The Other Ugly Side

The Other Ugly Side

 

By Asif Anwar Alig

Unending stretch of problems that every Indian encounters is bound to begin with most of their initiatives. The major ones beginning from health hazards to consuming unnourished food to working in unhygienic conditions are the worst ones to recount. Approximately 300000 little seen garbage collectors of Delhi face this dilapidation. They are the crucial work force that perform major and minor role in cleansing the capital of India from its rubbish. Unaware of the glitters of modernity these garbage collectors dispose off the garbage.

Delhi does not have any formal system of house-to-house garbage collection methodology. It falls to the city’s ragpickers — the poor, deprived and marginalized groups who do this service to make their fellow citizens’ life better helping them to lead the dignified life. Ironically these ragpickers are not paid by the government for their untiring work. Resultantly they run their life from pillar to post on a meager income donated by the communities they serve.

The state government of Delhi is going to make a small but significant concession for these ragpickers to be formally announced on October 2, 2007 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. Their concerns were listened after repeated pressure and resistance from the ragpickers’ union of Delhi. According to the sources the government would provide about 6,000 protective gloves, boots and aprons to them. The government has an opinion that this gesture is meant to grant dignity to the waste collectors. This attempt is an initiative by Delhi government for the first time that has recognized these workers as equal contributors in the development of the country. “Looking after the rubbish anywhere in the world is not dignified,” says J.K. Dadoo, the secretary of Delhi’s Environment Ministry. “The very fact that we have acknowledged the need to look after their health is a tremendous acknowledgement of their dignity”, he says.

But the waste collectors are underwhelmed by this move of the government. Instead they have a genuine demand. They do not want gloves. They should be given wages, social security, pension, health care, uniforms and et al that they hope will discourage police harassment, education for children and decent living standard.

Waste in a city and the way it goes disposed off reveals much about that particular city. In India waste disbursement system is informal still highly organized because of selfless efforts and service of these ragpickers? In our society majority of the people live in desperate poverty, a little thing has value and nothing is redundant. Most strikingly, Delhi’s neglect of those who perform this service is typical of blindness toward ragpickers who are almost excluded from the blossoming economy. But after a long submissive silence, the waste collectors have begun to demand respect for them.

Maryam (Name changed) is one amongst the thousands of workers who after a bad day at work can hardly keep herself from vomiting. This 35 year old woman learns much about humanity during her daily rounds of 350 government apartments occupied by the low-ranking state employees of Delhi. She can tell which family struggles and which one feels the flush. From her fleeting encounters with them every morning, she knows each household whether it is happy, consisting of good people and which should be rather avoided and is in the bad temperaments.

“If everyone pays me, I would earn Rupees 3,500 rupees a month but I never even get Rupees 1500,” she says. Ducking beneath laundry lines, darting into backyards, tip-toeing in red plastic sandals through filth piled on the streets, she is constantly searching some of the items that are worth salable. The work is exhausting, but Maryam has developed lots of stamina in the last one and half decades. Her husband, Nazir (Name changed) works in a more affluent area and has seen the transformation of the city in the trash he handles. “It is poverty that makes us do this work,” Maryam says. “If I had an alternative, I wouldn’t be doing it. Who would like to collect garbage?”

The slums of Delhi have a majority of Muslim population. Most of them are unemployed and poverty stricken than their Hindu counterparts. Maryam is one of those Muslim slum dwellers who wish a different future for her children. “I don’t want my children to come into this business,” she firmly declares. “I want them to do something better in life.” The government’s plan to provide gloves and boots to the ragpickers is so that the ragpickers don’t get sick. “If we stop working nobody is going to do this work. The government knows that it won’t find other people who are willing to do this, Nazir says.

If we don’t work for two days the whole city would stink with filth, he reveals the truth.

In the Foothills of Troubled Fundamentalism – On the Road to Kandahar: Travels Through Conflict in the Islamic World by Jason Burke

Eastern Crescent
Mumbai, May 2008
 
In the Foothills of Troubled Fundamentalism
 
Reviewed by Asif Anwar Alig
 
On the Road to Kandahar: Travels Through Conflict in the Islamic World by Jason Burke, Penguin Books Ltd. 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England, 2007, 297 pp. $ 15, Hard.
 
Second coming of Jason Burke’s adventurous war narration of the conflicting Islamic world expresses spoof and hegemony in the “fundamentalist” Islamic countries turning into the troubled crossroads. Given, such nations are no more the “land of pure”. Though the book begins with polemic viewpoint, it doesn’t create much bang. The veteran prize wining journalist turned author observed the political upheavals and “Islamic militancy” since last one decade while reporting wars in the troubled Islamic countries, as chief reporter of Observer. The best selling author of al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam redefines a popular view of the Islamic militancy in accordance with his personal assessments, while reporting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan besides keenly analyzing the troubled situations in Pakistan. The author travels into the troubled Islamic nations that, according to him, survive on the impregnable notions and dictates. He expresses these views in his recent travelogue, On the Road to Kandahar: Travels through Conflict in the Islamic World, a book advising the future scribes to know journalism with tears.
 
Jason Burke’s travels in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, though confined to the Islamic world, are a count by count assessment of the grave situation of the war torn nations. War was imposed there by the US to test its supremacy, and fruition an astonishing viewpoint of war for peace. As a chief reporter of a prominent daily Jason reports the truth and keeps abundant scope for an emotionless emotional appeal to prevail even in a biased media scenario. The adventurous journeys of this prominent journalist in the troubled lands, lands him to foresee the dilatory condition of the Islamic nations that bore the burnt of an imposed war. He sees them on humanitarian grounds. In this book, Jason does a psychological observation of the Muslim world and its fundamentalist seeds. He further assesses that faith mongers of Islamic countries have buried their own civilizations. Objective reporting and henceforth a reprint of those reports in this book prove that Jason is a good storyteller, though he is a journalist.
 
Through this book, the author describes his interactions as a journalist turned author with the guerrilla warlords and militants, perpetrators of Islamic fundamentalism, Muslim clergymen and the guardians of the Islamic faith in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and the rest of the Muslim world. He interacts with the masses in these countries, who happen to be the victims of a political bias and religious chauvinism. The issue of Human Rights violation in Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kashmir in India, is an important component of this book. The author observes that these violations are an outcome of the opportunistic mindsets, for the sake of satisfying an ego. The militants, religious leaders, warlords, jihadis, American forces and the dictators in the troubled Islamic countries are party to this game.
 
In his count by count note compiled in a highly informative and emotionally rich readable book, the British journalist turned author sees a dramatic change in Kandahar, Jalalabad and Kabul in Afghanistan, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and entire rural region of Pakistan, Srinagar in India and Baghdad, Fallujah, Tikrit, Suleimaniyah, Arbil, Mosul, Karbala, Al Najaf and Basra in Iraq. His primary observations are that each of these cities, though, have separate entities but are the troubled ones and similar as well on the grounds that they have been facing the whimsical historical misfortune since centuries because they accommodate herd of Muslims who are now looked as suspicious creatures — the terrorists.
 
In actuality, Muslims are ignorant, poor and illiterate; Jason explains this in his book in a fine balance. The book is an imprint of a comparative study of the western hypocrisy, eastern hypocrisy and the hypocrites of the entire Islamic world. Spanned in almost a decade’s journey of a scribe who has got a nose for news, the author does an analytical assessment of the pre and post war scenario in three troubled Islamic nations; Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq that bears the burnt of American bias of war on terrorism. As a war correspondence Jason explains the plague called “war on terror” supposedly meant by the US to restore peace. But, as it had to happen, thousands and thousands of innocent lives were perished and the seeds of terrorism were further sown — urging a few of the Muslims to turn into terrorists. The war on terror augured for the emergence of terrorism. The outcome, Jason describes, could be seen in the decade ahead. The pre and post war scenario favoured Jason’s opinion.
 
This book equally describes the hypocrisies of the Muslim leaders like Saddam Hussain in Iraq, Taliban in Afghanistan and Muslim clergymen in Pakistan. The author draws attention of the entire Muslim community to learn an educative lesson from their oriental peers and half-brothers in Indonesia and Malaysia where manners speak more than their appearance. One is unable to differentiate Muslims from other communities there unlike in the most admired Islamic world: Do they not religious and peace loving? But in some of the Asian and Arabian countries including Iran appearance speaks more than personal etiquettes of a Muslim who is always scanned in suspicion. Why Islam and terrorism is almost two sides of a coin? The Western mindset might have observed it but the oriental Muslim community defies it through their way of life. Other Muslims need to focus on it.  
 
Likewise the biasness towards the Islamic world and West’s approach to taking it for granted has many reasoning. Jason describes them in this book and looks into the reasons of the 9/11 attacks, London bombings and other scares that shivered entire world. The author has a reason per se to explain. As a reporter, he enjoyed the troubled times of his life, welcomed dangers for the sake of an amazing news story and kept his life on the stakes to know pro and cons of the conflicts of the Islamic world, role of media, leaders and the guardians of peace and “democracy”.
 
The social, religious and political conflicts would sustain, says this experienced journalist, in this book. He has toured to almost every Islamic country including the densely Muslim populated Kashmir of Hindu India to assess the conflicts of the Islamic world since last one decade. He, being a devout reader and seeker after knowledge of the Islamic world, begins his journey to comprehend the minor and major conflicts of Islamic world: The Shia and Sunni conflicts, conflicts in Iraq due to continuous oppressions and suppressions, conflicts due to the violation of Human Rights, conflicts between religious dogma and modernization and the conflicts on urging one to become a “martyr” for the sake of Islam … the list don’t end.
 
This political travelogue mixes every component of history, sociology, art and philosophy. The author narrates the story of a troubled road he is in at its crossroads, and sees the road ahead for the Islamic world which is darker. A must read for all, this book is a lesson for one to introspect, and for the Muslim religious leaders to rethink on their chauvinism. And, for the young scribes this book is another pathfinder entry to comprehend the ethics and spirit of a daring profession called journalism.  
 
 
 
                           
Asif Anwar Alig (asifanwaralig@gmail.com) was born in 1978 in India. He studied at Rauta High school and Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh in India. He has written, scripted and directed a short film. In his five and half year’s association with ETV, he has produced and directed two thousand episodes of various television programmes. He has made documentaries and is a regular contributor to some twenty-seven publications around the world. Currently he is an Editorial Coordinator with Vision — the Journal of Business Perspective at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon in India.

Embers of the Gujarat Fire

Eastern Crescent
March 01, 2008, , Mumbai
 
 
Embers of the Gujarat Fire
 
By Asif Anwar Alig & Abid Anwar
 
“

I’ll fight until I breathe my last. The criminals, who gang raped me and my family members, brutally killed them and 14 others have been booked and punished. But my struggle continues. Those goons deserved sternest punishment,” Bilquis Yaqub Rasool, a victim of the Gujarat massacre, outflows her determination while narrating her sordid story of agony at a press conference in Delhi. She told the media at Press Club that her trauma of last six years is insurmountable. “I wandered from pillar to post and one place to another for survival,” she says. Upon asking where did she stay in these years, Bilquis hesitantly replies that she can’t reveal it for security reasons? And she wouldn’t reveal to anyone where does she stay at present.
 
The preceding six years have been nightmarish for Bilquis and her relatives. Whenever they voiced truth they were augured to follow the ordeals of the culpable stooges. At times, they were detained and forced to leave their own homes. Most of the victims have still not returned back to their villages, says Bilquis. “Though I got justice, I am upset for the long delay in attaining it and am angered for my pain that I bore during my struggle for justice that, I think, is still incomplete,” she stresses. She further explains that the investigating team and doctors manipulated with the evidences to safeguard criminals. “They poured salt on the dead bodies of my relatives to eliminate evidences, says inconsolable Bilquis.” If such inhumane act would not have happened, this judgment had been different today. 
 
Monopolizing Law
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ujarat was a fertile ground for Muslim backlash. The violence here developed a phenomenon to justify the canards of the Sangh Pravar about the minority communities. Politics of hate was converted into politics of fear to keep its history of enforcing economic boycott of Muslims alive. The business enterprises of Muslims were decamped in masse. In prejudice, several photocopying stalls in the state courts turned Muslim lawyers away and men with beards were avoided in the restaurants and shops. Muslim mothers got scared on listening ammi (Urdu for mother) from their wards while on the streets.
 
Indians are familiar with religious riots since centuries. They witnessed the most savage religious riot in 1947, when India got freedom from the British. Approximately 200000 Hindus and Muslims died in that bloodbath accompanied with a division of the country into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. Since then, pogroms on petty issues are a common scene here. The pluralism of its mixed civilization faltered into draconian, time and again. By the 1980s, Hindutva movement rose bent on the creation of a “Hindu dominated nation.” They accused Muslims of poaching jobs, spying for Pakistan and abetting Kashmir’s militants hence staining country’s “Hindu character.”
 
On 27 February, 2002, Hindutva activists boarded a train for Gujarat from Faizabad near Ayodhya, the place where Hindus in 1992 razed Babri Masjid that according to them straddled a Hindu holy site. In the chaotic train Hindus reportedly harassed Muslims when it neared to Godhra. In retaliation a mob led by Muslims attacked the train in which 58 people were burnt alive. Gujarat and national BJP leaders immediately declared it a terrorist plot by the Pakistani agents. Next day, up to 10,000 Hindus rampaged through Ahmedabad, a prosperous city of 3 million people about 60 miles from Godhra. What happened in Gujarat, Human Rights Watch and other groups charged, was a pogrom, an anti Muslim purge planned by Hindu extremists. It was, though, not a communal violence but an ethnic cleansing, said the rev Victor Moses, A Jesuit, priest who coordinates relief programmes in Ahmedabad after the riots. 
 
“Large number of Muslims is poor in Gujarat. Lately, though, some of them had flourished. Their rising status stoked the Hindutva ire,” says social scientist Imtiyaz Ahmed of Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Delhi. He describes Islam in the region that, “South Asian revision of Islam is exceptionally moderate and plastic. After centuries of intermingling Islam and Hinduism, here have absorbed, even thrived upon, each other’s influence, stresses Ahmed, a Muslim and secular scholar.
 
Amnesty International condemned the state government for its failure to book the rioters ensuing communal clashes. According to it, this riot was engineered to target the Muslims for a planned pogrom in which hundreds of their youths were killed, tortured, and their sexual organs castrated. The violators tore the wombs of pregnant women belonging to the minority community, pulled out their foetus and unfurled them in the air. Muslim girls were brutally raped by non other than their own Hindu neighbourers, whom they had trusted as protectors.
 
Thousands of riot victims still lay in the dingy and unsafe temporary camps. The state government has still not taken any step to upgrade the lives of the victims who are deprived of basic amenities of life. No Muslim can own a property in several parts of the state as they are either ignored or promptly avoided for belonging to a particular community.
  
Recent Judgments and Consequences
T

he state government reportedly instructed its police and investigating team to close as much of riot cases as they could. “My case too had been closed but timely interference by the Supreme Court gave it a new life, otherwise this too would have been untraceable like thousands of others,” says Bilquis. SC decreed to transfer her case from Gujarat to Maharshtra on August 16, 2004. Soon after the SC order, 2000 more cases were reopened on August 17, 2004. Earlier on August 12, 2004, the Best Bakery case had been transferred to Maharashtra from Gujarat. Bilquis reacts on Zaheera Sheikh, the only eyewitnesses of the Best Bakery incidence, that she was used like a puppet by the goons. She deceived her community and all those who fought on behalf of her.
 
Renowned social activist Teesta Setalvad fought for Zaheera to help her. But she ditched and deceived Setalvad for vested interests. Most importantly, she deceived her deceased family that was liquidated by her newfound “benefactors”. She turned hostile to support the culprits forgetting that they had murdered her twelve family members cold bloodedly. How did she turn hostile is indigestible? The riots have ashamed humanity. Bilquis, one of the thousands of gang rape victims, was intimidated to turn hostile. While her trial was in progress, she had to change shelters for more than twenty times in the state. The state police pressurized her not to name the culprits in her medical check ups. She was apprehended that if she uttered the names of her tormentors before the examining doctor she would be injected with a poisonous injection by the same doctor, she said to the press. 
 
But after a long trial of six years, Mumbai Sessions Court summoned 12 out of the 20 culprits guilty on January 18, 2008 and pronounced punishment on January 21. Out of the 12 culprits 11 have been punished for life and the twelfth one, a state police officer, was convicted three years rigorous punishment. Enclosable Bilquis is happy she got justice but she is also sad that hundreds of those who were raped and murdered mercilessly in the state sponsored genocide have still not got justice. Though, the decision of the court has come in favour of Bilquis, Muslims of her area are surviving in fear. Most of them have left their homes. Famous criminal lawyer Majeed Menon and Wasi Ahmed Nomani reacts upon Bilquis’ case that its judgment could have been harshest. A case of gang rape in a riot torn atmosphere is rarest of the rare and it should have been dealt strictly. The culprits could be awarded death sentence instead of life term.
 
Senior SC lawyer Indira Jai Singh expresses her concern on the issue that “it is for the first time in the history of India that a rape victim of communal riot got justice.” Jai Singh raises a pertinent question: why women are targeted in the riots? Why hundreds of Muslim women were the victim of a typical schism gang rape? Jai Singh herself replies this question and says that, “the only motive behind these rapes was to downslide the image of Indian Muslims.” Member, Planning Commission, Syeda Hameed Syeden remembers the tragic incident of 2002 riots when she visited Gujarat with a women delegation on the invitation of Gagan Seth, she saw brutality on the roads which is still imprint in her mind, she says. 
 
Fourteen members of Bilquis’ family get killed by her own villagers, her three year old daughter one amongst them. She survived as killers presumed her died when she lied unconscious after her rape. Her tormentors were her villagers to whom she used to call uncles and brothers. Her peace loving protective neighbourers, “the simple Hindus” was groomed to turn beasts to liquidate human values under the influence of political chauvinism, say experts.   
       
The judgment of the Mumbai Sessions Court’s is a win for Bilquis and symbolic win for the victims of “Hindu hatemonger.” Bilquis thanks her friends, relatives, Human Rights Commission, senior SC lawyers Harish Salve and Indra Jai Singh, social activists Gagan Seth, Farah Naqvi, Madhuri Kukreja and Huma Khan, Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed Syeden and last but not the least her husband Yaqub Rasool who is always with her like her shadow, and provides her inner strength. Without their support she couldn’t get justice. 
 
Past of Present is Imperfect
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act file of Gujarat’s hate monition is shaky since centuries. The communal riots of 1714, 1715, 1716, 1741, 1750, 1941, 1946, 1965, 1969, 1982, 1984, 1986 and the most recent ones of 1992, 1993 and 2002 have been the brainchild of that religious sarcasm. “The 2002 pogrom was insulating on different grounds. Its definition and sociology was harsh and unique. In 1992 riots, VHP, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena dominated in Mumbai. Muslims too came out on the roads in Kanpur, Bokaro and Mumbai, where mafia don Dawood Ibrahim had emerged like Robin Hood. But in Gujarat, things were different as the ground was empty for the rioters who got enough chance for an ethnic cleansing. Another unique aspect of this riot was that the middle class Hindus, Dalits, Adivasis and labourers were the part of these rioting teams most of them in the age group of 20 to 30. Forgetting the long lasting tradition of communal harmony, the rioters did not spare their peace loving progressive Muslim businessmen. VHP had rooted itself deep in Gujarat since last few years that worked for the developmental projects in earthquake affected areas. This time they murdered the minority community of the state, says veteran television journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.
 
“Kill Muslims,” the rioting crowds chanted as they stormed through the Muslim areas, burnt the families alive and looted and torched their homes, Human Rights Group says. The Human Rights Watch ascribes that Hindus decked in Khaki shorts and saffron scarves with sophisticated weapons and tridents descended in the Muslim neighborhoods in trucks, stormed into the city “guided by computer printouts listing the addresses of the Muslim families and their properties.” Hindu properties stood untouched, encircled by burnt homes and businesses of Muslims. While the rioters engulfed their victims, police watched passively, even aided them. Though the state government was condemned for its inability to control the violence, and its highhandedness in escorting the rioters, no concrete action has ever been taken place against it. 
 
The International Religious Freedom Commission of USA pressurized India to punish the culprits and take appropriate action against Hindutva forces and Gujarat government for its communal chauvinism that disrupted religious harmony of the state through attacking the religious places of its minorities. For the first time a dramatic step was, though, taken by few Members of the Indian Parliament who condemned this incidence, and demanded justice but nothing fruitful happened. In rhetoric, irrelevant aspects were linked with the riots. Burning of Sabarmati Express was cited the primary reason for this “grand display of resistance” in form of communal rights. Reports by the forensic lab of Ahmedabad found out that the bogies were burnt from inside and not from outside, as claimed by the rioters. In a preplanned manner, a day after, on February 28, 2002, BJP, VHP, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Manch called for Gujarat Bandh (Gujarat Closure). The rioters got an opportunity to emblaze the properties owned by Muslims hence they burnt them. State police escorted them in the entire episode.
 
Officially, the death toll hovers near 1000 and more than 3000 are still missing, but Citizen’s Initiative, a coalition of the aid groups, believes that the actual number was about 2000. It was not violence alone that stunned many but it was a planned attack: an officially facilitated one. “Far from being spontaneous,” concluded British diplomats in a report leaked to the British Broadcasting Corp, it was planned, possibly months in advance, and carried out by an extremist Hindu organization with the support of the state government.” The reports are that heap of dead bodies was destroyed by pouring acid upon them or through collective cremation without doing any post mortem. The government didn’t consider that Muslims bury their dead don’t cremate. Ironically chief minister, Narendra Modi deemed the mob’s acts as “a natural and justified anger of the people” after the Godhra train attack.  
 
Former Congress M.P, Ehsan Jafri, a secular Muslim, belonging to Gulbarga Society in Gujarat was burnt alive on February 28, 2002 along with 75 other Muslims. He called the police officers, ministers and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for help for more than ten hours but no step was taken to safeguard him from the rioters. A recent Tehelka sting operation revealed that before burning Jafri alive the rioters had looted his property in a planned modus operandi, amputated his body parts and then killed him mercilessly. The sting operation unfolded many such realities in which culprits agreed to their follies in front of the hidden cameras.
 
Harsh Mandar, former IAS officer, expresses his deep concern over the issue, “I had served Indian Civil Services for two decades. I saw the atrocities perpetrated on the innocent masses by my own officers. I was aghast due to the misdeeds of my own officers, who could apply prudence in taking prompt action instead of waiting for permission from higher officials and political bosses, to save lives. A prompt step by a single officer could have saved lots of innocents from being slaughtered. The riot could be controlled effectively if the police would have reached on time. Seeing this brutality patronized by the political heavyweights, I preferred to safeguard my morale hence I resigned from my job.” 
 
Ironically the “ambassadors” of Hatred praises “high heartedness” of Narendra Modi, whose ways got smothered for another term to rule the state. He grabbed power in his current innings. Is a second coming of the state sponsored genocide nearer?

1857: Turning Point of India’s Freedom Struggle

Daily Excelsior
SUNDAY MAGAZINE
Jammu, Sunday, December 16, 2007
 
Book Review:
 
1857: Turning Point of India’s Freedom Struggle
 
Reviewed by Asif Anwar Alig
 
1857: Jange-Azadi Ka Darakshan Baab (1857: A Golden Chapter of the War of Independence) , Edited by Abrar Rahmani, Publication Division, Information & Broadcasting Ministry, Government of India, Soochna Bhavan, C. G. O Complex, New Delhi – 110003, 2007, 274 pp . Rupees 135, Soft.
 
T

he leaflets of history explain the gory invasion of British on the suppressed countries for centuries. British colonized those nations to rule them in seer hypocrisy, grabbed their enriched wealth, demeaned their identities and destructed their cultures. The acumination was performed with decrepit intention that followed by bloodbaths. How India, the hub of towering civilization, would have been spared by the British. India had enough wealth which British could loot. Mughals here had a great history of ruling, art, religious harmony and architectural historiography. The kings developed the sense of brotherhood amongst its subjects. Similarly hundreds of Hindu Kings too played pivotal role in their own provinces to make this country a heaven on the earth.
 
British eyed upon India and after repeated attempts of luring and deceiving Mughal kings they took control of Indian territory to fruition their modus operandi that tarnished the solemnity of its civilization. Their methodology to rule the country was intrinsic: weaken its kings through “lavish negotiations”, trap the defective and opportunist officers of each kingdom through favouritism and have control over them. The opportunist kings who turned into the puppets of the British authorities would sooner got sidelined. 
 
The mutiny of 1857 began at Meerut near Delhi. It is considered as the first war of independence. There would have been no need of such mutinies that ended into genocide, bloodbath and pogrom, if the Mughal kings would have applied prudence by rejecting the British intruders at the first instance itself. The first war (mutiny) of independence in 1857 was an abortive attempt to pull an old horse for winning an uncertain race. Bahadur Shah Zafar, the beleaguered Mughal king, as a patron of the revolt, had already foreseen the consequences. He knew that he had to bear the burnt of the blunders of his forefathers. The consequences were seen sooner when Zafar paid the price for the mistakes of his forefathers. He got arrested and his sons were murdered in the broad daylight. His entire generation was assassinated in a planned regicide.
 
India is mourning for its 150 year old gloom. The shivering memories of anger that evolved in the form of a mutiny in 1857 remind us the sacrifices of our heroes who sowed the seeds of unity in diversity. The heroes initiated a renaissance with their blood to encourage the coming generations to carry forward their battle as a legacy. The country could never have seen its independence in 1947 if the mutiny had not happened in 1857. Though thousands of revolutionaries amongst many and the innocent masses were brutally killed and hanged by the British, the revolution united the entire country for a single cause — freedom.
 
A major reason of India’s disparity before 1857 was due to the emergence of “territorial kingship” culture. The country had abundant number of petite kings who didn’t foresee future. They remained dispersed because they had to rule their “small size kingdoms”. But the revolt in 1857 broke several myths. The rebels of 1857 had a pious intention to free the country from the colonial rule. The revolt united those kingdoms, washed off wounded religious and social plagues that had rooted amongst the masses in the disperse atmosphere. Revolt of 1857 began with angst: Hindu and Muslim armies serving the British army were complied to use the arms greased with cow and pig fats. Both the communities were incarcerated with their religious sentiments.The hypocrisy restrained both Hindus and Muslims to part away and never ever unite. But surprisingly the revolt of 1857 united the countrymen without any reservation of religion or caste.
 
I

ndia had dreamt of a future of an integrated nation in 1857 that turned into reality after nine decades of uninterrupted resistance against the British. But this diversity once again got jolted on August 15, 1947 when though the British bowed down before the freedom fighters and handed over the reins of the nation to its inhabitants, it divided the country into two — a Hindu India and a Muslim Pakistan — shattering the dreams of the war heroes of 1857 through religious provocation that worked in the favour of British.
 
The book under review explains each and every component of the first war of independence in a very comprehensive manner. Divided into two broad sections, the first section of the book is a collection of fourteen research based articles that urges the readers to go deep into the landscape of 1857. These articles are of unique connotation. Compiled and edited by eminent journalist Abrar Rahmani, the selected articles of the book define the varied aspects of the 1857 mutiny. The pages of the history are reopened in a very articulate manner that leaves enough scope to raise some unanswered questions. What was the role of Delhi in the first war for freedom? Why 1857? The sacrifices of Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar, sordid end of the Mughal kingdom, role of ulemas in 1857, Delhi Court Administration in 1857, bravery of General Bakht Khan, mutinies in Lucknow , Nagpur, Mewat and Allahabad and the attack on the residency in Hyderabad are the prominent issues that nourish the pages of this book scholastically. Each issue is tackled minutely with the historical references. These articles are balanced and adequate to understand the mutiny. An important chapter of this section has a first hand narration of the battleground of 1857.
 
The second section explains the literary and journalistic importance of the 1857 revolt. In a compilation of eight articles, this section raise what was the literary and journalistic importance of 1857, the freedom struggle and Kashmiri poetry, 1857 and Persian newspapers of India, role of media in the movement, Karl Marx, Indian society and the mutiny of 1857 are some major anecdotes of this section.
 
Two major articles of this section are highly labyrinthine. Why renowned poet Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, who happened to be an important literary organ in the Bahadur Shah Zafar’s court, changed his hues to fulfill his own desires? Ghalib preferred to stand before the British. The article justifies its reason and necessity. The poet had seen the gory scenes in Delhi. He was a renowned poet of his time and unbendingly he was an “ordinary” royal poet. The article defies every suspicion raised against him.
 
Other major issue that has got space in the book is the reasons of loyalty to British that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had have. He had felt and encountered the reasons of the mutiny that he wrote in his book Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind (Reasons of the Indian Revolt). Still he remained loyal to the British because he had seen the pathetic condition of Muslims. His role in spreading modern education amongst the Muslim community through favouring British and letting them understand the causes of the revolt and his repeated insistences to have an amicable solution of the crisis is explained vividly in this chapter.
 
The scholastic collection of articles covers each aspect of the 1857 revolt. However there is a printing mistake in page numbers 168, 169 where an entire page is reprinted from one to another. Overall this book is highly readable and urges one to look into the past one and half century ago and acknowledge the sacrifices of the great heroes that turned the mindset of India for once and forever. 
                                                                                                                     
Asif Anwar Alig (asifanwaralig@gmail.com) was born in 1978 in India. He studied at Rauta High school in Bihar, & Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. He has written, scripted and directed a short film. In his five & half year’s association with ETV, he has produced and directed two thousand episodes of various programmes. He has made documentaries. He is a regular contributor to some twenty-seven publications around the world. Currently, he is an Editorial Coordinator with Vision — the Journal of Business Perspective at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon (India).

Of fusses and elusions – Pratibha Patil: First Women President of India

Daily Excelsior
Jammu , November 18, 2007
 
Literary Review
 
Of fusses and elusions
 
Reviewed Asif Anwar Alig
 
 
Pratibha Patil: First Women President of India by M. H. Syed, The Women Press, 27, Priyadarhini Vihar, Part – I, Bhamashah Marg, G.T Karnal Road, Delhi- 110009, 2008, 303 pp. Rupees 595, Hard.
 
Biographies of the political figures are usually plagued with eulogies and brinkmanship. Such rueful phenomenon savours in this hurriedly written biography of India’s first women president Pratibha Devi Singh Patel. The political biography, though, could have been a well presented documentation of the life of the first women president of India if M. H. Syed could have done some homework. His approach needed to be free of delusions before penning this book.
 
The focus of the biography, as presented on the flap, is not able to sustain interest of the readers while one reads it, who instead winds it up with disinterest. The book is more of a ceremonial writing — let the president seek attention of the author — than a biography donning into her life story. The claims put in by the biographer in the title page of the book contradict with the text that follows as the biography has been rather “filled” instead of sketching Pratibha Devi Singh Patel as a leader whose caliber, whatever it might be, groomed her to become the constitutional head of the world’s second largest democracy.
 
Broadly divided into ten chapters with a chunk of non-appreciable sub chapters, the book doesn’t enchant the mood and interest of an audience as the theme presented is hugely distorted rather digressed. It is a compilation of selected articles and unnecessary references. The researched biographical noting is missing. Ironically the actual motive of the book is severely ignored and the repetition of statements is rampant that ultimately grades this biography into an ordinary one.
 
Though there are preliminary information about Ms. Patil; explaining her childhood, education, political career, social activities, struggles etc. this book doesn’t end into the category of a biography. The author hastily recounts her personality in a few pages and the book moves forward detailing the attributes of her place of birth, the qualities of her descent and caste. Who are the prominent personalities from her caste? Ironically it gives enough space to the people from her caste and region that makes no sense on why such stuffs are the part of a biography. Is it necessary to sketch the personalities associated in her political circle; her opponents, colleagues, mentors is an unanswered question and the readers are in illusion whether the book is a biography or a mixed bag of vaguely presented political satire just to fatten its size — ultimately demeaning her personality? First few pages of the book hark one not to go through it to later pages.
 
The biographer gives inputs about her ancestors and creed through recounting other’s success stories as if this biography is a textbook of history. Such information is gathered quotes from either the textbooks of history or various encyclopedias. As a literature in hurry — though this metaphor is exclusive for journalism — the biography has useless stuff explained unconvincingly.
 
An exclusive chapter on the election process of the president in India is informative. How presidents are elected in India, what are the constitutional powers of a president, who are the key components of this election process and who are eligible to contest and vote is an informative aspect. But is such information required in a biography of a president of the nation. These unusual chapters of this biography entrusts that this book is a political satire compiled by a novice “biographer”.
 
The intended information could have been thoroughly expressed in some more pages but the author has hardly bothered for his focused area. Rather his intention seems to fatten the book’s size just to present it like a hot cake. The biography could have been a successful reading material if it would have been published in a booklet instead of adding on extra pages putting into useless information for showpiece.
 
The author points out the achievements of women through listing achievers from literature, arts, dance and et al that should have been avoided in a biography. The author could focus on the achievements of Ms. Patel denoting her as one of the women achievers who reins the top post by virtue of her political activeness, untiring social service and urge a role model and inspiration for the entire womenfolk.
 
The last portion of the book is entirely a global and separate entity that lists the women presidents around the world. Their achievements are explained minutely. The question arises whether a work of biography should have such components in one of its core chapters. The chapter lists women presidents of different countries of the world and a detailed biographical note on them.
 
The prominent names listed by the author are Agatha Barbara of Malta, Carmen Pereira of Guinea-Bissau, Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka, Corazon Aquino of Philippines, Dalia Itzik of Israel, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, Ertha Pascal-Trouillot of Haiti, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo I of Philippines, Isabel Martinez de Peron of Argentina, Janet Jagan of Guyana, Lidia Gueiler Tejada of Bolivia, Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson of Ireland, Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia, Micheline Calmy-Rey of Switzerland, Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Mireya Moscoso of Panama, Nino Burjanadze of Georgia, Sukhbaataryan Yajmaa of Mongolia, Tarja Halonen of Finland, Vaira Viie-Freiberga of Latvia, Vigdis Finnbogadottir of Iceland and Violeta Chamorro of Nicaragua. Was it mandatory to explain these details?
 
 The history defining the women presidents around the world is informative. But a question arises on whether adding biographical notes of the women presidents, their roles in their respective countries as nation builders and their achievements were the need of a biography that is exclusive for India’s first woman president Pratibha Devi Singh Patel.
 
The book is a roughly sketched mixture of historical notes, collection of irrelevant articles summoned in one book aimed at gaining favouritism. Any sensible reader would rather mark it a collection of haphazardly collected stuffs put into one. The book can’t be categorized as a biography of the constitutional head due to its immature presentation and urchin focus.                       
 
 
 
 
Asif Anwar Alig (asifanwaralig@gmail.com) was born in 1978 in India. He studied at Rauta High school in Bihar, & Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. He has written, scripted and directed a short film. In his five & half year’s association with ETV, he has produced and directed two thousand episodes of various programmes. He has made documentaries. He is a regular contributor to some twenty-seven publications around the world. Currently he is an Editorial Coordinator with Vision — the Journal of Business Perspective at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon ( India).

Happy Eid: But When?

Yunus News
Religious News between East & West
 
http://www.yunusnews.com/node/530
 
Happy Eid: But When?
 
By Asif Anwar Alig & Abid Anwar
 
One of the murkier, computational and deleterious matters haunting the Muslim community all over the world every year is moon sighting for Eid. There are set committees in each country for moon sighting but they, though, remain hand in glove with each other. In the Indian subcontinent contentions between different committees end into unavoidable gestations keeping the masses at stakes. Eid should be celebrated on a particular day or not becomes a horrible experience for all. The committees claim to be the representatives of the Muslim community. To gain media attention and publicity they cross the levels of hypocrisy and decree their nondescript fatwas on moon sighting with their remotest identities.
 
Such committees, though, fight with each other to over impose their decisions upon “other” creating an environment of chaos, and confusion that ultimately turn Eid into a nightmarish experience for the entire Muslim community.
 
The past experiences of Eid celebration have been pathetic. Decrees of different committees advising Muslims to celebrate the festival on a said date and the “other” defying it through their own authentications on the appearance of moon that they didn’t see it, hence one should abstain to celebrate Eid, are the bitter experiences. On occasions the decisions to whether Eid would be celebrated or not are taken in the late nights (As if the moon had have once again appeared before the committee members to ascertain them for reconfirming their claim) creates an atmosphere of severe confrontation and demeaning of opinion. Differences are seen amongst the families too where spouses go against each other as they celebrate Eid on different days in accordance with the firmament of each other’s “moon sighting guardians”. Hence deterrence in the institution of family and defying the ascent of this festival that unites all without any prejudice of race, sex, caste, language or place remain intact.  
 
To whom the non-suspecting innocent Muslims believe on the matters of religion, and particularly while celebrating Eid. Moon sighting issue is, in fact, a non-issue. The need of the hour is Muslims should disagree with each moon sighting committees and look forward for a scientific method that is more accurate, objective and result oriented.
 
Why every year Eid comes with differences of opinion and unavoidable chaos? The smell of disagreement is seen in Muslim community in the last days of Ramdhan itself. Discussion go on, “let’s see what happens this year, what is being decided etc”, as the decree of a few committee members are monopolistic. This unending phenomenon have been seen in past. Muslims are ready to face it in future too. Such confrontations devour catastrophe landing the community into catch22situation. They are clueless whether to celebrate Eid on a said date or not and what would be the proposed consequences for disobeying the decrees of the self claimed committees.
 
This all happen due to lack of will power and leadership crisis in the community where crooks rule the roost to befool all. Few religious leaders have a say in the affairs of the community but they are not farsighted, neither they are desirous to accept the newfound progress. Instead they follow skepticism.
 
These leaders don’t unite the community but ghettoize its image for the sake of flourishing their own “business”. In the Indian subcontinent this situation is worst. Here such communities are founded on the basis of erosion that divides the community in different sects echoing them for violent confrontation against each other. Can’t they understand the trauma of the Muslims who work in various offices, travelers, labourers etc. that manages both the ends by their untiring work pressure?
 
The worshippers sitting inside various mosques for Etakaaf (Special prayers) get disturbed because of the trauma that never end until the down of the night while the leaders remain busy in finalizing the date to celebrate Eid. As since last few years moon sighting committees of the Indian subcontinent hardly have anything religious in their approach towards the general Muslims, rather they overture their counterparts to show off strength. The whole world, including moon sighting committee members, does acknowledge that science & technology has progressed tremendously in the present century. Scientists have reached to the moon and investigated much in the space sciences. The scientists have sorted out various complications in this field. They have succeeded in tracking the movements of each planet as when and where they would be moving in future and when it could be seen twice in the span of centuries besides investigating their past movements.
 
Interestingly moon sighting in the scientifically developed age has become farce. Is it not possible to trace the moon? The scientists apply their efforts to study the planets. Can’t they do it for the moon? Because Muslims still believe in their antics and most importantly rely on their dubious leaders instead of science, such confrontation overrules objectivity. The help from scientific methods to find out geographical and space movements besides tracing when and where Eid would be celebrated around the world seems feasible.  
 
Islam as one of the youngest religions of the world agrees upon scientific developments. Most scientific evaluations are younger to science. When Islam dominated the world fourteen centuries ago very few scientific resources were available. In the early days there were no proper communication resources neither there was infrastructure unlike what we have today. Today’s world has turned unto a global village where each and every incident or happening reaches out to millions within a fraction of seconds due to development in science like satellites and other inventions.
 
If science can guess, in prior, the natural calamities, storms, tempests and tsunami and et al, then can’t it solve the complication of moon sighting? Ramadhan and Eid are meant to recollect all believers of Islam at one platform but moon sighting divides them because the committees representing “different thoughts” and sects always look for their stand at the top.
 
In the light of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) it is indicated that one should see the moon before celebrating Eid. While it is also told that one must apply modern resources (Read scientific researches) as a matter of prudence, in case there is mental growth. The prophet knew that the Arab of his time was not developed; he didn’t decree anything penurious to his followers but advised all that they should follow constructive sciences and modern developments in the matters of their faith.
 
Under the guidance of this insight the Fiqa Academy Council of North America decided that Ramadhan, Eid and Edul Azha be celebrated as per the attributes and movements of different planets in the universe instead of moon sighting, few years ago. Till then sighting moon was the only means for Ramadhan , Eid and other deities. Various organizations and Muslim intelligentsia in the US accepted this decision wholeheartedly. India’s prominent Shia leader Maulana Kalb-e-Sadique tried to implement it in India but it was rejected at the instance. Interestingly, the Sunni Muslims of the US accepted the decision of Fiqa Academy Council of North America but Shias there rejected it straightway.
 
The Council had described the motive behind a uniform calendar as an outcome of the research in the space sciences. The academy zeroed upon the research and prepared a Unified Global Islamic Calendar (UGIC). To implement it this Council commenced an international meeting at Virginia on June 10, 2006. The representatives of various Islamic organizations, religious leaders, ulemas, intelligentsia, Imams of mosques and Muslim space scientists attended the meeting and agreed upon Unified Global Islamic Calendar in the religious affairs of Muslims. Once the meeting concluded, Council members remained in touch with each participating Muslim intellectual through teleconferencing to let the calendar be implemented in universality.
 
After gaining huge support, the Council announced the dates of Ramadhan and Eid in August 16, 2006 as per UGIC. It could see the majority of the Muslim community of America agreeing upon its recommendations. Soon after gaining success in its attempt, the Council advised following aspects on worship.
 
·                     Moon sighting is not a prayer. It is rather a source to begin the prayers like Ramadhan, Eid etc.
·                     The Prophet had advised that moon sighting is nothing but a source to streamline prayers and accepted that he belonged to less educated atmosphere and augured that one should implement scientific developments as per their knowledge levels.
 
The Fiqa Academy Council of North America had following points in its decision to support their decision:
 
·                     There is no wrong in using measurement in zeroing Islamic dates.
·                     In the scientific age, we have state of the art technology that can be implied to decide the dates for Ramadhan and Eid.
·                     The Shariah has always favoured simplicity. It accepts whatever is better for the common men.
·                     Early decision of the dates and timing of Eid would help all to plan the festival hence saving one’s money and energy that is unnecessarily wasted due to undue confusion.
·                     This would help the American Muslims to unite themselves. They would also pressurize the US government to declare Islamic festivals as holidays.
·                     The Muslim community of America would be the pathfinder for Muslims around the world to prepare an International Islamic Calendar for them.
 
The decision seemed a better option for Muslims world over. But why hallucinations continue each year over moon sighting. The intelligentsia and ulema should do collective effort on this matter for an amicable understanding of the issue, which could help the masses to remain united with better spirits of Islam. If a solution is found out by the Muslim intelligentsia and implemented thereafter, everybody would be able to see the practicality of Islamic spirit depicting in Ramadhan and Eid.
 
The matter needs to be worked out prudently as vested ambitions aim at violating Islamic spirit that create unnecessary brouhaha encouraging discrepancies in the Muslim world that inspires the crooks to taunt and raise finger upon Islamic traditions.
 
Scholastic aptitude per se in the religious aspirations is a must. The community has always been critical to the innovations, though they have performed towering contributions for constructive innovations and inventions held by now. When loudspeaker came a section of the community decreed that it was against the ethics of Islam to perform azaan on it. But sooner it was accepted. Loudspeaker became boon and a need. When train was run in India , it was presumed by some Muslims that it is not permissible to perform farz namaaz inside the trains. But the decree was not heeded as trains helped all to travel safely. Likewise when planes were introduced severe rumormongers spread but sooner all vanished.
 
The community now faces a newer kind of challenge in the form of moon sighting. The ulemas, intellectuals and space scientists should join hands and discuss the issue in camera to encourage discussions, seminars and symposia. Such attempts would help the community to have an agreeable grace to celebrate Eid in a refreshed zeal towards religiosity.
 
 
*           ASIF ANWAR ALIG was born in 1978 in India. He studied at Rauta high school in Bihar, & Aligarh Muslim University , Aligarh in India. He has written, scripted and directed a short film. In his five & half year’s association with ETV, he has produced and directed more than two thousand episodes of various programmes & documentaries.
He is a regular contributor to some twenty-seven publications around the world. He is Editorial Coordinator with Vision — the Journal of Business Perspective, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon ( India). 
*           ABID ANWAR, b eing a madarsa graduate, was pursued to join any madarsa as a teacher or better serve any religious organization. His educational background and repeated pursuance of near and dear ones had this opinion for him. But he dreamt otherwise. He studied at Darul Uloom, Deoband & Jamia Urdu, Aligarh in India. He has published articles and commentaries in several Indian & International publications.
He is associated with United News of India at Delhi and is an honorary editor of the bilingual quarterly magazine Shafa Times published from New Delhi .

Embers of a Sikh fire – Dera Sacha Sauda

Himal South Asian

October 01, 2007 , Kathmandu, Nepal

 

Cover Feature

Embers of a Sikh fire

With Punjab experiencing its worst tension in two decades, are we witnessing the beginning of a resurgence of Sikh fundamentalism?

BY: Asif Anwar Alig and Abid Anwar

The controversy over Dera Sacha Sauda, the breakaway Sikh sect, has only just begun to wind down. Early May saw a frenzy over Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who angered Sikhs by imitating Guru Gobind Singh, Sikhism’s revered Tenth Guru. Gurmeet Singh had appeared in photographs carried in two dailies, in which he wore attire similar to the Tenth Guru in order to advertise his organisation. Gurmeet Singh apologised a few weeks later, but by then the matter had escalated so far that hardline Sikhs refused to accept his contrition. Besides being belated, the subsequent apology was undercut by Gurmeet Singh himself, who defiantly stated that he wears “whatever my followers design and give me to wear”.

Groups on both sides were able to bring out supporters en masse. Under the leadership of a hardline Sikh religious group, the Damdami Taxal, more than 10,000 protesters moved towards Salabat Pura Dera, 30 km from Bhatinda, where Gurmeet Singh was alleged to have committed his act of sacrilegious imitation. There were subsequently clashes involving Sikhs and up to 3000 Dera activists, leaving at least one person killed and dozens more severely injured.

The Punjab state government, which initially attempted to maintain a distance from the issue, was forced to intervene after the supreme Sikh body, the Akal Takht, issued an ultimatum on 20 May, demanding that the state government close down all reform deras within a week. While Dera Sacha Sauda activists complained that they were being scapegoated, sword- and kirpan-bearing Sikhs blocked roads and organised dharnas. Punjabis were suddenly witness to a sight they had not seen in two decades, harking back to the days of militancy that had engulfed the state during the 1980s.

Rise of the Khalsa

Dera Sacha Sauda is one in a long line of reform movements to challenge mainstream Sikhism. But Sikhism itself initially emerged as a reform movement of sorts, in an attempt to end the caste discrimination rife in Hinduism. Established in the late 15th century by Guru Nanak (1469-1539), Sikhism grew to become the world’s fifth-largest religion on the efforts of nine additional Gurus, all of whom the Sikhs believe were inhabited by a single spirit. After the death in 1708 of the Tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, this eternal spirit was said to have transferred into the sacred scripture of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, also known as the Adi Granth.

Sikhism’s promise to give equal rights to all, without discrimination of caste or creed, led many Hindus, particularly Dalits, to join the new faith as a way to better their lives. But shaking off caste discrimination proved not so easy, and as the years passed, Sikhism too reverted to caste hierarchies. As realisation of this dawned on followers, the need was increasingly felt to initiate reform within Sikhism. The emergence of various reform movements began, with each group choosing to base itself in a different centre or camp, known as a dera.

As with reform, militancy is not new to Sikhism, which is characterised by a strong martial strand in both faith and practice. This martial tradition can be traced back to the early 17th century, when the Fifth Guru, Arjan Dev, was imprisoned by Mughal rulers, who were suspicious of the strength that Sikhism was gaining. The death of Guru Arjan Dev, in prison, prompted his followers to establish both a military and a political organisation, with which to repel further Mughal harassment. The Sixth Guru, Har Gobind Sahib, was responsible for the creation of the Akal Takht, which is still the central decision-making body of the Sikhs. Guru Har Gobind Sahib also became known for carrying two swords with him at all times – for temporal and spiritual (known as piri and miri) purposes. For the khalsa, or ‘pure’, defending the independence of Sikhism by the use of brawn became integral to the faith, a unique characteristic in comparison to the other major world religions.

Amidst reform processes and militancy, the past five centuries have seen the ebb and flow of fundamentalism within the Sikh ranks. Some of the most prominent of these schismatic uprisings have been the Nirankari, Namdhari, Radhaswami, Nirmale, Sewapanthi and Niladhari movements. Each of these groups came about in an attempt to ‘cleanse’ Sikhism. As such, though each worships the ten Sikh gurus, they also oppose some of the Sikh traditions, and mainstream Sikhs have regularly – and sometimes violently – opposed the actions of these sects.

One of the most prominent of these incidents involved the Nirankari movement, and its trajectory may prove insightful for the current situation surrounding the Dera Sacha Sauda. Sikh religious leader Dayal Das (1783-1855), from Peshawar, founded the Nirankari sect in Rawalpindi. In an attempt to ‘purify’ Sikhism of the rites and rituals that had crept in, he advocated the concept of nirankar, or a ‘formless’ god – a significant departure from the insistence on the supremacy of the text of the Granth Sahib. After Independence, the group’s base moved to Chandigarh, where, during the 1970s, Nirankari leader Avatar Singh wrote his vani, a self-proclaimed scripture. Although the Nirankaris were always adamant that their movement constituted a new ‘spiritual movement’, rather than a new religion, mainstream Sikhs reacted negatively to Avatar Singh’s vani. The tension escalated, and there were violent clashes during 1978 in Amritsar, led by hardliner Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Two years later, Nirankari leader Baba Gurbachan Singh was murdered in Delhi.

The Sikh community has constantly felt vulnerable, a feeling that comes from the perception of being politically short-changed throughout history. In 1929, at the famous Lahore session, Jawaharlal Nehru, then the president of the Indian National Congress, passed a resolution that the Constitution of India would not be finalised until it was acceptable to Sikhs. In 1946, he again reassured the Sikh community that there was nothing objectionable in the idea of Sikhs having a territory of their own. But the Congress suddenly changed its stance after 1947. When a draft of the proposed constitution began circulating in 1949, Sikhs were aghast to find that, instead of autonomous states and a federal constitution, the document proposed a purely unitary structure. Sikhs in the Punjab Assembly subsequently objected. There followed three decades of frustration with the central government of modern India, a standoff that prevented the Sikhs from consolidating their identity in a geographical territory of Punjabi-speaking people.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Sikh demands included regional autonomy for Punjab; the return of Chandigarh and other Punjabi-speaking areas in the newly created Haryana back to Punjab; a special status for Sikhs in the Indian union, as well as some protections for Sikhism; and a reworking of the allocation of river waters and electricity to Punjab. Yet, when the Sikh-dominated Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) came to power in Punjab in 1977, with support from the Janata Party, it did little to ensure that these demands were met. The dissatisfaction of the common Sikhs with the Centre was subsequently drawn upon by a militant nationalist separatist movement.

By the early 1980s, some Sikhs were calling for separate provincial statehood and even an autonomous area of their own, the Sikh khalistan, or ‘Land of the Pure’. The Sikh leader at the time, Harchand Singh Longowal, abortively attempted to avert a civil war by negotiating between the uprising and New Delhi. But Bhindranwale, who emerged at the centre of the maelstrom, had already wrapped up the support of devout Sikhs around Amritsar.

State repression against the ultra-religious Amritdhari Sikhs further fanned the flames of Sikh separatism. Jagjit Singh Chohan, a leader of the Khalistan movement, subsequently called on the Sikh community to come forward and struggle for their own state. In 1984, armed with automatic weapons, members of the Khalistan movement took control of the Sikhs’ holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, or Harmandir Sahib.

In June of that year, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had sought to encourage a Hindu-Sikh divide amongst the Punjabis, gave her generals permission to launch Operation Bluestar. Indian troops stormed the Golden Temple, killing Bhindranwale and hundreds of armed supporters. In the mayhem, hundreds of innocent Sikhs were also killed, as well as at least 100 soldiers. The bloodbath in the Golden Temple infuriated the Sikh community, ultimately leading to the assassination of Indira Gandhi. She was killed on 31 October 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards, which in turn sparked riots that killed several thousand across India, including 2000 in Delhi alone.

The July 1985 accord between Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Longowal promised to pacify some sections of the Sikhs, particularly with the handover of Chandigarh to Punjab, but also due to accessions to demands relating to water and hydroelectric power. But barely a month later, the moderate Longowal was assassinated by Sikh extremists unhappy with the deal. The violence continued to spiral, with the common Punjabi caught between Sikh militants and the increasingly brutal police repression. Hundreds of youths were killed and hundreds more ‘disappeared’.

In the early 1990s, after Punjab police chief K P S Gill had been given a “free hand” to crack down on extremists in the state, the Centre claimed success in quashing Sikh militancy. In 1993, New Delhi declared Punjabi militancy “over”. While a combination of police repression and political dealing are said to have solved the Punjab problem, undoubtedly some sparks of rebellion remain. International pro-Khalistan organisations continue to exist. The three-decade-old Dal Khalsa, based in Amritsar, was revived in the mid-1990s after a national ban on its activities expired. Also very much alive is the Babbar Khalsa group, which claimed responsibility for the 1995 killing of Beant Singh, chief minister of Punjab , who played a large role in ‘controlling’ Sikh militancy in the state. In addition to armed militant Sikh groups such as the Khalistan Commando Force and the Khalistan Zindabad Force, which target the state, other Sikh breakaway groups also continue to exist, on occasion clashing with mainstream Sikhism.

The true business

The Dera Sacha Sauda came into existence in 1948 at Sirsa, in present-day Haryana, then part of the undivided state of Punjab within India. The organisation was founded by Shehenshahji Mastana, a pious Sikh leader from Balochistan, with an eye to social reform and spiritual purification – among the Sikhs in particular, but also others in general. The organisation takes its name, sacha sauda, meaning ‘true business’, from the place where a 12-year-old Guru Nanak was believed to have fed the poor, with money given to him by his father to do business. Indeed, with a charter to include all religions in the new faith, the Dera has emphasised humility, meditation and social work. Other prominent reform deras of pre-Independence India were those of Baba Prem Singh and Peer Buddhu Shah, both in Punjab, but Dera Sacha Sauda is by far the most prominent.

There are two types of reform deras in Sikhism. The first exclusively follows the tenets of the Sikh faith, and bestows its gurus with supreme power. These deras are popularly known as being part of the Nihang group. The second type does not restrict itself to Sikhism. While neither condemning nor supporting Sikhism, this second type claims to follow the positive aspects of every religion, including Sikhism. Dera Sacha Sauda falls into this latter category, as a social reformatory ‘faith’ with its own set of guidelines. The immense popularity of Dera Sacha Sauda, which claims to have 15 million followers, is a direct result of its active reform work over the past half-century.

The Dera Sacha Sauda purports to accept no donations, but owns 700 acres of donated farming land in Punjab and Haryana, from which the bulk of the organisation’s income is drawn. (The group’s income has come under regular suspicion in recent years for Gurmeet Singh’s propensity to drive around in luxury cars.) The Dera’s physical presence goes far beyond these two states, however, and includes 36 local and urban branches in eleven states across India. In tune with its mandate, the organisation’s main outreach focus is on social work. In 1994, the Dera opened a 175-bed hospital at Gurusar Modia, in Rajasthan. In 2004, it also opened a girls’ school in Gurusar Modia. The organisation has been active in responding to disasters, such as those that have taken place in the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh state. The Dera also has a number of world records under its belt, for having organised massive blood- donation drives.

Gurmeet Singh has said, “Our religion is humanity and to help the needy.” The group’s faith, considered a combination of all religions, is referred to within the Dera as insaan. Though Dera Sacha Sauda technically does not follow any one religion (other than Insaan) – its base of followers, though mostly Sikh, is also Hindu and Muslim – it is still considered a Sikh breakaway group because all three of its chiefs have been from the Sikh community. As such, the organisation’s movement away from Sikhism has inevitably irked the Sikh community, which has long criticised the Dera, as well as other deras, for ‘diluting’ the spirit of Sikhism. At times, these criticisms have been more intense than others. While violence has not been unheard of, the incidents of May 2007 were in a category of their own.

The Dera leader’s personality has not helped matters. Indeed, at the centre of the storm – several storms, in fact – is Huzoor Maharaj Sant Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh, third leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda, himself. Gurmeet Singh was born on 15 August 1967 to a devout Sikh couple in Ganganagar, a frontier town in Rajasthan. By the time he was seven, the Dera’s second guru came to know of Gurmeet – “In other words, one Master Saint found the Other one”, according to his official biography. Sixteen years later, on 23 December 1990, during the peak of the militancy in Punjab, Gurmeet Singh took over as the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda.

Subsequent years, particularly the first several months of 2007, have revealed Gurmeet Singh to be less than a ‘god incarnate’. Indeed, past indiscretions aside, he now appears to be more of a thoroughly earthly megalomaniac – even worse, one that has found, in faith, a convenient outlet for indulging his lusts. Gurmeet Singh now stands accused of murder, sexual exploitation and illegal possession of arms and ammunition, amidst longstanding demands by the Punjab and Haryana High Courts of a CBI probe. In early August of this year, the CBI filed a charge sheet against the Dera and Gurmeet Singh.

Anxieties of identity

Although it is the Dera’s social work that has been key in drawing millions of followers in recent decades, its numerical strength has given the Dera significant political clout, particularly in Punjab and Haryana. This has also made the organisation the centre of intense speculation. More than most, Punjab cannot afford to exclude religion from politics, and state politics are dominated by Sikhs. Punjab’s biggest party is the Shiromani Akali Dal, which has significant influence over Sikh religious organisations, including nearly eight decades of control over the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), the most prominent Sikh religious body.

As such, when violence erupted this past spring, the SAD-led Punjab government had little space in which to turn: the state government could not suppress the Dera, given its numbers; nor could it turn its back on the mainstream Sikh community, which had come out onto the streets in the tens of thousands. Meanwhile, the SAD’s coalition partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was also experiencing difficulties, with memories still fresh over the large-scale killings of Hindus in Punjab during the 1980s. BJP worries over the possibility that Hindus would again be victimised if violence were to spiral have had the party favour a solution that would rein in both the Dera and the Sikh community at large.

Further complicating matters is the fact that, in the last state assembly elections, Gurmeet Singh threw his support not behind the SAD, but behind the Congress. Indeed, with the Congress having won 37 out of 75 seats in the Legislative Assembly during the last election, largely in constituencies that have a significant number of Dera supporters, some have even warned that the Dera is stealthily entering Punjab and Haryana politics through the backdoor. The pan-India following of the Dera Sacha Sauda could ultimately spoil the SAD’s future political ambitions.

Given that the Dera leadership encourages its followers to sacrifice their lives in the name of their guru, any action against the 15 million Dera followers throughout India could have an immediate impact on Punjab politics. At the same time, Gurmeet Singh’s alleged imitation of Guru Govind Singh has fuelled such anger among Sikhs that there now is a palpable sense of foreboding. Did this issue really deserve such attention? Meanwhile, the extent of mobilisation on the part of community points to insecurity among the Sikhs about losing its identity – anxieties that seem based more on an imagined sense of persecution than on ground realities.

Indeed, the Dera Sacha Sauda controversy seems to have revived the dormant flicker of Sikh extremism. Given that Sikhs have the impression that deras weaken the Sikh spirit, countering these organisations is presented as a struggle to retain the ‘purity’ of Sikhism, and adhere to its fundamental teachings.

Today’s Sikh youth has moved far from the path of extremism, having emerged from the ravages of the Punjab insurgency. Young Sikhs have built new lives by forgetting their past, and realise that religious fundamentalism and militancy not only destroy ethnic diversity, but also put secularism in danger of collapse. Yet, with religious extremists having found a new lever, the hold of rational elements may be more tenuous than many realise. There is tension in the air in Punjab, and the renewed violence potentially inviting Sikhs to travel back in time, revisiting the traumas of the 1980s. Perhaps they will uncover some of the old embers, which could well ignite. Before the Sikh opposition to the Dera goes down the same path as the bloodshed sparked off by the opposition to the Nirankaris three decades ago, the moderate voices must make themselves heard.

Asif Anwar Alig is the editorial coordinator for Vision — The Journal of Business Perspective, at the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon & Abid Anwar is associated with the United News of India in Delhi.

Much ado about vandalism – AYODHYA: 6 December 1992

Eastern Crescent

Mumbai, September 01, 2007

 

Book Review:

 

Much ado about vandalism

 

Reviewed byAsif Anwar Alig

 

Name of the book                     AYODHYA: 6 December 1992

Pages                                    :               317

Author                                    :               P. V. Narasimha Rao

Price                            :               Indian Rupees 395/-

Publisher                              :               Penguin Books India Pvt. Limited

                                                                11, Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New  Delhi- 110 017( India)   

 

Indian democracy encountered its first crackdown on December 06, 1992, ever since the inception of its constitution, with the demolition of the historical Babri Masjid. The monument remained the bone of contention between both the Muslim and Hindu community leaders since the nation was readying itself for independence from the British rule. It was a religious movement turned political revolution turned chauvinism that resulted into gothic vandalism. Its consequences were religious intolerance that earmarked the Indian democracy to see its vault face more than a decade ago.

 

The Ram Janam Bhoomi Movement indeed instigated hatred and destined India to be a failed state. While the hooligans were giving final touches to their plans they were about to furnish their modus operandi. They knew that the centre and the state governments were in hallucination, in tiffs that seemed not to be resolved amicably. Both the governments lingered into the delinquent legal complexities, obeying the federal democracy of the nation while the karsewaks did their work peacefully because in this case U.P’s the then state government proved more prudent.

 

Ironically, even after encountering this biggest setback Indian democracy is acknowledged as one of the second largest political systems in the world. With the secular intention in its nature and practicality unlike what is usually being projected on occasions is a matter of doubt and prejudice.

 

Religious sanctum sanctorum is pivotal in the lands of believers so does India that has been skewed upon the mammoth fancies of sentimentalism. India is graded as one of the mysterious lands in the history of religions because it is the only country that accommodates unaccountable religions of the world. Interestingly the constitution of India claims that religion doesn’t play any role in the political anecdotes of the state unlike its generosity towards religious harmony for its inhabitants. But the country hasn’t developed any effective mechanism of governance without the equal share of its religions — in the absence of this clause.

 

Religion still has a say in Indian politics applied through unique means like politicizing it, seeding the pillars of communalism rooted upon religious disharmonies and et al. It depicted on December 06, 1992 when politics equally shared with the religious hatred. Religion has no role to play either in the governance or in the constitutional processes still it was brought into fore at the center stage to mobilize a community against another for reaching the corridors of power by the right wing politicians under the guise of hindutva cause.

 

The darkest phase of India’s history and the utter shame its democratic governance promulgated on the day a particular group of believers chased the home of their co-inhabitant’s God by invading their matter of faith through vandalizing it belonging to the Muslims was a cowardice act acknowledged as a crusade against this minority community. Hindus forcefully entered into the home of their rival’s God Babri Masjid, hijacked it, broke down the essence of faith, liquidated the ascent of unity in diversity and demolished the structure as per their plan merely to accommodate their own God that was, their religious leaders claim, homeless since birth. To their records and a matter of coincidence the Hindu God was born at the same place thousands of centuries ago (exact data and its authenticity is still doubtful) where the mosque was constructed in the Mughal era.

 

The karsewaks ravaged the monument that was one of the finest examples of Mughal artistry. Babur might haven’t read the history of the birth of Hindu God if he would have studied it he could have surely changed his plans. The karsewaks, as instructed, laid down the foundation of hatred through the so called “sacred stones” intended to use for constructing the home of their own God: The stones lie there since last one and half decades. Such chauvinism exultingly metamorphoses India into a failed state.

 

The demolition of Babri Masjid was the single political mistake of the then ruling Congress party and its leader P. V Narasimha Rao who is the author of this book Ayodhya: 06 December 1992. The sad incident left the Indian democracy into catch22situation. On the wake of the state and central government’s tussle the demolition act was the biggest breakthrough of communalism in the democratic system of governance of India. While the mosque was demolished the central government was unable to save it, agrees Narasimha Rao and confesses through this posthumously released book, because of the constitutional perplexity complied the then Congress government at the center to obey the constitution and remain a silent spectator: a puppet in the hands of democracy.

 

The outcome was dearer to the Congress party that could have done extra constitutional efforts to save the historical mosque. This mistake doomed its political fortune in the years to come. The demolition of Babri Masjid by the kar sewaks was not merely rooted upon a biased sentimentalism but a brainchild of a hidden motive that has already been seen by all post demolition. The sentimentalism provoked the seeds of the communal politics in India. It strengthened the rightist politics and its ambition to materialize its political aspirations rooted upon the Hindu sentimentalism, which paved the way for their access to the corridors of power.

 

BJP ruled the country for six years post demolition. Their hidden dream, that they had had years before December 06, 1992 turned into reality within a decade itself. The grand success of BJP to rule the nation was an outcome of the Hindu sentimentalism. It lured the Hindu community but were the Hindus not befooled? Their political guardians on the name of religion hijacked their hollowed dreams.  

 

The book under review, Ayodhya: 6 December 1992 is a political confession. Though it sums count-by-count details of an array of the events that proved as an achilles hill for the secular fabric of India, it also notes a bizarre historical narration intended upon an honest escapism by the author P. V Narasimha Rao under whose premiership the demolition act was carried upon. The book notes in brief an entire chronology of the historical mistakes that turned into biggest political blunder of the Indian democracy on December 06, 1992 . Rao wrote this book in the mid 90′s when he stepped down as prime minister, and it is published posthumously as per his wishes.

 

The book, being a confession note, is the key to understand one of the major political moments of the modern Indian history. It recounts the intricacies and dangers of exploiting religious sentiments for a narrow political benefit that was being used by the perpetrators of disharmony.

 

Through reproducing major and minor court decisions on Babri Masjid and the communication that Rao had with the then chief minister of U.P. Mr. Kalyan Sigh, as Rao claims, the state government had assured the Home Ministry which he brought into the attention of all concerned and Rao declared that he was stick to the constitutional hypothesis. Rao confesses in the pages of the book that he emphatically tried to save Babri Masjid but failed, which was a biggest setback for him in particular and the Congress party in general. He reprints the dialogues between both the community leaders, who were adamant to their rhetoric. The issue, as he explains, burgled on the egos of Hindus and Muslims but no amicable solution was seen because of the stubbornness of both the communities.

 

 

N

o government, since independence, could sort out the dilemma of Babri Masjid until it was demolished in Rao’s regime. This book has a detailed note on the steps taken by the central governments prior to him and the role of the state governments on this matter. By reproducing the evidences and the chronology of events since December 23, 1949 till December 06, 1992, Rao draws a sympathetic approach towards the Muslim community.

 

P. V. Narasimha Rao’s posthumous concerns for the minorities are aimed to prove himself a scapegoat of the political bigotries and proves that not him but the then chief minister of U.P., Kalyan Singh be blamed for this saddest happening that shattered the image of India. Mr. Singh was the part of a hidden plot that was being solely politicized to make mockery of the constitution, politics, emotion, sentimentalism and Hinduism at par.   

 

This book details the leanings and hidden motives of a shaken leadership. The dubious role played by the then chief minister of U.P Mr. Kalyan Singh is proved. Still there is ample scope to read between the lines on why Rao should not be blamed as an equal preparatory instrument for according the motives of the Hindu mindset. This political blunder was the part of the dark phase of Indian polity that saw its dead face on the constitutional corpse when the intruders of humanity mishandled religion.

 

Rao has tried to justify his stand but still the readers have enough scope to look beyond his words and confessions.   

 

 

 

* Asif Anwar Alig is a Delhi based freelance journalist

Their fault, our fault: different approaches

Their fault, our fault: different approaches

 

Eastern Crescent, Mumbai

By Asif Anwar Alig & Abid Anwar

 

The controversial cartoon issue on Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by a Danish newspaper created rift all over the Islamic world in the recent past. Other communities too had a hue and cry on the issue. Everybody condemned the editor of the newspaper through protests and demonstrations. A bigger share of the protest was being seen in India, which is a secular country and respects all religions without any prejudice. The country is the upholder of the largest democracy in the world. Muslim community here, with the support of the liberals and secular intelligentsia, protested against the cartoon issue on Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). The newspaper was condemned through whatever means one could have for an apology.

 

Same Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has once again been “sketched”. This time it is here in India. Sketching Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is against the primary ethics of the Islamic faith. It prohibits one to sketch his imaginary picture in any form. In this case the sketch was done for a selected audience — the tender minds. But its impact erupts into wrong projection of the Prophet (PBUH). The imaginary picture being sketched is of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and his friends ( sahabis) in a question paper of the famous primary school of Delhi. The issue seems to advocate the hidden motive of the traitors of Islam for transmitting an unethical prerogative impression of this faith from one generation to the other. The incident happened in one of the renowned educational institutes of India, Hamdard Education Society, New Delhi that is owned and run by a Muslim scholar Sayed Hamid. It happened in April 2007 when the primary and secondary schools of the Hamdard Education Society was taking annual examination of their students. The Hindi question paper prepared for the primary students had a question with an “imaginary sketch” of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and his friends ( sahabis). Unfortunately none opposed it till the matter came into the notice of a few.

 

Ironically no protest or objection in the case is ever done or held even after the matter came into limelight. The chapter, though, is not the part of the curriculum of the Hindi course of the school. This “special” question was prepared by one Jayadev, who taught Hindi in the school. He took the image from somewhere and circulated it to his students. The patron of the school Syed Hamid knew this but neither he took any action against Jayadev nor stopped the utterly embarrassing sketch until his attention was brought into the matter by others. The matter came into the notice of a Muslim teacher of the school Ms. Sofia Tarique who had examined the copies that had the controversial question. But she too didn’t find it objectionable.

 

Sooner the matter became public and some staffs of the school protested against this. While the director of Hamdard Education Scoeity, Nafees Ahmed raised the issue along with other staffs, Syed Hamid ordered suspension of Jayadev and Sofia Tarique from the school on August 03, 2007. But the issue once again took a new turn due to the dubious approach of the institute authorities within two days. On August 04, 2007 Hamdard Education Scoeity conducted interviews for the pre-primary heads for its primary schools. The school authorities called various candidates. Interestingly Sofia Tarique was specially called. Syed Hamid himself advised the principal of the school to call Sofia Tarique to appear for the interview. She appeared in the interview. She was reinstated once again on August 06, 2007 so does the other teacher Jayadev. When Sofia Tarique was questioned to explain why she didn’t object the controversial sketch of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) while going through the answer sheets, she shook her head sportingly without bothering anything. Neither she felt ashamed of the matter and denied to apologize.

 

Though Syed Hamid argues that it all happened due to some irresponsible approach of a few, suspending the culprits for two days (weekend days) and reinstalling them again in the better positions is seer hypocrisy. The turnabout of the events can’t be a metaphor for irresponsibility.

 

The heart of the matter is if the institutions run by the Muslims intelligentsia would have such demeaning approach towards Islam and its Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) then what one can expect from others who are working against this faith with the missionary zeal.

HAMID ANSARI – VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA

The Milli Gazette

September 01-15, 2007 , New Delhi

 

Hamid Ansari

 

By Asif Anwar Alig

 

Seven years ago, Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, Aligarh Muslim University had a gaga celebration to farewell the second batch of its Journalism & Mass Communication students. I was one of those students parting away from the alma meter. The then chairman of the department had especially invited the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Hamid Ansari, a scholar diplomat, to sermon his students. Ansari shared his views and guided us to become a responsible media person. He also urged us to readily accept the forthcoming challenges of life.

 

There was hoopla amongst the student community about Hamid Ansari; a man of letters, persona extraordinaire of “great height” and et al. We were eager for his arrival and his ceremonious speech. When Ansari arrived, we were rather surprised to see him a man of “medium height” not “taller” than me. But, though, his intellect was towering and far larger than anyone of us. He shook hands with each of us — a meeting that is still imprint in my mind. An impromptu lecture by Hamid Ansari was a turning point in our lives. He had expressed extremely scholastic views.

 

As Vice-Chancellor of AMU, his contributions were noticeable. The university had faced the upheavals and tough times in his vice-chancellorship. AMU was on the path of closure but Ansari never looked back in anger and tackled the situation with patience. With the help of his diplomat mates at the center, he saved the stature of one of the renowned varsities of India in the capacity of its Vice- Chancellor.

 

My second one on one with Hamid Ansari was entirely professional. As a journalist in ETV, I produced a weekly programme on political beat. By then Ansari had a brief association with Observer Research Foundation as its senior fellow. He was the member of different high-level committees. I requested him to spare some time for the porgramme that was to be recorded at ETV studio. In the programme he expressed his views on an international issue. I was rather exclaimed upon his memory. Before I could remind Ansari of my meeting with him at AMU, he recognized me at a glance. Both of us digressed and went into the down memory lane. But I never knew that few years later this simple, humble and calm bureaucrat would emerge as the second constitutional head of the world’s largest democracy India.

 

Ansari has come a long way to achieve this position. He deserved this post because he understands the ethics of Indian and world polity. S cholar, diplomat and writer Ansari became India’s 13th Vice President on August 10, 2007. He has earlier handled impressive range of assignments in a career spanning over 45 years. The new Vice-President, as considered by the think tanks, is an intellectual with “Left-of-the- Centre” leanings. His expertise and long standing active career and stints in different challenging profiles assures that he fits the bill. He would apply his diplomatic skills while presiding over the Rajya Sabha as its chairman. He is the second diplomat after K R Narayanan to occupy the post of Vice President.

 

With aristocratic demeanour, known for disarming manners and impeccable credentials in the public life Ansari is an intellectual par excellent and a committed IFS officer. A grandnephew of Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari (president of the Indian National Congress in 1927, at Madras Session), he served the country as Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) before taking charge to his new assignment.

 

Ansari was born on April 1, 1937 in Kolkata. His ancestors originally belonged to Ghazipur in Utter Pradesh. After completing primary education at St Edwards High School in Shimla he joined St. Xavier College , Kolkata and thereafter went to Aligarh Muslim University for higher education. He was a part of the AMU cricket team during his student life. After completing education Ansari joined AMU as teacher and served the university until he qualified Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1961.

 

The seasoned diplomat Ansari was ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 1976 to 1980 and Chief of Protocol Government of India from 1980 to 1985. He was also ambassador to Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia . Later he became High Commissioner to Australia. He was Convener and later Chairman of the Advisory Committee for Oil Diplomacy of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. His service to the nation is countless. He was also the Permanent Representative to the United Nations. After retirement, Ansari was a visiting Professor at the Centre for West Asian and African Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Academy for Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia. His second coming at AMU was full of glee and admiration. Ansari was appointed Vice-Chancellor of AMU for a short period from May 28, 2000 to March 30, 2002. With a lot of odds due to his age of 63 years he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of his alma mater.

 

Ansari has deep interest in the West Asian affairs and often took position inconvenient to the official line on Iran and Iraq . Upon his distinguished service to the nation Ansari was awarded Padma Shri in 1984. As a senior fellow at Observer Research Foundation, Ansari edited the book ` Iran Today — Twenty years after the Islamic revolution. This book explores evolving perceptions, ascertaining their directions and the pace of a change in Iran after the revolution of 1979 that dethroned Shah and brought Islamic government to power changing the contour of the West Asian politics. He has written numerous academic papers and newspaper articles on West Asia. His contribution as Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry`s chairman of the Advisory Committee for Oil Diplomacy that India launched for energy security by scouting for gas and oil reserves abroad is thoroughly aristocratic. He served as chairman of the India-UK roundtable and a member of the National Security Advisory Board. As chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, Ansari sent a team of the commission members to Gujarat for thorough inspection of the camps that housed the riot victims. In its report, the NCM noted that most of the camps lacked basic facilities even after five years of rioting.

 

The political pundits, though, presumed that Ansari, who presides over Rajya Sabha proceedings as chairman of the Upper House doesn’t have previous experience in the Parliament and would be facing stern failure as an amateur Vice President. But Ansari accepted this challenge and answered in these words, “any organisation is run on the basis of rules and regulations. The Rajya Sabha has excellent rules and regulations.” He expressed his views forthrightly on how he would run the Upper House without having any preliminary experience. Ansari once expressed his views in an Annual Convocation at AMU, “In a country like ours, where there are more than 200 universities, a place of eminence is hard to attain and even harder to sustain. The Aligarh Muslim University is amongst the older Universities of the country having been established in 1920. We are in that privileged group of institutions of higher learning which find a mention in the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India”.

 

Middle East politics has always been a prime fascination of Hamid Ansari. He has written extensively on the Palestinian issue and took positions inconvenient to the Indian official line on Iraq and Iran. In one of his articles, “Alternative approaches to West Asian crises” (The Hindu, May 5, 2006), he brought out the need for simultaneous progress on Palestine, Iraq and Iran. In another article, “Et EU, India ,” (Outlook, October 10, 2005), Ansari questioned India’s vote in the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s nuclear programme. He described that though the Indian Government claimed to have acted on “its own judgment,” this was not borne out by facts.

 

In March 2006 Ansari was appointed chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM). He has also remained co-chairman of the India-U.K. Round Table, a member of the National Security Advisory Board and convener and later chairman of the Petroleum Ministry’s advisory committee on Oil Diplomacy for Energy Security. He was chairman of the working group on “confidence building measures across segments of society in the state,” established by the Second Round Table Conference of the Prime Minister on Jammu and Kashmir in 2006. The Third Round Table adopted the report of the working group in April 2007. The report advocates recognizing the right of Kashmiri Pandits to return to “places of their original residence.” This right, it argued, should be recognized without any ambiguity and made a part of the state policy.

 

Ansari was unanimously chosen as the United Progressive Alliance-Left’s candidate on July 20, 2007 for Vice-President. His professional expertise would empower him to be the best performing Vice-President of the country till date because he has observed the national and international politics with a bird’s eye view. It is predicted that he will serve the nation as a true humanitarian like he has performed other roles earlier.