Who Are the Nirmohi Akhara?

The Allahabad High Court delivered a complex verdict in the Babri Masjid case today, dividing the sacred site into three parts – one for Muslims and two for Hindus.
They had to deal in their case with a most unusual cast of characters, including the Hindu god Lord Ram himself, who was named as a party to the case by one of the (human) Hindu litigants.
Here is a glossary of some terms from the case that may not be familiar to all:
Nirmohi Akhara
One third of the site will go to the Nirmohi Akhara, a group of Hindu ascetics who are devotees of none other than Lord Ram. Their name means, roughly, “Group Without Attachment.” They have given up the material world for the company of their god. They are “sadhus” – or Hindu holy men often characterized by the hermetic tendencies. They claimed in court that there is no mosque called Babri Masjid at the site in Ayodhya, nor did the Mughal commander Babur make any conquest or any occupation of territory in India. They also claimed the site is of ancient antiquity and has existed before the living memory of man. Lord Ram and his court representatives receive another third of the site.
Ram Janmabhoomi
Literally, this phrase means “the land Ram was born on.” Hindu groups refer to the property in Ayodhya where the medieval Babri mosque stood, and that was at the heart of the 60 year dispute with this phrase. Ram is one of the most revered incarnations of one of the deities of a Hindu trinity—the god of preservation, Vishnu.
Sunni Waqfs Board
This is an elected legal body that oversees Sunni Islamic properties endowed for religious or charitable purposes. The plaintiff in the case that was decided Thursday was the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Board of Waqfs, which supervises these properties in the state where the town of Ayodhya is located. The board gets the third portion of the site.
Ram Lalla
This refers to Hindu idols placed in the central dome of the mosque, allegedly in 1949. The phrase specifically refers to Ram as a baby or a young child. Parts of the Hindu suits revolved around seeking access to these idols and having them remain there, while the Muslim plaintiffs wanted them removed.

 10:52 pm September 30, 2010
 K.Venugopal wrote:
The verdict of the Allahabad High Court would go a long way in consolidating the Hindu claim over the disputed site because it has recognized that Ram was born at the site. The court has also, pertinently, said that if any adjustments were required in the 3-way division of the site, the Central government, which has taken into receivership many acres of land, can provide the land. This gives possibility to the mosque moving away from the vicinity of the temple and the Hindus getting sufficient area for building a “grand temple”, which area is available with the government. It is time for the Muslims to stop being insensitive to the feelings Hindus have for Ram, which is not less than the feelings Muslims have for Mohammad.

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/09/30/who-are-the-nirmohi-akhara/

Majesty of the Law

By M Veerappa Moily, 30/09/2010

The longest-running legal battle in India is a dispute over the 60 ft by 40 ft land in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid stood till December 6, 1992. Since 1950, five title suits have been in the Allahabad high court, staking claim to the title of the plot of land of the Babri Masjid. Of these, four are to be decided by the Lucknow bench of the high court.

I feel that leaders of all communities, political parties and social groups should start planning to meet the situation because the matter requires the involvement of people at the grassroots level and it does not brook any delay.

The high court verdict will not necessarily settle the issue. Either side could go to the Supreme Court. It is only the first step in the judicial process. Even otherwise, matters of faith are not legally determined.

We have heard in loud voices words like lawful, constitutional and democratic. Analysts agree that the idiom and the paradigm used by either section of the leadership in the late '80s and early '90s to spread their victimhood can no longer serve them. The issue is no longer as inflammable for the youth, from all sections, who say preventing fresh unrest is more important.

Aspirations and hopes of the new generation have changed dramatically from the '90s to 2010. The youth of today are concerned more with bread-and-butter issues than rabble-rousing rhetoric. In these circumstances, the broad-based hope for a mature reaction to the Babri verdict is expedited.

We live in and by the law. In taking rights seriously we offer arguments against legal positivism that judges characteristically feel an obligation to give what we call "gravitational force" to past decisions, and that this felt obligation contradicts the positivists' doctrine of judicial discretion. We insisted that in most cases of hatred there are right answers to be hunted by reason and imagination.

From the Koran: Verses 12: And when it is said to them: Create not disorder on the earth, they say: We are only promoters of peace. Verses 13: Beware! It is surely they who create disorder, but they do not perceive it. Hence, the sacred Koran believes in universal peace and there is no space for violence.

Law exists as a plain fact. In other words, the law in no way depends on what it should be. Why then do lawyers and judges sometimes appear to be having a theoretical disagreement about the law? Because when they appear to be disagreeing in the theoretical way about what the law is, they are really disagreeing about what it should be. Their disagreement is really over issues of morality and fidelity, not law.

In this way, the empire of the law is defined by attitude, not territory or power or process. Law's attitude is constructive: it aims, in the interpretive spirit, to lay principle over practice to show the best route to a better future. It is a fraternal attitude, an expression of how we are united in community though divided in project, interest, and conviction. Finally, it is a reflection of the kind of people we want to be and the community we aim to have.

Our society has been characterised by the quest for this inner truth, for a better future and of the triumph of the community over the individual.

Despite being the ruler of a huge kingdom, Ravana couldn't rule over his inner world. As opposed to him, in the beginning, Rama couldn't become the king of even a small province like Ayodhya; but he was able to rule over his inner self. Unravelling the different phases of dharma, voluntarily retreating into the forest in order to obey his father's word, subduing the demons in order to protect the sages, killing Vali and Ravana -- all these constitute the triumph of dharma.

This is what the Ramayana is about; it is a chronicle of the triumph of dharma. In an individual-centred age, scores of ideals come into being and disappear after some time without leaving any trace behind. But the Ramayana is characterised not by individualistic qualities but the ones of a community, of a whole culture.

Rama, Buddha, Gandhi and such others do not belong to any race, religion or region; they are eternal symbols of those principles that guide us in the evolutionary path. We approach the concept of law as follows: where there is law, human conduct is made in some sense non-optional or obligatory. Thus, the idea of obligation is at the core of a rule. The reason is one has an obligation only by virtue of rule.

Professor G.L. Williams pointed it out very clearly: "The word 'law' stimulates in us the attitude of obedience to authoritative rules that we have come through our upbringing to associate with the ideas of municipal law. Change the word for some other and the magic evaporated. Accordingly these writers felt obliged to embark upon the unprofitable discussion as to the proper meaning of the term 'law'. Where laws do not rule, there is no constitution."

An early -- and famous -- formulation of the dictates of Natural Law was offered by Cicero. True law is right reason in agreement with Nature, it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting, it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrong-doing by its prohibitions. And it does not lay its commands or prohibitions upon good men in vain, though neither have any effect on the wicked. It is a sin to try to alter this law, nor is it allowable to attempt to repeal any part of it, and it is impossible to abolish it entirely. We cannot be freed from its obligations, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it. And there will not be different laws in different places, countries or different men.

Lord Donaldson stated: "The efficacy and maintenance of the rule of law, which is the foundation of any parliamentary democracy, has at least two pre-requisites. First, people must understand that it is in their interests, as well as in that of the community as a whole, that they should live their lives in accordance with rules and all the rules. Second, they must know what those rules are."

Absence of clarity is destructive of the rule of law and is unfair to those who wish to preserve the rule of law. It encourages those who wish to undermine it. The Majesty of the Law beacons us to the righteous path of Indian minds.

My six-year-old grandson, Kabir Adkoli, sent me an e-mail depicting a children's park in the middle with sand pits, seesaw, ladder, etc, and a mosque and temple on both sides. It was a response to the present conflict. This is a message of peace from the young mind. This is the mind of the nation which binds us together.

(The writer is Union Law Minister)

Source: The Indian Express

K.Venugopal#1
Thursday, 30 September 2010 10:32:02
It is not a mere 60 x 40 ft piece of land. It is the space occupied by over a billion Hindu hearts over thousands of years. While the Babri mosque is of no special significance for the Muslims except that it has been demolished because of their insensitivity, for the Hindus Ayodhya represents the birthplace of Sri Ram and it is well established that the mosque was built by Baber after destroying a temple there. Let us see what position the High Court takes on the issue.

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4430880&page=0

BCCI brings-in major overhauls in IPL top ranks

Updated on Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 15:21
Zeecric Bureau

Mumbai: Chirayu Amin has been appointed as the new chairman of the Indian Premier League while former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has been dropped from the IPL Governing Council, an announcement that has been made after BCCI’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) here on Wednesday.

While Gavaskar has been dropped from the council, Ravi Shastri and MAK Pataudi have been retained with Anurag Thakur and Ranjeeb Biswal being the new inclusions.

In the meeting, BCCI also decided to withdraw its suit against Jagmohan Dalmiya in Bombay High Court and also revoked the expulsion imposed on him in 2006.

The meeting was called to finally put an end to Lalit Modi’s reign and bring in Rajiv Shukla to replace him as the vice-president from the Central Zone.

As per reports, Modi, who was suspended as the IPL chairman due to allegations of financial irregularities in the cash rich T20 league, will cease to hold any post within the BCCI or IPL with effect from Wednesday.

Clearing the air over the overhaul of the board’s ranks, BCCI president Shashank Manohar said, “All the decisions were taken unanimously taken by the board.”

Spin legend Anil Kumble will be the new National Cricket Academy head.

As a result of Modi’s ouster, the IPL Governing Council will be reconstituted and as per sources, five members would be appointed by the AGM along for the same. the five-membered team will include two ex-cricketers while all the principal office bearers of the Board will be its ex-officio members.

Through an amendment to its memorandum of rules and regulations, which is to be done at the AGM, the BCCI is also set to bring the IPL Governing Council’s tenure to one year like all its other sub-committees.

The alleged discrepancy in the accounts of IPL-3 held in March-April this year would also be placed before the AGM.

Modi has been crucified before any charges against him have been proved. All the Board members were in the thick of things together. Now they have made one of them scapegoat to save their own skin. The Supreme Court must intervene at this travesty of justice and appoint someone like Justice Hegede of Karnataka Lok Ayut as BCCI Chief with the authority to pick a team of his choice.

http://cricket.zeenews.com/fullstory.aspx?nid=32426

Out of the Box on Ayodhya

Updated on Tuesday, September 28, 2010, 14:50

Shades of Grey
Akrita Reyar

Whatever is the verdict pronounced by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, the case is bound to go to the Supreme Court. Either ways for Hindus or Muslims, at least one community is guaranteed to be unhappy.

Over the years, many ideas have done the rounds about a neutral solution to the never-ending Ayodhya logjam. It is said that setting up of a peace park, school, hospital, library, museum etc. as possible structures on the disputed site would definitively put an end to the centuries old bickering.

Personally, I find these to be safe but diffident resolutions. Solutions which no one can have any concrete objections too. But is India ready for a more audacious answer?

What I am about to propose is not an original idea. I am plagiarizing it from the respected Muslim cleric Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. It is a solution which holds a great appeal, at least for me.

Given his stature, scholarly leanings and practical interpretation of Islam, Maulana saab has the greatest authority to speak on an issue that has been a virtual live wire between the two communities. What cements the case for his proposal is the fact that it had the imprimatur of eminent constitutional lawyer and the great patriot Nani Palkhivala. With his third party Parsi background and impeccable credentials as a person, late Palkhivala’s support to this remedy would obviously have been well thought out.

Here is the out of the box three-point formula recommended by the Maulana which remains unbeknown to many:

First, Hindu karsevaks and political parties and ideological organizations backing them must stop their campaign at Ayodhya. They must promise to forswear creating volatile or violent conditions at Mathura or Varanasi or, in fact, any other place. A written assurance to the effect must be given by all the Shankaracharyas and other prominent Hindu leaders involved in the Ram temple movement.

Second, Muslims must let the wounds of Ayodhya heal and voluntarily forfeit their claims to the disputed site. Maulana Wahiduddin goes on to add that Muslims must not insist on the rebuilding of a mosque anywhere in Ayodhya, let alone on the disputed site.

I, however, would not go to the extent that he has gone and would rather vouch for rebuilding a mosque albeit at another location in Ayodhya. People of both communities are capable of praying together in Lord Ram’s city.

Third, the Maulana asks for ‘The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991’ to be enacted as a part of the Indian Constitution. This Act prohibits the conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of its religious character as it existed on August 15, 1947.

The bold propositions made by Wahiduddin saab can provide a broad framework for an enduring and exceptional settlement in the history of our country.

At the onset, we must admit that the demolition was wrong; and the way of doing it was more certainly so. If Babar’s governors had broken down a temple to build a mosque, it is no excuse for Hindus to demolish a mosque. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Muslims have every right to feel groused. Hindus must admit this.

Having said that, one would have to grant that Ayodhya as a site holds a greater value for Hindus than it can ever for the Muslims.

The Muslims have a legal point that there was the structure of a mosque standing in that specific place. But it also must be appreciated that this particular mosque had no deep sentimental value for them, at least nowhere close to the kind that Ayodhya has for the Hindus.

It was just another mosque built during Moghul emperor Babar’s regime. But for the Hindus, if one were to draw an analogy, Ayodhya has probably the same significance that Mecca has in Islam. Muslims must realize this.

Looking at it from this point of view can help Muslims better appreciate the position of the Hindu community. What would the Muslims have done if a monument of another religion had been built centuries back by grazing the mosque at Mecca?

Largesse shown by the Muslims on Ayodhya would help them win wide appreciation and unprecedented goodwill. Probably it will warrant them the greatest regard ever earned. It will also become a shining example of generosity of the Indian Muslim all over the world.

The Hindus must also pledge that they will never again use atavistic and radical means to bulldoze their way. They must vow that they will not touch places of worship of the Muslims, whether in Varanasi or Mathura, and all premises can be shared by devotees of both the religions. The Hindu community must make peace with history and send all ghosts that haunt them back to their graves. We cannot rewrite pages scripted in another era and context.

The Hindus must also come forth in large numbers and help rebuild the mosque for their fellow citizens. Hindus volunteering money and material to rebuild the mosque at another location in Ayodhya would go a long way in ameliorating the pain that Muslims felt on December 06, 1992.

Such joint action will stump the evil designs of terrorists, who have for two decades, been citing Ayodhya revenge as an excuse for perpetrating mindless violence in India.

It will also undo to India’s reputation the damage done by the scenes of December 06, broadcast by media worldwide.

Ayodhya can become a model when the world debates about how peaceful and effective solutions on contentious issues are possible through dialogues in a democratic forum.

But the most crucial question is whether we are prepared to let bygones be bygones and embrace a compromise in the present for a peaceful future.

Are we brave enough?

The 3 point solution proposed by the Maulana would certainly have been acceptable to even the Sangh Parivar including VHP. The Maulana is an exception. The vast majority of Islamic clerics seem unable to be sensitive about others' religions.

http://www.zeenews.com/blog/19/blog431.html

Ravi Shankar Prasad - a reassuring personality.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, as BJP Spokesman, speaks with a rare authority that appears to have been empowered upon him by virtue of his sincerity and dedication to the cause. He deserves to one day be the president of the BJP.

http://connect.in.com/ravi-shankar-prasad/profile-513.html

'Azaan' not be part of CWG ceremony: Rajnath

Updated on Monday, September 27, 2010, 21:56
New Delhi: Former BJP chief Rajnath Singh today wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting him that "azaan" and other such religious representations should not be a part of background score at the Commonwealth Games ceremonies as religion should be left to the private domain.

"I came to know that azaan will be a part of the background score at the opening and closing ceremonies of the CWG. The ceremonies will also have a qawwali soundtrack and props on celebration of Eid. There will be representations of other religions also," he wrote in a letter.

"I think religion and religious practices should be left as the private domain of the players. We are a secular nation and state should not start religious practices in Commonwealth Games. It would not only be uncalled for, rather a departure from the secular traditions of the Commonwealth Games.

"The Games should start and end with Games anthem," Rajnath Singh said.

The letter was written amid reports that a Group of Ministers had decided that azaan will be part of the background score at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games along with representations of other religions also.

This was part of the GoM decision to "add religious fervour with a view to give glimpse of Indian culture".

Rajnath Singh has suggested that instead the national anthem or national song could be sung and felt that vedic mantras could also be chanted.

"I regard Eid as a holy festival of Muslim brethren but anything related to celebration of Eid during Games would not only be absurd, rather un-Islamic because Eid does not fall during that period according to Islamic calendar.

"If any religious calendar is to be kept in mind, then it should be the celebration of Navratras which falls during that period," he said.

He accused the government of having gone overboard with the "political angle" even in Commonwealth Games.

"I suggest the most befitting thing to represent India's ancient cultural heritage and diversity in the opening and closing ceremony will be the chanting of vedic mantras as it does not represent any religion rather it represent the eternal human values with the universal message of "Vasudev Kutumbakam (The whole world is one village)" and "Athithi devo Bhavah (the guest is akin to God)," Rajnath Singh said.

He expressed surprise that the ceremonies would not depict Vedic culture.

"I am very hopeful that a learned and a secular prime minister like you would intervene in this matter to do away with the anomalies and project a culturally more correct picture of India in this regard. I wish a grand and successful completion of the Commonwealth Games," Rajnath Singh said.

A few months ago, the senior BJP leader had demanded that no beef should be served at the Games and later thanked the government when this decision was taken.

-PTI

"Azaan" is a call to the Muslims to prayer. And it says that Allah is the only God. How can such a call be given to participants of an event the majority of whom are not Muslims and how can there be a declaration that Allah is the only God when clearly the vast majority of people in India and around the world do not subscribe to this view? "Azaan" should certainly be dropped.

http://www.zeenews.com/news658064.html

Buddhadeb's new quota for Bengal Muslims an election ploy?

NDTV Correspondent, Updated: September 26, 2010 08:58 IST

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has said that his new reservation policy for Muslims in the state has nothing to do with the Assembly elections. However, on the ground, while people have welcomed the move, there is a niggling suspicion that the whole thing is an election ploy that may not really get off the ground.

A state survey in West Bengal shows that 1.72 crore of the total 2.1 crore Muslims in the state are backward.

Many unemployed youths in the state like Nikhad, a graduate who barely makes ends meet by tutoring local children saw a fresh hope when the news of job reservation for 86 per cent OBC Muslims was announced.

"We've just heard about the reservation for Muslims and that's made me really happy. If one gets a government job through reservation, then life becomes secure," she said.

With his new policy, the chief minister wants to counter the Sachchar Committee's damaging report that Muslim employees in the state government number just 2.1 per cent.

"Sachchar Committee raised the problem but didn't show a way out which the Ranganath Mishra Commission did, though we feel reservation is not the only way. We are doing this out of a our social responsibility. There is no connection with elections," he said.

The skeptics however are questioning the latest quota policy. Till recently, Muslims largely back the Left but the 2009 Lok Sabha polls indicated a severe erosion.

Siddiqullah Choudhury of the Jamait Islami-e-Hind said,"It's a positive step but it needs to be implemented. Only the Chief Minister's announcement will not do."

Roshan Zameer Noori added,"They have announced 85 per cent but there is not a guarantee it will be implemented. They have made the announcement to draw the people to the party so that they get more votes."

It's a point of view the Trinamool backs as it asks why it took the Left Front government 35 years to wake up to the plight of the Muslims in the state.

"Suddenly CPM wakes up after 35 years. So far, the CPM has just taken the minorities, the Muslims specially, just as vote bank," said Dinesh Trivedi, of the Trinamool.

OBC certificates will be given from October. But Assembly polls, now just months away, will put to test whether the new quota policy pays the Left any real dividends.

The party which tagged itself as the party of the toiling masses since inception should have stood for reservation on the basis of economic poverty. But instead it has, on an election eve, supported religion based reservations. This is proof, if proof is at all needed, that the Marxists have jettisoned every aspect of their ideology for the sake of electoral success.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/buddhadebs-new-quota-for-bengal-muslims-an-election-ploy-54827

God resides in man's heart, not in man-made houses: SRK

Posted: Fri Sep 24 2010, 17:26 hrs Updated: Fri Sep 24 2010, 17:39 hrs Mumbai:
Shahrukh Khan believes that God resides in man's heart and not in man made houses for Him.
"Allah, God, Bhagwan in whichever name we pray to the supreme power by, resides in man's heart, not in man-made houses for Him," SRK wrote on microblogging site Twitter.
His comments come ahead of the Ram Janmabhoomi- Babri Masjid title suit verdict, which has been deferred by a week with Supreme Court deciding to hear the plea for postponement on September 28.
"I mean first our beliefs should take seed and grow in our hearts and then only we should manifest that in places of prayer and God," the actor tweeted.
I hope we Indians realise how difficult it is to build stadiums and respect.. and so easy to break monuments and disrespect each others beliefs, he added.
Several Bollywood personalities including Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor, Madhur Bhandarkar and Sajid Khan have come ahead and appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony in view of the impending judgement.

Talking about breaking monuments and disrespecting each other's beliefs, Shah Rukh Khan, the self-proclaimed ambassador of Islam should give a thought about the idols Mohammad broke in Mecca to establish Islam. Baber, a devote Muslim King, continued Mohammad's tradition, that is all. Of course, the likes of SRK would have been happier if Hindus forgot Ram and celebrated monuments of shame like the so-called Babri Masjid.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/god-resides-in-mans-heart-not-in-manmade-houses-srk/687270/

SC defers Allahabad HC verdict on Ayodhya title suit till September 28

TNN, Sep 23, 2010, 03.00pm IST

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday deferred Allahabad High Court verdict on Ayodhya title suit by one week. The verdict was due to have been pronounced on Friday.

The SC said there's no harm in giving negotiations a last try. It's a matter of consequences which will affect vast majority. A judgement will harden the parties. So give negotiations a chance.

Though one of the judges felt the plea to defer should be dismissed. He bowed to other judge's wish.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court decided to examine this afternoon the plea for deferment of the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ayodhya title suit.

The apex court had yesterday declined to hear urgently the plea to postpone the Ayodhya title suit verdict by the Allahabad High Court tomorrow.

A bench of the court, while refusing to hear the petition filed by retired bureaucrat Ramesh Chand Tripathi, said that it did not have the "determination" to take up the issue and added that it will be listed before another Bench.

Tripathi had yesterday approached the apex court five days after the High Court's Ayodhya bench rejected his petition for deferring the verdict and to allow mediation to find a solution to the contentious dispute.

The Allahabad High Court had also imposed "exemplary costs" of Rs 50,000, terming Tripathi's effort for an out-of-court settlement of the dispute as a "mischievous attempt".

The Special Leave Petition by Tripathi, which sought some time to allow mediation, also challenged the costs imposed on him.

Like his petition before the High Court, Tripathi in his petition in the apex court, claimed that the verdict might disturb communal harmony and lead to violence in the country.

In the petition filed through advocate Sunil Jain, Tripathi had cited several reasons for deferment of the verdict, which he said would be in "public interest" in view of the apprehension of communal flare up, upcoming Commonwealth Games, elections in Bihar and violence in Kashmir Valley and Naxal-hit states.

The petition had feared that there would be inadequate security personnel in Uttar Pradesh to provide security.

Tripathi had also referred to an earlier order of the Court on July 27 last that parties concerned are at liberty to approach the Officer on Special Duty for formation of the bench if there was any possibility of disposal of the dispute or arrival at an understanding through consensus.

One of the three judges in the Lucknow bench, however, disagreed with the majority order rejecting the plea for deferring the Ayodhya verdict to allow mediation and gave a dissenting opinion that an amicable settlement could have been explored.

Justice Dharam Veer Sharma, while not concurring with the view of the other two judges--Justice S U Khan and Justice Sudhir Agarwal--also said in his dissenting judgement that he wasn't consulted when the three-judge bench gave the order while dismissing the plea for mediation.

The Supreme Court is showing great sensitivity about its verdict, taking into consideration the sentiments of the populace at large. It is ironical that 18 years ago the Supreme Court had reserved a verdict which they announced would be pronounced only after the day of Kar Sewa, in spite of requests of VHP to advance the announcement of the verdict to at least a day before the Kar Sewa. If the Hon'ble Court had done so at that time, it would have been possible that events may not have led to the demolition of the mosque. If only the court was sensitive to the sentiments of at least the huge number of kar-sewaks who were assembled in Ayodhya then. 18 years later, the court is showing exemplary sensitivity on the matter of its verdict pronouncement. How circumstances have changed.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-defers-Allahabad-HC-verdict-on-Ayodhya-title-suit-till-September-28/articleshow/6612574.cms#write

SC may hear Ayodhya verdict defer petition

Updated on Thursday, September 23, 2010, 09:26
Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: The Supreme Court may on Thursday take up the special leave petition (SLP) seeking a direction to the Allahabad High Court to postpone its verdict in the Ayodhya title suit on September 24.

The petition is expected to be taken up by a Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia. However, if the SLP is not heard today then it will become infructuous.

Yesterday, a Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and AK Patnaik deferred hearing on the SLP. The Bench told senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi and counsel Sunil Kumar Jain that it did not have the determination to take up the matter.

When Mr Rohatgi explained the urgency, Justice Kabir said: “Being an appeal against an order in a civil suit, this Bench does not have the determination to take it up. It will be posted before an appropriate Bench.”

In his SLP, Ramesh Chandra Tripathi said that if the judgment was pronounced it might lead to communal riots in Uttar Pradesh as well as other parts of the country. “It is evident from the present-day situation as we see every day the entire Kashmir Valley is in continuous turmoil and witnessing deaths.”

He pleaded for postponement of the verdict keeping in mind the larger public interest and the security and safety of every individual. He apprehended that in the context of increasing communal and religious differences, certain vested interests might create rift among people on the lines of caste, creed and religion.

Is the petitioner suggesting that henceforth no court decisions ever be taken where the outcome may be violence? The whole logic of courts is to stymie any progress towards violence that an unresolved issue may entail. In any case, the final decision by an apex court is not a matter of satisfying both sides to a dispute or even any side to a dispute, but to end the matter by petitioners mandatorily abiding by the court verdict under the rule of law.

http://www.zeenews.com/news656937.html

Ayodhya petitioner to move SC today

Updated on Wednesday, September 22, 2010, 10:05

New Delhi: Retired bureaucrat Ramesh Chandra Tripathi, whose plea for a court direction to the parties in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute to find an amicable and out-of-court settlement was dismissed by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court last week, will file an appeal in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

"The High Court order has not disheartened me at all and I am definitely going to file an appeal before the Supreme Court," the 73-year-old Tripathi had said after his plea was dismissed last Friday.

"I am not ready to give up as my effort was aimed only at serving the larger objective of ensuring peace and communal harmony in the country," he said.

The 16-page written order released by the three-judge bench of Justice SU Khan, Justice Sudhir Agrawal and Justice DV Sharma had termed the amicable settlement plea as "mischievious" and slapped a Rs 50,000 fine on Tripathi.

"Considering the facts and circumstances and also the fact that the applicant, without any lawful excuse or reason, has filed this application, we hold this attempt mischievous and therefore, he deserves to be imposed exemplary costs of Rs 50,000," the bench ruled.

The bench had also frowned on Tripathi's plea that the verdict could lead to law and order problems.

"We are really surprised to hear the wonderful argument by which he tries to frighten a court of law alleging apprehension of violence if judgment is delivered and thereby asking the court not to decide a case.

"The ways and means may be sophisticated but the end game is clear. This is something what the people of India least expect from a court of law and that too the highest court in a province," the court added.

While two of the three judges — Justices SU Khan and Sudhir Agarwal — unanimously rejected Tripathi’s plea and imposed the fine, Justice Dharam Veer Sharma, in minority, had later said that he was not consulted by the other judges and that the hefty fine on the respondent is not permissible under law.

IANS

How can anyone expect an out-of-court settlement, which was not forthcoming all these years, to be arrived at overnight? Should the court defer the decision for a period of say 6 months for an amiable solution to come up? What if a solution does not come up within 6 months? Would then the issue not be one that festered for an unnecessary 6 months, maybe bringing up unexpected problems instead? Since 24th Sept has already been declared the date of verdict, there is no purpose in striving for hope-gymnastics at this late hour.

http://www.zeenews.com/news656721.html

Five-member team meets Geelani

Updated on Monday, September 20, 2010, 18:54

Zeenews Bureau

Srinagar: A group of five leaders including Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, who are part of the all party delegation, on Monday met hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani at his residence in Srinagar.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi and three others accompanied Yechury when they met Geelani at his residence.

Earlier Geelani had refused to meet the all-party delegation that is currently in Srinagar.

Reacting to the high powered delegation's visit, he had said, “We don’t want an economic package, we want independence.”

Two similar groups of four members each are likely to meet moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and JKLF leader Yasin Malik.

T R Baalu (DMK), Ratan Singh Ajnala (Akali Dal) and Namo Nageshwara Rao (TDP) were the other members of the team that met Mr. Geelani.

The 39-member team landed at the Srinagar airport in a special plane amid tight security and drove through deserted streets to the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Complex (SKICC) on the edge of the Dal Lake to meet political leaders from mainstream parties and prominent citizens from the valley.

Though Chidambaram said the team, which visits Jammu Tuesday, had arrived here with an "open mind", separatist leaders in the valley where 102 people have died in as many days gave it the cold shoulder.

While Syed Ali Geelani, chief of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, had earlier refused to meet the visitors, moderate leaders Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik Monday said they too would not meet the delegation, saying it was "a façade".

Besides Chidambaram, the delegation also comprises Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.K. Bansal, who represents the Congress, as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party's Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, Communist Party of India's Gurudas Dasgupta, National Conference's Farooq Abdullah as well as Ramvilas Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).

Agencies inputs

I would have understood a delegation meeting sworn separatist Geelani if it was to give peace all the chance possible, to give a long rope to those who are challenging Indian nationhood. But our politicians are looking for compromises. If they are willing to compromise with separatists, are they not also contributing to separatism? In fact, this delegation is a farce. When the very integrity of the nation is questioned, there should be only one agenda on the table and that is to crush the separatists, whatever the cost. Here we find our silly politicians bent on giving respectability to separatists. Politicians are ready to hypothecate the nation in the alter of short-term political gains. And the electorate of India are ready to prop up such anti national politicians. Whom can we blame?

http://www.zeenews.com/news656416.html

Jama Masjid firing: Police rule out terror attack

Updated on Monday, September 20, 2010, 09:38
New Delhi: Apparently intended to cause terror ahead of Commonwealth Games, two unidentified motorcycle-borne attackers today shot and injured two Taiwanese nationals outside the Jama Masjid here which was followed by a crude pressure cooker bomb blast in a car in the same area.

Delhi Police appeared to be ruling out the role of any organised terror group but intelligence experts said it could be a handiwork of outlawed Indian Mujahideen, which was behind a series of blasts in several cities, including Delhi and Ahmedabad.

The Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack in an e-mail sent to PTI and some other news organisations and threatened terror strikes during the Games.

A red alert was sounded across the capital after the incident in which the two bikers, wearing raincoats and helmets, fired 7-8 rounds on the stationary vehicle adjacent to Gate No 3 of the mosque and 100 metres away from the house of Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari at 11.10 am. Police have detained one person for questioning in connection with the case.

The two injured -- Cesewein (27) and Cinglo (28) -- were rushed to the nearby government Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narayan Hospital, a senior police official said.

Cesewein (27) had a miraculous escape as the bullet grazed his head while Cinglo (28) was hit in right abdomen.

The injured were part of a five-member group of tourists who work with a television channel in Taiwan and were in the capital since yesterday. They were to leave for Jaipur on Tuesday and then visit Agra and return to the capital on September 27 to take a flight back to Taiwan.

Karnal Singh, Joint Commissioner (Northern Range), told reporters that the four cartridges recovered from the spot showed that the weapon used could be .38 calibre revolver.

But the rounds of fire recovered were also of 9 mm, which can be used in pistol or carbine, he said refusing to hazard a guess on the motive of the attackers.

"We are looking into all angles and we cannot jump to conclusions. It appears to be done to create panic," he said. "A red alert has been sounded and we are conducting checks at various points. We are confident of nabbing the culprits soon," he said.

Nearly two hours after the firing incident, a car went up in flames when a "crudely-circuited" pressure cooker bomb exploded about 50 metres away from the spot where the firing incident took place.

"The car went up in flames due to a crudely-circuited pressure cooker bomb," a senior police official said. Investigators suspect the involvement of a "group of disgruntled youth or local criminals" who wanted to create a scare in the area.

Constable Pramod, who was manning Gate No 3, tried to give a chase to the attackers but they fled on their motorcycle. A rickshaw-puller also tried to give a chase and he even threw a brick at them in a bid to foil their escape. The mini-bus also had one of its windows broken and a bullet pierced into its body.

Asked whether it is a security scare ahead of the October 3-14 Games, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, "an incident like this is something worrying but nothing to panic about."

Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy said the incident would not have an impact on the Games.

"Lots of security measures have already been taken. But wherever there is an inadequacy about it, that hole has to be plugged," the Chief Minister said.

Hours after the incident, Home Minister P Chidambaram visited the LNJP Hospital, where the two injured Taiwanese are admitted. He enquired about their health conditions and also talked to senior official and medical professionals present there.

The e-mail sent by the Indian Mujahideen said, "in the name of Allah, the attack is a tribute to Atif Amin and Mohammed Sajid". Amin and Sajid were IM operatives killed by the police in the Batla House encounter soon after the Delhi serial blasts of September 2008.

"We are warning you. If you have the guts, then organise the Commonwealth Games...We know that preparations are on full swing. Be prepared...We are also making preparations...The participants in the Games will be responsible for the outcome," the e-mail said.

The modus operandi in the firing carries the signature of Indian Mujaheedin, Home Ministry sources said.

Sources in security agencies said the incident could be an attempt to spread scare ahead of the Games. They said terror angle cannot be ruled out.

The Union Home Ministry is also closely monitoring the investigations into the shooting incident and has sought a report from the Delhi Police.

Asked if the security agencies have been able to find out the motive behind the incident, senior Home Ministry officials said it was too early to make an assessment and that the investigations were underway.

Police said phone calls in the area are being scanned and armed personnel have been deployed in the locality.

However, Delhi Police does not suspect the role of any organised terror group behind the incidents but suspect the involvement of disgruntled youths or a gang of local criminals.

The motive appears to be to scare people ahead of the Commonwealth Games, they say, adding the attacks do not show signs of the involvement of terrorist outfits like Indian Mujahideen.

The city police is also not giving much credence to the email sent to media houses purportedly by outlawed Indian Mujahideen as "its content and timing were not matching" with the incidents.

There were "no specific target or specific reasons" for the attacks and they do not find any reason to believe that an organised terror outfit was behind the incidents which left two Taiwanese nationals injured, Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said.

"The signatures of the attacks do not show that an organised terror organisation like Indian Mujahideen is involved. If you see pressure cooker which was used to explode the car, it was poorly circuited and crudely assembled," a senior police official said.

He also said there was no reason to target Taiwanese as they were not in news for any wrong reasons.

"If it was done by some terrorists, it would have targeted the police station or the Masjid itself. We feel that it is a handiwork of disgruntled youths of the area or local criminal gang," the official said.

Investigators are also collecting details from Salim, a rickshaw puller, who claimed to have witnessed the firing and gave a chase to the attackers along with Constable Pramod who is posted at Jama Masjid.

Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari called it a "terrorist" incident aimed at creating panic, preventing foreign visitors from coming to the city and making the Games a "failure".

"This has been done to spread panic in India so that people from outside do not come to Delhi...a conspiracy to make the Commonwealth Games a failure," he told reporters.

Asked if he feels terrorists were behind this, he said, "killing innocent people, firing several rounds...doing all these things...this is terrorism and the authorities will have to find out who is responsible."

Taiwan representative to India Philip Wen-Chyi Ong and Minister of Health and Family Welfare Kiran Walia also visited the LNJP hospital where the injured were admitted.

Walia said the condition of one of the two Taiwanese nationals was serious as the bullet hit his stomach.

According to her, the doctors were of the opinion that both the patients were not in a position to speak to media or others.

"The hospital is doing its best to take care of the patients. It is matter of concern as it (incident) involved foreigners," she said.

PTI

With almost no inputs available as yet, how come investigators are suspecting the involvement of a "group of disgruntled youth or local criminals who wanted to create a scare in the area"? Are they going by their gut feelings or incriminating evidence? Officials involved should not indulge in loose talk just because a microphone is offered to them by media channels. And the media too should not try to pass off their own hunches as official briefing as may well have been the case of this particular report. The police department should organize a proper press briefing in matters like this so that unnecessary theories do not float around.

http://www.zeenews.com/news656133.html

Forces need AFSPA legal shield, says Army Chief

Press Trust Of India
Chennai, September 18, 2010
Last Updated: 12:03 IST(18/9/2010)

Security forces need the protection of AFSPA, a law which gives them sweeping powers in disturbed areas like Kashmir, said Army Chief General V K Singh on Saturday. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act is "an enabling provision, not arbitrary," said Singh in Chennai. "I think the government will take a correct decision on what is to be done about it," he said about demands that AFSPA be partially withdrawn in some parts of Kashmir or diluted.
"You all know that the Supreme Court has very clearly said that provisions of AFSPA are neither arbitrary nor against the Constitution," he told reporters.
"We have told the Ministry of Defence whatever the Army has to say and the matter is under the consideration of the government," he said.
Gen Singh said there have been more infiltration attempts into Jammu and Kashmir in the last two months and did not rule out "some methods" in Pakistan trying to exploit the unrest in the border state.
"There are more attempts, more incidents in the last two months. Overall, there has been decrease in violence, but in the last two months, infiltration has increased and so, the number of terrorists killed."
He said it could be a coincidence that there has been more infiltration attempts since the unrest in Kashmir erupted.
"There can be some linkage. There can be some methods in Pakistan trying to exploit the situation," Singh said at the same time to a question on the Kashmir situation.
The Army Chief's comments came a day after India asked Pakistan to take effective action against infiltration from across the LoC and dismantle terror infrastructure as it is people of Jammu and Kashmir who suffered its consequences.
Hitting back at Pakistan for asking India to "exercise restraint" in Kashmir, New Delhi had also told Islamabad to take effective action against infiltration.
On reports about Chinese military presence in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the Army Chief said it did not cause concern at the moment. "We are watching it. If it becomes a matter of concern, we will have to go back to the government for action required to be taken."
Singh was in Chennai to review the passing out parade at the Officers Training Academy.

The Army leadership must be congratulated on articulating its stand on the withdrawal of AFSPA. The Congress politicians are interested only in catering to their vote banks and if they have their way, they will pave the way for another partition. Just a few years back the Congress wanted to know the composition of the Army on religious basis and was preparing a census on this. However, the then leadership of the Army clearly said no. Because there is no one to override the politicians, they have now decided to have caste census. This will lead to "balkanization" of the nation. The politicians, who seem to be representing only the fissiparous aspirations of the society, should learn from the Army on commitment to nationalism.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Forces-need-AFSPA-legal-shield-says-Army-Chief/H1-Article1-601628.aspx

Rahul backs Omar on Kashmir, says he needs time and support

Updated on Thursday, September 16, 2010, 10:22

Zeenews Bureau

Kolkata: Speaking out his mind on the ongoing turmoil in Kashmir, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi said that the need of the hour is to fulfil the aspirations of the youth and that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah needs time and support to handle the situation.

Speaking to reporters at the end of his three-day tour of West Bengal in relation with Youth Congress elections, Rahul said, “Omar is a youngster and Kashmir is a difficult place. He is doing a tough job. We have to give Omar time and support.”

Dismissing demands for his direct intervention into the crisis in the valley, Rahul said that he has a job to do - to involve the youth in politics – and that there are other very capable persons who can handle the situation.

“Kashmir is not a part time problem, it is a full time problem”, Rahul said while pointing out that he cannot get into the issue at this juncture.

"I will go to Jammu and Kashmir as my drive is to go to any part of India to bring youth of Kashmir into political system. It's a full time responsibility to bring youngsters in politics," he said.

On the controversial issue of withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from parts of J&K, Rahul said that he has to go deep into the Kashmir problem before commenting on whether the Armed Forces Special Powers Act should remain there or not.

Since Rahul said that he has to go deep into the Kashmir problem, I would suggest he also study the role of Islam in de-nationalizing the Kashmiries. Probably he would get a clue to the real problem in Kashmir.

http://www.zeenews.com/news655422.html

Become party in Ayodhya title suits: BJP to Centre

Updated on Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 19:18
Lucknow: The BJP on Wednesday asked the Manmohan Singh government to seize the opportunity provided by the Allahabad High Court and become a party in the Ayodhya title suits to find an amicable solution to the vexed issue.

"If the Central government wants to establish communal harmony in the country, it has to become a party in the case," BJP vice-president Vinay Katiyar told reporters here.

He said the BJP favoured construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya in an harmonious environment.

Yesterday, the Allahabad High Court invited counsel of all the parties to the dispute to find ways to resolve the 60-year-old issue through consensus.

Katiyar said the Centre should seize the chance given by the Court and the Prime Minister should act immediately.

"The Centre should take an initiative and become a party in the title suits. It should file an affidavit in the High Court that the issue could be sorted out through talks and request it to give more time."

Kaityar said the BJP believed a permanent solution to the lingering issue could only be found through talks.

"Some people have moved an application before the Court for deferment of the verdict. But, a few persons cannot represent the faith of crores of Hindus. Hence, the Centre should become a party in the case," Katiyar said.

"For us the Court's verdict will be supreme and we will abide by it. But whatever the decision, it will be ultimately challenged in the Supreme Court," he said.

"We do not want any dispute. We only want a grand Ram temple should be constructed in a harmonious atmosphere through talks," the BJP leader said.

PTI

Muslims have no stake in Ayodhya because the place is not sacrosanct for them. It is just a place containing one of the millions of mosques around the world, but for Hindus it is the birthplace of the very person who has defined the greatest principles of Hinduism. All through the long period of heated Hindu agitation for the temple in Ayodhya and even pleadings to the Muslims to give up the mosque for the temple, everything fell on deaf Muslim ears. Practically no Muslim came forward to recognize the righteousness of the Hindu claim. Now on the eve of the Court judgement there is no way the Muslims would capitulate and give up the place to Hindus or agree for a temple there. They have nothing to lose and they hope, even if on an outside chance, they win the case, they can use it for future psychological advantage in negotiating a deal with the Hindus and the government - probably in the bargain asking that the Taj Mahal be handed over to them to be converted to a mosque. The Hindus should fight to get the land back without any compromise, whatever the sacrifice they have to undergo. If they can't do it in the name of Ram, they are not worthy of their Hindu legacy.

looks like those hindus who are fanatic have lost hope in indian judiciary. why cant they just wait and abide by the court verdict. if they oppose the cour decision, they can no longer call themselves indians. muslims have always maintained that they will abide by court verdict.

Ajaz Kashmiri - Kashmir

Dear Ajaz Kashmiri, It looks like you have forgotten the Shah Banoo case. Did the Muslims then abide by the Court decision? No. Not even the Supreme Court decision. So why do you think Hindus should abide by the Court decision if the Court does not recognize Hindu faith?

http://www.zeenews.com/news655257.html

French Senate passes ban on full Muslim veils

Updated on Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 09:57
Paris: The French Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill banning the burqa-style Islamic veil on public streets and other places, a measure that affects less than 2,000 women but that has been widely seen as a symbolic defense of French values.

The Senate voted 246 to 1 in favor of the bill in a final step toward making the ban a law — though it now must pass muster with France's constitutional watchdog. The bill was overwhelmingly passed in July in the lower house, the National Assembly.

Many Muslims believe the legislation is one more blow to France's No 2 religion, and risks raising the level of Islamophobia in a country where mosques, like synagogues, are sporadic targets of hate. However, the law's many proponents say it will preserve the nation's values, including its secular foundations and a notion of fraternity that is contrary to those who hide their faces.

In an attempt to head off any legal challenges over arguments it tramples on religious and other freedoms, the leaders of both Parliamentary Houses said they had asked a special body to ensure it passes constitutional muster. The Constitutional Council has one month to rule.

The bill is worded to trip safely through legal minefields. For instance, the words "women," "Muslim" and "veil" are not even mentioned in any of its seven articles.

"This law was the object of long and complex debates," the Senate President, Gerard Larcher, and National Assembly head Bernard Accoyer said in a joint statement announcing their move. They said they want to be certain there is "no uncertainty" about its conforming to the Constitution.

France would be the first European country to pass such a law, though others, notably neighboring Belgium, are considering laws against face-covering veils, seen as conflicting with the local culture.

"Our duty concerning such fundamental principles of our society is to speak with one voice," said Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, opening a less than 5-hour-long debate ahead of the vote.

The measure, carried by President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative party, was passed by the lower house of Parliament, the National Assembly, on July 13.

It would outlaw face-covering veils, including those worn by tourists from the Middle East, on public streets and elsewhere. The bill set fines of EUR 150 (USD 185) or citizenship classes for any woman caught covering her face, or both. It also carries stiff penalties for anyone, such as husbands or brothers, convicted of forcing the veil on a woman. The EUR 30,000 (USD 38,400) fine and year in prison are doubled if the victim is a minor.

The bill is aimed at ensuring gender equality, women's dignity and security, as well as upholding France's secular values — and its way of life.

Bureau Report

I think it is a regressive legislation in a society that sounded the mantra liberty, equality and fraternity. Are fully veiled women a security threat? I think all governments and government institutions already have laws that enable the civil machinery to be alert in case of any suspected breach of security and a fully veiled woman can certainly be stopped to be properly examined for any threat. But I do not think it is anybody's argument that you cannot be security threat if you are not fully veiled. I suppose a properly trained agent provocateur can be a security threat even if scantily clad. So why has the capital of world's fashion decided that some forms of dressing are taboo? A law against family members forcing the veil is understandable but what of those who wish to wear it of their own accord? If mere veils are a threat to French culture, then it might as well be said as of the nose which blows off when one sneezes - good riddance nose! If the fear is that the tribal shariat laws would follow the veil, I think that fear is unfounded as the judiciary in France would be clear about drawing lines. France should be confident enough that it would draw the line when it is actually required and not on imagined fears.

http://www.zeenews.com/news655177.html

'No decision yet on removal of AFSPA'

It seems to be a setback for Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Top defence sources have told TIMES NOW that the Defence Ministry has reservations about withdrawing AFSPA and also about withdrawing troops.

The Indian government should not dilute any advantage it has in Kashmir. It must instead remove article 370 and integrate the state with the rest of India, with all Indians having the right to settle in Kashmir. The only forces who are anti-India in Kashmir are Muslims and we should not fight shy of proclaiming this fact and Muslims must be told in clear terms that if their religion stands in the way of the integrity of India, such a religion would be banned. Only such a message, strong and directly addressing the issue would strengthen India. Otherwise the forces of partition would continue with their game plan of converting the entire sub-continent to Islam.

http://www.timesnow.tv/No-decision-yet-on-removal-of-AFSPA/videoshow/4353526.cms

Lecturer attack: Dioceses support expulsion

Updated on Saturday, September 11, 2010, 13:45

Kochi: Justifying the action of the church run Newman college management to sack Prof TJ Joseph, for allegedly preparing a question paper which hurt the sentiments of a community, the Kothamanagalam Bishop has issued a pastoral letter which would be read out in the churches during Sunday mass tomorrow.

The letter, however, states that aggrieved lecturer can approach the court to redress his grievance and the management would abide by the court's decision.

Prof Joseph was brutally attacked by the activists of radical outfit, Popular Front of India (PFI) for preparing the questioning paper by hacking his right arm. The lecturer, who was suspended by the management as controversy broke regarding the question paper, is yet to recover completely from the attack on July 4 as he was returning home from church with his family after Sudnay mass.

In the letter, Bishop of Kothamanagalam dioceses George Punnakottil said the attack does not nullify the 'crime' committed by Joseph. Such an 'irreresponsbile' act cannot be expected from the lecturer. The college was accused of being an accomplice in hurting the religious feelings of the Muslim community. So the management had to take a decision to distance itself from the act of the lecturer, it said.

'We stand for secularism and we do not want to offend anybody', the bishop said.

The letter gives a clear message to the community that the college will not tolerate any action to wound the religious feelings of another community.

Meanwhile, police arrested and removed about 30 activists of the Joint Christian Council, an anti church forum, who took out a procession at Kothamanagalam in Ernakulam district demanding the reinstatement of Prof Joseph.

Though the activists first tried to take out the march from the RC Cathedral, the church did not permit the same. They then took out the march from a little distance away and raised slogans against the church and sought re-instatement of Prof Joseph, police sources said.

PTI

I think the position of the Church in sacking the professor is correct. The Church did not want to be seen as an accomplice in an act of gross religious provocation and the Church cannot be faulted for this. However, the college management, while sacking the professor had reportedly said that the professor can be reinstated if the Muslim community forgave the professor. This contradicts the Church position that the attack does not nullify the "crime" of the professor. Then how can his pardoning nullify it? Moreover, asking the aggressor (Muslims) to sit in judgement over the victim (the professor) is to hypothecate the rule of law. Thus, it is obvious that the Church is playing politics over a tragedy - trying to be law-abiding secular citizens on one hand and being ready to compromise on the spirit of the law on the other. This is a typical position Churches in India take - in the case of conversions, for instance. We are against forced conversions, they say, while all along indulging in conversions through allurements.

http://www.zeenews.com/news654362.html

If Hindu temple OK, why not mosque?: Obama

Updated on Saturday, September 11, 2010, 12:41

Zeenews Bureau

Washington: President Barack Obama on Friday again backed controversial plans to build an Islamic centre near the site of 9/11 attacks in New York reminding critics that the US was at war against terrorism not Islam.

"All men and women are created equal, they have certain inalienable rights, and one of those is to practice their religion freely," he said at a White House press conference.

"You can build a church on a site, you can build a synagogue on a site, if you could build a Hindu temple on a site, you should be able to build a mosque."

Obama's comments came amidst a controversy about a Florida pastor's plans to burn the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks unless the proposed Islamic centre was moved away from ground zero in exchange for the burning being called off.

Obama said he recognised the sensitivity in the area because of the 9/11 attacks and acknowledges that family members are continuing to experience pain and anguish over their losses.

However, he urged people to remember who their real enemies are. "We are not at war against Islam. We are at war against terrorist organisations that have distorted Islam or falsely used the banner of Islam," Obama said.

"If we're going to deal with the problems ... (of) reducing the terrorist threat, we need all the allies we can get."

Obama pressed that in fact, the anti-Islam sentiment and a war between the West and Islam is exactly what terrorist organisations are hoping for.

"Al Qaeda, that's what they've been banking on," Obama said. "The overwhelming majority of Muslims are peace-loving - are interested in the same things that you and I are interested in."

Obama stressed it is important that Americans do not believe the entire religion of Islam is offensive.
On Osama bin Laden

The relentless counter terrorism operation in the Af-Pak region has forced al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy to go "deep underground", Obama said, but warned that the US needs to be alert.

"One of the things that we've been very successful at over the last two years is to ramp up the pressure on al Qaeda and their key leaders," Obama said on the eve of the ninth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

"As a consequence, they have been holed up in ways that have made it harder for them to operate," he said.

"And part of what's happened is, is bin Laden has gone deep underground. Even Zawahiri, who is more often out there, has been much more cautious," Obama said.

He said capturing or killing bin Laden and Zawahiri would be extremely important to our national security.

"It doesn't solve all our problems, but it remains a high priority of this administration," Obama told reporters at a White House news conference.

The President acknowledged that even more than eight years of war against terrorism, Americans are not secure and the US needs to be alert.

"I think that, in this day and age, there is always going to be the potential for an individual or a small group of individuals, if they are willing to die, to kill other people," he said, adding "Some of them are going to be very well organised, and some of them are going to be random. That threat is there?.

"It's important, I think, for the American people to understand and not to live in fear; it's just a reality of today's world that there are going to be threats out there," he said.

The President said the US has "greatly improved" the homeland security since 9/11 attacks.

He also warned against overreacting in the face of the threat of terrorism.

He underlined the need to understand that America's strength in part comes from its resilience. It is important, he said, "we don't start losing who we are or overreacting if, in fact, there is the threat of terrorism out there?.”

“We go about our business. We are tougher than them. Our families and our businesses and our churches and mosques and synagogues and our Constitution and our values, that's what gives us strength," he noted.

"We are going to have this problem out there for a long time to come, but it doesn't have to completely distort us, and it doesn't have to dominate our foreign policy. What we can do is to constantly fight against it?,” Obama said.

(With Agencies' inputs)

The idea of religious freedom appeals to American democracy. But American democracy is only a few hundred years old. Hinduism, for thousands of years, has upheld the idea of religious freedom and even in the worst periods of its history when intolerance in the name of caste seemed to prevail, the underlying ideas of oneness contained in its famous Advaitc teachings pulled Hinduism through and today Hinduism is once more poised to spread its essential message of acceptance of many paths to God.

The sentiments of many Americans who see Islam as the source of 9/11 attack cannot be smothered in the name of religious freedom. If it is, it would only fester. Therefore Obama should seek to persuade the Muslims to shift their centre away from near ground zero, at least temporarily, till trust between Christians and Muslims in America are truly rebuilt. Religious freedom to endure should exhibit the spirit of give and take and this should be something that should come from both sides of a dispute. There is no pressing need for Muslims to have a centre so near ground zero, while Americans (a sizeable number) feel it is hurting their sentiments one way or the other. Obama should take the lead in restoring a sense of balance in the ideal of religious freedom.

http://www.zeenews.com/news654312.html

Dismissal of Kerala lecturer incorrect: University

Updated on Thursday, September 09, 2010, 23:23

Kottayam: Lecturer T J Joseph, whose right palm was chopped off by radical activists and who was also sacked, had a ray of hope in getting his job back with the Mahatma Gandhi University syndicate asking his college to re-consider its decision.

After a meeting of the University Syndicate, Vice-Chancellor Rajan Gurukkul told reporters the University body felt that the Church-run Newman college management at Thodupuzha had not followed due procedures while dismissing Joseph from service.

"Considering the procedural flaws and humanitarian consideration, the University would ask the college management to reconsider the action against Joseph," Gurukkal said. Joseph was attacked allegedly by activists of radical outfit Popular Front of India(PFI). The college is affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University.

The college management said it would respond to the University's request after getting the Syndicate's decision in writing.

Asked to comment on the Syndicate's decision, Joseph said he felt relieved to a "certain extent." Jospeh maintained that he has done nothing wrong to hurt the sentiments of anyone or any religion.

Kerala Education Minister M A Baby while hoping that Jospeh will be reinstated said there was a procedural error on the part of the college management while carrying out its action.

Joseph, who is still struggling to recover from the double blow, has sent a letter to the management, requesting that he be reinstated on humanitarian grounds as he had not deliberately done any harm.

He said his salary was his only source of income to sustain his family and that his 25-year record as a teacher had been unblemished.

Joseph, who was teaching Malayalam literature, was first suspended after the question paper row earlier this year and dismissed from service on September 1 on the grounds that he had hurt the religious sentiments of a community.

The college authorities had justified their action, holding that it was necessary to assert the secular credentials of the educational institutions run by the church.

Writers and academics, mostly of pro-Left circles, have rallied round Joseph condemning the college's action as harsh and inhuman as he had suffered physical assault from fanatics.

The Mahatma University Syndicate is also expected to look into the legal aspects of the action against Joseph at its meeting this week. A Syndicate press release said it found the action against the teacher was in "gross violation of procedures".

It also asked the college management to review the dismissal order and "take appropriate further steps in accordance with law, justice and equity."

The syndicate, on considering the proceedings, found there was "naked violation" of Section 63 (Sub-Section 4) of the Mahatma Gandhi University Act, which stipulates the duration within which the educational agency should complete the proceedings, the release said.

As it was a gross error vitiating the entire proceedings, the Syndicate had resolved to direct the college management to review the dismissal order, it said.

-PTI

I think the college was right in sacking the professor who had framed a question in the most irresponsible manner. We have to draw a line between freedom of expression and provocative expressions. The college needed to distance itself from the professor's indiscretion and sacking him was the best way. All those teacher's associations and others who want the professor reinstated should come forward and offer him a job themselves. But they are unlikely to because they would not want their institutions to be in the line of fire from Muslims for being provocative. Having said this much, I must also say the college statement that it would revoke the sack if Muslims agree to it is as idiotic as the professor's act in setting the controversial question. Calling the aggressor to sit in judgement over the victim is shameful. All in all, the college has been making too many selfish calculations in this incident instead of being honest.

http://www.zeenews.com/news654053.html

Need more to assuage anger, say political parties in the Valley

NDTV Correspondent, Updated: September 09, 2010 13:53 IST

New Delhi: As the Centre works on a special Eid peace package for Kashmir, political parties in the Valley have welcomed it with caution.

The Cabinet Committee on Security will meet on Friday to consider the lifting of AFSPA from four districts and other measures to get some normalcy back to the state.

On Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi - his second one-on-one with the PM in less than a month. He also met with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony on Thursday to seek their support ahead of a crucial meeting. Stating that "status quo is not an option," Abdullah wants to end the cycle of violence in his state with an economic and political offering that coincides with Eid.

While the ruling National Conference says diluting or amending the Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA in some areas would be a good beginning, the main Opposition party- the People's Democratic Party (PDP) - says the package should not be seen only as cosmetic.

And both parties believe the Centre needs to follow it up with more measures to assuage the anger in the Valley and respond to the aspirations of the people.

"It's a good beginning if they are diluting or amending the Arms Force Special Powers Act. It has been our endeavour and effort, I mean National Conference's effort, that this should be done. It was way back in the 1990s, when Kashmir was hit by militancy that there was an extraordinary situation where you needed extraordinary acts like Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Now it has declined, so the government of India even now...let's accept...that even if it is late but now if beginning has been made, we should all cooperate and see that Kashmir comes out of this turmoil," says Mehboob Beg of the ruling National Conference.

Senior PDP leader Nizzam-ud-din Bhatt adds, "We will have to see whether it addresses the aspirations, reduces the anger or is received well by the population which is up there against the dispensation and up against a system. This should not be seen as a cosmetic thing. There has to be a sustained serious exercise which addresses the real aspirations and demands and which beats the dissent. Actually, all of us will be seen as facilitators. No doubt we are ready to cooperate but this should not be a compulsive consensus. A compulsive consensus will hardly matter. What matters is assuaging the real feelings of the people."

Since June, when teenager Tufail Mattoo was killed, J&K has been besieged by daily violence and near-constant curfew. More than 60 civilians have died in clashes with security forces, mainly during the stone-pelting protests that fill the streets.

What Abdullah wants to include in his Eid peace offer is a more "humane" version of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA, often criticized for being "draconian" because of the widespread powers it gives to the Army - it guarantees that Army officers can operate without fear of arrest by civil authorities.

Home Minister P Chidambaram is also in favour of amendments to the Act. However, the Army says the Act provides it with essential legal protection, a stand backed fully by Defence Minister AK Antony.

With the Valley heading into winter, the infiltration by militants, like every year, is expected to decrease, allowing the government to consider withdrawing AFSPA from areas where militancy has waned. AFSPA, sources say, may be withdrawn from the districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Jammu and Samba.

Abdullah also wants to push for the release of political prisoners, new employment schemes, swift action against human rights violations, and an all-party meeting on Kashmir, followed by an all-party delegation's visit to his state.

This will be discussed at Friday's Cabinet Committee on Security meeting. A top source says the Kashmir crisis will be discussed "threadbare." What's likely to dominate the agenda is whether to amend AFSPA. Those in favour of changes, sources say, would like to ensure that warrants are secured in advance for arrests, and that grievance cells are able to address citizens' complaints against the Army.

The Defence Ministry's view, however, is that while these amendments are acceptable in a scenario where the Army is called in to aid civil authority -for example, in the case of riots and civil unrest - they are too restricting in Kashmir where the Army has to take on well-trained, heavily-armed fighters.

A truer assessment of the situation would have been to use the word "appease" instead of "assuage" to describe what is happening in Kashmir. The Manmohan Singh government is on the brink of granting Kashmir defacto independence by diluting the Indian Army reach in the disturbed area.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/need-more-to-assuage-anger-say-political-parties-in-the-valley-50696

Cabinet approves caste-based census

Updated on Thursday, September 09, 2010, 13:37

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: Bowing to demands by several political parties, the government on Thursday approved the inclusion of caste in census, which is likely to start from next year.

According to reports, a decision in this regard was taken during a meeting of the Union Cabinet, also attended by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, where the proposal to include caste in the next census exercise was cleared by a voice vote.

The government has also reportedly earmarked Rs 2-3 thousand crores for census, which will be held independently in 2011.

During the door-to-door census, enumerators would only ask respondents their caste and this exercise is likely to cost the exchequer about Rs 2,000 crore.

This will be in addition to the Rs 2,200 crore to be spent on the decadal, and more comprehensive, headcount.

This would also mean that there could be two population figures. One would be thrown up by the decadal headcount and another generated when the caste count is held.

However, in the caste-based census, people would be free not to report their caste, which also raised concerns about some communities exaggerate their numbers.

This trend was witnessed in Nagaland in the 2001 census and the government was forced to conduct the headcount twice.

A decision in this regard was taken by the government earlier and the Union Cabinet has formally endorsed the proposal to include caste in census at today’s meeting.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha that all political parties had supported the idea of including caste in census and there was no need for any "apprehensions" over the issue.

His statement came after leaders of BJP, JD(U), BSP and Samajwadi Party wanted to know as to what happened to the government's promise on caste census, particularly since today was the last day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

Strengthening nationalism has never been the policy of any political party in India except the BJP. Instead of getting rid of the stranglehold of caste over Indian consciousness, the so-called secular progressive political parties and NGOs are in the forefront of enumerating on the basis caste. Ironically, RSS, the largest organization seeking to unite the Hindus on the basis of nationalism, is always called communal and now RSS is about the only organization that is against caste census. Even the BJP has succumbed to the political calculations of supporting this move. May God save our country.

http://www.zeenews.com/news653913.html

Quran burning: PC asks media to exercise restraint

Updated on Thursday, September 09, 2010, 13:08
New Delhi: In the wake of a US pastor's plan to burn copies of the holy Quran on September 11, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday asked the media to exercise restraint over the issue to help maintain peace and harmony.

The Home Minister also condemned the action of the religious leader and said it was aimed at increasing "bitterness and strife" between religious groups.

"We condemn the action of the pastor. It is totally unbecoming of anyone who claims to be a man of religion. We hope that the US authorities will take strong action to prevent such an outrage being committed.

"While we await the action of the US authorities, we would appeal to the media in India both print and visual media to refrain from telecasting visuals or publishing photographs of the deplorable act," Chidambaram said in a statement.

"No one who is interested in maintaining harmony and peace among different sections of the people can condone such action," he said.

A pastor in the United States has threatened to burn copies of the Quran to mark the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Besides the US authorities, religious leaders all over the world have also condemned his proposed action.

"We would also appeal to the media to exercise great restraint over the next couple of days and help in maintaining communal peace and harmony," the Home Minister said.

PTI

Mr. Chidambaram is concerned about an event in America which he worries will hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims. He of course did not bother about hurting Hindus sentiments in India when he used the term "saffron terrorism". Which proves that his concern for non-Indian Muslims is more than his concern for Indian Hindus. Moreover, why does he want to put a shackle on Indian media reporting the event? Did he call for a similar restraint by the Indian media which prominently displayed M.F.Hussain's nude outrage on Hindu sentiments?

http://www.zeenews.com/news653908.html

Blair calls radical Islam 'world’s biggest threat'

Updated on Saturday, September 04, 2010, 12:57
London: Former British prime minister Tony Blair has warned that radical Islam is the greatest threat that the world is facing today.

According to him, radical Islamists believe that whatever is done in the name of their cause, including the use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, is justified.

"After 11 September, rightly or wrongly, I felt the calculus of risk had changed. There is the most enormous threat from the combination of this radical extreme movement and the fact that, if they could, they would use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. You can't take a risk with that happening," the BBC quoted Blair, as saying.

Blair, who led Britain into war in Afghanistan and Iraq, denied that his own policies had fuelled radicalism.

Talking about Chechens, Kashmiris, Palestinians, Iraqis and Afghans, who resisted foreign occupation, he said Western polices were designed to confront radical Islamists because they were "regressive, wicked and backward-looking".

The former prime minister, who is now an international envoy to the Middle East for the international Quartet, also called Iran one of the biggest state sponsors of radical Islam, and needs to be prevented by any means from developing a nuclear weapon.

"We need to give a message to Iran that is very clear - that they cannot have nuclear weapons capability, and we will stop them," he added.

ANI

There is only one Islam whether you call it radical or liberal. The only difference may be that one group is working to control the world through violence while the other group through peaceful but twisted propagation that it alone is the true religion. Either way, Islam does not believe in live and let live. It would be more honest to say that Islam, any which way, has been the world's biggest threat ever since Mohammad destroyed the idols in Mecca and established his religion. Tony Blair needs a tutorial on this.

http://www.zeenews.com/news652860.html

God didn't create the Universe: Stephen Hawking

Updated on Friday, September 03, 2010, 20:46

London: British physicist and mathematician Stephen Hawking says no, arguing in his new book that there need not be a God behind the creation of the universe.

The concept is explored in "The Grand Design," excerpts of which were printed in the British newspaper The Times on Thursday. The book, written with fellow physicist Leonard Mlodinow, is scheduled to be published by Bantam Press on September 9.

"The Grand Design," which the publishers call Hawking's first major work in nearly a decade, challenges Isaac Newton's theory God must have been involved in creation because our solar system couldn't have come out of chaos simply through nature.

But Hawking says it isn't that simple. To understand the universe, it's necessary to know both how and why it behaves the way it does, calling the pursuit "the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything."

"We shall attempt to answer it in this book," he wrote. "Unlike the answer given in 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,' ours won't be simply '42.'"

The number 42 is the deliberately absurd answer to the "Ultimate Question" chosen by sci-fic author Douglas Adams.

Hawking, who is renowned for his work on black holes, said the 1992 discovery of another planet orbiting a star other than the sun makes "the coincidences of our planetary conditions far less remarkable and far less compelling as evidence that the Earth was carefully designed just to please us human beings."

In his best-selling 1988 book "A Brief History of Time," Hawking appeared to accept the possibility of a creator, saying the discovery of a complete theory would "be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God."

But "The Grand Design" seems to step away from that, saying physics can explain things without the need for a "benevolent creator who made the Universe for our benefit."

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing," the excerpt says. "Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to ... set the Universe going."

Hawking retired last year as the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge University after 30 years in the position. The position was once held by Newton.

-PTI

What Hawking is denying is God as creator of the universe who is eternally separate from his creation. This is the postulate of Christianity and Islam. Hinduism has never separated God and His creation, saying all existence is one and the power of creation and destruction is inherent in existence. It is the Hindu conclusion towards which Hawking is moving.

http://www.zeenews.com/news652732.html

God did not create the universe: Hawking

02/09/2010

London: British physicist Stephen Hawking has said that the creation of the universe was a result of the inevitable laws of physics and it did not need God's help.

In his latest book titled "The Grand Design", Hawking writes: "Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist."
He rejects Isaac Newton's theory that the universe did not spontaneously begin to form but was set in motion by God. He wrote in the 1988 book: "If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God."

"It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going," the Daily Telegraph quoted Hawking as writing in his current book.

Hawking argues that the Big Bang which resulted in the creation of the Solar System and planets, including the earth, was the result of the inevitable laws of physics and God was nowhere in the picture. Earlier, a few scientists, including Hawking himself, had said that the sparkplug that kickstarted the universe through the Big Bang was probably provided by God.

Extracts of The Grand Design was published in Eureka magazine in The Times. And in that Hawking is quoted as saying: "It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the Universe going."
Hawking had been putting forward the `no-God' theory for quite some time. In June, he had told a Channel 4 series that a "personal" God did not exist.

"The question is: is the way the universe began chosen by God for reasons we can't understand, or was it determined by a law of science? I believe the second. If you like, you can call the laws of science 'God', but it wouldn't be a personal God that you could meet, and ask questions."

However, there are unexplained phenomena in astrophysics. For example, researchers are yet to identify the `dark matter' that comprise over 75 per cent of the universe. Black holes, dark energy and God's particle -- phenomena that resulted either in the formation of the universe or in its death, have not been conclusively explained by science.

The Grand Design, co-written by American physicist Leonard Mlodinow, is published on September 9.
Source: IANS, India Syndicate

K.Venugopal
#3
Friday, 03 September 2010 11:50:25
Hawking is both right and wrong. Right because there is no personal God sitting out there, having created the universe and now running it and later on to judge its inhabitants. Wrong because God is none other than life or the enlivener in us and is therefore the subject vis-a-vis the living and is therefore very much a personal God as only the subject can be. What Hawking is actually discrediting is the belief in God as the creator, eternally separate from His creation. This is purely a concoction of Abrahamic religions of Christianity and Islam. Hinduism does not believe in a creator that is separate from creation. Hinduism believes all existence is one, which existence displays its creative and destructive powers. God is therefore inherent in existence according to Hinduism and any separation is only maya or illusion. This is the conclusion Hawking is heading towards.

http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4332342&page=0