Memo to whom it may concern

To all those who pity me claiming I am a 'victim' of Islam because my ancestors converted to Islam under duress or willingly well don't be. I am proud of being a muslim - but not arrogant as arrogance is to consider oneself superior to others.
I am grateful I was born in a muslim family and continue to a 'muslim' . Yes some of my fellow muslim have gone wrong (terrorism) and that makes me cringe sometimes but still I am proud and humbled to be a muslim.
My Dua is may Allah (SWT) grant Hidayah to other people too.

Indian BPOs refuse to hire UPites/biharis and Muslims !!

According to a article in the Mumbai Mirror ,BPOs have been verbally instructing Career Consultancies not to send them

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article&sectid=3&contentid=200803072008030703131748825e3ee6d#

Dr Zakir Naik

Now Dr Zakir Naik is not a Alim in the traditional sense - having gone to a madrassa or having gained ijazas from other Alims. He is a 'Daee or a muslim missionary in the style of Ahmad Deedat. His answers are rather simplistic and do not appeal to more sophisticated audiences. However they appeal to many ordinary muslims who feel reassured of their Iman after listening to his talks.
His recent stand on Yazeed ibn Muawiyah has turned him into divisive figure . Morever Non Muslims consider him disrespectful to thier own religious traditions and rather abrasive .
So is he doing more harm or good to the Ummah ?
Allahu Alim (Allah knows)

On Tehelka Tapes

It is nauseating how the hinduvtvawadis are trying to spin the Tehelka tapes .
I wonder what "National Interest" is served by this ?
Silly comparisions to Kashmir and West Bengal are being made to deflect attention from the Gujarat genocide.
Gujarat is the ultimate Hinduvtva laboratory and a warning of the real face of the BJP/Sangh Parivar.

Clueless Intelligence 'Experts'

B. Raman who was Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi and frequently comments on Indian affairs bizarrely calls the Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) a jihadi organisation .

He suggests that Tablighi Jamaat links of the Pakistani cricket players must be explored in the Bob Woolmer murder case.Makes one realize how clueless these supposed Security and terrorism experts are and how their pronouncements must always be taken with a fistful of salt.
Any expression of muslim religiosity is now being looked upon as being subversive and provocative.

On Gujarat

Ahmedabad-based sociologist Shiv Vishvanathan on Gujarat'2002: “What happened in Gujarat was a mini Rwanda: your neighbour raped you; people killed between 9 and 6 and went home singing. It was like a football match where the Hindus won. There remains festivity around it, the state denies victimhood, and there is no erasure.” State acquiescence and connivance can only partially explain such an overriding phenomenon of exclusion.

From this month's cover story on Gujarat'02 in Himal Magazine.
One of the reasons I will never ever vote for the BJP.

Prejudice against muslims in public institutions

This news item sheds light on a major issue.That of anti- muslim prejudice which exists in Indian public institutions.Some would suggest that this is a one off case.There is substantial difference in the perception of this issue.Most non muslims tend to downplay it while within muslim circles it is considered a major issue.A prominent Muslim businessman has said (off the record) that if it were'nt for corruption and political connections it would be even more difficult for muslims to do any business due to the communalism and prejudice of the lower bureaucracy and administration.
Admittedly this prejudice has grown due to recent acts of terrorism. Earlier the jan sanghis and assorted rightwing Congressis made life difficult for muslims.They used to go after muslims for revenge against historical Muslim invasions and the partition of India.Now minority appeasement and terrorism are the reasons cited.Some of the prejudice is also due to class bias as there is a huge underclass of muslims. Other reasons cited are treatment of minorities in Pakistan,bangladesh and Saudi Arabia or the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits.
All this talk about muslim appeasement by the rightwing obscures the very real fact that muslims are economically and socially backward.
See for example a recent survey here
A recent article in the Guardian makes the same point.
Some of this backwardness is self inflicted by the lack of interest of many muslim parents in the education of thier children. So what do we do ? Some muslim intellectuals like former IAS Officer Saiyad Hamid have suggested reservation of muslims in government jobs .The AP government had promised reservation but it was struck down by the AP High Court.However public opinion seems to be strongly against reservation so I don't think this will happen.

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India Muslims