of "<span style='color:red'>outsider" Tableeghi Jamaat preachers was objected to by the entrenched religio-political establishment and, somewhere along the way, led to an explosive clash. </span>It would be easy here to paint the Tableeghis as the villains, the puritanical Wahaabis out to shatter the city's supposed multicultural character. After all, the Tableeghi Jamaat is not new to such vitiation. <b>It was seen as responsible for the aggressive proselytisation in Gujarat, changing the character of Islam in parts of the State and leading to, ultimately, the tragedy at Godhra. In Pakistan, the Tableeghis are at the forefront of Islamisation of everything from civil society to the cricket team; a Tableeghi fatwa is suspected to have prompted the murder of Bob Woolmer</b>.
Hyderabad, however, does not lend itself to such simplistic, black and white explanations. If the Old City is fertile ground for a Tableeghi-style hate campaign, it is because the incumbent groups - their political expression being the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen - have encouraged a ghettoisation of the city's Muslims and actively promoted an exclusivist agenda. As such the arrival of newer sects and votaries of Islamism has not followed the route of arcane theological debate, but deteriorated to the level of a political battle, street violence and, finally, terrorism during Friday prayers. It is fortunate that the death toll from the blast has not crossed the double-digit mark and that the police have managed to defuse two other bombs found inside the mosque complex. Yet, far from being grateful, the throng began to riot and attack the police, leading to firing and the killing of four protesters. <b>If the purpose of terrorists who masterminded Friday's blast was to provoke an extreme response from the residents of the area, they have succeeded</b>.
Two lessons can be drawn from the bloodlust in Hyderabad. <b>First, the idea of a sectarian war within Islam turning into catastrophic terrorism is no longer a remote West Asian nightmare, limited to Shia-Sunni clashes in Iraq</b>. After Hyderabad, it is natural to see the Malegoan blasts in Maharashtra a few months ago in similar light, despite the Union Home Minister's strange insistence that the two are unrelated. The upshot of this will be a more challenging internal security environment. <b>Second, the unilateral attack on the police is symptomatic of a growing tendency among the community's mobs to resort to "direct action". </b>A year ago, <b>the protests against the Danish cartoons led to agitated Muslims attacking Hindu-owned shops in Hyderabad and Lucknow</b>. The hapless shop-owners were as nonplussed as the police in Hyderabad this past Friday. These dual manifestations of Islamist instincts are made worse by a political leadership in denial. Instead of defending his police force, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister apologised for the firing and offered a CBI inquiry. His desire to quench the immediate fires is understandable. But did he really have to go this far?
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<b>SC to examine validity of oath in Allah's name</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a petition challenging the Constitutional validity of legislators/MPs taking oath in the name of Allah at the time of their swearing-in ceremony.
A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, posted for hearing after the vacation, the petition filed by Madhu Parumala, vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Kerala unit. Madhu had filed the special leave petition against the Kerala High Court's July 21, 2006 order which had upheld the validity of the oath taken by certain state legislators in the name of Allah during the last year's Assembly elections.
According to Madhu, <b>taking the oath in the name of Allah was violative of Article 188 and third Schedule of the Constitution under which a Member of the Legislature or Parliament has to swear only in the name of God or solemnly affirm</b>.
In other words a person cannot take oath in the name of any particular God or deity but merely affirm in the name of God or his own conscience.
The petitioner submitted to the Supreme Court a list of 11 legislators belonging to the <span style='color:red'>Indian Union Muslim League, Indian National League and Congress who reportedly took the oath in the name of Allah on May 24, 2006 during the Assembly elections</span>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Obscene sketches: City on boil
26 May, 2007 l 0055 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK
VADODARA: Furore over sketches depicting Prophet Mohammed in the nude found in M S University campus on Wednesday night spilled over on the streets here on Friday afternoon.
Mob belonging to the Muslim community pelted stones on the police and media persons to vent ire against the sketches. Later in the night, fresh violence broke out again at 9.30.
Stone pelting was reported in Sultanpura area in Wadi, Junighadi near Panigate and Madanjhampa Road. Mobs were on the streets and the police had to rush to these spots to bring the situation under control.
On Thursday, too, Muslims had protested at Sayajiganj police station, where a local channel editor was beaten up and video camera of another channel was damaged.
The mob violence was sparked off after prayers at Jumma Masjid in Mandvi area of the city. A mob came out on the streets and held demonstrations against the sketches.
Some of the protestors were waving posters of Osama bin Laden. Police commissioner P C Thakur was also mobbed by the demonstrators.
Violence spilled over in the vicinity of Jamnabai Hospital near Mandvi and Limvali Masjid in Yakutpura area of the city.
Thakur said that the stone-pelting in this area was in reaction to the detention of persons who were up to mischief near Jumma Masjid.
"However, the police was the target of the mob. The violence was not communal in nature,"Thakur said. A state transport bus was also targeted in Ladwada area near Jamnabai Hospital.
Windscreens and window panes of the bus were shattered by pelting stones on it. Three teargas shells had to be lobbed in Ladwada to disperse the mobs. A teargas shell was also lobbed near Limwali Masjid in Yakutpura to disperse mob there.
While computer printouts giving the call of a 'bandh' to protest against the sketches were pasted at several places in the walled city as well as on several autorickshaws on Thursday and Friday, no person or organisation claimed responsibility for the call.
Several community leaders, in fact, urged people to refrain from enforcing the call. In the afternoon, some youths were seen asking establishments to close down in Raopura area. The call, however, evoked some response only in select pockets.
Shops opened in most of these areas late in the evening after the situation became normal. Patrolling and vigil has been intensified in the sensitive areas of the city.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Obscene...how/2075129.cms<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I hope they will make the same noise about "freedom of expression" now, notice the double standards already, notice the pictures become "obscene" but no such concessions when Hindu deities are painted nude.
I hope JNU and progressive crowd will support freedom of expression, in place of dirty Indian streets they should display and sell sketches in Sotheby auction house.
The arrested person, an imam, is also being probed for his links with some persons in Hyderabad but police were denying any connection yet with the may 18 blast in a mosque in the Andhra Pradesh capital.
A raid was conducted at his house following a tip off from an unidentified person and also a verbal complaint by one of his wives who alleged he had kept arms and ammunition at home and was involved in 'jehadi' activities, a senior crime branch official told reporters.
The seizures included a pistol, parts of a rocket launcher and some magazines, the official said, adding they were similar to the kind of crude arms seized from across the city after the post-Godhra communal riots in 2002.
"No link has been established between the imam and the Hyderabad mosque blast. He knew some people there and his wife has claimed that he spoke to people there after the blast. All this is under investigation," the official said.
Two mobile phones seized from the cleric were also being scrutinised. A case under the Arms Act has been registered against him. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Clash in Gujarat over Osama posters</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Vadodara: Fifteen people, including three police personnel, were injured when members of a community clashed with the police after midnight on the issue of displaying posters of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, on Friday near a place of worship here.
Police said at around 0200 hours IST, a mob attacked a policeman in Gajradi area with soda bottles and stones.
Stone-throwing incidents were reported from a few other localities as well.
Three policemen, including ACP Pande, police Inspector Rajwanshi and a constable, were among those injured in the incident.
The police had to fire twelve rounds in the air and use 42 teargas shells and baton charge to control the situation.
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<b>Fatwa against construction of Muslim shrines by Army</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The army should refrain from interfering in religious places and instead focus on developmental activities, grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir Bashiruddin said, adding Muslims of the areas, where the Army has constructed or renovated religious places, should collect money and return it to them.
<b>"Only Muslims, whether in uniform or civilians, can undertake construction or renovation of religious places. Islam does not allow non-Muslims to undertake such activities,"</b> he told PTI
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Why they are staying in Hindu country and using tax money from Hindus?
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+May 29 2007, 09:06 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ May 29 2007, 09:06 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Fatwa against construction of Muslim shrines by Army</b><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The army should refrain from interfering in religious places and instead focus on developmental activities, grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir Bashiruddin said, adding Muslims of the areas, where the Army has constructed or renovated religious places, should collect money and return it to them.
<b>"Only Muslims, whether in uniform or civilians, can undertake construction or renovation of religious places. Islam does not allow non-Muslims to undertake such activities,"</b> he told PTI
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Why they are staying in Hindu country and using tax money from Hindus?
[right][snapback]69494[/snapback][/right]
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It just shows what the Indian Army has to go through in that part of the country.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Ban on co-ed for Muslim girls favoured
From Shruba Mukherjee,DH News Service,New Delhi:Â
The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions is likely to recommend banning of co-education for Muslim girls till Class XII.The commission, which is presently working on a report on status of education for the girls in the minority community, is also likely to suggest making of science and mathematics optional for them after Class VIII.
âSchoolgirls are not mature enough to take important decisions like choosing life partners and they get easily influenced by films,â Justice M S A Siddiqui told Deccan Herald.âBut the fact is our society does not accept inter-religion or inter-caste marriages and there are instances of communal flare-ups on such inter-religion relationships,â he said.
Justice Siddiqui added that the ban should be implemented at least in the communally-sensitive districts.
Factors responsible
Identifying poor performance in mathematics and science subjects as responsible factors for the high drop-out rates among students from Muslim community, Justice Siddiqui said such subjects might be made optional for the girl students from Class VII/VIII and subjects like fashion designing and cookery could be introduced for them.
Advocating the need of special incentives for parents for sending their daughters to school, he said that stipends could be offered to the girl students from poor families, which might motivate their parents to send them to school.
âWe can recommend the government to provide free education to two girl children from each family with a warning to the parents that if they go for a third child, the benefits to the elder ones will be withdrawn,â Justice Siddiqui said, adding that it would ensure population control as well as gender justice.
Vocational training
Maintaining that residential institutions meant exclusively for girls could go a long way in bringing Muslim girls to school, Justice Siddiqui said courses on handicrafts or some other forms of vocational training in the school itself could be launched with linkages to the market.
Thus, whatever handicraft items the students could produce, could be sold and they could earn in course of their learning.
The commission might also recommend a national-level talent search examination for the girl students and those scoring a particular percentage could be specially groomed by the government in subjects and courses of their choice, he said.
Justice Siddiqui was also very particular in engaging honorary coordinators at grassroots level, who could identify talented girl children and also generate awareness among parents on sending their daughters to school.Â
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->'Only girls with bad character go to college'
Agencies
Posted online: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 1939 hours IST
Mumbai, June 12: In a bizarre case, two Muslim girls have approached the Bombay High Court to seek protection from their neighbour who does not want them to pursue higher education on religious grounds.
According to Samina Shaikh (19) and her younger sister Zarina (18), their neighbour Mohammad Ali Nisar Ansari went to the extent of allegedly assaulting their parents, brother and Samina last month for continuing with their studies.
Ansari thought that âonly girls with bad character go to collegeâ and did not want the girls to go to college after their matriculation, their petition said.
He allegedly told their father Yashin Shaikh not to send his daughters to college but the latter ignored this.
In March, Ansari allegedly assaulted Samina, following which she went to Nagpada police station where personnel allegedly refused to accept her complaint as he was a police informer, the petition said.
On May 11, Ansari and two others allegedly assaulted the girls' father, brother and mother. The three had to be hospitalised. Ansari's mother and sister wiped the bloodstains after the attack to destroy evidence, the petition claimed.
When the petition came up before a Division Bench of Justices Ranjana Desai and D B Bhosale, the public prosecutor told the court that Ansari had been arrested after the second incident but was released on bail.
The girls maintained that police are not serious about ensuring their safety and want their case to be transferred to another police station. The court has summoned the senior police inspector concerned on June 18 and asked the prosecution to produce the case record.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Islam is a very practical, simple and civilized religion which has no place for idol worship and acts of futility. The martyrdom of Imam Hussain is one of the most tragic and unfortunate incident in history of Islam however it occurred after death of Prophet Muhammad who had already sealed every rituals and practices sanctioned in Islam and declared completion of Islam in his lifetime. Practice of Tazia procession was invented many centuries after Islam and thus can not be attributed to any Islamic teaching.
Shadab Hussain is an IT professional with interests in contemporary Muslim issues and History. He is a freelance writer and a regular columnist with MMG.
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loud speaker for azaan might have existed at the time of Prophet Muhammad.
Islamic banking is really nice. The principles of loan are really fair. like,
1) should not charge market interest rate (basically it becomes a futures trade, like if you are financing a home loan, if the market price is 10 lakhs, the banks buys the home from the seller and sells it to the borrower with administrative fee, which will be less than the 9% current interest rates!)
2) no need to show viability of a venture before getting loan etc. THIS I PARTICULARLY LIKE. The borrower only has to share the profit (or loss!)
3) Loan based on trust!
4) Interest free loans where the borrower has to only repay principal
The reserve bank should have strict guidelines against discrimination based on the religion of the person getting the financing.
I would love to get these loans! <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo--> About time hindus were paid back for the centuries of being looted!
sorry...i meant the borrower, not lender. corrected the post
07-02-2007, 07:01 PM (This post was last modified: 07-02-2007, 07:03 PM by Bharatvarsh.)
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Deport the VHP Leader, Indian Muslims urges the British Government
London, (CIM):
Council of Indian MuslimsâUK (CIM) has requested the British Government to keep an eye on Vishwa Hindu Parishadâs (VHPâs) leader Sadhvi, who has been invited by her supporters in the UK.
In a letter addressed to Home Secretary Ms Jacqui Smith CIMâs Chairman Mr Munaf Zeena said, âMs Sadhvi Ritambhara is one of the main accomplices in the demolition of the 16th centaury Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, India.â
Given the fact that the application form for British visa requires a declaration whether the applicant has ever been involved in any criminal or militant activities, Zeenaâs letter reads, âWe are particularly dismayed at her visit and fail to comprehend how and why she was issued the visa.â
Mr Zeena urged the Home Secretary to:
1) Immediately make an enquiry to look into whether Ms Ritambhara had
withheld the information and if had not then why was she issued a visa?
2) If she is found guilty of hiding the truth, deport her immediately;
3) Alert the security and law enforcement agencies to keep an eye on her to make sure that she does not create inter-communal tension here by her inflammatory speeches and does not engage in raising funds to build the so called Rama Temple at the site of the Babri Mosque.
This link is saying two Muslim Indian doctors from Bangalore are involved.<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> The Independent and The Muslim News newspapers in Britain reported that a man arrested in Liverpool on Saturday was a 26-year-old doctor from Bangalore who worked at Halton Hospital in Cheshire, northern England.
The The Muslim News also said the Indian doctor had used the car, cell phone and Internet account of a fellow physician who had moved from England to Australia around a year ago. It said police had asked friends of the Indian for details about the man who went to Australia<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
yes deport VHP and keep Indian Muslims <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Haneef is a role model for us, says family<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Describing Haneef as a moderate Muslim, who followed the tenets of Islam, his sister Sumayya told PTI that her brother is innocent and appealed for his immediate release.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Oh Yes, for sure, he is a role model and following Islam, that is the major problem.
These people are hiding why he is coming back, why he was carrying one way ticket?
If I recall, Indian Muslim doctor was involved in one of the Bombay blast. So this is not shocking, whether professional or not Indian Muslims are as fanatics as their next door neighbors.
<b>Muslim woman divorces husband, clerics overrule her</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Tonk (Rajasthan): Women divorcing their husbands is a rarity among Muslims, but what is even more rare is a woman who sends the talaqnama (divorce notice) to her husband by post.
Hasina, a mother of seven children, from the small town of Tonk in Rajasthan, has done just that.
Hasina says she was being tortured by her husband Mohammed Sharif and when Sharif asked for another Rs 1 lakh from her family, she decided she had had enough.
.............
Says Muslim Personal Law Board member, Manjjur Alam, "The way Hasina has sent a talaqnama to her husband, its not the done thing."
Adds Priest, Khandane Amereria, Tonk, Umar Nadvi, "Only a man can give a talaq like this."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo--> About time hindus were paid back for the centuries of being looted!
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->