In Search of the Moderate Muslim

Hats off to the 10,000 Delhi `untouchables` who converted to Buddhism over the weekend (the Pakistani feudals refer to their own `untouchables) as ``those people``). Refreshing

to have one remaining religion that doesn`t

dangerously claim to have `God` in its hip pocket.

DALITS BREAK SANGH WALL FOR BUDDHA



FROM KAY BENEDICT



New Delhi, Nov. 4:

Ten thousand Dalits today crammed Ambedkar Bhavan in the capital and embraced Buddhism, scaling obstacles laid by suspected supporters of the Sangh parivar and a section of the government.

The bold bid to challenge the caste system in Hinduism also saw the rise of a new Dalit leader, Ram Raj, who has set sights on the preserves of Kanshi Ram, Mayavati and Ramvilas Paswan.

The mass conversion did not come close to the originally projected million-man-mark. But the administration’s overdrive to seal roads to the capital and a “mysterious” misinformation campaign to turn the Dalits back betrayed the nervousness among opponents of the conversion.

Ram Raj dropped the ‘Ram’ in his name and rechristened himself Udit Raj. So did another leader, Neth Ram, who became Neth Raj.

Udit Raj, a deputy director with the income-tax department and chief of a confederation of scheduled castes and tribes that boasts a membership of 40 lakh, said three lakh people could not reach Delhi as they were stopped at the border by police.

He said rumours of violence, misleading information and cancellation of permission by the police to hold the ceremony at the Ramlila grounds led to the thin attendance. An activist showed a “mysterious banner” announcing cancellation of the ceremony, several of which were plastered along the route to the venue.

Udit Raj was the first to convert to Buddhism amid chanting of mantras in the ancient language of Pali by monks before a brass Buddha statue and photograph of B.R. Ambedkar, who had pulled off a mass-conversion coup nearly half a century ago.

Udit Raj’s family members followed next. Udit Raj and several others who took part in the conversion tonsured, too. “The name change and tonsuring are not compulsory,” said Prakash Kumar from Bihar, who changed his name to Buddha Prakash.

Udit Raj had earlier said he would convert one million Dalits to express their rage against social stratification. However, after objections from the Sangh parivar and the government became pronounced, he scaled down the target to one lakh.

The venue was changed to Ambedkar Bhavan at the last minute as the police cancelled permission for the ceremony at the Ramlila grounds. The assembled thousands were told to raise their hand in affirmation and take five vows as hundreds of riot police stood outside. The five don’ts: Harming any living being, telling lies, committing adultery, drinking and worshipping idols.

Udit Raj said the police withdrew permission to use the Ramlila Grounds “at the behest of the RSS and VHP”.

A few Christian leaders also addressed the Dalits.

re. hamza afaqui and `moderate` Muslims

afaqui... quite agree with you there. I`ve always felt moderation was for the irresolute or the wishy-washy.

However, would you call a Muslim who chooses to follow the spirit but not always the letter of the book a Muslim or not? A moderate?

rgds,

PM

re. #361

Eklavya, you wrote:

``For that to happen, he has to demonstrate that he has some genuine long-term vision and the guts to fight for that vision, INDEPENDENT of the current crisis and INDEPENDENT of international compulsions. In managerial terminology, he has to bring about what the nation desperately needs - a bout of internally generated ``second loop learning.`` If he doesn`t do that, we will be worshipping another god with feet of clay.``

Well said! So far Mushy`s `right` moves have been really the only ones he could make under the cirsumstances. The true tests lie ahead. Maybe.

rgds,

Pat

[Ab kya bataaye, babu...if you and Shirin, Kiran, Temporal are around I may break into that old chirpy number, ``Paan khaaye saiyyan hamaro, saavli sooratiya, honth laal-laal, Hae-hae mulmul ka kurta...``]

Lol! Sahi ji, Farzana aur gaana....yaar mujhey saath to nahi deina parey ga...can`t really sing na. Problem hojaye gi. Shirin aur Temporal sey poochtey hein, if they can carry a tune? And speaking of temporal, mausoof ki vacation lambi nahi hogi, kehaan nikal gaye? Naqaar-khaaney mein unki barri kammi hay.

That Rummi translation was beautiful. Haunting imagery. Thanks for sharing.

Regards,

Kiran :)

anNY: Thanks. I am glad you have christian friends who discuss their concerns. Simple words and gestures of support from ordinary people of the majority community mean a lot to the minority community in troubled times anywhere. So, thanks on behalf of minorities everywhere.

shankar: Thanks for the kind words. There are people more deserving than myself of these words -anNy of course, rjanjua and 135 million other Pakistanis. There are bigots, but I really dont think Pakistan enjoys a greater share of bigots than any other society.

asif #349 ``because all those who reject belief in Allah AND His Messenger (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and the basic tenets of Islam (the ``zaruriyat-e-deen``) are kaafirs [`those who reject`/infidels/non-believers]. ``

Read the Quran. It says over and over again that determining who is right and who is wrong is God`s business, to be conducted on the Judgement Day, not that of man. But you and urstruly obviously think you have an authority that the Quran clearly says is not given even to the Prophet. I assume therefore that you have been given the Power of Attorney by God to pass judgement on whether someone is a kafir or not. And that you will be able to present it to God at the time. Given your faith in intercessors to ``guide`` to in matters of religion, given your self-proclaimed ``guilty as charged`` on assuming an authority denied by God to even the Holy Prophet, I think my friend you will be sitting on a hot seat one day. If you believe in the Judgement Day and the Quran that is.

As for yours having missed urstruly`s crude and insulting way of referring to people of a certain religion on chowk, it is convenient sometimes to look the other way, right? This violates another Quranic injunction - honesty.

If you had a traffic ticket for every time you violated the Quran, by now your car would have been towed away and your driver`s licence revoked.

For anyone who missed it, here`s Arundhati Roy`s second article (since 9/11) on tehelka....

War is Peaceon a War Footing

http://www.tehelka.com/channels/commentary/2001/oct/27/printable/com102701warpr.htm

enjoy!

rajajanjua sahib--i never said that anyone who doesn`t agree with my islamic beliefs should be killed--that is a lie and a slander against me and you know it. i did say that i believe 100% in the TRADITIONAL ORTHODOX SUNNI view that anyone who insults Allah`s Messenger sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam should be killed if proven guilty. THat is not a new belief made up by me or by 20th century ``mullahs`` it is what Muslims have believed and acted on since the time of the Prophet alayhisalatosalam himself. it is you modernists who want to change islam to suit your worldview.

finally it surprises me how someone can call Allah`s Revealed Law (Shar`iat) as ``idiotic`` and stupid and still claim to be a Muslim in the same breath...?

Doesn`t the Qur`an say, ``Obey Allah and obey the Messenger`` ? and ``Whatever the (beloved) Messenger

gives you take, and whatever he stops you from, refrain?

you should seriously learn islam from someone who knows and renew your iman.

[Ab kya bataaye, babu...if you and Shirin, Kiran, Temporal are around I may break into that old chirpy number, ``Paan khaaye saiyyan hamaro, saavli sooratiya, honth laal-laal, Hae-hae mulmul ka kurta...``]

Lol! Sahi ji, Farzana aur gaana....yaar mujhey saath to nahi deina parey ga...can`t really sing na. Problem hojaye gi. Shirin aur Temporal sey poochtey hein, if they can carry a tune? And speaking of temporal, mausoof ki vacation lambi nahi hogi, kehaan nikal gaye? Naqaar-khaaney mein unki barri kammi hay.

That Rummi translation was beautiful. Haunting imagery. Thanks for sharing.

Regards,

Kiran :)

Ref Jay #: 318

d[One of the rulers of kerala, Cheraman Perumal distributed all his wealth, went to saudi, converted to islam, and married a close relative, some say the sister of the man himself. It is said in history books of kerala that his tomb is still there and is preserved by the saudis.]

Didn`t hear the story of Cheraman Perumal when I was in Kerala.

[keralites also claim that St thomas, the asal deciple of christ came to kerala and converted the hindus. So the christians and muslims of kerala are as old as any where else.]

There was actually a documentary on PBS. One Englishman decided to trace the path of St. Thomas the Apostle through Kerala and Tamil Nadu and filmed his journey through South India. St. Thomas is believed to be buried at St. Thomas`s Mount in Madras. The Kerala Christians do not belong to either the Roman Catholic Church or the various Protestant denominations. Theirs is the Mar Thoma Syrian Orthodox Church, which even used to ask the Patriarch of Antioch to nominate their Metropolitan (Archbishop) when the old one died. So there is considerable evidence that Christianity in Kerala is very ancient.

Also, the Jews landed in Kerala in 297 AD at Cranganore. They were received by the local King and granted a charter (inscribed in copper plates) that granted them freedom of worship. One of their synagogues, built in 1600, still stands in Cochin and Jew Town in Cochin is now the spice trading center of the area.

Truth (#356):

My article was not about Dr. Zakaria; there is something called ‘debate by association’. The readers have always come to their own conclusions, often as absurd as (if not more than) you accuse me of. I think I went out of my way to clarify that this was a non-recorded conversation. To counter that I mentioned a subject that was on record – his offer to get Muslims to pay jaziya to “guarantee their safety”. If you want to play policeman, please do so. There is something called the search engine. I wonder if the archives can take you back to news items of around Jan-Feb 1993. My column titled, ‘Save your skins’, opposing his statement, appeared on Feb. 13, 1993 (Mid-day). Responses to it are there in the issues dated Feb 17 and 27.

Dr. Zakaria initiated a meeting after this. I went over to his Bombay flat. There is no record of whether I had tea or coffee, but I think there were some biscuits. And he said some flattering things too :) Of course, I cannot provide evidence of any of these…

“My way of joking is to tell the truth. It is the funniest joke in the world.” Bernard Shaw.

Regards,

Farzana

Eklavya (#329):

Interesting post, prompting a few observations…regarding of course the ignorant segment. It starts with the incredulous, “But you speak English!!” When I am in one of those moods, I do turn around and say, yes, I most certainly do. And you speak American, don’t you? Then the conversation could proceed:

1.Do they know the difference between Brahmins and shudras? (I do not mention my religion on my travels, unless the conversation demands it, so the next step is – “oh, there are Moslems there too!” I must confess the idea of somebody being unaware of ‘Aurangzeb’s aulaads’ for a change makes me happy.

2.If Moslems do not burn brides, what do you do with them? (Being better chefs, I suppose I can safely state we kinda cook them – in a covered dish of course.)

3.There was a time when I had turned vegetarian, so the question was, “Aww, are they trying to make you into Indoos?”

4.Then there are the usual enquiries about cow worship, snakes, maharajahs, elephants, rickshaw-pullers, sadhus.

At the end of it, I am feeling pretty exotique and exhausted.

And hey, now with so many amenities available IN India, you are returning, I assume :)

dost-mittarji (#351):

Just ask for Dilli Haat, I don’t know where it is…

About my ashram, I can manage quite a few Rajneeshi sanyasins (they are my friends)…and here anything that rocks will roll (or vice versa!), so it will be a hit. NOIDA property…Let me see how much I want to invest to deny myself the simple pleasures of life to reach nirvana!

If Punjabis turn paan into rasgullas, I eat it like a sandwich – just can’t stuff the whole thing in my mouth.

“Vakhri”…do you too have to test me?! As far as ‘different’ goes, agar aapko bataaye kya-kya vakhri cheezon ke baare mein likha hai, shaayad aap scandalise ho jaaye.

Regards,

Farzana

Farzana,

Slowly, as I have said, political correctness is giving way to the good old truth. It is religious terrorism now, islamic terrorism, no no he is referring to the budhist terrorism by the tibetans in india.

Religious terrorism has emerged as main danger in new century: Vajpayee

V.S. Chandrasekar (PTI)

(St Petersburg, November 5)







Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today said that religious terrorism has emerged as the ``new menace`` and the ``main danger`` to peace, stability and civilised world order in the new century and called for the fight against it on the basis of ``widest possible`` international cooperation.

On the second day of his three-nation tour to focus on the global campaign against the scourge, he spoke candidly to a group of Russian intellectuals and ideologists saying the horrendous Sep 11 terrorist attacks on the United States have highlighted the evil face of this new menace to all peace loving and right thinking people around the world.

Eklavya

“I have even been asked whether we get enough to eat in India, or if there are post offices in India!”

….no kidding…one bright soul even inquired whether there were any houses in pakistan…

Asif Naqshbandi

“As for those who make silly comments to women on Chowk the best reply to them is silence. As the Persian proverb goes, ``Jawaab-i jaahilaaN khamushi baashad.`` (Silence is the best reply to the idiots).”

…..golden words to live by…..

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