The Companion

THE COMPANION November 2009

Vol: 04

Issue: 05

English Monthly Total Pages : 36 (WC)

contents

Executive Editor Irfan Waheed FEATURES

Manager

Legacy

Mohammad Rizwan 09968438410

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How Islamic Inventors Changed the World

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Do We Mind Our Language?

Purification of Soul Asst. Manager Izhar Ahmed

SIO History 10

09811674037

Formative Years of SIO

Muslim World 15

Two Political Experiments of Turkey-II

18 21 23

Islam and Muslims in Cyberspace The Internet: Freedom or Prison? IAD: Does it exist?

Marketing, advertisment and circulation managers and executives Syed Irfan (South) - 09845961798 Ansari Ziya-ur-Rehman (Mumbai) - 09224209699

In Focus

Wakf Scams Each Copy Annual Subscription

Rs. 10.00 Rs. 110.00

D-300 (Old 230) Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar Okhla New Delhi-110 025 Tel. 011-26949817. Telefax 26946285 Mobile: 09968438410 / 09811674037 Email: [email protected] [email protected] www.sio-india.org Habeeb Haris on behalf of StudentIslamic Organisation of India A P Zone. Printer Publisher & Editor Mohd Salimullah Khan.Printed at Bharat Offset 2034/35 Qasim Jan Street, Delhi-110006, Published from D-300 (Old 230) Abul Fazal Enclave,Jamia Nagar, Okhla New Delhi-110 025. The opinions expressed in the columns of THE COMPANION contain positions and viewpoints that are not necessarily those of editorial board or the Students Islamic Organisation of India. These are offered as a means for SIO to stimulate dialogue and discussion in our continuing mission of being a student and youth organisation.

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Biggest Land Scam in Indian History

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Ishrat Jahan: Murder in Cold Blood

Judiciary Honour Killings 27

Honour Killings in Haryana

Reflections 28

Nobel Prize of a Mistake

14

Small Hands of Bondage

Child Labour In Review 31 31

The Lost Symbol iMuslims: Rewiring the House of Islam

REGULARS

5 6 33

Editorial Feedback Education News

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Gleanings Qur’an “Woe to every slanderous reviler, habitual defamer, who hoards wealth and incessantly counts it! He thinks his wealth will immortalize him. Most surely, no, indeed! He will be hurled in the Crusher.” [Al-Humaza 104:1-4]

Hadeeth Ibn Masud, may Allah be pleased with him, relates that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Adhere to the truth, for the truth leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. A person continues to speak the truth until (at last) his name is written down with Allah as a truthful person. And avoid falsehood, for falsehood leads to shameful deeds, and shameful deeds lead to Hell. A person continues to tell lies until (at last) his name is recorded with Allah as a liar." [Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, Tirmidhi]

Appreciate the Scenry The most beautiful thing about beautiful scenery is that it usually inspires us. It has us connecting so many dots and feeling such harmony. If a husband has just had a big fight with his wife, a walk in the fresh air would likely have him come back home calmer, and more ready to find a solution. If a family wants to spend quality time together, have fun, and make memories that would last for generations, they might go on a camping trip together. A stressed employee might take lunch in the park because the natural surroundings might mean a tranquil break in the day. A student who takes a year off for traveling before beginning university can open up his/her horizons and have the experience help decide what he/she really wants for the future. At times, people will look into life-coaching or help when they feel like something in their life needs to change. They may feel that they're just going around in circles and all the scenery looks the same, and it isn't of the inspiring variety. They know they need goals, they know they need a point B, they know they need a vision for their lives, but for some reason, they haven't been able to define it. They haven't discovered what would make them love their life and savour everyday simply because they're working towards the realisation of that vision. And they're hoping that a coach will tell them what their vision should be.

Sorry to say it, but that's a futile hope. Vision comes from within you. You decide. Others may influence your thoughts about it, perhaps even help you mould it, but, at the end of the day, it is you who has to live it. And if you've decided that it is not a fun one, that it is a futile waste of your time and might cause complete and utter misery, then it's a dumb vision to hold on to because you'll never do anything about it. You'll need to: "Get a life! Get a vision!" When you finally find your 'right' vision, your life will never be the same. You'll have such purpose and drive, that you may wake up in the mornings much earlier than usual and perhaps even without the aid of an alarm clock. If you can dream it, if you can picture it, if you can visualize it, you're on your way to yours. There's something so liberating about finally connecting to that dream. I can't tell you what that feels like, but I pray that you find it soon. Or maybe you've already found it, but have buried it somewhere beneath responsibilities or life's tasks that consume your time. Or maybe you're frightened of failure, or maybe even success. But if you don't do this, not much else will seem important. You set a vision so that you can start appreciating the scenery. And the waves upon your feet. [Adapted from Release Your Inner Queen of Sheba! by Heba Alshareef, pp. 76 - 78]

Notable Quotes The world is three days: As for yesterday, it has vanished, along with all that was in it. As for tomorrow you may never see it. As for today it is yours, so work in it. —Hassan al-Basri If you are aware of your humility, then you are arrogant. —Ibn Ata’illah Knowledge is of two kinds: That which is absorbed and that which is heard. And that which is heard does not profit n

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if it is not absorbed. —Ali Ibn Abi Talib I will not serve God like a labourer in expectation of my wages. —Rabia al-Basri The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart. —Jalaluddin Rumi n

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Editor’s Note

Reima gining Islam eimagining in the Internet Ag e Age The Holy Qur’an was revealed fourteen hundred years ago on Prophet Mohammad (may peace and blessings upon him) and today after one and a half millennium, there are hundreds of thousands of references to the holy book on the Internet, perhaps as much as, if not more than, the entire conventional literature of Islam, glorifying God’s Word, interpreting finer nuances of its meaning in the context of modern day and disseminating the message which is so central to the Muslims’ belief. The Internet has become a crucial part of the daily life of many Muslims around the globe giving access to them the vast ocean of knowledge, information and resources. Internet users can access the classic Islamic literature in all major languages of the world, know prayer timings and direction of qibla, download daily prayers from Makkah or any part of the globe, buy Islamic head scarves or Barbie doll’s Muslim rival Sara, or even listen to the live podcast or Khutbah or Islamic show. With no end of Islamic portals and websites, discussion forums and even entertainment sites, one can download oodles of Islamic nasheeds, recitations of the Qur’an, halal resources and literature, as also can engage oneself in the myriad of activities on end. The World Wide Web offers freedom to benefit from a vibrant exchange of ideas, information and news while not being restricted to geographical locations. The Web provides a forum for a cultural and religious interaction and help Muslims unite into one Ummah – the nation of Islam. Nonetheless, those feeling alienated from the mainstream Islam or with exclusivist tendencies, also seek refuge in the Web to propagate their version of Islam. A recent phenomenon in the Islamic cyberspace is that of blogging. Blogs or Web logs or personal journals and intended for general public readership. Social networking sites like Facebook and Friendfeed and especially Twitter have ushered the blogosphere into the age of micro-blogging where users can post or Tweet in a variety of ways. The advances in computer technology has enabled developers to incorporate the 6

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Qur’an and religious texts in software applications. The new media has transformed qualitatively the relationship within Islamic community spawning new insights, affiliations and identities, and has simply reflected more conventional understandings of the Deen. While there are cultural, linguistic and interpretative filters that engender specific nuances and understandings, there is a growing conviction that the core values of faith remain the same. This is despite the existence of extremist opinions within and inimical forces without. Whether the technological tools will act as a transformational force to change the society and the entire world at large is open to question given it is faced with a spectrum of religious, cultural and political complexities. Even the divisions of Islam in Sunni, Shia and Sufi Islam are not clear-cut and there is substantial common ground in core values that is demonstrated on many websites and portals. Although most Islamic content on the Web is shared resources of generic and specifically non-sectarian nature, the debate has started on the topics surrounding deeper ijtihadic (interpretative or personal reasoning) issues. Amidst all differing and merging religious interpretations, the change has occurred and continues to occur affecting religious understanding, education, family laws (marriage, divorce, and inheritance), opportunities and need for women’s education and employment, democracy, pluralism, human and civil rights. On the other hand, there are more conservative and even intolerant and puritanical voices attempting to implement their values and attitudes. The Internet provides a free and open environment for online interaction. Yet, the revival of Islam cannot be achieved without effective application of online knowledge of Web architecture and offline contexts. The net outcome of using the Internet is more likely to be positive than negative as it overcomes most, if not all, of the obstacles of reformation in Islam that existed.n THE COMPANION

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Letters the climate for a decade or more with devastating effects over the whole earth. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama is in recognition of his sincere efforts to stabilise an unruly and turbulent planet. —Farouk Araie

Peace prize mockery Nobel Prize Committee’s decision to confer this year’s Peace prize on President Barack Obama appears to ?be misplaced at this stage of his presidency.

Obama’s peace prize The Nobel Peace prize for US President Barack Obama is uncalled for. Traditionally, and as a matter of principle, the prestigious award has been for persons of repute who had made the difference in their respective fields. Moreover, it is a prize for an achievement and not merely for intentions. Obama could have done well by merely restricting to saying a thank you, rather than accepting the prize. The prize would anyway come his way if he( succeeds in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli imbroglio, and normalising relations with Iran. ( The decision has been ( taken in a haste. —Sibte Hassan Naqvi

Worthy recipient President Obama is indeed a worthy recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Obama brings to bear on this world in mutation a politician’s grasp of his times, a masterly sense of history in the making and a determination to impose the stamp of his ideas upon events. Aristotle, in the Nicomachean ethics wrote that sincerity, courage, generosity, modesty and other noble character traits are virtues. President Obama embraces all these characters. Leaders who act sincerely have the ability to avoid duplicity. The Nobel Prize is being awarded to the greatest political leader of our time. Among the public men of our times, we have known no one of more affirmative and immovable and masterful character than President Obama. He is determined to eradicate nuclear weapons globally. He understands that even a small scale, regional nuclear war could produce as many direct fatalities as the entire World War II and disrupt n

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One cannot understand the reason for such a hurry by the Nobel Prize Committee! Promises alone should not be the only criterion to justify such a prestigious award, as it seems to go against the spirit of the Nobel Prize for which it was created. President Obama has a lot to do on all his promises, particularly on the front of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In the past, Nobel Prize Committee appears to have made a few controversial decisions in this regard. One feels the committee should consider withdrawing Peace prizes conferred on Simon Peres and similar political leaders in the past for failing to keep up to their promises. —Ehsanul Haque

Goldstone report – Act now The Goldstone report is the most comprehensive, and transparent investigation as of yet into what happened in Gaza during the 23-day war. A new war might be awaiting besieged Gaza. Palestinian civil society has strongly and almost unanimously condemned the Palestinian Authority’s latest decision to delay adoption by the UN Human Rights Council of the report prepared by the UN Fact-Finding Mission, headed by justice Richard Goldstone, into the recent Israeli war of aggression against the Palestinian people in the occupied Gaza Strip. A common demand in almost all Palestinian statements issued in this respect was for the UN to adopt the report and act without undue delay on its recommendations in order to bring an end to Israel’s criminal impunity and to hold it accountable before international law for its war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza and, indeed, all over the occupied Palestinian territory.

November 2009

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Legacy

How Islamic In ventor s Inv entors Chang ed the W or ld Changed Wor orld From coffee to cheques and the three-course meal, the Muslim world has given us many innovations that we take for granted in daily life. As a new exhibition opens, Paul Vallely nominates 20 of the most influential- and identifies the men of genius behind them. 1. The story goes that an Arab named Khalid was tending his goats in the Kaffa region of southern Ethiopia, when he noticed his animals became livelier after eating a certain berry. He boiled the berries to make the first coffee. Certainly the first record of the drink is of beans exported from Ethiopia to Yemen where Sufis drank it to stay awake all night to pray on special occasions. By the late 15th century it had arrived in Mecca and Turkey from where it made its way to Venice in 1645. It was brought to England in 1650 by a Turk named Pasqua Rosee who opened the first coffee house in Lombard Street in the City of London. The Arabic qahwa became the Turkish kahve then the Italian caffé and then English coffee. 2. The ancient Greeks thought our eyes emitted rays, like a laser, which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10thcentury Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham. He invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters. The smaller the hole, the better the picture, he worked out, and set up the first Camera Obscura (from the Arab word qamara for a dark or private room). He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one. 3. A form of chess was played in ancient India but the game was developed into the form we know it today in Persia. From there it spread westward to Europe - where it was introduced by the Moors in Spain in the 10th century - and eastward as far as Japan. The word rook comes from the Persian rukh, which means chariot. 4. A thousand years before the Wright brothers a Muslim poet, astronomer, musician and engineer named Abbas ibn Firnas made several attempts to construct a flying machine. In 852 he jumped from the minaret of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba using a loose cloak stiffened with wooden struts. He hoped to glide like a bird. He didn’t. But the cloak slowed his fall, creating what is thought to be the first parachute, and leaving him with only minor injuries. In 875, aged 70, having perfected a machine of silk and eagles’ feathers he tried again, jumping from a mountain. He flew to a significant height and stayed aloft for ten minutes but crashed on landing concluding, correctly, that it was because he had not given his device a tail so it would stall on landing. Baghdad international airport and a crater on the Moon are named after him. 8

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5. Washing and bathing are religious requirements for Muslims, which is perhaps why they perfected the recipe for soap which we still use today. The ancient Egyptians had soap of a kind, as did the Romans who used it more as a pomade. But it was the Arabs who combined vegetable oils with sodium hydroxide and aromatics such as thyme oil. One of the Crusaders’ most striking characteristics, to Arab nostrils, was that they did not wash. Shampoo was introduced to England by a Muslim who opened Mahomed’s Indian Vapour Baths on Brighton seafront in 1759 and was appointed Shampooing Surgeon to Kings George IV and William IV. 6. Distillation, the means of separating liquids through differences in their boiling points, was invented around the year 800 by Islam’s foremost scientist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, who transformed alchemy into chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes and apparatus still in use today - liquefaction, crystallisation, distillation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation and filtration. As well as discovering sulphuric and nitric acid, he invented the alembic still, giving the world intense rosewater and other perfumes and alcoholic spirits (although drinking them is haram, or forbidden, in Islam). Ibn Hayyan emphasised systematic experimentation and was the founder of modern chemistry. 7. The crank-shaft is a device which translates rotary into linear motion and is central to much of the machinery in the modern world, not least the internal combustion engine. One of the most important mechanical inventions in the history of humankind, it was created by an ingenious Muslim engineer called al-Jazari to raise water for irrigation. His 1206 Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices shows he also invented or refined the use of valves and pistons, devised some of the first mechanical clocks driven by water and weights, and was the father of robotics. Among his 50 other inventions was the combination lock. 8. Quilting is a method of sewing or tying two layers of cloth with a layer of insulating material in between. It is not clear whether it was invented in the Muslim world or whether it was imported there from India or China. But it certainly came to the West via the Crusaders. They saw it used by Saracen warriors, who wore straw-filled quilted canvas shirts instead of armour. As well as a form of protection, it proved an effective guard against the chafing of the Crusaders’ metal armour and was an effective form of insulation - so much so that it became a cottage industry back home in colder climates THE COMPANION

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such as Britain and Holland. 9. The pointed arch so characteristic of Europe’s Gothic cathedrals was an invention borrowed from Islamic architecture. It was much stronger than the rounded arch used by the Romans and Normans, thus allowing the building of bigger, higher, more complex and grander buildings. Other borrowings from Muslim genius included ribbed vaulting, rose windows and dome-building techniques. Europe’s castles were also adapted to copy the Islamic world’s - with arrow slits, battlements, a barbican and parapets. Square towers and keeps gave way to more easily defended round ones. Henry V’s castle architect was a Muslim. 10. Many modern surgical instruments are of exactly the same design as those devised in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi. His scalpels, bone saws, forceps, fine scissors for eye surgery and many of the 200 instruments he devised are recognisable to a modern surgeon. It was he who discovered that catgut used for internal stitches dissolves away naturally (a discovery he made when his monkey ate his lute strings) and that it can be also used to make medicine capsules. In the 13th century, another Muslim medic named Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood, 300 years before William Harvey discovered it. Muslims doctors also invented anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes and developed hollow needles to suck cataracts from eyes in a technique still used today. 11. The windmill was invented in 634 for a Persian caliph and was used to grind corn and draw up water for irrigation. In the vast deserts of Arabia, when the seasonal streams ran dry, the only source of power was the wind which blew steadily from one direction for months. Mills had six or 12 sails covered in fabric or palm leaves. It was 500 years before the first windmill was seen in Europe. 12. The technique of inoculation was not invented by Jenner and Pasteur but was devised in the Muslim world and brought to Europe from Turkey by the wife of the English ambassador to Istanbul in 1724. Children in Turkey were vaccinated with cowpox to fight the deadly smallpox at least 50 years before the West discovered it. 13. The fountain pen was invented for the Sultan of Egypt in 953 after he demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes. It held ink in a reservoir and, as with modern pens, fed ink to the nib by a combination of gravity and capillary action. 14. The system of numbering in use all round the world is probably Indian in origin but the style of the numerals is Arabic and first appears in print in the work of the Muslim mathematicians al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi around 825. Algebra was named after al-Khwarizmi’s book, Al-Jabr wa-alMuqabilah, much of whose contents are still in use. The work of Muslim maths scholars was imported into Europe 300 years later by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci. Algorithms and much of the theory of trigonometry came from the Muslim world. And Al-Kindi’s discovery of frequency n

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analysis rendered all the codes of the ancient world soluble and created the basis of modern cryptology. 15. Ali ibn Nafi, known by his nickname of Ziryab (Blackbird) came from Iraq to Cordoba in the 9th century and brought with him the concept of the three-course meal - soup, followed by fish or meat, then fruit and nuts. He also introduced crystal glasses (which had been invented after experiments with rock crystal by Abbas ibn Firnas - see No 4). 16. Carpets were regarded as part of Paradise by medieval Muslims, thanks to their advanced weaving techniques, new tinctures from Islamic chemistry and highly developed sense of pattern and arabesque which were the basis of Islam’s non-representational art. In contrast, Europe’s floors were distinctly earthly, not to say earthy, until Arabian and Persian carpets were introduced. In England, as Erasmus recorded, floors were “covered in rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for 20 years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned”. Carpets, unsurprisingly, caught on quickly. 17. The modern cheque comes from the Arabic saqq, a written vow to pay for goods when they were delivered, to avoid money having to be transported across dangerous terrain. In the 9th century, a Muslim businessman could cash a cheque in China drawn on his bank in Baghdad. 18. By the 9th century, many Muslim scholars took it for granted that the Earth was a sphere. The proof, said astronomer Ibn Hazm, “is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth”. It was 500 years before that realisation dawned on Galileo. The calculations of Muslim astronomers were so accurate that in the 9th century they reckoned the Earth’s circumference to be 40,253.4km - less than 200km out. The scholar al-Idrisi took a globe depicting the world to the court of King Roger of Sicily in 1139. 19. Though the Chinese invented saltpetre gunpowder, and used it in their fireworks, it was the Arabs who worked out that it could be purified using potassium nitrate for military use. Muslim incendiary devices terrified the Crusaders. By the 15th century they had invented both a rocket, which they called a “self-moving and combusting egg”, and a torpedo a self-propelled pear-shaped bomb with a spear at the front which impaled itself in enemy ships and then blew up. 20. Medieval Europe had kitchen and herb gardens, but it was the Arabs who developed the idea of the garden as a place of beauty and meditation. The first royal pleasure gardens in Europe were opened in 11th-century Muslim Spain. Flowers which originated in Muslim gardens include the carnation and the tulip.n Compiled from 1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World. For more information, go to www.1001inventions.com. November 2009

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Purification of Soul

Do W e Mind Our Langua ge? We Languag Khalid Baig “Every religion has a distinct moral call and the moral call of Islam is haya.” [Hadith] aya is an all-encompassing Islamic concept that H includes modesty, decency, and inhibition against sin. It is an inner feeling. A state of mind that reflects itself in myriad ways. Among other things, it shows itself in the language one uses. How should one communicate about morally sensitive and delicate subjects? Anyone can be crude, explicit, and vulgar. But Islam civilizes this aspect of our life also and teaches us to be refined, subtle, and indirect. As a result, the language of Islamic societies has been the language of haya. They do not talk about some subjects, (not publicly at least), not because of ignorance, but because they know. When there is need to talk about sensitive subjects, they are mentioned in a language that is as fully clothed as decent men and women should be. Such haya in the language is both a consequence of and a contributor to the haya in the society. It is difficult to nurture haya in actions if it is not cultivated in words also. The life of haya requires an environment of haya and our ways of communication are a very important determinant of that environment. Thus, it stands to reason that the discourse of a people who’s distinct moral call is haya would also reflect that cherished distinction. Today, three factors have begun to change this. First, there is blow-back effect from emerging Muslim presence in Western countries. The languages and the discourse here have had as much regard for haya as one can find on a hot summer day on a beach in Europe or the USA. The prevailing forms of expression about delicate issues are as subtle as a sledgehammer. This is inherent inability of the language in its current state of development. Moreover, being explicit and crude is considered a virtue by the “open society.” To its convoluted logic inhibitions are a sickness and having taboos is taboo. The atmosphere is clearly hostile to haya. Unfortunately, as emerging communities within this landscape Muslims have had little time for scrutiny; they have borrowed the vocabulary and idiom without questioning. Another reason for this attitude is the “accent complex” of immigrant communities. Immigrants know that their acceptance in the society depends upon their ability to speak the language like the natives. This builds pressures for assimilation as far as language is concerned. When it remains within healthy limits it provides a positive force for gaining command over the language. But when it exceeds those limits it becomes a complex: We just don’t want to sound different. Period. That is why many of us avoid benedictions when writing in English, even though that has been a cherished and extremely valuable Islamic tradition . That is why we avoid titles of respect in places where we would be routinely using them if we were conversing in Arabic, or Urdu, or Farsi, etc, etc. And that is why it does not occur to us to deviate from the prevalent modes of expression even on intimate subjects. One can see the results of this attitude in the most unlikely places: Jumma Khutbas, religious talks and writings, and religious discussion groups. Normally we do not recognize

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these changes because we have become accustomed to them. So one example might help. In 1947, when British India was partitioned into Pakistan and India, rogues and fanatics targeted women in addition to men and children. The tragedy was remembered, but it was always referred to as the ‘violation of women’ or ‘sacrifice of honor’. In contrast, during the Bosnia tragedy, everyone was using the R-word. Matter of fact. Mechanical. Indifferent to haya. This is just a symptom of a widespread problem. One can routinely find today in the religious Q & A columns published in Muslim newspapers and magazines, explicit language about the most intimate matters. In the past, such issues were discussed only privately, or in specialized text. They were never considered appropriate for mass media. Second, the emerging communication technologies, because of the lopsided international power structure, have effectively put Muslims at the receiving end of the global media. This global media is alien to the ideas and ideals of haya. It is spreading its haya-hostile language with impunity. To make matters worse, most Muslim media outlets today act simply as clipping services for the global media. All they can do is translate and in doing that they are unwittingly (carelessly?) creating a new haya-neutral or anti-haya vocabulary even in the languages which hitherto were influenced by Islamic moral teachings. Thanks to the careless Muslim journalists, the R word has become a common word in Pakistan also. The issue of media is, of course, a much bigger issue. Our subservience here has crippled our ability not only to know about ourselves but also to think for ourselves. We let the labels carefully crafted by the global media machine to color our understanding of the world around us. We let its language, its images, its tone, and its modes of expression dictate to us what we will focus on and what we will talk about and how, when we do. Third, there is a deliberate effort by big powers to destroy the moral fiber of all societies, especially the Muslim societies, for strategic reasons. The machinery of this social engineering project is gigantic and one of its main goals is to corrupt the discourse by using all means possible. The notorious “sex education” and “family welfare education” schemes are just one example of this effort. The NGO’s (Which are in fact FGO’s or Foreign Government Organizations), the international “aid agencies”, and the UN have been working feverishly to introduce all the wrongs in the name of “rights”. Together they act as one big Commission For the Elimination of All Forms of Haya And Morality From the World. Sadly they have discovered that most obscene of ideas and expressions magically become legitimate, even respectable, when broadcast from their “respectable” platforms. Overall, the result has been alarming. It is robbing our children and youth of their innocence. It is robbing our societies of their sense of haya and Islamic morality. When a people forget their distinct moral call, they are a people lost. We should watch our language before we talk our way into that disaster.n THE COMPANION n

History of SIO

Forma tiv e Y ear s of SIO ormativ tive Year ears KHAN YASIR

None believed in Moses Except some youths. (Yunus: 83)

Y

ouths are backbone of every revolution. Youths have an ability to alter the status-quo and existing norms, to swim against the tide, to alter course of the wind and to remain adamant in the face of the stiff adversities. In a nutshell it is only the heart of a youth that dares to collide with the mountains if they hinder in the way of his aspiration. Every obstacle is too tiny in comparison to the height of wisdom and will-power of youth. History bears witness to these facts. Today ‘students’ and ‘youths’ both the words are used indeed as synonyms. This is because every revolution in modern times has materialised itself by the grace of ardent activism of students. Be it Bolshevik revolution of Russia (1917), independence movements of third world countries (1940-1990), pro-democratic reforms agitation of Hungary (1956), Islamic revolution of Iran (1979) and Tiananmen Square movement in China (1989) etc. certainly this does not mean that students are always right or vice versa, it only signifies that students are ‘agents of change’ it can either be for good or bad. They are just like electricity, if misguided (as unfortunately the case is today) they not only can cause rude shocks but can prove themselves as the greatest menace to the humanity as a whole. The greatest revolution which mankind has ever witnessed was also adequately fuelled by the youth vigour. When sworn iman, Ali was 13, Zubair bin al Awam 16, Abdur Rehman bin Auf 27, Saad bin Abi Waqas 27, Abu Ubaida 28, Umar bin Khattab 32, Uthmaan 34, Abu Bakr 38, Saeed bin Zaid, Abdulla bin Masud and Jafar bin Abi Talib (RAA) were not more than 20. With this youth brigade the – Prophet (pbuh) brought a revolution within a short span of 23 years – that remained invincible for more than a millennium. From this brief discussion what emerges out clear as day is the fact that to combat the darkness of the baatil, the required courage, stoics and intrepidity is more (if not ‘only’) in youth.

Before independence Before 1947 a majority of thoughtful Muslim students were either part & parcel of Indian National Congress’ student wing or All India Students Federation. When Muslim League formed its separate student wing – a large chunk of Muslim n

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students crowded under its banner. Nevertheless the fact is that all those students though, were brimming with a desire of service, duty and even vengeance; they had no clear plans of any kind of Islamic revolution in soul and soil. At best they desired and dedicated themselves for the cause of Pakistan – and that’s it. What after that? They were not concerned. This is the picture of that era in a wider canvas but when one zooms-in then it could be easily found out that there were many students who were anguished at this state of affairs. Especially in Aligarh they were even organised under Halqa e Islami. Still it was more of an isolated, limited and tenuous attempt – nevertheless it was an attempt – which in itself was appreciable as; it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Islamic movement at that time was coping up on one hand with allegations, slanderous remarks and taunts and on the other with pangs of organisation, consolidation and yes! ……Partition. Due to these and other reasons earlier in Tehreek there was not any thought of organising students and youth on a separate front, but soon Islamic movement realised the urgent necessity of bringing youth-mettle in its rows. To give this crude thought a concrete shape, a meeting was called in Darul-Islam, Pathankot – even before the partition – but the task remained unachieved in the wake of the critical situations that arose due to the tragedy of the partition. After partition, Islami Jamiat Tulba (IJT) was formed in Pakistan in 1947, but in India the trauma of partition was so stern and circumstances so obstructive for Muslims that even if such a thought would have arrived in the minds it could not have been materialised.

After independence Many students who came across the Tehreek were on their own convulsing with the desire to organise the work of the Islamic movement among the fellow students. Maulana Shafi Munis in his “Mukhtasar Tarikh e Jamaat e Islami Hind” has mentioned a few students like Shamshad Ali Khan, Abdullah Safdar, Aasi Ziyai etc. of Aligarh Muslim University, later Anwar Ali Khan, Nejatullah Siddiqui, Rao Irfan Ahmed Khan, Qazi Ashfaq and others got admitted – these students were familiar with the Islamic movement. As a result a looseknit bunch of these students started functioning in the university premises. This work could be considered as the pilot project and a laboratory. The work got popularity to the extent that a Student Islamic Organisation (SIO) started November 2009 11

functioning with a constitution since 1956.

until the proclamation of emergency.

Central Advisory Council (Markazi Shura) of Jamaat in its four year term’s policy and programme of 1956 decided to form separate zones for students. As a consequence, at several places students’ zones were established under different names with or without the direct patronage of Jamaat.

Bihar: Halqa e Talaba e Islami of Bihar was another attempt of discharging the duties of establishment of Deen which students of the Islamic orientation felt that they are upholding as witnesses unto mankind. Though the scope of their activities was not very wide, they succeeded in providing the Islamic movement with cream-students of the state (it is important to note here that Mohd. Jafar was amongst these students who later became the first president of SIO, and served for four long terms in Jamaat as General Secretary and is now the Deputy Ameer e Jamaat). Here a well organised, ardent and active team of Islamic students was nurtured. Besides its annual conferences, the weekly and monthly local meets for Tazkiya and Tarbiyat were also widely appreciated.

In 1966 advisory council of Jamaat’s ‘West U.P & Delhi zone’ in its sitting of Rampur formed a student union (Halqa e Talaba) at western U.P and Delhi level with Irfan Ahmed Khan as its mentor. A new era of Islamic student activism began in 1967 with All India conference of Jamaat at Hyderabad. Students and youths realised the need of an organised struggle and several notable bodies of students and youths were formed throughout the country. At that time students were organised mainly at the local level and were scattered in the length and breadth of the nation with no connection and coordination amongst themselves. But a significant number was also of those students who were organised at the state level. Student & Youth Organisation of Uttar Pradesh, Ideal Student League of Kerala, Students Islamic Union of Andhra Pradesh, Halqa e Talaba e Islami of Bihar, Muslim Student Association of Calcutta, Student Islamic Circle of Tamil Nadu, Halqa e Talaba e Islami of Karnataka, Halqa e Talaba e Islami of Maharashtra, even a student organisation (yet another SIO) was formed in West Bengal under the direct patronage of Jamaat.

Ingredients of SIO The period amid 1968-71 was very fruitful as far as the activities of students are concerned. Every corner of the country brings testimony to this fact. At the end of 1971 students and youth were well organised at least in 40 different places in UP. Grand conferences were held by them. Uttar Pradesh: A conference was called in Benaras representing students of eastern UP; another was called in Aligarh of the western UP. The response of the general students to these calls was mammoth and encouraging. An all state conference of UP was called in Kanpur where people from forty different places (units) participated. The quality of work and enormous response was so encouraging that active students were sincerely thinking of organising a student organisation at the state level. Hyderabad: Halqa e Talaba Jamaat e Islami was a very active bunch of students of Andhra Pradesh. The work of Jamaat was introduced in a large segment of students and youth. Students of the city actively took part in the activities of this Halqa. Libraries were established and maintained in different parts of the city. A local picnic was organised in 1974 and other programmes were held. Activities like distribution of literature, conferences, picnics etc. proved helpful in introducing the Islamic movement to the students. These and various other activities were perceived vigorously 12 November 2009

Kerala: Students in Kerala also started organising their rows in late 60s. Precisely after 1968 a wave of awakening swept across the Muslim students of the state. An Ideal Students League was formed. Students responded with massive support and assistance and this league was widely acclaimed. In a very short span more than thirty branches of this league were established and more than thousand students were listed as its members. Though, some people argue that one of the main reasons of this immense response from the student community was a loose criterion of membership, and therefore members of this league were not at all at par (in Tazkiya and Tarbiyat) with members of other colleague organisations in other states. Nevertheless Islamic movement was benefited a great deal by this league which no doubt has provided it with immense credibility and mass support in student community and also nourished it with many ardent and active workers. West Bengal: Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) in West Bengal, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu was yet another “youth power” to reckon with. This association was earlier not very close to Jamaat, and this affected its activities. But later youths with tehreeki fikr joined its ranks in large numbers and took active part in its activities. Some members of Jamaat guided and looked after the association from outside and pupil from Aligarh strived from inside. As a result of all these factors; this association also started reaping fruits. Later when SIM was formed one part of MSA assimilated in it. (Others joined SIO later). Tamil Nadu: Students Islamic Circle was actively involved in carrying forward the message of the Islamic movement. The organisation has started working systematically with a constitution. Ardent activists like Mr. Abdur Raquib irrigated the organisation. Maharashtra: Halqa e Talaba e Islami was operating at three different places. That is in Nanded, Sholapur and Aurangabad. The work was concentrated and consolidated in these areas with regular weekly programmes, libraries and THE COMPANION

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other activities. Karnataka: The state also had its share of Islamic student activism with yet another Halqa e Talaba e Islami. Though, the work amongst students was there in its initial stages and mainly relied on active assistance of the Jamaat people. Meanwhile moves were taken to establish a coordination committee which would have comprised these scattered students and youth bodies all over the nation. A meeting was called in Aligarh. Central Advisory Council of Jamaat was presented with a proposal of the formation of an all India student organisation; Shura even contemplated on this issue in its summit of Bangalore (1974) but could not reach upon any consensus. Before the matter was given any further consideration emergency was imposed since June 1975 and all the democratic activities (meetings, gathering, association, speeches etc.) were proscribed.

Activities of students during emergency In November 1973, SIO (previous) held its yearly conference in which representatives of the country’s almost all the Islamic student bodies were present. A session in this conference was dedicated to the theme that how the work of the Islamic movement could be bettered in student community? Nearly all the student representatives were unanimous that for this task to be achieved a separate student organisation is indispensable. After that dialogue, the subject was ruthlessly pursued with the leaders of the Tehreek. At last in March 1975 a convention of student bodies was called in Aligarh in which a Contact-Committee and a Muslim students’ secretariat was formed. But just after two months of these rather bold steps, emergency was imposed; there was a halt for a while. In August 1975 some people met and decided firmly that work must continue at any cost. In this regard from October 1975 to January 1976 tours in the length and breadth of the nation were organised. Students were motivated throughout the nation. Working methodology was changed as per the requirements of the emergency. These daring youths proved that work of the Islamic movement can continue even in most adverse of the circumstances. Emphasis was on personality development through extensive reading, training & tazkiya, members’ camps and social work. So passionate was the response that another all India meet of students’ representatives was called in Aligarh on 19 March 1976 where it was decided to form an all India organisation of students. A provisional organisation was informally formed then and there but due to the emergency it was considered in the best interest of the work that this body must not be ‘christened’ with any name; instead different units will work under different banners at local levels. This anonymous organisation fought tooth and nail against the curtailment of the individual liberty and press censorship. It paid in shape of imprisonments of several of its affiliated members and students. Work – though hotchpotch – was extended to n

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different areas. And by the grace of Allah the dark clouds of emergency shed-off.

After emergency After emergency a few of the organisations decided firmly to form an all India student organisation on their own, keeping the procrastination of Jamaat for-whatever-reasons in mind. In a meeting at Aligarh dated 25 April 1977 the constitution was passed and Students Islamic Movement (SIM) was formed. Although the decision was considered as hasty or need-of-the-hour in respective circles – the Movement was highly acclaimed. Those who associated themselves also worked indefatigably for its success; as by the grace of Allah after only two years of its formation on 19-21 October 1979, around ten thousand students (including 1200 girls) participated in its all India conference. In the same grand conference Andhra’s Students Islamic Union’s members asked Syed Hamid Hussain that why Jamaat is not forming a student organisation under its right guidance? He answered that “Insha Allah Jamaat will form a student organisation of its own, but before then let different student organisations in different states under Jamaat consolidate themselves”. The same SIU of Andhra Pradesh, after organising a training camp (Tarbiyati Ijtima) at Pakhal prepared and sent a proposal to Jamaat in which it was requested to build some means of coordination between all the scattered Islamic student organisations. Meanwhile Jamaat received the information of the lack of coordination and various kinds of imbalances in the activism of these ardent youths from length and breadth of the nation. Ameer-e-Jamaat Maulana Mohd. Yusuf; responded by calling a meeting of representatives of SIM and other student organisations in Delhi on April 1980. He reminded the student representatives that, “all of our endeavours are for nothing except the fruits of hereafter”. To avoid the tensions it was decided that where any such Islamic student organisation is at work no other organisation must attempt to butt in. In February 1981 at the juncture of all India conference of Jamaat at Hyderabad several student organisations again appealed to the Jamaat to establish some sort of “contact and collaboration” amongst the sprinkled student organisations which are working with an Islamic zeal.

Decision of Jamaat leadership After analysing the work of different student organisation and their appeals, Central Advisory Council of Jamaat in its annual session of April 1981 decided to form a committee to look into the depth of the matter. The committee was formed with Maulana Sirajul Hasan as its convenor and was comprising of Maulana Shafi Munis, Abdul Aziz and T.K Abdullah. The task given to the committee was to meet with responsible persons of the student organisations and to convey their opinion to the Jamaat. November 2009 13

Bangalore meeting: In the presence of the four-membercommittee, a meeting of representatives of student organisations was called on 29-30 June 1981 in Bangalore. In this meeting, representatives of Halqa e Talaba e Islami of Bihar, Halqa e Talaba e Islami Maharashtra, Halqa e Talaba e Islami Karnataka, Students Islamic Union of Andhra Pradesh, Students Islamic Circle of Tamil Nadu etc. were present. Besides, representatives of students from Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi were also present. Convenor Sirajul Hasan illuminated on the objective of the meeting while saying, “For several months we are receiving oral and written thoughts that intimate the fact beyond any doubt that students are in want of a well-knit organism at national level which could facilitate coordination in students and they could work on better terms for the Islamic cause throughout the nation. Keeping this pious desire of students in mind, Shura has decided first to jot down the opinion of those students who are somehow organised under Jamaat”. Here for two long days delegates discussed every dimension of the matter at length and at last proposed to form a federation (wifaq) of students at national level. The four member committee too weighed on the side of this proposal. Lucknow: Now on the intimation of Shura; committee – as a next step – fixed 18 September 1981 as the date to talk with the representatives of SIM. At that occasion whole CAC of SIM was present at Lucknow. Convenor of the committee earlier gave a letter to SIM asking their opinion regarding “federation” which was proposed after the Bangalore meeting. After discussing this letter amongst them, CAC of SIM concluded, “SIM cannot agree with any proposal of any ‘federation’, because the foundation of SIM has been achieved through several steps, amongst those an indispensable one was the ladder-of-federation of different student organisations”. At the end of the dialogue president of SIM Zaki Kirmani gave a final verdict and written opinion to the four-member committee, in which two things were suggested: 1.Only one all India organisation of students should be there, whose details could be chalked out by student workers themselves guided by senior leaders of Jamaat – this is the best and ideal state. 2.If the above mentioned is not possible then reluctantly we propose a coordination committee of all the student organisations under Jamaat. This committee will help students in coming nearer to each other, sorting out differences and misunderstandings; trying to understand each other, developing thinking and practical coordination until the entire associated pupil fraternity agree on a unified organised structure. Calicut: CAC of Jamaat pondered upon the report of the committee and on 23 October 1981 decided to call a meeting 14 November 2009

of the representatives of all the Islamic student bodies to reach upon any final conclusion. Therefore on 10-11 December 1981 at the office of Jamaat e Islami Calicut (Kerala); a historic conference was organised of the representatives of nearly all the Islamic student organisations operating all over the nation. After the opening talk of the convenor of the committee, dialogue set in motion. The theme of discussion was that either they are in favour of an all India organisation under the patronage of Jamaat or an all India federation under the same. This session of deliberation lasted till the evening of 11 December. After the extensive and even heated debate when the opinion was sought; all the present delegates except Halqa e Talaba e Islami (Bihar), opted for an all India organisation. Opinion of Halqa e Talaba e Islami (Bihar) was in favour of an all India federation. On the eve of 11 December a written-script was prepared and endorsed by all the representatives present. In this note, proceedings of the meeting and the decision or rather recommendation was noted down. This note ended with the passage: “at the end it was clarified from the side of committee that all the organisations and unions of students are our own, and on this basis we are in best hope that whatever will be the final verdict of the Shura of the Jamaat; will be acceptable to all. And not only this but all the organisations have assured (both orally and written) that whatever will be the personal opinion of its own; the decision of Jamaat nevertheless will be binding and if any organisation has to fulfil any procedural formalities in this regard, it will faithfully do it. All the delegates including of Halqa e Talaba e Islami of Bihar complied and assured again that the decision of Jamaat will be implemented”. The script was endorsed by, Naazim e Aala of Halqa e Talaba e Islami of Bihar: Syed Mohd. Iqbal, president of SIM: Dr. Mohd. Rafat, SIU’s Abdul Baasit Anwar, Halqa e Talaba e Islami of (Sholapur) Maharashtra’s Tajammul Husain, SIC Tamil Nadu’s Abdur Rauf Khalid, Halqa e Talaba e Islami of Karnataka’s Mohd. Faheemuddin. Shura of Halqa e Talaba e Islami of Bihar after pondering over the proceedings of the Calicut meeting, again expressed its contentment over its opinion regarding an all India federation of students (instead of an all India organisation), and sent their arguments in favour of the same to the convenor of the committee.

Decision of formation of an all India student organisation 16 February 1982 – eve of Jamaat’s CAC meeting. The four member committee has proposed its unanimous proposal in favour of an all India organisation in these words, “students must have an effective organisation under the patronage of Jamaat e Islami. The meaning and connotations THE COMPANION

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of the “patronage” will be fixed by CAC for which concerned clauses of the constitutions of Halqa e Talaba e Islami of Bihar and SIU of Andhra Pradesh could be referred to. The organisation will also own a constitution which will be prepared by the exchange of ideas within the organisation and it will be implemented after the ratification of the (Chief) patron”. To efficiently perform this gruelling task of – suggesting methods of implementation of the above mentioned recommendations, preparing a synopsis & guidelines for the constitution and preparation of the message which was supposed to be sent to all the organisations for referendum – Shura formed a committee with Syed Hamid Husain as convenor and Dr. Ahmed Sajjad, Syed Yusuf as members. CAC approved the proposals of the committee and on 3rd March 1982 Afzal Husain (General Secretary of Jamaat) wrote a letter informing all the student organisations and its zonal patrons of the decisions. CAC also requested that within a month respective organisations must inform the central leadership of the Jamaat regarding their final decision.

fundamental issue and Ansaar (members) & Numaaindgaan are insisting on their inclusion in the decision making on this particular issue. At last one representative per ten Ansaars (members) contemplated on the issue from 12-15 August at the meeting of Vijaywada and president of SIM Dr. Mohd. Rafat informed Ameer-e-Jamaat, “After analysing all the dimensions of the matter SIM has reached upon the conclusion that the nature of the patronage which is suggested in the letter of the General Secretary of Jamaat – is not acceptable. The nature of patronage suggested by the representatives goes as follows, ‘an advisory committee must be erected comprising of the representatives of the student organisation and Jamaat leaders which would advise the organisation on the matters in which organisation has referred to the committee’, in this form it is hoped that organisation will get the desired patronage of Jamaat”.

Constitution making

In a letter dated 8 March SIM President Zaki Kirmani requested Ameer-e-Jamaat that implementation of the decision must be postponed that student organisations get respite to put the matter before their Shuras and seek opinion. On 10 March 1982, in his letter SIM president Dr. Mohd. Rafat informed regarding the decision of ‘body of the representatives’ (Majlis-e-Numaindgaan) that they are welcoming the decision of an all India student organisation but in Calicut meeting no outline of the patronage clause was finalised, that’s why “we seek more time for discussion before pronouncing any final opinion”.

After receiving the feedback from all the organisations, convenor called a meeting on 26-29 August 1982 for the constitution making of the new organisation in Delhi. In this meeting seven of SIM and three representatives each of other organisations were summoned. Meeting was conducted on due date presided by Maulana Shafi Munis. From Bihar; Mohd. Jafar, Ahmed Ali Akhtar and Syed Mohd. Iqbal. From Andhra Pradesh; Abdul Baasit Anwar, Haamid Mohd. Khan and Khawaja Aarifuddin. From Tamil Nadu Mohd. Ghalib Husain, P. Mohd. Ataullah and T. M. Abdurrauf Khalid. Mohd. Iqbal Mulla and Mohd. Ashfaq Ahmed participated from Karnataka and Maharashtra respectively. No representative of SIM was present.

Ataullah, Secretary General, SIC Tamil Nadu, informed through a letter (dated 27 March 1982) that Advisory Council’s (Majlis-e-Aamla) one of the executive meeting which was presided by Ejaz Aslam, patron of SIC agreed with all the decisions of the CAC of the Jamaat.

In this meeting constitution of a nation wide Islamic student organisation was prepared; the name of the organisation was chosen Islami Tanzim e Talaba (ITT) and after the ratification of the chief-patron was considered executed since 1st Muharram 1403 Hijri.

In a letter written by the Naazim-e-Aala of Halqa e Talaba e Islami of Bihar informed that though Shura of their union is still considering its stand of an all India federation as better and more viable but now when Jamaat e Islami has taken its final decision our Shura accepts this decision plus the synopsis of the constitution of the proposed all India student organisation.

The process of filling the forms of the membership was unleashed nationwide with hustling pace. The states where till then no such student organisation was operating; the response was unexpectedly colossal. Kerala, U.P, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Maharashtra were amongst the forerunners. From the states it was reiterated time and again that the newly formed organisation must start its operations as soon as possible. Keeping this in mind, ninety members selected for the ZAC of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, U.P, Bihar and West Bengal were summoned in Delhi at the end of July 1983 to elect the President and CAC, that was the organisation’s first step towards the practical involvement in the nation wide activism. After two days of passionate debate and discussion the representatives chose Mohd. Jafar (Bihar) as the president of ITT.n

SIU of Andhra Pradesh held its Shura on 21 March 1982 in Hyderabad where all the clauses and decisions of the Shura of Jamaat were agreed upon – informed Abdul Baasit Anwar to the General Secretary of Jamaat. Other organisations also accepted the decision of Jamaat. Acting president of SIM Rahmatullah reported to Ameere-Jamaat that they were supposed to report with their final opinion before end of the April but this issue is a core and n

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2009 15 From then on there was no lookingNovember back…….!!!

Muslim World

Two P olitical Experiments Political of T ur key-II Tur urk ministers, the commanders-in-chief from the army, navy, air force and police. MGK acts as advisory function to the prime minister, his deputy, the minister of foreign affairs, internal affairs, defense and the president. It is this excessive constitutional power of the military that they were able to topple down three governments of Turkey. In 1960, against government of the Democratic Party; in 1971 following economic recession, social unrest and political assassinations and on 12 Sept 1980, following the armed conflicts of the leftwing and right-wing. In the same way, the military planned of new method of coup against the Nejmuddin Erbakan’s government in 1997. But this coup was unique in the series. Instead of dissolving the parliament or withdrawing the constitution, the Turkish Military in the National Security Council by a 55 point mere memorandum (Irtica) pressured Erbakan to step down. For this reason, the incident was labeled as "postmodern coup". It is also known as “soft coup”. The 28 February process till now, maintains its grip on contemporary politics of Turkey.

Postmodern coup of Feb 1997

T

hings started to change. The ‘power centers’ of Turkey – general staff (army), bureaucracy joining hands with coalition party – DYP started to fumigate the political environment. The centre of the crisis was the allegation that Erbakan Government has deviated from secular ideology of state. As mentioned earlier, secularism is the soul of modern Turkey. Armed force, Bureaucracy, Constitution court and the media are the power centers which safeguard the Secularist and Kemalist principles of the country.

The constitution of Turkey which was totally restructured by Kemal Pasha and later by his successor Celal Bavaria gives the army excessive powers. With the amendments on 1961 the armed force of Turkey attained constitutional powers to such an extent that the decisions of National Security Council (MGK) formed part of the government and its decision making. MGK advisory board comprises of the chief of general staff, the president of Turkey, selected council of 16 November 2009

A massive propaganda was done against Erbakan’s government. Even polling companies were employed to produce false survey results, suggesting that the great majority of people believed that secularism was at risk. The military urgently called on civilians to take action. Mesut Yilmaz (leader of opposition – Motherland Party) made a statement in which he said Turkey was heading toward chaos. He said: "We acknowledge that the fundamentals of the republic are under threat. We have to consolidate our powers despite our differences”. Deniz Baykal (CHP) argued that the RP had established a partnership with Iran to eliminate the secular democratic regime in Turkey, calling for resistance against this attempt. Mesut Yilmaz even alleged that the RP was getting weapons and that the RP's support base was becoming more militant. He further asserted that Erbakan would rely on antidemocratic means to achieve his goals. Many reports arguing that arms sales were on rise were made. The military tanks started to patrol through the streets giving indications of a coup. On 28 February 1997, a historical National Security Council (MGK) meeting was held. On the day before this meeting news reports indicated that it was to be a sensitive and important date. The decisions made at the meeting were THE COMPANION

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reported to the government, which was asked to comply with legislation on secularism. The measures announced after the meeting included: Schools controlled by religious sects should be inspected and transferred to the Ministry of Education; a transition should be made to eight-year obligatory elementary education; Quran courses should be inspected and supervised; media actors supporting military personnel fired because of involvement in fundamentalist activities should be placed under scrutiny; codes on attire should be observed; acts and statements insulting Ataturk should be punished. After five days of resistance, Prime Minister Erbakan signed the decisions. A committee was set up to effectively implement the MGK's decisions. The welfare party was finally dissolved by the constitution court. A strict vigil was arranged by the ‘vanguards of secularism’ that no signs of Islamism is to be seen anywhere. Welfare Party (Refah Party - RP) was dissolved by the constitution court on 1998, alleging that the party has violated the principles of secularism and Nejmuddin Erbakan was banned from politics for five years. The crackdown did not stop in just banning the party. The authorities have done their utmost to cut the Islamists down to size. Headscarf Controversy The issue of headscarf which has been an issue of hot controversy starting from the secularization process imposed by Ataturk was again stirred during the 28th February process. Ataturk viewed scarf as an obstacle to the secularization of Turkey. The headgear act was passed in 1925 which initiated the process of costume modernization. Fez caps which was the identity of Turkish culture, headscarf and beard was banned in parliament, government educational institutes and courts according to this law. To avoid the physical and silent risk of wearing the dress code, ladies started to abandon scarves. But with the rise of Islamic movements in 70s the number of ladies wearing headscarves especially the university students increased substantially. A law was again passed in 1982 strictly banning headscarves in universities. Following the soft coup of 1997, the media of Turkey made headscarf a political tool and picturised it as a symbol of political Islam. Massive agitations rose against the law, on the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. There was even martyrdom on the issue. They started propagating headscarf as a symbol of hypocrisy by projecting prostitutes wearing headscarves. This confrontation between the religious and secular elements led to a change in the political formulations in Turkey. True Path Party (DYP) divided into two. The coalition of Refah Party and True Path Party was dissolved. Virtue Party (Fazilet Party) After the dissolution of Refah Party by the constitutional court Nejmuddin Erbakan made a historical speech in the n

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party convention and stated that the dissolution of Refah party was a black dot on the path towards our goal. But we need to go forward with new strategies. Again a new party named the Virtue Party (FP) was formed on December 1997 with Rejai Kutan as its leader. It became the third largest party in the parliament after the 1999 general elections. Erbakan became very popular by this time and polls showed that the party would win the next elections. But the constitutional court ruled out that the party is unconstitutional since it has an Islamic agenda and alleged that the new party is the same as Refah party which was banned earlier. Ban was imposed on Fezilet Party on June 2001. Division of Milli Gorush Movement Nejmuddin Erbakan led Milli Gorush movement had to face the third oppression by the Kemalist authorities after 28 February process. This indeed created desperateness and unrest inside cadres. All the organisational assets got dissolved multiple numbers of times, all the properties attained by years of hard works and efforts were seized, not once. Dissolution of Refah Party was the third; starting from National Order Party and National Salvation Party. This created a turning point in the Milli Gorush Movement. Internal problems started in virtue party. Rajab Tayyib Erdogan, Abdullah Gul, Bulant Erenge and Abdul Latif Shener who were the most popular leaders of the Milli Gorush movement and the young leaders of the party, started to express their differences of opinion with the way of thought of Erdogan and Rejai Kutan. They were of the opinion that the present strategy of party is not the way it should be. November 2009 17

Party always overplayed and that was the reason the Kemalist generals pushed them out. They were also of the opinion that the Turkish foreign policy must never be against the US, Israel and the European Union rather take them into confidence. They insisted that the party leadership must be from younger generation. In the party congress of May 14th, 2000 Abdullah Gul stood as a candidate for party leadership. Rejai Kutan who was in the opposition and who was supported by the ‘traditionalists’ in the party including Nejmuddin Erbakan, won the election and was elected as the president of the virtue party. This paved way for the division of Milli Gorush movement which gave rise to two parties: Saadet Party and AK Party in 2001. Saadet Party (Happiness Party) Saadet Party was formed on 20th July 2001 with Rejai Kutan as president of the party. Saadet Party is the proof of strong political will and determination of Nejmuddin Erbakan. It strongly affirms that there is no compromise in the basic ideals of Milli Gorush. Though at the time of division, many experts and specialists have gone to AK Party, Saadet party has a strong Organisational structure. It now has a strong youth wing named Anadolu Gençlik Dernegi (Anatolia Youth Foundation). The party conducts weekly meetings which also gives priority to tazkiyyah of cadres and members. The party owns hundreds of schools. Milligazette, a news paper daily with strong subscription base is run by Saadet Party. The party also has formed 22 NGOs which includes technical consultancies, lawyers, Doctors networks, Labor union, Human rights organization, business organizations,

construction and training companies etc. The major reason of the Milli Gorush’s massive support was its honest, efficient and productive services in local governments. The manifesto of Saadet party says: “A developed and free Turkey cannot be attained by the existing constitution. With this constitution whose preparation and acceptance is controversial and which is full of prohibitions and restrictions from the beginning to the end, the complete and perfect democracy cannot be formed… Therefore the Saadet party considers its basic duty is to work urgent enactment of a constitution, which will be suitable for the conditions prevailing in the 21st century… The role of the National Security Council will be transformed into an advisory body, as it is the case with other democratic countries.” Regarding the legislations it says: “In the present situation, the legislative body is under domination of the state’s administrative organ (enforcement). Drafts of laws are prepared mostly by the bureaucracy and even by the foreign economic forces and the Turkish Grand Assembly are forced to sanction them by the government institutions. With the changes, which it will make in the constitution, out party will enforce separation of powers and it will make the legislature dependent entirely on the will of the nation.” “For the happiness of the people the right not the wrong; beautiful and good not beast and bad; beneficial not harmful should become dominant. Therefore we consider working for the domination of right, good, beautiful and beneficial and justice with our entire energy as a duty necessitated by being human. Inorder to reach this goal The movement consider it mandatory to comply with the following basic principles:n No conflict no confrontation and no tension; but dialogue compromise and peace. No double standards and no discrimination; but equality and justice. n No exploitation; but equitable sharing and sincere solidarity. n No pressure and no coercion; but democracy and human rights. n No superiority of selfish interests and no materialism; But ethics and morality. n No anarchy and no disorder; but compliance with agreements” It is also very important to mention the importance given to women in the party. The women are organized under the Women’s wing named Saadet Party Women Presidency. Strength of women in the party comprises of more than half the party’s total strength.n Suhail KK is the President of SIO of India

18 November 2009

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In Focus

Islam and Muslims in Cyber space Cyberspace From (Re)presenting to (Re)understanding Dalia Yusuf the Muslim world, has been dominated by the government and needs huge investments. These factors, beside the objects and goals of various Muslim activists and intellectuals, make the Muslim existence in cyberspace inevitable and vital. Muslim existence initially focussed on traditional content, as Gary Bunt states in his Book Virtually Islamic.The primary form of Islamic expression online was the Qur’an and Sunnah, using hypertexts and the advantages of multimedia. However, this primary form developed rapidly into a more sophisticated existence that varies according to the different sects and points of view. Perhaps the most effective form is the one that tries to keep up with modern times in all areas.2

A

n initial study of Islam and Muslim environments in cyberspace proves that there is a great chance for representing Islam and Muslims. Using the Internet as an alternative and interpersonal form of communication may help to break the traditional cycle of stereotyping among Muslims themselves and between Muslims and others. A more profound and deliberate study may lead us to recognize the possibility of reunderstanding and rediscovering not only the other but also Muslim selfunderstanding. To a certain extent, any study of Muslims using the Internet may begin with the predictable psychological barrier between committed Muslims and the media. This was reflected in a discussion on whether the Internet is lawful or prohibited, as the Internet seems to raise issues of pornography and privacy. One Muslim user lamented, “The already critical social problems of Muslim youth at present will be further worsened by the emerging Internet technology.”1 This was an expected argument among the various reactions. Muslim Existence on the Web: Initial Focuses Many factors determine Muslim existence on the Internet, as opposed to the cinema or television, and make it more vivid and active. The Internet is different from the cinema industry as the Internet needs less infrastructure and does not depend only on visual expression. It is also different from television, which through most of its history, especially in n

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The Internet seems, generally, to be the “voice of the voiceless.” According to Bunt, “Minority opposition may believe that cyberspace is an environment in which religious, cultural and sectarian differences can be articulated with great safety.” 3 Therefore, on this digital platform we can expect to find many expressing themselves as Islamic representatives speaking in the name of Islam. Consequently, concern arises among interested scholars and analysts of the so called “fragmentation of authority,” especially in the areas of Shari`ah and jurisprudence. This concern cannot be discussed without understanding some of the problematic interpretations of the relation between the sacred text and relative human understanding. One of these interpretations, which can guarantee some kind of respected diversity instead of fragmentation, is the realization of the “interactive distance” between the sacred text and our human understanding. This realization makes the different Muslim traditions and methodologies respected as long as they are based on the fixed principles—as no one owns the absolute truth. From this interactive distance between text and human understanding emerges the possibility of ijtihad, or personal reasoning, after the revelation. For Muslims, the nature of time and history is fundamentally different during the event of the revelation and the sacred mission of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because then God guided the affairs of the community in a uniquely direct way. After this era, but depending on its principles and guidelines, we established personal reasoning. Muslims, therefore, always change their position if, after careful and meticulous use of reasoning, more appropriate and correct conclusions can be found. Consequently, Islam is a dynamic November 2009 19

religion that is able to fit with the ever-changing milieu. 4 This understanding is highlighted by Bennabi, not only to establish pluralism among Muslims, but also to understand the process of resurgence and disappearance of civilizations between Muslims and non-Muslims. Bennabi emphasises that whereas civilisation is the transformation of any good idea into a reality, Islam is a set of guidelines, a way of life, or a project, that creates a civilisation only when put into practice; when its adherents carry it and move through the world positively influencing man, material and time. Therefore, a Muslim may be uncivilised just as a non-Muslim may be civilised. 5 Among Muslim intellectuals, some scholars, such as Sheikh Tahtawi, see various interpretation and ijtihad methodologies as the Muslim practice of pluralism and democracy. Tahtawi tries to show that democratic concepts are compatible with the Islamic Law by comparing political pluralism in western societies to forms of ideological and jurisprudential pluralism that exist in the Islamic experience. 6 Cyber Muftis: Traditionalism and Modernity Therefore, the Internet may clearly present a range of trends, among them the Islamic jurisprudential traditions, but these different customs should have an internal consistency that guarantees an organized diversity. The Internet achieves the involvement of traditional scholars and muftis, putting them to the challenge of dealing with the concerns and problems of modern daily life. There are relatively well organized and accessible systems for searching for authentic religious references. But the medium itself (the Internet) puts much more responsibility on the user’s shoulders, to compare and choose among the fiqhi opinions according to the user’s context and circumstances. The Internet can provide scholars and muftis a great opportunity to network and communicate, and this may develop the essential process of interaction. The importance of such a process can be imagined when we know that AlGhanwishi referred to the difficulties of communication and transportation among Muslims as one of the reasons they failed to develop shura (mutual consultation) from a value to a political system. 7 The advantages and disadvantages of being in cyberspace bring forward the question of whether or not the Internet in the Muslim world will cause real social, cultural, and possibly political changes; and if so, what are these changes? There is no direct simple answer; it is as sophisticated and dynamic as the Internet itself, used in different contexts and with different habits. Social Life of Information Fundamental facts should be discussed in order to understand the issue of changing people's attitudes and minds on certain topics. One of these facts is that the “social life of information, as the creation of knowledge from raw 20 November 2009

information, is a social activity of human beings. Much of what we recognize as learning comes from informal social interactions between learners and mentors.” 8 The relation between information technology on the one hand, and change and development on the other, cannot be isolated from distinct factors and environments. “Technology can only transform to a certain extent, and other factors exert great influence on the utilization and eventual success or failure of new concepts and technology.” 9 This matter needs a great deal of study and analysis, not only by focusing on the interrelation between information technology and the various social and cultural contexts, but also by studying the history of information. “The importance of organizational learning and tacit knowledge suggests that to a degree no one has yet appreciated, the history of information is an institutional history.” 10 Some intellectuals refuse to see the Internet as a cause of change, especially in the political sphere, as most of the Muslim and Arab world are mainly affected by the oral culture, this being related to socio-cultural reasons along with high rates of illiteracy. As access to the Internet requires skills in using the computer and the English language, this makes the influence of the Internet limited in many ways. But there is another point of view, which refers to a sophisticated process of change through the Internet and the information revolution. This is not related only to the medium itself but is related to the nature of the users. Some users are active enough to release the message from its medium by printing or by communicating with the people orally—delivering the released messages that are still affected by the characteristics of the Internet. One of the most important things, especially for the consumer of this technology—most of the Muslim world are consumers and not producers of this technology—is to know the challenges as well as the characteristics of this medium. The architecture of the Web decides its traits, but the media work within the culture introduces its needs. For instance, many of those whom we can call cybersociologists see virtual relations and communication in cyberspace as reflecting the community’s hunger for “third places,” which are described by Oldenburg as “the core settings of informal public life.” The free or inexpensive local “third places” have disappeared and many of us have an increased feeling that the community is lacking. “Third places,” according to Oldenburg, are necessary for a community to arise. "There are places where members of a community interact with others and come to know the ties that they have in common. In part, this virtual communication is a response to the hunger for a community and has followed the disintegration of traditional communities around the world.” 11 The interrelation between reality and the virtual community can be observed in many situations and in relation to different contexts. For example, many Muslims and Arabs suffered an intense feeling of helplessness during the THE COMPANION n

Palestinian Intifada and the war on Iraq. Cyberspace has been an active arena for showing such feelings, and thus Web authors should realize the necessity of a balanced message that does not encourage the illusion of cyberaction only, but uses the advantages of cyberactivism.

concerns and social problems. This opportunity shows the hidden half of our societies, helping us to reinforce the infrastructure of our social life.

This balanced coverage cannot be achieved without sufficient knowledge of both Web architecture and offline contexts. By absorbing both spheres, unique solutions and formulae for problematic issues can be created. Addressing social groups, as opposed to individuals, can reactivate their roles rather than marginalize them.

The same experience indicates the importance of specialization as well as interdisciplinary involvement between different fields. Social and psychological problems are discussed by sociologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, who may consult with the Shari`ah section on given topics. Likewise Shari`ah may consult with Counseling or other sections. This provides the different specialists with a relatively comprehensive awareness.

Other social and psychological problematic phenomena can be understood and solved by more involvement of the proper offline social structures. For example, interpersonal and intimate communication in cyberspace emerges as what is known now as “e-love”—an idealistic image that can be drawn for both women and men via this virtual relationship, which is free of responsibilities.

Interactive and interpersonal communication via the Internet can overcome generalities and one may discuss personal concerns, investigating the matters to reach greater understanding. The method used in the IslamOnline.net counseling service does not suggest or impose a solution, but enlightens users in order to empower them according to their circumstances.

On the interactive page for cyber-counseling at IslamOnline.net, a simple principle is repeated in response to such e-love problems. In cyberspace, as in the real community, there is a private sphere as well as a public sphere, and one of the safe healthy interactions between men and women is engaging in public activities on the Web rather than private interactions, where the risk of illusion is increased. The same page also relates to the offline community by advising most of the youth who face the problems of an empty life and who seek to kill time online to interact and participate actively in their communities. Anonymity: Between Freedom and Trust Human interaction revolves around issues of trust, and trust in the anonymous computer realm is hard (but not impossible) to come by. Reputation systems are important components of that, but in reality we judge the trustworthiness of a person on a million different factors. 12 Here we realize the difficulty of human interaction in cyberspace, as the large amount of freedom is limited by a similar amount of lack of trust; both are the result of the anonymity of the Web. Through this anonymity flourishes discussion about the usual taboos (politics, religion, and sex).This opportunity can be tackled in many ways according to the authors’ objectives, from stimulating pornographic sites to other sites that investigate and explore such taboos. The relative freedom of expression in cyberspace can form a suitable atmosphere to discuss the psychosexual and social problems of our societies. According to the experience of IslamOnline.net Web site, many were shocked by the discussion of problems on the cyber-counselling page but, after a while, they realized the difference: the difference between exciting commercial phenomena on the Web and the discussion of our real n

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More Characteristics of the Internet There are more characteristics of the Internet that can affect society if we use them in parallel with awareness of the challenges: n The Internet is an alternative arena, as it provides genuine competition to mainstream media. It does not replace it but affects it deeply, in that it is related to civil society and cyberactivism. n The Internet gives the opportunity for more representation of day-to-day life and the personal touch. The discussion forums and chat rooms form a challenging rediscovery of one’s self and others. The Internet re-examines the chronic issues of identity. For instance, Muslims in the West have a different kind of media via the Internet, which may reshape their identity. “Media and technology have brought together seemingly dispersed communities.” 13 This unification has found expression in local media. n Not only has access to information increased opportunities for learning about Islam, but it has also developed a sense of belonging to and identifying with a local, national, and global Ummah. The concept of identity links very strongly to knowing about other Muslims and their condition. Being informed about Muslims around the world seems to have a direct link to how people identify themselves as Muslims. For many, then, identity has been influenced directly by the existence of Muslim media, which provides knowledge and information about Muslims, and religious advice and instructions. 14 This expected influence can be achieved actively on the Web. n The other prominent characteristic is what the Web experts describe as the “rhetoric of links and hypertext and multi-media.” Hypertext opens up particular kinds of writing innovations, such as the linking together of data, analysis, and interpretation in the same medium, and the juxtaposition of materials in written, visual, and aural forms. 15 November 2009 21

In Focus These characteristics and many more, which need deliberate investigation and elaboration, do not really mean that the Internet is actually the “voice of the voiceless,” as there is a digital gap. The Digital Gap: Who Maps the Web? There is much energy, money and time that is needed to bridge the gap between disadvantaged and advantaged communities. The predominance of the English language also needs to be reduced and the attitudes of Web authors need to change. Often there is little, or limited, information on works by people from developing countries. Web authors need to address this problem by allowing equal coverage to writers from developing areas, or simply by giving exposure to individuals outside their society in their articles. 16 Muslims, because they are distributed between the switched-off and the switched-on areas, can play a role by introducing the problems, the languages, and the concerns, not only for Muslims but also for humanity. Muslims can ally with others against injustice in a dynamic way, to protect Muslim interests and keep the human values.n _____________________ Dalia Yusuf is a writer and a consultant for IslamOnline.net. REFERENCES 1 John Horvath, “ Islam and the Internet,” 9 Sept. 1998. 2 IslamOnline.net, About Us. 3 Gary Bunt, Virtually Islamic: Computer-mediated Communication and Cyber Islamic Environments (Cardiff: Univ. of Wales Press, 2000). 4 Joanne McEwan. Reviewof Orientalism by Ziauddin Sardar. 2002. 5 Institute of Islamic Political Thought, “Democracy in Islamic Political Thought.” 6 Ibid. 7 IslamOnline.net (Arabic), Interview with Sheikh Rashed, 2003. 8 G. C. Gupta, reviewof The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies, Aug. 2003. 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid. 11 Robin Hamman, “Introduction to Virtual Communities,” Research and Cyber-sociology Magazine, Issue 2. 12 G. C. Gupta, review. 13 Peter Mandaville, Transnational Muslim Politics: Reimagining the Umma. London: Routledge, 2001. 14 “Young Muslims and Muslim Media in Britain.” 15 Bruce Mason and Bella Dicks, “Research Methodology Online,” Digital Ethnographer, issue 6, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. 16 Kirsten Smith, “Minority Groups and People from Developing Nations on the Net.

22 November 2009

The Internet: Freedom or Prison? Bourja Saeed Freedom is that great symbol which all the divine religions called for, that which all civilizations, ideologies, and revolutions struggled to achieve. The Internet and the information age provided the world with a new avenue of this freedom. The Internet has given a new and different dimension to communication between individuals, groups and nations. It has become a market for what is good and what is bad. The type of merchandise displayed on the Internet instigated a civilizational and cultural process of scrutinizing the world wide web in order to distinguish what is good from what is bad. In fact, unanimously, nations have condemned the display of the sex industry and the dissemination of cybercorruption. However, the infringement of cyber-freedom has been extended to all activities that criticize draconian policies, especially in the Islamic World. Globally speaking, there are many ways in which this freedom has been compromised. One of these ways is the coding and decoding of disseminated or exchanged information through the Internet. For instance, governments and security agencies can spy on any person that exchanges any type of information on the Internet, especially decoded exchanged information. Such infringements make the freedom of the Internet meaningless. Secondly, Internet providers easily can monitor any information being exchanged as soon as you log on. Internet providers, through software, can monitor all the things you do on the Internet. These include the sites you visited, when, and how. The provider also has access to the web pages you visited and the nature of the information you dealt with, the chats you made, the e-mail you sent or received, and the bills you paid through the Internet. Is this freedom or a department of the Central Intelligence Agency? One of the great dangers to those browsing the great “Internet prison” is what is called News Groups, where information and messages are archived and anyone has access to view them, read them, copy them even after 20 years to come. Some information can be used against you for decades to come because the Internet does not forget. Israeli companies are leading the process of developing such software. Programs such as ICQ chat have become popular internationally. The Tel Aviv-based Mirabils Co. produced it. It can easily be used to spy on users, and information can be saved on the hard drives of their computers. Abri Nte Ltd. produced a program called Session Wall-3, which is used to analyze Internet users. It produces detailed reports on users. Lance Golander, of Terrangon, Oregon, has used the THE COMPANION n

software and is amazed by information provided by the software that exposes his clients. He said, “I never imagined the magnitude of control I have on my clients. It makes me sick to see this much detailed information on them.”

of such efforts and an increase in the number of users. It also indicated that more than one million Arabs use the Internet currently and indicated some improvements in the issue of privacy.

Human Rights Watch did a survey of freedom on the Internet in the Middle East last September. The results were posted on their website. HRW concluded that the restrictions imposed on users as well as the cost make it impossible to exchange information via the Net in many countries. However, despite the restrictions imposed, the report predicts the failure

Finally, it remains to be asked: When will Muslims be able to breathe freely? The lack of freedom is the main source of backwardness. At any rate, the winds of freedom are coming and no one will be able to stop it.n

Goldstone Report

Ab bas and the Goldstone R epor t: Abbas Re port: Our shame is complete Ramzy Baroud

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s Israeli bombs fell on the Gaza Strip during its one-sided war between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009, millions around the world took to the streets in complete and uncompromising outrage. The level of barbarity in that war, especially as it was conducted against a poor, defenseless and physically trapped nation, united people of every color, race and religion. But among those who seemed utterly unmoved, unreservedly cold were some Palestinian officials in the West Bank. Mahmoud Habbash, the PA Minister of Social Affairs is but one of those individuals. His appearances on Aljazeera, during those fateful days were many. On one half of the screen would be screaming, disfigured children, mutilated women, and search parties digging in the dark for dead bodies, at times entire families. On the other, was Habbash, spewing political insults at his Hamas rivals in Gaza, repeating the same message so tirelessly parroted by his Israeli colleagues. Every time his face appeared on the screen, I cringed. Every unruly shriek of his, reinforced my sense of shame. Shame, perhaps, but never confusion. Those who understand how the Oslo agreement of September 1993 morphed into a culture that destroyed the very fabric of Palestinian society can fully appreciate the behavior of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank during the Gaza war, before it and today. But especially today. Those who hoped that the Israeli atrocities in Gaza would rekindled a sense of remorse among the egotistical elites in Ramallah, were surely disappointed when the PA withdrew its draft resolution supporting recommendations made by South African Judge Richard Goldstone. The Goldstone report is the most comprehensive, and transparent investigation as of yet into what happened in Gaza during the 23-day war. It decried Israeli terror, and chastised Palestinians as well. But the focus on Israel undoubtedly and deservingly occupied much of the nearly 600-page report. The next step was for the n

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Human Rights Council to send the report for consideration to the United Nations Security Council, which was to study the findings for a possible referral of the case to the International Criminal Court e in the Hague. Such a move would have been historic. Knowing the full implications of such a possibility, Hamas accepted the report’s recommendations in full. Israel, backed by its traditional US ally, rejected it, leveling all sorts of accusations and insults on the world-renowned Jewish judge. The draft resolution – condemning Israel and calling for the transfer of the report to the UNSC - was due for a vote at the Council on October 2. Alas, it was withdrawn at the behest of the Palestinian Authority and its president Mahmoud Abbas himself. Palestinian friends and allies at UNHRC were shocked, but obliged. They were equally disappointed when they watched PA envoys discussing the matter, not with the Asian, African or other traditional allies at the Council, but with US and European diplomats, who seemed to have a greater sway over Palestinian political action than those who have for decades supported Palestinian rights at every turn. Something went horribly wrong. How could a leader of an occupied and suffering nation commit such a ‘mistake’, deferring an urgent vote and discussion on a report pertaining to the death of over 1,400 people, the maiming and wounding of thousands more, to a later date, six months from today? Theories flared. Israeli and other media argued that US pressure on PA president Mahmoud Abbas was the main reason behind the supposedly unanticipated move. A positive vote on the resolution would jeopardize the ‘peace process’, therefore any action must be stifled for the sake of giving the ‘peace process’ a chance, was the rationale. Amira Hass of Haaretz opined, “The chronic submissiveness is always explained by a desire to ‘make progress.’ But for the PLO and Fatah, progress is the very continued existence of the Palestinian Authority, which is now functioning more than ever before as a subcontractor

November 2009 23

for the IDF, the Shin Bet security service and the Civil Administration.” Jonathan Cook, however, offered another view: “Israel warned it would renege on a commitment to allot radio frequencies to allow Wataniya, a mobile phone provider, to begin operations this month in the West Bank. The telecommunications industry is the bedrock of the Palestinian economy, with the current monopoly company, PalTel, accounting for half the worth of the Palestinian stock exchange.” “No blood for mobile phones,” should perhaps be the new chant in Palestine. But it’s that sad fact that held the Palestinian will hostage for too many years. However, it’s not just mobile companies whose interests triumph over Gaza’s agony. Indeed, the post-Oslo culture has espoused a class of contractors. These are businessmen who are either highranking officials in the PA and the Fatah party, or both, or closely affiliated with them. Much of the billions of dollars of international aid that poured into Palestine following the signing of Oslo found its way into private bank accounts. Wealth generated more wealth and “export and import” companies sprung up like poison ivy amidst the poor dwelling of refugees throughout the occupied territories. The class of businessmen, still posing as revolutionaries, encroached over every aspect of Palestinian society, used it, controlled it, and eventually suffocated it. It espoused untold corruption, and, naturally, found an ally in Israel, whose reign in the occupied territories never ceased. The PA became submissive not out of fear of Israeli wrath per se, but out of fear that such wrath would disrupt business, the flow of aid thus contracts. And since corruption is not confined by geographical borders, PA officials abroad took Palestinian shame to international levels. Millions marched in the US, in Europe, in Asia, South America and the rest of the world, chanting for Gaza and its victims, while some PA ambassadors failed to even turn out to participate. When some of these diplomats made it to public forums, it was for the very purpose of brazenly attacking fellow Palestinians in Hamas, not to garner international solidarity with their own people. Readily blaming ‘American pressure’ to explain Abbas’ decision at the UNHRC no longer suffices. Even the call on the 74-year-old Palestinian leader to quit is equally hollow. Abbas represents a culture, and that culture is self-seeking, self-serving and utterly corrupt. If Abbas exits, and considering his age, he soon will, Mohammed Dahlan could be the next leader, or even Mahmoud Habbash, who called on Gaza to rebel against Hamas as Israel was blowing up Palestinian homes and schools left and right. Palestinians who are now calling for change following the UN episode, must consider the Oslo culture in its entirety, its ‘revolutionary’ millionaires, its elites and contractors. A practical alternative to those corrupt must be quickly devised. The Israeli wall is encroaching on Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank, and a new war might be awaiting besieged Gaza. Time is running out, and our collective shame is nearly complete.n Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers, journals, and anthologies around the world.

24 November 2009

Internet Addiction Disor der Disorder Does it exist? For the past five years, psychologists and psychiatrists have debated on whether or not there is such a thing as an Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). In a recent study released on October 12th by Dr. Kimberly Young, the executive director of the Center for On-Line Addiction, the behavior of 496 heavy Internet users was compared against the clinical criteria used to classify gambling. Gambling is considered to be the closest addiction to on-line addiction because it involves failed impulse control without the use of an intoxicant. Young found that people who have “Internet Addiction” met four or more of the established criteria, and that college students are particularly at risk. However, many other experts do not agree with Young’s research. Dr. Goldberg, one of her most vehement critics, says that her definition of the disorder does not address some of the underlying factors that might cause someone to use the Internet often and compulsively. He also says that “Internet Addiction” is not a disorder, but rather a possible sign of other problems such as depression or overanxiety. He believes that labeling a symptom hides its origins. What Are the Symptoms? Maressa Hecht Orzack, a psychologist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts and founder/director of the Computer Addiction Services department at McLean Hospital, a Harvard-affiliated teaching hospital in Belmont, Mass., is one of the strong supporters for the existence of the new disorder. She says that people suffering from the disorder do have psychological symptoms such as: Having a sense of well-being or euphoria while at the computer; Inability to stop the activity; Craving more and more time at the computer; Neglect of family and friends; Feeling empty, depressed, and irritable when not at the computer; Lying to employers and family about activities; Experiencing problems with school or job. She adds that related physical symptoms are: Carpal tunnel syndrome, Dry eyes, Migraine headaches, Back aches, Eating irregularities, such as skipping meals, Failure to attend to personal hygiene, Sleep disturbances, change in sleep pattern. The Right Balance Many psychologists say that behavioral research should identify and recommend ways to find and maintain a healthy balance between time spent on-line and time spent interacting in person with family and friends. It is recommended that the time spent on the net be regulated so that it does not consume time designated for reading or for family duties and gatherings. For safety reasons, it is also recommended that people engaged in chat rooms do not disclose personal and contact information about themselves or their families, and that adults supervise their children’s involvement in on-line activities.n

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Wakf Scams

Big gest Land Scam in Indian History Bigg

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vast majority of people in the country believe that if the Wakf properties - donated by Muslim rulers and individuals across the country, are properly utilized, they can do wonders for the upliftment of the Indian Muslims. Time and again the safety of the Wakf lands is demanded from the government. Of late, when it was reported that Mukesh Ambani procured a wakf land in Mumbai by paying 'a meager contribution', the lapses in handling the wakf properties vociferously came to fore. However, the storm brewed after the incident soon calmed down and Mukesh Ambani continued building the skyscraper on the said land. With Outlook, the popular English weekly magazine in its September 21, 2009 issue carrying a detailed report of how the wakf lands across the country are being misused, the issue is in the limelight once again. The report has even termed the mismanagement of the wakf property in India as one of the biggest scandals in Indian history. Claiming that there are approximately 3,00,000 registered Wakf properties in India on about four lakh acres of land, the report says, "The properties that should have been used for the welfare of the Indian Muslims, are mortgaged, sold and encroached upon with the connivance of the very institutions and individuals responsible for safeguarding it." Questioning the functioning of the Wakf boards and highlighting the corruption within, the report says, "The Wakf boards in most states of India are repositories of corruption, in league with land sharks and builders. They continue to get away with the daylight robbery of their own community because, whenever there is any demand for scrutiny, they crudely take cover behind the “Islam in danger” sentiment." "Those who purport to be leaders of the community are complicit in the conspiracy to rob resources while perpetuating a siege mentality. They want to capture existing institutions and sell them off piece by piece. They are adept at fanning fears and feeding into the victimhood syndrome but quite incapable of building institutions or shepherding the community towards modernity", claims the Outlook report. Questioning the very nature of the Wakf board formation, the report quoting from a senior bureaucrat says, “The boards are ill-constituted, not constituted or politically constituted. Often, they’re nothing more than a gang of thieves.” n

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"Mostly, political hangers-on and operators from the minority community are sent off to man the boards. The policies of successive governments have created a class of “sarkari Musalmans” adept at capturing institutions and bagging positions through which they can patronise others down the pecking order. The incentive they have, besides authority, is to pilfer as much as they can get away with", says the report. Detailing how actually the wakf lands are misused andhow a small group of “insiders” at Muslim institutions benefit from the overall laxity in the boards, the report says, "For instance, there is the case of a member of the Delhi minorities commission running a private school on a large tract of Wakf land in the expensive Nizamuddin area and paying the board a pittance of Rs 1,000 rent per month. Mohammad Arif, section officer in charge of properties in the Delhi Wakf office, admits reluctantly that there are “some schools running on Wakf land but they are not for the poor and charge fees”. Further digging reveals that, two decades ago, Delhi Wakf ran a charitable dispensary but it was shut down. Now the main service they provide is paying salaries of imams attached to masjids." Elaborating how the efforts to mend the irregularities are thwarted, the report quoted standing counsel for Jamia Millia Islamia Atyab Siddiqui as saying, "Whenever there is an initiative from educated Muslims to preserve a legacy, build an institution or perhaps even introduce modern education, there is a run-in with the Wakf board. “We believe the Wakf does not have the instruments to preserve old mosques and we have been arguing that the ASI is better positioned to manage properties. But the problem that enlightened sections of society face is that they run up against monetary interests of a few who hide behind the guise of religion.” November 2009 25

Wakf at a glance

Quoting K.K. Mohammad, a veteran ASI archaeologist who has worked across India and now the superintending archaeologist for the Delhi circle, the report says, “My experience shows me that whenever people claim protected monuments as living shrines, there is a commercial incentive of occupying the monument or developing the land around it. All communities have people who do this.” Interestingly, the report claims Salman Khursheed, the Union minister for minority affairs also admitting there are lapses in managing the wakf properties. "Wakf is one of those areas in which accountability has not been demanded. The community itself has not demanded accountability possibly due to a level of ignorance", the report has quoted him as saying. Moreover, the report has claims deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha Rahman Khan is also of the view that the wakf lands are great assets for the Indian Muslims and if used properly, they can do wonders for the community. “If the Wakf properties were managed properly, many problems of Muslims such as joblessness, lack of education and resultant poverty would have been resolved. Today, even if we presume that 70 per cent of these properties have been encroached upon or sold off, even the remaining 30 per cent is a huge resource that can be developed", the Outlook report has quoted Rahman as saying. Rahman Khan was chairman of the joint parliamentary committee on Wakf that submitted its report a year ago. He has recommended to the Manmohan Singh government that there be a “total change” in the constitution of the boards and a national Wakf development corporation be set up with professionals at the helm. So, can this Outlook report that claims the misuse of the wakf properties as a "collectively the biggest land scam in India’s history", work as an eye-opener for the Congress-led UPA government which otherwise leaves no stone unturned to claim a well-wisher of the Indian Muslims?n

Courtesy: www.ummid.com 26 November 2009

The institution of Wakf in India is 800 years old. It began when Muslim rulers donated huge lands for charity. The approximate number of registered Wakf properties in India is 3,00,000. Wakf properties account for 4 lakh acres of land. According to the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan, this makes the board the third-largest landholder after the railways and defence. There are 35 Wakf boards in India, many of them non-functional. Each board is having 5 minimum number of members. The number, however, varies according to the Muslim population of a state. Members are nominated by ruling parties in each state. Wakf Acts The 1954 and 1995 central laws endow huge powers with the state governments that set up and run Wakf boards in their states. MODUS OPERANDI Outright sale n Builder or businessman identifies a Wakf property n They approach members of the board n The land is sold for a pittance, n Board members get their cut Cheap rent n Happens in states where outright sale is not encouraged n Builder/ businessman approaches board members n The land is given on a ridiculously low lease n Land use is changed to facilitate commercial exploitation n Members pocket their cuts Allegations against the board n Although Wakf is a national resource to be used to develop institutions and earn income for Muslims, it is so terribly managed that it is the only system where virtually no accountability is demanded n Cases of blatant corruption abound. Land is sold off for buildings, hotels, malls or factories for a pittance or given out for shockingly low rents to commercial interests. n The boards have become an avenue for political patronage. Muslims who cannot be accommodated in ministries are sent off here. They mostly never do anything for the community. In most cases, they are hand-in-glove with the land mafia and encroachers. n The “Islam in danger” sentiment is crudely raised to hoodwink the Muslim public and stop any real scrutiny of the functioning of boards, whose members are out to make a fast buck n Ironically, Wakf boards keep claiming properties protected by the ASI as “living” religious shrines. In many cases, there is a clear monetary incentive under the guise of religion. n The mess in the boards is also a reflection of the apathy of state governments. Many have not constituted boards; none have carried out a survey of Wakf properties as required by the 1995 Act. n As a result of this mess, 70 per cent of Wakf properties are encroached upon, often in connivance with board members or government department overseeing. (Source: Outlook)

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Judiciary

Ishr at Jahan: Mur der in Cold Blood Ishra Murder Ram Puniyani

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n the aftermath of Gujarat carnage the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee subtly reprimanded Modi Governemtn that Raj Dharma should have been followed. The implication was that state should have actively intervened to protect the innocents who were killed during the violence. What will one say if the same state selectively picks up innocent citizens, kills them and presents false stories to save its skin? While taking the oath, while joining the state one is supposed to treat all citizens as equal irrespective of their religion caste and gender. What do we say about the state, which goes on to kill its innocent citizens who happen to belong to minority community?““As the Citizen’s Tribunal pointed out in the aftermath of Godhra train burning Gujarat State machinery was told to sit back when the rioters were unleashed to kill and maim, to loot and to rape during the carnage. Now we know that in the same state, police officers have become emboldened enough to pick up minority elements, kill them in cold blood and proclaim that it is an encounter! The repeated cry of terrorists planning to kill Modi has been a favorite ploy of the police officers for killing innocents to please the CM, to seek promotions. It also helps to create a larger than life picture of Modi. When Ishrat Jahan was killed in the June 2005, along with three others, the police officers boasted of their success that they have ably averted the attack on Modi by killing four terrorists of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. Forensic and post mortem reports confirm that they were killed in cold blood on 14th June, shot at close range in a police custody and then, taken in a car, then put in a row on the road on the outskirts of Ahmadabad. To show that it was encounter, arms-ammunition was kept on their body. At this point of time National Human Rights Commission asked for magisterial inquiry. Later state Government also confirmed of magisterial inquiry going on. At the same time the police investigation was also started. Justice Tamang has come out with his report that it was not an encounter and that the four killed in cold blood by police were not having any terrorist links. In response the Gujarat government is leaving no stone unturned to say that Justice Tamang had no business to release his report, the Gujarat high court has brought a stay on the report. But already the contents of the report are known through the media reports and Gujarat Government is finding no place to hide its face, also Supreme Court has seen nothing wrong in what Justice Tamang did. The total lack of remorse on the part of Gujarat Government is not surprising at all! The officer, D. G.Vanjara, who killed these four, was also the one who had brutally killed Soharabbudin and his wife n THE COMPANION

Kauserbi, and is now behind the bars. There is a section of Gujarat people, who are very appreciative of what Vnajara has done, and the situation which Modi Government has brought in. Now the Gujarat Government asks that when the police inquiry was going on, what is the legality of magisterial inquiry? On the contrary as per the law after the death of a person in police custody, or due to police action of this type, inquest, magisterial inquiry and police inquiry all these have to be done. It is not that it is the first time that encounter, fake encounter killings, are taking place. The difference here is the total identification and defense of such acts by the political leadership of state. The difference is that a section of people are being made to believe such dastardly acts are needed to make the society safe. The effort of Gujarat Government is just to show a brave face in the light of exposure of its brutality in killing the innocents. Incidentally Ishrat was wearing her college, Khalsa College Mumbai, Identity Card around her neck when she was killed in cold blood. Legal nuances and nitty gritty apart where are we heading in twenty in Twentyfirst Century? Just slightly an year ago in the face of police arrest of many Muslim youth in the aftermath of bomb blasts citizens tribunals were held in Hyderabad and then in Jaipur. Legal luminaries and social activists formed the jury of these tribunals. Both tribunals pointed out that the attitude of police is very biased and many a Muslim youth are being arrested without any proof whatsoever. Will such actions by state, will such a defense of killing of innocents, not intensify the sense of injustice amongst a section of Indian citizens? Where are we heading to? On one hand there are inquiry commission reports showing as to how communal organizations orchestrate crimes and the section of police and part of state administration colludes. On the other plane there is the phenomenon of terrorism, which has many factors contributing to it but it is only Muslims who are blamed for that. We are also witnessing a serious and by now inbuilt discrimination leading to exclusion of minorities from the social facilities. In such an atmosphere what will happen to the psyche of the youth and others from minority community? The social disparities we are creating due to such policies are there for all of us to see. The tragedy is that a section of people have started asserting the correctness of these happenings. The situation which is being created due to all this is further used to blame minorities for it. The Modi-Vanjara duo, which is becoming a law unto them, is the symptom of deeper malaise of Gujarat.n November 2009 27

Honour Killings

Honour Killings in Haryana Kavita Krishnan “Only whores choose their own partners.... Recently an educated couple married against the samaj’s (community’s) wishes in Jhajjar. We hail the panchayat’s decision to execute them...The government cannot protect this atyachar (immoral behaviour).... (The law of the land) is the root of all problems... That’s your Constitution, ours is different.’’ – Mahendra Singh Tikait, farmers’ leader of Western UP

target for the corporate media. We in the women’s movement, however, can’t lose sight of the fact that educated and well off fathers and brothers are quite as culpable in policing their daughters’ and sisters’ sexuality. Murders in the name of 'honour' have land and property as a sub-text, and they do not happen only in 'uncivilised' hinterlands but often enough in elite sections of cities.

“Yahan izzatdar woh hain jo ladki ko marte hain (Those who kill their girls are respected here)” – a teacher in rural Haryana

Home Minister P Chidambaram has rejected the need for a special law to deal with the Haryana killings, saying they should be dealt with as murders.

‘‘Khap leaders are keepers of Jat tradition” - Justice (retd) Devi Singh Teotia, a former judge of the Punjab & Haryana HC, active member of the Sarv Khap Panchayat, demanding legalising of the khaap panchayats

The killings and lynchings themselves may be murders. The question is: is it legal to justify and call for such killings, as the khaap panchayats do, as Tikait does? Does our existing law permit any individual or institution to issue diktats on adults’ choice of marriage partners, and declare ‘death sentences’ for those who defy these caste-imposed diktats? If it is indeed illegal to issue such diktats and death sentences, why does neither Home Ministry nor the State Government of Haryana take any action against those who issue them?

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ahendra Singh Tikait’s outrageous and offensive remarks once again raise the question: why do the khaap panchayats of Haryana and Western UP which open issue ‘death sentences’ for couples who defy their castediktats on love and marriage, enjoy impunity? In the context of such executions, Congress MP from Rohtak Deepender Hooda (whom the Congress proudly counts among its contingent of ‘young MPs’) had expressed sympathy for the “sentiments and local customs of khaap panchayats.” Will the Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh tell us why leaders of their party endorse such “sentiments” that mock the constitution and openly call for lynching? ““Tikait says women who choose their own partners are ‘whores’. The ‘dishonour’ of ‘whoring’, in his eyes, does not lie, it seems, in the act of buying sexual services. After all, men in the same region openly buy their wives (as reproductive machines) from other states, because women are in short supply due to female foeticide. The ‘dishonour’ according to him lies primarily in women choosing their own partners. This choice threatens the structures of property and land, and with it, the very edifice of the feudal order. Tikait’s words are all the more unfortunate coming from a representative of the farmers’ movement. One caution, however. The Times of India story that carried Tikait's statements, described the farmers’ leader in stereotypical terms as “squatting on his haunches...dhoti-clad...bare-chested...". The suggestion seems to be that it is only in the “backward” rural, lower-class hinterland that such views on women exist. The question is: isn't Ashok Todi prosperous, ‘modern’ and upper class? What about US-educated Deepender Hooda? And are not men who are dhoti-class, bare-chested and squat on haunches capable of being progressive? The likes of Tikait may offer the more juicy sound-bytes and makes an easier 28 November 2009

Sati and dowry killings are also murders, but we have specific laws to recognise them. Can murders which are openly justified – even by leaders from Chidambaram’s own party, as well as their allies like Tikait – in the name of social tradition be dealt with in the same way as ordinary murders? If the Central Government and State Governments refuse to invoke existing laws to punish those who openly flout the Constitution and call for such killings; if the existing laws do not even allow the National Crime Records Bureau to document or assess the actual numbers of such killings (since they’re all lumped together as murders), then surely we need a specific law that “• declares it illegal for any group or individual, be they khaap panchayats or Sangh outfits or parents like D P Yadav or Ashok Todi to coerce adults in matters of marriage; “• spells out punishments for diktats and death sentences issued by khaap panchayats, and also for Tikait-type justifications of such ‘executions’; “• that spells out punishments for concerned police and administration authorities who fail to protect couples and take preventive action against those who issue death sentences “• that spells out punishments for parents who falsely accuse women of being ‘minors’ so as to separate them from husbands and have them locked up in Nari Niketans.n Kavita Krishnan is the Secretary, All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), [email protected] Courtesy: http://countercurrents.org THE COMPANION

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Reflections

Obama, man of peace? No No,, just a Nobel priz e of a mistak e prize mistake Robert Fisk The US president received an award in the faint hope that he will succeed in the future. That's how desperate the Middle East situation has become.

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is Middle East policy is collapsing. The Israelis have taunted him by ignoring his demand for an end to settlement-building and by continuing to build their colonies on Arab land. His special envoy is bluntly told by the Israelis that an Arab-Israel peace will take "many years". Now he wants the Palestinians to talk peace to Israel without conditions. He put pressure on the Palestinian leader to throw away the opportunity of international scrutiny of UN Judge Goldstone's damning indictment of Israeli war crimes in Gaza while his Assistant Secretary of State said that the Goldstone report was "seriously flawed". After breaking his pre-election promise to call the 1915 Armenian massacres by Ottoman Turkey a genocide, he has urged the Armenians to sign a treaty with Turkey, again "without pre-conditions". His army is still facing an insurgency in Iraq. He cannot decide how to win "his" war in Afghanistan. I shall not mention Iran. And now President Barack Obama has just won the Nobel Peace Prize. After only eight months in office. Not bad. No wonder he said he was "humbled" when told the news. He should have felt humiliated. But perhaps weakness becomes a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Shimon Peres won it, too, and he never won an Israeli election. Yasser Arafat won it. And look what happened to him. For the first time in history, the Norwegian Nobel committee awarded its peace prize to a man who has achieved nothing – in the faint hope that he will do something good in the future. That's how bad things are. That's how explosive the Middle East has become. Isn't there anyone in the White House to remind Mr Obama that the Israelis have never obliged a US president who asked for an end to the building of colonies for Jews – and Jews only – on Arab land? Bill Clinton demanded this – it was written into the Oslo accords – and the Israelis ignored him. n

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George W Bush demanded an end to the fighting in Jenin nine years ago. The Israelis ignored him. Mr Obama demands a total end to all settlement construction. "They just don't get it, do they?" an Israeli minister – apparently Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – was reported to have said when the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, reiterated her president's words. That's what Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's crackpot foreign minister – he's not as much a crackpot as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but he's getting close – said again on Thursday. "Whoever says it's possible to reach in the coming years a comprehensive agreement," he announced before meeting Mr Obama's benighted and elderly envoy George Mitchell, "... simply doesn't understand the reality." Across Arabia, needless to say, the Arab potentates continue to shake with fear in their golden minarets. That great Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir – murdered in 2005, quite possibly by Mr Obama's newfound Syrian chums – put it well in one of his last essays. "Undeterred by Egypt since Sadat's peace," he wrote, "convinced of America's unfailing support, guaranteed moral impunity by Europe's bad conscience, and backed by a nuclear arsenal that was acquired with the help of Western powers, and that keeps growing without exciting any comment from the international community, Israel can literally do anything it wants, or is prompted to do by its leaders' fantasies of domination." So Israel is getting away with it as usual, abusing the distinguished (and Jewish) head of the UN inquiry into Gaza war crimes – which also blamed Hamas – while joining the Americans in further disgracing the craven Palestinian Authority "President" Mahmoud Abbas, who is more interested in maintaining his relations with Washington than with his own Palestinian people. He's even gone back on his November 2009 29

word to refuse peace talks until Israel's colonial expansion comes to an end. In a single devastating sentence, that usually mild Jordanian commentator Rami Khouri noted last week that Mr Abbas is "a tragic shell of a man, hollow, politically impotent, backed and respected by nobody". I put "President" Abbas into quotation marks since he now has Mr Ahmadinejad's status in the eyes of his people. Hamas is delighted. Thanks to President Obama. Oddly, Mr Obama is also humiliating the Armenian president, Serg Sarkisian, by insisting that he talks to his Turkish adversaries without conditions. In the West Bank, you have to forget the Jewish colonies. In Armenia, you have to forget the Turkish murder of one and a half million Armenians in 1915. Mr Obama refused to honour his preelection promise to recognise the 20th century's first holocaust as a genocide. But if he can't handle the First World War, how can he handle World War Three? Mr Obama advertised the Afghanistan conflict as the war America had to fight – not that anarchic land of Mesopotamia which Mr Bush rashly invaded. He'd forgotten that Afghanistan was another Bush war; and he even announced that Pakistan was now America's war, too. The White House produced its "Afpak" soundbite. And the drones came in droves over the old Durand Line, to kill the Taliban and a host of innocent civilians. Should Mr Obama concentrate on al-Qa'ida? Or yield to General Stanley McChrystal's Vietnamstyle demand for 40,000 more troops? The White House Isn't there anyone in the White House to remind Mr Obama that the Israelis have never obliged a US president who asked for an end to the building of colonies for Jews – and Jews only – on Arab land? Bill Clinton demanded this – it was written into the Oslo accords – and the Israelis ignored him. George W Bush demanded an end to the fighting in Jenin nine years ago. The Israelis ignored him. Mr Obama demands a total end to all settlement construction. "They just don't get it, do they?" an Israeli minister – apparently Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – was reported to have said when the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, reiterated her president's words. That's what Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's crackpot foreign minister – he's not as much a crackpot as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but he's getting close – said again on Thursday. "Whoever says it's possible to reach in the coming years a comprehensive agreement," he announced before meeting Mr Obama's benighted and elderly envoy George Mitchell, "... simply doesn't understand the reality." 30 November 2009

shows the two of them sitting opposite each other, Mr Obama in the smoothie suite, McChrystal in his battledress. The rabbit and the hare. No way are they going to win. The neocons say that "the graveyard of empire" is a cliché. It is. But it's also true. The Afghan government is totally corrupted; its paid warlords – paid by Karzai and the Americans – ramp up the drugs trade and the fear of Afghan civilians. But it's much bigger than this. The Indian embassy was bombed again last week. Has Mr Obama any idea why? Does he realise that Washington's decision to support India against Pakistan over Kashmir – symbolised by his appointment of Richard Holbrooke as envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan but with no remit to discuss divided Kashmir – enraged Pakistan. He may want India to balance the power of China (some hope!) but Pakistan's military intelligence realises that the only way of persuading Mr Obama to act fairly over Kashmir – recognising Pakistan's claims as well as India's – is to increase their support for the Taliban. No justice in Kashmir, no security for US troops – or the Indian embassy – in Afghanistan. Then, after stroking the Iranian pussycat at the Geneva nuclear talks, the US president discovered that the feline was showing its claws again at the end of last week. A Revolutionary Guard commander, an adviser to Supreme Leader Khamenei, warned that Iran would "blow up the heart" of Israel if Israel or the US attacked the Islamic Republic. I doubt it. Blow up Israel and you blow up "Palestine". Iranians – who understand the West much better than we understand them – have another policy in the case of the apocalypse. If the Israelis attack, they may leave Israel alone. They have a plan, I'm told, to target instead only US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their bases in the Gulf and their warships cruising through Hormuz. They would leave Israel alone. Americans would then learn the price of kneeling before their Israeli masters. For the Iranians know that the US has no stomach for a third war in the Middle East. Which is why Mr Obama has been sending his generals thick and fast to the defence ministry in Tel Aviv to tell the Israelis not to strike at Iran. And why Israel's leaders – including Mr Netanyahu – were blowing the peace pipe all week about the need for international negotiations with Iran. But it raises an interesting question. Is Mr Obama more frightened of Iran's retaliation? Or of its nuclear capabilities? Or more terrified of Israel's possible aggression against Iran? But, please, no attacks on 10 December. That's when Barack Obama turns up in Oslo to pocket his peace prize – for achievements he has not yet achieved and for dreams that will turn into nightmares.n

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Child Labour

Small Hands of Bonda ge Bondag Abu Bakr Sabbaq Subhani e are living in a civilized era. While we celebrate W gleefully umpteen number of days—Gandhi Jayanti, Children’s Day, Teachers’ Day, Human Rights’ Day, Literacy Day and so on—we somehow fail to be consistent with the meaning and spirit of rituals and purpose behind these days so much so that the so-called special days are forgotten for the rest of the year. The celebration of Children’s Day on November 14, that marks the birth anniversary of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, is characterised with the same kind of hypocrisy. Expect all sorts of kindness with orphans and children in politicised special treats for the poor children, only to ignore them for a whole year! Here might one ask a simple question: Are we caring enough for our children, the millions who are citizens of tomorrow? The answer will invariably be a big NO. And this is besides the fact that countless governmental and non-governmental organisations are working towards the development and welfare of children. Only in India, we have thousands of registered organisations to help society achieve better lifestyle but, on the other hand, we have millions of children who have lost their childhood, who have never seen the face of school and who are forced to work sometimes as bonded child labour, known in India as peyjolis and kuthias. They are literally slaves at the hands of landlords and industrialists especially under carpet and loom owners. There are an estimated 15 million bonded child labourers in India and possibly even more. The Ministry of Labour (India), Children and Work,(1995) notes that “84.98 percent of all child labour is in agricultural sector and given that agriculture accounts for up to 85 percent of all bonded child labourers, the total bonded child labour is approximately 18 million. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has estimated that “218 million children between the age of 5 and 17 work in developing countries. Of these, 122.3 million children work in Africa-Pacific region, 49.3 million in SubSahara Africa, and 5.7 million work in Latin America and the Caribbean. Most working children in rural areas are found in agriculture, many children work in domestic, urban children work in trade and services, with fewer in manufacturing and construction.’’ According to UNICEF, 14 percent children in India between the age of 5 and 14 are engaged in child labour including carpet manufacturing. Economic compulsion is the largest factor responsible for making child labour so rampant. Poverty has many dimensions that aggravate the problem of child labour. In most cases, parents need income from their children for the survival of the family. Child labour deprives children of their childhood and their dignity and is detrimental to their health, education, and most importantly, in developing capabilities and availing opportunities as normal individuals in the society. After the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child 1959, India adopted National Policy on Children in 1974. The policy reaffirmed the constitutional provisions and stated “it shall n

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be the policy of the State to provide adequate services to children, both before and after birth and through the period of growth to ensure their full physical, mental and social development.” Conservative estimates put child labour in India between 12 million and 110 million, while more than 3,25,000 child labourers are in the beedi industry mostly in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. As revealed in study by Vidyasagar, an estimated 10,000 children are working in the silver smithies of Salem district. The Indian carpet industry consumes 3,00,000 children to produce hand-woven wool carpets. Ninety percent of these children, or about 2,70,000, are bonded labourers. These notorious sectors are violating all laws relating to child and labour rights. For instance, Bonded Labour Act, the Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, and Child Labour Act of 1986, all categorically state that child labour is a crime. Whether bonded or otherwise, it is committed against nearly 220 million children (one in every seventh child) around the world, the majority of them are girls in the Asia Pacific region. The worst forms of abuses at the hands of employers make the problem of child labour even more complex. There are instances of child trafficking, commercial sexual abuse, and the recruitment and use of children for armed conflict or drug trafficking. The children have to work for long hours under hazardous conditions. The demand for child labour is so high and increasing that in many cases desperate parents have to sell their children in to bondage. The enforcement of laws against bonded labour and child bonded labour is ambiguous. The past experience shows there’s little guarantee that they would actually help curb the problem. This calls for some different action on the part of governmental and non-governmental organisations. Today it is essential to provide poor families some alternative source of small scale consumption loans. The rapid development of micro credit organisations, which provide small loan, is surely encouraging, although micro-credit loans are given mainly for production purpose. A host of micro insurance companies are taking initiatives to provide help through policies like health care and life insurance schemes to vulnerable and deprived sections of society and thereby reducing their vulnerability to moneylenders and bondage. Such policies should be complemented with investments in education and vocational training for these deprived children. Only with a holistic approach, one can hope to alleviate this compounding crisis. Imagine millions of little boys and girls have lost their ability to smile or are afraid to smile. Ever seen the faces of a rag picker, lost face of an orphan, or desperate look of a prostitute, or weary frame of a child widow, or the face of a girl waiting at window for her mother to return from work? Have we ever bothered to fathom the depths of these young minds? This November 14 is a high time. Let’s not make the Children’s day just another ritual that comes and walks past. Let’s make it a day to do our bit to liberalise the innocent souls from the clutches of bondage and labour.n November 2009 31

In Review

The Lost Symbol Author: Dan Brown Reviewed by: Khalid Khan Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Pages: 509 Genre: Thriller

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ike many I got hooked to Dan Brown’s books after reading Da Vinci Code. Conspiracy theories, secret societies, blood-chilling plots and highly compressed timeframe make his books unputdownable. Angel & Demons, the prelude to Da Vinci Code, was translated as Hollywood block buster as a sequel to a movie version of Da Vinci Code. Both the movies made millions at the box office. From critics to fans everyone was waiting with bated breath for this latest book The Lost Symbol which took five long years and a promise to be otherworldly. Every successful author is like a master chef who knows exactly the ingredients that make his recipe taste like heaven. Dan Brown’s recipe is simple and that is ‘encryption’: Encrypt a mystery in the beginning and keep it deciphering till the end. In Angels & Demons the epicentre of the drama was a secret society ‘Illimunati ‘. Da Vinci Code it’s was ‘Priory of Scion ‘ and now it’s ‘Free Masons ‘. Free Masons has always been the prime suspect of conspiracy theorist; it is alleged they are ruling the world by proxy. This book also, like the previous two, revolves around the Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon. The plot begins with Robert being invited to deliver a lecture on ‘Masonic history of Capitol Hill ‘ at the National Statuary Hall by his friend and mentor Peter Solomon. To his amazement and disgust, Robert finds he has been tricked to come to Washington by a lunatic who has kidnapped Peter. Soon Robert discovers a severed hand of his friend lying on the floor of Capitol Rotunda with strange symbols tattooed on it. The kidnapper as a ransom demands that Langdon find the fabled Masonic Pyramid, which has the power to transform man into divine being, in return for his friend’s life. Robert has no clue about the location of the pyramid; he does not even believe the pyramid exists. Katherine Solomon, Peter’s sister, is a pioneer and path breaking researcher on noetic science. It is an advanced 32 November 2009

branch of science that believes thoughts can be quantified and can be used as a physical force. While Katherine’s book bore titles like Quantum Consciousness and Principals of Neural Science, her brother’s favourites were the Kybalion, the Zohar and the Dancing Wu Li Masters. Peter, through his convincing arguments, proved Katherine’s deep-rooted connection between mysticism and science. Tonight Katherine is working in her Lab at the Smithsonian Institute unaware that her enemy is going to penetrate it and make her work turn into smoke in no time. Malakh has waited years for this night. He has done the impossible. He has infiltrated into the most powerful society on earth ‘The Free Masons ‘ and rose to the highest echelon of power – the 33rd degree. With Peter as his prisoner, he has forced Robert to find him the hidden pyramid that can transform him into God. Dan Brown easily captivates the reader to turn the 509page thriller a single sitting affair. But new questions arise about freemasonry. If America is founded by Free Masons like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin and American architecture including that of the United States Capitol the meeting place of the US Congress which is full of Masonic symbology, then might one wonder: Is Free Masons are really ruling the world or is it just another myth?n

iMuslims Author: Gary R Bunt Reviewed by: Ziauddin Sardar Publisher: Hurst & Co Pages: 358

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he Internet has rewired Islam. The web is now at the core of all Muslim communities and performs a central role in Islamic expression. It is being used to reinterpret Islam; and Muslims themselves are being transformed. The “i” in iMuslims, says Gary Bunt in this fascinating study, is not simply the Internet. It also represents repacking of information on Islam, new pathways of interactivity and interconnection among Muslims, and an innovative online universe. A plethora of travellers on the religious path — scholars, students, activists, mystics — are developing new THE COMPANION

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affinities that go far beyond traditional boundaries. Cyber Islam is challenging and mutating a conventional understanding of Muslim identity. But not everything is new. This “Cyber Islamic Environment” has strong historic resonance. The new networks are not unlike traditional networks during the time of the Prophet Mohammad, when religious knowledge evolved as an open-source system. Just like Wikipedia, experts and ordinary people collaborated to develop a consensus on Islamic knowledge. For example, the scholarship that developed around the collection of sayings and traditions of the Prophet Mohammad, hadith, was a collaborative effort. Scholars travelled far and wide, making connections with networks around centres of knowledge, both to collect and transmit versions of Hadith. The criteria for evaluatingHadith were also a product of collaborative efforts. This “open-source Islamic scholarship”, Bunt writes, “was subjected to limitations and restrictions over time”. It has now been rediscovered by an Internet-savvy generation. Even the terms employed to describe online activities invoke traditional connections. The Arabic term for a blogger is mudawin, defined as “to record... set down, put down in writing”. It evokes the image of traditional Muslim chroniclers of eye-witness history. The conventional ways of seeking religious guidance through questions and answers, as well as the madrasa, where young Muslims would normally go for religious education, are both available online. Not surprisingly, some Muslims now explain their religious affiliation by identifying with a specific website, rather than a mosque or religious sect. The strongest and most authoritative Islamic voice in cyberspace, Bunt says, is the Koran. Online translations and commentaries provide unrestricted access. Most religious institutions, such as Egypt’s al-Azhar and Iran’s Qom, have a strong web presence with designated sheikhs and ayatollahs responding across the net to petitioners. The loudest voice belongs to the jihadis. Networks like al-Qaida use the net with cunning and panache, both for logistic and publicity purposes, utilising free web space, encryption and anonymising tools to manipulate agendas, public opinion and promote their worldview. Bunt provides examples of jihadi sites, where trendy jargon blends with fiery polemic based on obscure references to medieval scholars. But for every jihadi there are thousands of reformers. The net has made basic sources, such as the Quran, the life of the Prophet Mohammad and classic texts on law and history, available to everyone. Young Muslims use these sources to create fresh dialogues, present new interpretations and thus n

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This “Cyber Islamic Environment” has strong historic resonance. The new networks are not unlike traditional networks during the time of the Prophet Mohammad, when religious knowledge evolved as an open-source system. Just like Wikipedia, experts and ordinary people collaborated to develop a consensus on Islamic knowledge. For example, the scholarship that developed around the collection of sayings and traditions of the Prophet Mohammad, hadith, was a collaborative effort. Scholars travelled far and wide, making connections with networks around centres of knowledge, both to collect and transmit versions of Hadith. The criteria for evaluatingHadith were also a product of collaborative efforts. This “open-source Islamic scholarship”, Bunt writes, “was subjected to limitations and restrictions over time”. It has now been rediscovered by an Internet-savvy generation.

transform the Islamic knowledge economy. Groups like Indonesia’s Liberal Islam Network have used the Internet to alter traditional outlooks and introduce new ways of thinking. Reformist blogs in Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Malay and Bengali play a major part in shaping opinion, challenging state media, and are frequently used as an instrument of resistance — as we saw recently in Iran. iMuslims is an excellent guide to the emergence of “specific forms of online Islam”. Along the way, Bunt explores some very interesting questions. Can humanity’s relationship with God take on a digital interface? One thing is clear: cyberspace is transforming both Islamic beliefs and Muslim practices. What is really new, as Bunt shows so powerfully, is the contribution of concerned and thinking Muslims, with no background in traditional education. This opening of Islamic knowledge to ordinary believers is a good development. “Open source” provided Islam with its strength in history; it will play a major part in rescuing Muslim societies from the current impasse.n November 2009 33

SIO News Flash Acknowledgment of the Creator is motive of education Deliberation at SIO’s National Workshop

2-3 October 2009, Hyderabad: The Students Islamic Organisation of India organised a two-day national workshop on the theme “Islamic Philosophy of Knowledge and Education” on October 2-3, 2009 at Islamic Center, Hyderabad. The workshop started with Quranic Dars on the first 5 verses of Surah Al-Alaq by Abdur brother Rafiq, secretary general, SIO of India. Brother Suhail KK, national President SIO of India, in light of SIO’s Policy and Programme opined the need of organising the workshop. He said SIO wishes to make Islamic philosophy of education as a matter of discussion in our academic institute. Presenting the keynote Address Dr. Badarul Islam, former national secretary of SIO, spoke on Islamic philosophy of education and pointed that Islam envisages every individual to question his identity and the reason why he has been created. A detailed study on the ‘Analysis of Contemporary Education System’ were presented during the panel discussion presided by Dr. Mohammed Rafat, Zonal President, JIH, Delhi & Haryana. Shanawaz Ali Raihan, national secretary, deliberated on the ‘History of Secularisation of Society and its Impact on Education’. The second day began with the lecture by Dr. Mohd. Rafat who spoke on Islamic civilisation and shed light on about the rise and downfall of the Islamic civilisation. 34 November 2009

Explaining the pedagogy and epistemology of Islamic education, Dr. Hifzur Rehman Principal Sashibhushan Institute of Education, said the Ilm or knowledge is light that enlightens an individual.

Dr. Badarul Islam distinguished and presented the foundations and growth of western and Islamic education while speaking on ‘Islam and Modern Philosophies of Education’. He said the modern education system is based on trial and error. Dr. Zaki Kirmani, director Centre for Studies on Science Aligarh, spoke on ‘Islam and Reconstruction of Science’, while Mr. Sadatullah Hussaini, former national President SIO of India, spoke on ‘Islam and restructuring social studies’. Mr. Ashraf Mohammedy, managing director, Idafa Investments Pvt. Ltd., deliberated and differentiated and also dealt with the impact of the modern economic system vis-avis Islamic economic system. Dr. Shafi Abdullah, director Institute of Islamic Medical Science, proclaimed that Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) is the first scientist of marrow and enlightened the audience with the Prophetic medicines. Delegates from different part of the country participated in the workshop.

Be the founders of new Islamic civilisation: A call at SIO’s national seminar October 4, 2009, Hyderabad: Our aim should be to be founders and leaders of a new Islamic Civilisation said Br. Sadatullah Hussaini, Former National President, SIO of India at a half-day seminar on the theme “Islamic Philosophy of Knowledge and Education” that was organised on October THE COMPANION

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Deene Madaris Organisers’ Camp Held at Delhi

4, 2009 at Nehru Auditorium, Hyderabad. Welcome address was delivered by SIO National Secretary Shahnawaz Ali Raihan. SIO President Suhail KK urged the country’s student community to ponder over Islamic contribution in different branches of knowledge. Speaking at the occasion Dr. Mohd. Rafat, Professor at Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi, said that we’ve great institutions and thus we need to make them centres of knowledge not just informationproviding centres. Prof. Saud Alam Qasmi, Professor AMU, lamented that present education system may have provided degree holders and but could not provide good human beings who hold moral values. Dr. Zaki Kirmani, Director Centre for Studies on Science, Aligarh, questioned the lethargic approach of muslims and the reason why the community is lagging behind in the various fields today. Dr. Badarul Islam speaking at the Seminar said that accountability is the basis and foundation of morality and the motive of education should be to know your creator. Mr. Ashraf Mohammedy, Managing Director, Idafa Investments Pvt. Ltd. dealt with the impact of the modern economic system versus Islamic economic system. Dr. Shafi Abdullah, Director Institute of Islamic Medical Science proclaimed that Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) is the first scientist of marrow and enlightened the audience with the Prophetic medicines.The program was concluded with SIO Andra Pradesh President Asif Mohiuddin’s vote of thanks. SIO’S NEW PUBLICATION WING - WHITE DOT October 4, 2009, Hyderabad: A book authored by Dr. Badaural Islam, titled ‘Ta’leem ki Akhlaqi Bunyaden’ was released at the hands of Dr. Mohd. Rafat, Zonal President, JIH, Delhi & Haryana and Professor at Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi. The book is published by White Dot Publishers, the new publication house of SIO of India. The book released on the occasion of seminar on “Islamic Philosophy of Knowledge and Education” was organised on 4 October 2009 at Nehru Auditorium, Hyderabad.n n

THE COMPANION

October 10-11, New Delhi: SIO conducted a two-day Deeni Madaris Organiser’s camp at its Headquarters. The objectives of the camp were expansion of organisational activities in madarsas, appriciating vitality and benefits of madarsas and to emphasising the need of organisational activities. During first session of the camp Nusrat Ali Sb, General Secratary JIH, delivered a lecture on the “role of ulema in the reconstruction of society”. The second session was a panel discussion on ‘Graduates of madarsas opportunities and potentialities” by brother Umair Anas Nadvi coordinated by brother Najm-us-Saqib. Participants had an opportunity to get benefitted from various learned scholars. Maulana Farooq Khan delivered speeches on “How to deliver Dars-e-Quran” and “Manhaj-e-Tafseer in the 20th century and its impacts”. Ahmed Jamal Nadvi spoke on the curriculum of education in the Deeni madaris. After salat -al-Maghrib, Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani delivered lecture on “New field of Islamic Fiqh: Fiqh-al- Aqalliyat (Fiqh of minorities)” Leaders of Jamaat, SIO and a huge gathering of students from various universities attended this lecture. The next day, brother Abdul Rafique, General Secratary SIO of India, delivered speech on “Organisational activities in deeni madaris: programme and strategy”. He presented in an account activities in deeni madaris. Later, organises of deeni madaris presented report on organisational activities in madaris in their respective zones . A detailed discussion followed the report presentation session. Brother Suhail KK, President SIO, delivered concluding speech.n

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