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Islam's other victims: INDIA

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Somebody just sent me this link. Of course, this was published in Nov. 2002; nevertheless, a factual historical pespective by Serge Trifkovic who received his PhD from the University of Southampton in England and pursued postdoctoral research at the Hoover Institution at Stanford. His past journalistic outlets have included the BBC World Service, the Voice of America, CNN International, MSNBC, U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Times of London, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He is foreign affairs editor of Chronicles.
 
Silverfox, kindly post the link. Thanks

silverfox said:
Somebody just sent me this link. Of course, this was published in Nov. 2002; nevertheless, a factual historical pespective by Serge Trifkovic who received his PhD from the University of Southampton in England and pursued postdoctoral research at the Hoover Institution at Stanford. His past journalistic outlets have included the BBC World Service, the Voice of America, CNN International, MSNBC, U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Times of London, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He is foreign affairs editor of Chronicles.
 
its a sad situation that none of the other countries recognize india's fight against islamist jehad.
there was a wonderful discussion about this in CNN IBN where a Telegraph reporter himself acknowledged this.
unless we get something similar to 9/11 i am afraid it will be an Indian War only :(
 
here is an Amazing Speech by an Arab Woman to The Arab Nation

Arab-American Psychiatrist Wafa Sultan: There is No Clash of
Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentality of the Middle Ages and That
of the 21st Century

the video of that "great Arab lady" was sanitised and censored, and that was not the full transcript. The full transcipt of the show can be seen here.

http://www.aqoul.com/archives/2006/0...eera_trans.php

PDF file: http://aqoul.com/images/wafa_sultan.pdf
 
Dear Sri Silverforx,

A very good posting. Keep up your research!

With regards and Narayanasmrithi,
Anbu
 
Dear Sri Anbu
Thank you for your encouragement. Here is another one, sent to me. The first one written by none other than a Muslims gentleman!


The Vedic crusade - 1
By Anwar Shaikh
(All Hindu scriptures speak of unending war between Devas and Asuras. It is for this reason that all Hindu Gods and goddesses are shown carrying weapons. These weapons are not for just show, but for use also. All Devas use these weapons very frequently when need arises. But a leader like Gandhi has made Hindus impotent by his philosophy of Ahimsa; while the truth is Hindu religion is most militant religion in the world. In modern circumstances, there is absolute necessity that militant nature of Hinduism be revived and all sorts of Ahimsa be discarded for the survival of Hinduism. Allah is so weak that Islamic nations must compel Islam as the state religion and relies on terrorist to defend him.)
The Hindu mind, persistently hypnotized by the false lullaby of AHIMSA, is likely to be raked, rocked and ruffled by the concept of the Vedic Crusade, whose validity is irrefutable, but has been concealed over centuries by those, who have preferred personal glory to the national interest.
I must make it clear that the Hindus are not just a religious group, but a nation, which is formed by blood ties, a motherland, language, culture, mutual economic interest, and (possible) religion.
All these factors apply to the Hindus to make them a distinct nation. In fact, when religion is considered a personal affair and not regarded as an element of nationhood, all Indians, irrespective of their faith, rank as one nation. Thus, culture i.e. their way of life assumes the leading role in national life. The Indian culture is essentially Vedic though people belonging to other religions may deny this truth. For example, the Muslims of India may claim that they practice Arabic culture but this does not hold good because they have a different homeland, a different language, different foods and a different economic interests from the Arabs. Above all, they have no blood ties with the Arabs. Nor have their language and dress any similarity with those of the Arabs. The idea of the Muslim nationhood is just a myth, which has failed to materialize in the world: Pakistan and Bangladesh serve as pertinent illustrations.
The division of mankind into nations is a natural process. Thus, nationalism is a blessing and is not blight. The amelioration of group life is not possible without adoption of national morality: Neither the refractory development of individuality can be checked without respect for national individuality can be checked without respect for national dignity and survival. The movements such as Nazism and Fascism represented schizophrenia and not nationalism, which is based on respect for the fellow-humans.
The Hindus are a nation but have lacked national luster despite having tremendous material and intellectual resources. It is because they have failed to practice the Vedic Culture. Yet, one cannot blame the ordinary Hindu, who has been led to believe that snow is hot and fire is cold, sparrow is the master and hawk is the slave, lion is a coward and jackal is brave. Since I am not writing fiction, I may not prolong this rhetoric and declare immediately that the Vedic Culture is essentially martial because it gives sword and spear a high significance in life. When one opens the Rig-Veda, one finds every word dancing with heroic music, expressing clatter of swords and sounds of flying arrows, restlessly chasing their targets. Pity, this Divine Message has been ridiculed by those, who claim to be the true preacher and political leaders of the nation. They have led their followers to believe that the Vedic Culture is the ambassador of Ahimsa i.e. non-violence. In practice, it has come to mean evading the serious challenges of life through flight, and escaping flight at all cost. This attitude has made Hindus, the most cowardly people on earth, leading to their devaluation, degradation and disgrace, yet they think of this abomination as the greatest purity, piety and probity.
The martial nature of the Vedic Culture is proven by the fact that all the Vedic Codes are warriors, who long for a battle and victory. I may give a brief sketch of the three major Gods of the Rig-Veda, namely Indra, Agni and Brahmanaspati, who amply represent the character of the other Vedic Gods:

1. Indra.
The Lord Indra of the Vedic Age, now receded into oblivion for centuries, once mirrored the heroism associated with India, which made this land the fountain of human civilization through dare, discipline and display of courage. He is ordinarily considered the rain-god, who conquers the demons of the drought, darkness and devastation with his thunderbolt. Though this description of Indra may please a student of mythology, it annoys a serious searcher of the truth because Indra of India represented the noblest concept of Divinity during that time of history when most of humanity was still a cave- dweller. It shows the pre-eminence of India in philosophy and the subjects naturally allied with it. This is why that Veda, the Indian Scripture means knowledge, which is the source of higher way of life.

The modern science has established this fact beyond doubt that the entire universe is made of the same substance, and therefore, basically moon, monkey and man are one and same thing. Therefore this universe is nothing but the expression of unity in diversity, and diversity in unity. Just look at the following verses to realise that the philosophical Doctrine of Monism, as the theory of the cosmic oneness has come to be known, is the Vedic gift to mankind:

"he of whom this entire world is but the copy,
who shakes things moveless, He, O men,
is INDRA." (Rg.ii:XII: 9)

Thus, no matter, what form a thing may have, it is a copy of Indra because he is the moving force behind everything. It is really stunning to describe at such an early point of time that existence owes itself to motion! And this is not an accidental statement but a seriously thought description of the metaphysical truth:
"In every figure he hath been the model:
(To be continued)
====================
Leaders of Bharat are traitors to nation and Hindus
Musharraf needs to know Islamic Terrorism is coming out of Quran, its not a political movement, its a religious movement and a clash of civilizations. Its only Muslim suicide bombers who shout "Allahu-Akbar" when they kill.
Hindus, Jews or Christians do not quote from their scriptures while killing. And Muslims are killing everywhere, not just one part of the world.

India is run by left wing, morally bankrupt, Muslim appeasers (brain washed ones from post Indian independence). They are the first ones to run away from their Hindu brethrens killed every day in Kashmir and have love fests with fanatic Muslims and hate full Pakis. This very bunch is all out to help the Palestinian cause and forgets that a tiny Jewish minority is facing the wrath of these radical surrounding them in Israel.
These cowards would go around changing names like Bombay and Chennai, and forget cities like Allahabad,
Ahmadabad and many more. This bunch has no clue of the destruction done in the name of Allah in Kashmir
and many parts of North and south India.

Many Hindus are against Hindus. Many Hindus make statement about the god being in the heart and not in a temple. This is a classic statement used by all those who are against Hindus and against the construction of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
Human race cannot survive so long as dogmas of Bible, Koran & the Indian Constitution prevail.
(Continued to next posting ........)


 
India was divided because Jinnah said he wanted Indian Muslims to have land of their own, Pakistan. Once Muslims got Pakistan which was created on religion, still many Muslims didn't leave India. The reason was they wanted further division of India. Lo and behold, decades later they want Kashmir now, again on basis of religion. And wait, tomorrow these Muslims will want Hyderabad, then Aligarh, then Luck now.....Islamic terror has no end. On top of that, Muslims want Kashmiri terrorists to be pardoned who killed so many of our jawans who fought with them outside the Parliament. Obviously these people are more loyal to a terrorist Muslim brother, than to security of Motherland, India. For them loyalty towards a Muslim brother comes before loyalty towards the country they live in. Simple!
Modi's speech
This is about a one hour speech but is worth listening to. The speech is in Hindi and makes great sense. Modi deserves to lead Bharat that is currently n the hands of people with no vigor, no hope, and no plan to help save
Bharat.
Speech of Mr. Narendra Modi in Mumbai after explosions in Local Train (Video)

http://www.haindavakeralam.org/PageModule.aspx?PageID=1952&SKIN=B
------------------
The article "Criminalization of Kerala" by Dr. Babu Suseelan, clearly provides the evidence why Hindutva is absolutely necessary. Due process of civilized government has collapsed in Kerala. Therefore, covert military force and commando type operations are necessary to protect and preserve Hindu Culture in Kerala. One must fight fire with fire. Kerala is rapidly become the next Kashmir. It is the 12th hour.

Hindus must do what it takes to protect and promote themselves. American and other prominent Hindus of the world must be the ones to lead the charge because they are safe and can coordinate the money and logistics that are necessary to get the job done.
Hindus must start the Holy Hindu War for protection of Hindu religion.
Hindutva: Hindutva means Hindus who uncompromisingly demand that India be declared a Hindu nation and pursue this aggressively, and expect to use military force if necessary.
The Key point is: "Hindus expect to use military force if necessary
For Hindutva to be effective in preserving and protecting the mother land Hindu point of view must be preached and implemented. . The enormous amount of atrocities Hindus have suffered the past 1000 years right up to partition of Bharat and Kashmir demand that a Hindu nation be formed. Rather, human justice and decency "scream out" that a Hindu nation be formed.
==================
 
Some more info

Silverfox and others,
I read Serge's article and he has reiterated what many historians have observed. Yes it is a sad truth that, all this information is lost on the general Indian populace.
It is a known fact that any organisation, group or religion whose main motto is hatred against other ethnic groups is dangerous. soviet communists and nazis are glaring examples of this. Their holy books/leaders , stalin/lenin in soviet union and Hitler and his nazi propaganda in Germany , were responsible for some of the most inhuman acts and cruel treatment of fellow humans. And thank fully both disappeared. There are jewish holocaust memorials in Washington DC and other places, and they serve the purpose of educating the public about the atrocities committed by these flawed ideologies.
There are a lot of similarities of these ideologies with Islam, but I do not see anybody realising that in India. Koran , ( though it contains a lot of good things,) also contains seeds of hatred against the so called infidels. This is a fact and this alone is responsible for lot of jihad that one sees in India.
If jewish holocaust is officially recognised and measures taken so that nothing like it ever surfaces again, why cant we do the same with Islam in india. Why can not we have museums that highlight the atrocities against Hindus. They will serve to remind people of the dangers of a flawed religion.

And attempts should be made to purge Islamic preachings of any references/hatred against other religions. If Muslims are not willing to introspect and examine their religion in the modern context, clashes are bound to happen. Should not Muslims ponder what will happen if other religions also had similar hatred in their scriptures, they may find it hard to survive in India.

Hinduism had the caste system and other ills, but the goverment has taken measures to eradicate it by various means and in general the rest of hindus are open , though relucatanctly , to these changes. Why cant the same thing happen to Islam in India, atleast some reforms can be initiated.

( disclaimer: This is not to generalise that moderate Muslims do not exist, infact I have come across many liberal muslims more liberal than Hindus, but what bothered me is that they do not raise a voice against the hard core elements in their religion )

- Krishnamoorthy
 
praveen said:
its a sad situation that none of the other countries recognize india's fight against islamist jehad.
there was a wonderful discussion about this in CNN IBN where a Telegraph reporter himself acknowledged this.
unless we get something similar to 9/11 i am afraid it will be an Indian War only :(

Praveen,
Forget other countries. Within India, do you think the threat posed by Islamic Fundamentalism is fully recognised ? We have an UP Chief Minister who gives a clean chit to SIMI, we have a Left Front (sob's) which didn't utter a word when 200 lives were lost in Mumbai blasts, we have a former & current CM of J&K pleading for clemency for Afzal, i mean the list is endless. Instead of clamouring for international support, the need of the hour is for the Indian Govt to first accept that there is a problem & then evolve a strategy to contain, mitigate & eliminate terrorism of any kind. India is behaving like a cry baby while what the citizens expect is a firm, iron-handed response. Especially if India wants to be a UN Security Council Member & play a more meaningful role in the international arena, it should first demonstrate that it has the willingness & the wherewithal to put it's own house in order first.
 
Vedic trail

Dear Silverfox and others,
I saw this link and I have a few points to make.

The photographs about red fort and the descriptions about the traces of vedic architecture is correct. Not only this , these traces can be found in almost all the mosques built in the North India, including Varanasi and Mathura. I studied in Varanasi ( Banaras Hindu University ) and I have seen the gyanvapi mosque at close quarters and I have actually seen stoneworks of some of the walls bearing hindu goddesses.

The part I do not agree fully in this link of yours is about the vedic influence in other parts of the world including Greece and Egypt. While the pictures in the link are no doubt genuine, saying they are part of a vedic culture may not be entirely true.
What should be recognised is that, before the advent of Christianity and Islam later, the whole swathe of land from Greece all the way to Indonesia, there were a variety of religious practices followed. Some were animist and some involved a collection of gods. Most of them could collectively be termed as paganism.
The pagan gods from Greece, Egypt , Persia, India all seemed to have a common set of gods and goddesses. Of coures over a period of time there were local influences. The main features were worship of sun god, ( perhaps indicative of the importance of fire to a people originally from the russian steppes ! ) , moon god , a goddess for learning etc. Mithraism is once such religious belief in ancient Greece and Turkey.
What scholars suspect is that , ancient vedic Hinduism is some sort of a blend of this common paganism and local religious practices.
The image about Australian bushmen wearing a tilok does not make much sense. Through out the world it is common to have marks on the face and forehead in primitive cultures. A vertical line on the forehead does not really mean it is vedic.
That is the reason we see, figures/relics similar to saraswati, indira in many countries from Greece to India. This possibly may not mean that they are all of vedic origin. What they possibly suggest is that these relics come from a pre christian , pre islamic and possibly some sort of proto vedic culture. Claiming that they are vedic may not be verifiable academically and might paint Hindus as people too eager to claim credit for other cultures.

Of course Christianity wiped out Paganism in Europe and Islam wiped everything before that in the middle east.

Please go through these links

Persian Mithraism : http://www.ceisiwrserith.com/mith/whatismith.htm
Greek paganism : http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/index.htm

As our old scriptures say "Truth alone triumphs", should not we be discreet in what we consider as truth and what is speculation?

Thanks,

- Krishnamoorthy
 
Dear Krishnamoorthy:
I agree with your assessment. By the way, when I post some link for members to go see it, I don't necessarily endorse its views. It is for everybody to see, read and form their own conclusions.
 
vijay said:
I am very happy that u people r aware of islam.please visit [URL="http://www.faithfreedom.org."]www.faithfreedom.org.[/URL]

Out of sheer curiosity i visited the above link. It had absolutely incriminating stuff against Islam & all material is blasphemous, that is from a muslim point of view. The owner of this site (proclaimedly an ex-Muslim) makes some startling accusations against Prophet & Islam which obviously I can't comment since i don't know the credibility of these accusations/arguments. Clearly there is some 'deep hatred' which is brewing against Islam, fairly or unfairly but the point is that our community should be guarded against being seen in the 'forefront' of activities which spread malaise against Islam or any other community. Whatever our differences are with the establishment & other caste groups, we cannot afford to get disengaged from the Hindu society. Also considering the lofty ideals that our predecessors stood for, it doesn't suit us to spread any canard against any religion. Let us uphold the dharma of our religion; Let us focus on what is superior in Hindu dharma rather than pointing out what is inferior in other faiths. Let us guard our territory & not encroach upon anyone's.
 
Please refer to the website http://www.jihadwatch.org

The operator of the website, David Spencer, has written a book called "The Truth about Mohammad" ( available on Amazon )

Spencer has done an amazing thing - by relying ONLY on authentic Islamic Hadiths, Suras and other commentaries by respected Islamic scholars, he has gone on to show that Mohammed was

* Extremely violent, treacherous, voracious and a wholly evil man

This one book , above all else, rips open the charade that Muslims try to indulge in by portraying "Islam teaches peace". Spencer asks the question

"If the Muslims revere Mohammed as the Perfect Human Being (al Insan al Kamil ) , and Mohammed was an extremely violent bloodthirsty warmonger, then how can Islam or Muslims be peaceful ?"

Lots of Muslims come on to Jihadwatch.org to criticise the book, but when asked "please point out where the book is WRONG", they fall silent.
 
Last edited:
Islam

Hello Hariharan,
I think there is a difference between making people aware of a religion with fascist overtones and spreading canards against a religion. It is beyond doubt that there are seeds of hatred and intolerance in the Koran. This does not mean that Muslims are bad or non-Muslims should treat them differently.
But everyone should be educated about the threat any extreme ideology poses to a civil democratic society. And this includes Muslims, and perhaps hope that they themselves will initiate a self-introspection and reform process that will hopefully eliminate or remove this attitude that they have towards the so called infidels.
If you read Koran and you will see a set of things a Muslim is allowed to do , when he is dealing with a non-muslim. I do not think you will like these injunctions. Of course i am not saying that all Muslims follow these.


- Krishnamoorthy
 
iam_not_a_tambrahm said:
Dear Silverfox and others,
I saw this link and I have a few points to make.

The photographs about red fort and the descriptions about the traces of vedic architecture is correct. Not only this , these traces can be found in almost all the mosques built in the North India, including Varanasi and Mathura. I studied in Varanasi ( Banaras Hindu University ) and I have seen the gyanvapi mosque at close quarters and I have actually seen stoneworks of some of the walls bearing hindu goddesses.

The part I do not agree fully in this link of yours is about the vedic influence in other parts of the world including Greece and Egypt. While the pictures in the link are no doubt genuine, saying they are part of a vedic culture may not be entirely true.
What should be recognised is that, before the advent of Christianity and Islam later, the whole swathe of land from Greece all the way to Indonesia, there were a variety of religious practices followed. Some were animist and some involved a collection of gods. Most of them could collectively be termed as paganism.
The pagan gods from Greece, Egypt , Persia, India all seemed to have a common set of gods and goddesses. Of coures over a period of time there were local influences. The main features were worship of sun god, ( perhaps indicative of the importance of fire to a people originally from the russian steppes ! ) , moon god , a goddess for learning etc. Mithraism is once such religious belief in ancient Greece and Turkey.
What scholars suspect is that , ancient vedic Hinduism is some sort of a blend of this common paganism and local religious practices.
The image about Australian bushmen wearing a tilok does not make much sense. Through out the world it is common to have marks on the face and forehead in primitive cultures. A vertical line on the forehead does not really mean it is vedic.
That is the reason we see, figures/relics similar to saraswati, indira in many countries from Greece to India. This possibly may not mean that they are all of vedic origin. What they possibly suggest is that these relics come from a pre christian , pre islamic and possibly some sort of proto vedic culture. Claiming that they are vedic may not be verifiable academically and might paint Hindus as people too eager to claim credit for other cultures.

Of course Christianity wiped out Paganism in Europe and Islam wiped everything before that in the middle east.

Please go through these links

Persian Mithraism : http://www.ceisiwrserith.com/mith/whatismith.htm
Greek paganism : http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/index.htm

As our old scriptures say "Truth alone triumphs", should not we be discreet in what we consider as truth and what is speculation?

Thanks,

- Krishnamoorthy

Dear Krishnamoorthy,
why not to take our rightfull claim of our own culture? why we have to worry abt others? we can follow the paganism(as others call us) then to embrace monotheism(christianity, islam, jew) which try to destroy all other religion.
 
iam_not_a_tambrahm said:
Hello Hariharan,
I think there is a difference between making people aware of a religion with fascist overtones and spreading canards against a religion. It is beyond doubt that there are seeds of hatred and intolerance in the Koran. This does not mean that Muslims are bad or non-Muslims should treat them differently.
But everyone should be educated about the threat any extreme ideology poses to a civil democratic society. And this includes Muslims, and perhaps hope that they themselves will initiate a self-introspection and reform process that will hopefully eliminate or remove this attitude that they have towards the so called infidels.
If you read Koran and you will see a set of things a Muslim is allowed to do , when he is dealing with a non-muslim. I do not think you will like these injunctions. Of course i am not saying that all Muslims follow these.


- Krishnamoorthy

Hi Krishnamoorthy,

Your point well noted. However what i was trying to guard against is 'Hindus', specifically Brahmins being seen in the forefront of formenting hatred against Islam. Since you have specifically called yourselves as "Not a Tambram", pls permit me to say the following & hope you wouldn't consider it offensive - In today's scenario, an average Non Brahmin feels & identifies himself more closely with the other minorities because the politicians have cleverly made them joint stakeholders in their "battle" against the Brahmins. Now under this situation, If brahmins unwittingly engage in any kind of propoganda against Islam, then it will spell doom for them (us). It's a case of "Your Enemy is My Enemy" since they are both "crusaders" against the common foe viz, Brahmin. Ofcourse there are Krishnamoorthy's who can see the larger picture of Hinduism but i hope you will agree the numbers aren't very large atleast in TN.

Also my reason for calling this "canard" is that the website had some extremely offensive stuff against Prophet at a personal level & i am not sure anyone should propogate it. It's fine to argue on the finer points of Islam but to make sweeping accusations against someone (who purpotedly lived between 571 AD - 632 AD, courtesy wiki) isn't something to be encouraged. Especially the link coming from Vijay who is 20 according to his public profile, i am concerned since i don't want the "young minds" to be polluted & biases formed at such an formative age.
 
hariharan1972 said:
Hi Krishnamoorthy,

Your point well noted. However what i was trying to guard against is 'Hindus', specifically Brahmins being seen in the forefront of formenting hatred against Islam. Since you have specifically called yourselves as "Not a Tambram", pls permit me to say the following & hope you wouldn't consider it offensive - In today's scenario, an average Non Brahmin feels & identifies himself more closely with the other minorities because the politicians have cleverly made them joint stakeholders in their "battle" against the Brahmins. Now under this situation, If brahmins unwittingly engage in any kind of propoganda against Islam, then it will spell doom for them (us). It's a case of "Your Enemy is My Enemy" since they are both "crusaders" against the common foe viz, Brahmin. Ofcourse there are Krishnamoorthy's who can see the larger picture of Hinduism but i hope you will agree the numbers aren't very large atleast in TN.

Also my reason for calling this "canard" is that the website had some extremely offensive stuff against Prophet at a personal level & i am not sure anyone should propogate it. It's fine to argue on the finer points of Islam but to make sweeping accusations against someone (who purpotedly lived between 571 AD - 632 AD, courtesy wiki) isn't something to be encouraged. Especially the link coming from Vijay who is 20 according to his public profile, i am concerned since i don't want the "young minds" to be polluted & biases formed at such an formative age.

Dear Hariharan,
I see your point. It makes sense not to take sites like these seriously, as they might erode the credibility of this tamilbrahmins web site itself. True, spreading misinformation against a prophet may not serve any purpose.

But I still think that people should be educated ( perhaps not in the way this particular website posted by Vijay, is doing ! ) about the dangers of any fascist ideology/religion. Many years down the line , these religions/ideologies may even endanger the existence of India. And I personally feel Islam is in serious need of reform, and it is better if it comes from within.

Yes I am not a brahmin, but I am not offended by your comments at all. This is a free country, you are as free to express your opinion as I or anybody else is.

- Krishnamoorthy
 
Hi hariharan, I meant no offence.u please read certain muslim journals & u could understand the threat being posed to all infidel faiths(especially for pagans like hindus).
 
The persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh has been going on for sometime now, despite protests from Hindus all over the world. This is the first, however, that the US has formally acknowledged the terrible plight of hindus in Bangladesh and are calling the Bangladesh government's to attention over this.


Bangladesh slammed for persecution of Hindus

Author: Aziz Haniffa in Washington, DC
Publication: Rediff.com
Date: November 2, 2006
URL: http://ia.rediff.com/news/2006/nov/02aziz.htm

The US Commission on International Religion Freedom slammed Bangladesh for continuing persecution of minority Hindus. It also urged the Bush administration to get Dhaka to ensure protection of religious freedom and minority rights before the next national elections in January.
In a new report titled 'Policy Focus on Bangladesh', released on Capitol Hill last week, the USCIRF, an independent, bipartisan federal agency funded by the US Congress, said that since its last election, 'Bangladesh has experienced growing violence by religious extremists, intensifying concerns expressed by the countries religious minorities'.

It noted that 'Hindus are particularly vulnerable in a period of rising violence and extremism, whether motivated by religious, political or criminal factors, or some combination'.

The commission, includes one South Asian American, former New York solicitor general Preeta Bansal, now an attorney with the New York-headquartered Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher and From.

'The position of Hindus has multiple disadvantages: perceived identification with India, an alleged preference for one of Bangladesh's two major political parties, and religious beliefs abhorred by Muslim fundamentalists', it noted.

The report said that in many instances, 'such violence appears aimed at encouraging Hindus to flee in order to seize their property in what is a desperately land-poor country'. It recalled that during and immediately after Bangladesh's Parliamentary election in October 2001, 'there were numerous reports of illegal land seizures, arson, extortion, sexual assault, and intimidation of religious minority group members, particularly Hindus'.

The report, drawn up after commission members, including Bansal, visited Bangladesh, said that 'minority group representatives and human rights groups with whom the commission met ascribed these attacks to armed militant groups or to partisans of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is led by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

'As Hindus and other non-Muslims are popularly perceived to favor the Awami League, intimidating Hindu voters was viewed as a way to help to the BNP and its Islamic allies in the elections', it stated.

The Commission warned the lack of accountability for crimes reported against minority groups in the previous election promoted an atmosphere of impunity and for a renewal of violence against Hindus and other non-Muslims in the upcoming election.

It said that during meetings with the commission, Hindus said they feared political manipulation of voter registration process that could have them excluded from voter rolls. They said government representatives administering the process overlooked minority neighborhoods.
'Hindu leaders with whom the commission met also described problems their children faced in gaining access to religious education in their own religion, as is supposed to be the case in Bangladesh's public education system', the report said.

The commission urged the Bush administration to 'face up to the seriousness of the threat facing Bangladesh and to lead the international community in monitoring the January 2007 elections'.

It also called on Washington to urge Dhaka to prevent anti-minority violence during the election and to encourage the Bangladesh government to address religious extremism and violence.

The Hindu American Foundation applauded the report and commended the commission on the recommendations it submitted to the administration. The commission had invited the HAF as a respondent at a meeting it convened on Capital Hill to coincide with the report's release.
Ishani Chowdhury, HAF's executive director, told rediff.com the commission's policy brief reiterates the foundation's concern about the situation of the minority Hindus in Bangladesh.
She said the commission's report was in concert with the HAF's detailed report on human rights violations in Bangladesh against minority Hindus.

That report was released some months ago at a Capitol Hill event presided over by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican, Florida), the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.

Chowdhury said it is imperative that steps be taken to protect the Hindu population, which has dropped from 30 percent of the population in 1947 to 9.6 percent now, and to ban discriminatory laws and practices. "Our hope is that this message is carried forth and long-term action taken before it truly becomes too late," she said.

Recalling HAF's annual human rights report, Chowdhury said, "The low-scale religious cleansing of the already shrinking minority Hindu population in Bangladesh is of grave concern to not only the Hindu American Foundation but also to those who share the ethos of pluralism and tolerance."

During the forum, former Bangladeshi ambassador to the US Tariq Karim, now an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, warned that the homogenous Bangladesh population, 96 percent of whom are ethnic Bengali speakers, are now deeply polarised because of the Islamisation of the polity, enabled and encouraged by the ruling BNP government as well as by previous military and quasi-military administrations.

He warned that what happens in Bangladesh in January 2007 would affect the Indian subcontinent in a major way.Karim said that the proposed head of the caretaker government, which will assume office in end-October should step aside 'because he once served in the BNP' and, so, lacks credibility."Moreover, the BNP-led government deliberately raised the retirement age of high court justices from 65 to 67 years so that the current chief justice of the Supreme Court would become the chief adviser to the caretaker government," he said.

Karim said the secretariat of the Election Commission should be separated from the prime minister's office 'to restore the credibility of the Election Commission'.Selig Harrison, director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy - a Washington-based think tank, said the 'unhealthy and dangerous influence of oil-money' being poured into Bangladesh had encouraged the collusion of government officials with Islamist groups and the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's intelligence agency.

He described the Election Commission as a farce and said it had already decided there would be 93 million voters, 13 million more than there are actual voting age citizens, in the upcoming election. "This will allow ballot-stuffing in a grand scale," he said.He also pilloried the US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Patricia Butenis, for describing Bangladesh as a moderate Muslim state, saying this kind of praise seemed to endorse the BNP's lack of protection for minorities in the country and encouraged its strategy of working with extremist Islamist parties responsible for the persecution of minorities.

Cynthia Burton of the International Republican Institute said the two main political parties in Bangladesh, the BNP and the Awami League, were involved in a zero-sum game and, hence, not interested in changing the status quo in Bangladesh.She said the core institutions in the country are weak and are being further undermined and destabilised by the present government.

Patrick Merloe of the National Democratic Institute said both the BNP and the Awami League's nomination process were 'driven by money and muscle power' and spoke of the abusive measures the police took to break up political rallies.

This hostility between the two parties, he said, 'has led to political instability', and added, 'neither party has encouraged constructive opposition'.​
 
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http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/mar/06bihar.htm

Backward Muslims protest denial of burial

A section of Muslims in Bihar are up in arms against the more affluent and powerful section of Muslims for denying them entry into graveyards on the grounds of lower caste status.

In the last one-year, a few cases have surfaced where the backward or lower caste Muslims faced trouble over easy entry for burial in graveyards and in two or three cases they were not allowed to bury. They finally resorted to burying the body outside the graveyard.

The Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz and All India United Muslim Morcha, both based in Bihar and being the socio-political front of backward Muslims, have threatened to launch a movement against the powerful upper caste Muslim elite on this issue.

Mahaz president Ali Anwar has expressed deep concern over the denial burial rights at different graveyards in the name of cast in more than six districts in Bihar.

AIUMM president Dr M Ajaj Ali, who had championed the cause of backward Muslims in Bihar in the 90s and whom he termed as 'Dalit Muslims', first raised the issue about the denying of burial rights.

He that disallowing of a particular Muslim burial in a graveyard on the grounds of caste is against the basic tenants of Islam. "Where is the caste system in Islam, there is no basis of caste in Islam, but it is being practiced and creating trouble in social harmony," he said.

Anwar claimed that some people have been denied access to a graveyard despite having vasiyatnama [validity for entry] in Jahanabad district a few months ago. "Some powerful people disallowed burial of Salim Ansari in the graveyard on the ground of caste," he said.

He has decided to stage a dharna [protest], along with a team of his Mahaz. "We have recorded instances in which people belonging to lower Muslim caste have been stopped from burying their dead," he said.

Both leaders in separate statements have urged the All India Muslim Personal Law Board to intervene into the matter before it is too late. "I would like to appeal to Board to leave the political issues in the hands of politicians and instead take religious issues related with Muslim community like this to resolve it," Ali said.

Though the number of such cases of denying entry for burial in graveyard is still rare, the issue raised by leaders of backward Muslims has added a new twist to the entire issue.

Usually, there is a common graveyard for all Muslim in a Muslim village or mohalla where all of them have being burying their dead for ages. But there still are a few villages where the backward Muslims are forced to create a separate graveyard for them.

In Bihar, backward Muslim leaders have demanded job quotas for backward Muslims claiming they are equal to Hindu backward community.
They claim that over 75 percent of the Muslim community comprising backward Muslims, including the Ansari, Kunjra, Churihara, Dhobi and Halalkhor.

The upper caste Muslim comprises of Syed, Sheikh, Pathan [Khan] and Mallik.
 
Casteism in Islam

I corroborate.

During my good old days in Chennai mid 90s i remember reading an article by Mr Asghar Ali Engineer in 'The Hindu' about 'backward muslims' being persecuted by 'Upper caste Muslims'. Probably searching the archives, one could pickup the article.

Also one of my Muslim friends while discussing Pakistan also mentioned the casteism prevalent in Pakistan amongst Muslims. And similar to the rediff article he did mention that 'Syeds' are among the "Upper Caste" Muslim clan.

The third 'evidence' (???) i can relate is mention of casteism in Musharaff's book.

So the guys who take the 'anti-Hindu' plank on the pretext of casteism would do well to take note of this.
 
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