Friday, September 30, 2011

Shy Boy From Palestine

Ramzy Baroud writes:
The one photo I could retrieve of Ibrahim Zaza showed him posing shyly for the camera, his hair brushed forward. My heart breaks now as I think of him, and all the other victims of Israel’s “logic”.
The whole story is here.

O Lord send Peace and Blessings on your beloved Prophet Muhammed.

Done That Also

For a few days there were fears that US might take up military action in North Pakistan without taking them in confidence. This was sort of last straw in complete trampling of its sovereignty that US has made missile attacks that have killed some people. It seems like an accelerated end-game. Pax Americana is turning out to be anything but that.

When Drugs Do Not Add Up

FBI has uncovered a drug manufacturing unit at Boeing plant in Philadelphia.
More than three dozen people have been arrested.
The drugs were being sold and being bought.
The drugs were pain killers.

Honestly the things do not add up. So what is going on there? The rest of the world might be silly but what about the US public? Do they have the right to know the truth?

Paris in India

Paris of Hilton type was in India and has thankfully left.
She had an eye opening visit to India.
And she was appalled by the poverty she saw.
Good Samaritans-these Parisis of Hilton type.
Nor have we ourselves understood poverty.
The best we can come up with is socialism when it comes to poverty.
If everyone was giving his Zakat then the whole society would see what that mere two and half percent of your savings can do.
Strangely it was tried only once in the times of Hadhrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz.
What about giving it a shot once again and then making it a part of your life style?

End Result of Materialism

What is the end product of western materialistic attitude.
There are many and all of them are horrific.
One of them has repercussion for the most vibrant part of society-the students.
In words of Royal College of Psychiatrists:
Doctors are warning that the current generation of students has a greater risk of anxiety and depression than previous ones.
Dear brothers and sisters heal thyself. Turn to your Lord Most High. He is Oft-Forgiving and Most Merciful.

You Too Had It (Tevatron RIP)

You too had a Cockroft-Walton generator at AMU. Not functioning anymore.
It gives you energetic charged particles. Here Gordon watts is talking about his equipment. Here is the picture:
From modern standards it is a small apparatus. But it is an essential apparatus. This is where it all begins for LHC and this is where the action began for Tevatron. On last Friday Tevatron did its last shift.

Other Tevatron RIP : BBC, Daniel(CV), Fermi Lab, John (CV), Symmetry Breaking

Thinking Out of Box

S. Akbar Zaidi, a political economist, takes stock of the US aid to Pakistan. His conclusion is that the main beneficiary of that has been Pakistani military. And if you combine it with the quotes like this:
While this ‘aid’ was not meant directly for Pakistan’s military, there is ample evidence that significant funds meant for the Afghan Mujahideen were pocketed by Pakistani officers.
then there is only one  conclusion that US aid has benefited neither people of Pakistan not its military. Thus Mr Zaidi concludes:
There is an urgent need to shift the relationship away from a myopic focus on the military towards a more productive use of aid. Such a shift might just strengthen democracy in Pakistan as well.
 Very laudable sentiments.
And can our friends from across the border think of in-dependency and self-sufficiency? Hardly.

Pakistan's Pesky Problems

Pakistan had an all party conference yesterday.
The conclusion was the negotiation and not military action is the solution.
But the number of problems is not small. Nor is the gravity of many of them very light.
The cause of the meeting is of course clear.
Pakistan-Us relations have nose dived and taken a plunge both at the same time.
This was inevitable.
In India many time people used to speculate that India should have sided with US rather than with USSR. This sentiment was expressed when USSR started showing the signs of decay. People felt that Pakistan had made the better move in siding with Pakistan. The diplomats in India started giving explanations that we really had no option but to go with USSR.
Well that is all past.
But you poor Alig still misses the good old USSR. No, no not the communism, Marxism, Leninism and not the things Stalinist at all. But the cute magazines and books full of that culture. (That this culture was created at the severe expanse of Islam and Muslims was realized much much later by your poor Alig. In fact the actual extant of this sordid aspect is still not known to the world.)
Now we are seeing the similar situation being repeated in reverse.
Pakistan is realizing that it should not have sided with America.
(Why do we equate US with America? Sorry buddies.)
Everybody knew that US is doing military operation in Pakistan.
Then there was Abbotabad operation-a thorough trashing of sovereignty of Pakistan.
Now Mike Mullen had suggested a few days ago that relationship with Pakistan may not be brought o the earlier levels any more. This was after Hina Rabbani Khar and Yusuf Raza Gilani's reaction to US accusation that the attack on US embassy in Kabul was was helped by Pakistan's ISI through Haqqani network.

Pakistan's relationship with US was always an illegitimate one. There was open relationship and there was the undercurrent. The governance in Pakistan, including the military was always under heavy Us influence. The influence was not complete but excessively heavy from any pragmatic standards. Pakistan has lived the life of a virtual banana republic. Sixty three years is a long enough time to assert your sovereignty. Pakistan did not do that. At least it looks like that.
Now the situation is that it has to assert.
That is why this all party conference.
The fear is that US might indulge in military action in border areas  of Pakistan.
Wise people will tell us as to what Pakistan should do.
There is a lesson for India also here.
The old one.
US is a tricky friend. USSR was not.
US overwhelms your freedom, dignity and sovereignty.
The public gets dazzled by the mega-malls but the the decision makers must be completely alert.
One thing is clear that it will not be a pleasant thing to have an Afghanistan type Pakistan at our borders.
Us has killed Saddam Hussain as well as Tim Usman (both their own creation-well done both ways).
And they have killed many more.
Majority of them innocents. (We'll know it officially much later when the information will be of historical use only.)
So the endgame that is unfolding on the other border of Pakistan has implications for us too.
US will leave but it should not leave a black hole in our neighbourhood.
The remainder of Pakistan should be strong enough to govern itself.
India has got some other tasks at its hand. The power that is replacing US (at the moment sharing the equation of power balance with US in spite of its very understated presence) is in our neighbourhood too.
Your poor Alig does not know how many of the diplomats and statesman (see how the times change that you have to call them that) realize that some tough times are ahead for us. Now is the time to pay serious attention to it.


Thursday, September 29, 2011

Blogs of Note

Blogs of Note is a blog on blogger that blogs about interesting blogs.
(We kid you not.)
No we are not there on that-we are unlikely to be there ever.
But you can be.
Just blog about home making, kids, pillow covers, bad sheets.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Metallic Birds-1

Do you like metallic birds?
Here is Emirates 777-300 ER at Frankfurt airport.
Do not miss the man strolling his dog in the beginning.

Crisis As Opportunity

This is jaw dropping and hilarious.
There is candour.
There is crisis.
As in every crisis is an opportunity.
The ingenuous take on the Greek tragedy that is unfolding.
One may or may not like this man but everybody should get connected with the reality as it is.

Update 1: By now it is already an hoax.

Devil's Advocate

The incessant media onslaught on Islam and Muslims has many repercussions.
One of them is the task of defending Islam and Muslims has become like being Devil's advocate.
The problem is compounded by the Muslims (and too many times Muslimahs) who are followers of Lord Macaulay. Here is one example of female graduated in 2009 from Women's College at AMU.
She has the tag of London School of Economics.
(And LSE tag is mightier than AMU tag, isn't it?)
Your poor Alig would like to respond to her atrocity in the context of so called gender discrimination in AMU later on but first few remarks about this blog itself.
She is a self-claimed feminist.
Now who is a feminist?
The best definition is that it is a person (man, woman or otherwise) who advocates equal rights for women.
The central point in the context of Islam and Muslims will be whether Islam and Muslims are anti-feminist or not.
In the Holy Qur'an Allah(SWT) explicitly says that man and woman are equal. This is said in the context of husband and wife relationship.
From this Verse of the Holy Qur'an it is apparent that anybody (including silly Muslims) blaming Islam for being ant-feminist is dishonest-with apologies for bluntness.
But this does not wind up the story.
At the same place Allah(SWT) says that man has slight preference over woman.
This is the tie breaker in the family dynamics.
It is unlikely the people like above Alig (in all probability she is ashamed of being one-it is apparent from her Library article) will be impressed with this.
But then Allah(SWT) does not have to impress any body. We obey or disobey Him only to our gain and loss respectively.
But even the most advanced women admit that leader of the house is supposed to be man.
Most people learn this. Only few learn it when it is too late.
May Allah(SWT) guide us and this girl on the right path.

Coffee, Depression, Islam

Our friends have discovered that coffee might prevent depression in women.

Wall Street Journal
MSNBC
Medscape
Medical News Today
The Telegraph
BBC

Since your poor Alig has been saying this at other places it is your right to hear it here.
Depression has two aspects-it consists of two things.

One part is disillusion with this perishable world. This is good thing. Some people will not like it but mark it anyway-you might start liking it one day. The funny thing is that even after this realization that this world is not worth getting attached with people keep trying to get attached with it. This is silly. But we digress.

The other thing, the second part of depression, is disappointment in Mercy of God.
This is bad.
This is denial of reality.
This is falsehood in which the person under depression has started believing.
The extant of God's Mercy is unfathomable.
He is Most Merciful of all merciful.
Muslims are reminded every Friday (and indeed many more times) that do not despair of the Mercy of Allah for He is Oft-Forgiving and Merciful.
How much Merciful?
Well much more then your requirements provided you turn to him.

And really this second part is the one that one has to come out of. How to do that?
Just ponder about the extant of the Mercy of Allah(SWT).

Some of you are familiar with the incident that there was a user at one of the Islamic discussion forums who called himself a depressed Muslim. Soon he realized, as others too pointed out, that a Muslim can not really be depressed. Allahu Akbar. This brother later on changed his user name.

So dear researchers, the way every Islam is the solution to suicide problem, it is also the solution to the depression problem. Just start pondering about the extant of the Mercy of Allah(SWT).

May Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon beloved Prophet Muhammed.

That was the end to the present invitation and all Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

Adil Mohammed's Blog

He is more assertive than most of us Aligs.
(Sorry for the rant.)
Just look at his coverage of things that affect Muslims of India.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Who Will Be the King?

Dear Aligs are searching for a brand new Vice Chancellor.
Now looking at the shabby treatment given to the present VC (and many times to the past ones) who would like to take the thankless task?

Back to Square One in Bihar

Nitish Kumar of Bihar is all set to flag off the latest Rath Yatra  of L.K.Advani.
Bihar was the state, and Laloo Yadav the Chief Minister who stopped the oroginal Wrath Yatra.
Back to square one.

CIA Woes

This sounds like an oxymoron.
CIA specializes in giving woes-unless you are a US citizen.
Isn't it cheeky thing to do to admit openly on its website that they do take covert operations in other countries?
For the time being our friends are at the receiving end.
Of course they would not admit it.
It is left for Afghan intelligence to to that.

Dreamliner

The full name is Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

First one will be delivered to ANA-All Nippon Airways of Japan on Wednesday.
It is yours for only 185 or 218 dollars-in millions, depending on the sub-model.
Your poor Alig is not putting any order any time soon.
821 orders are already in place.
Take-off and landing is here.


Imran Khan Sir

It will be nice to rephrase the title as Sir Imran Khan. If not a member of the British Empire he is certainly a member of the British Commonwealth.
One should not be touchy about these British connections any more.
Particularly after witnessing the scenes how a person, who might one day become Sir Tony Blair, was tagging behind George Walker Bush, Jr.
But let us come back to the point.
Imran Khan said that Pakistan should not accept US aid. It should stand on its own feet.
Now he is saying that UK should not give aid to Pakistan-it fuels corruption.
This is a matter of common sense. Our neighbour has been living on borrowed glory for too long.
Self-respect and modesty were mortgaged long back. Time to reclaim your property-via some lack of prosperity.
It is difficult but doable.

Shaikh Saleem Chishti (RA)

Emperor Akbar presented himself at the door of Shaikh Saleem Chishti (RA).
The desire was for the blessing of a son.
The Sage supplicated.
Allah(SWT) in His Mercy accepted the supplications and a boy was born in the royal house hold. Inheritor of one of the greatest empires seen by the history. The boy was named, of course, Saleem.
The history recognizes him as Jahangir.
And, like many gifts to history,  Urdu literature also got one, among other things. It is called Adl-e-Jahangiri. Justice of Jahangir. But we digress.
Then another emperor walked into the courtyard containing Shaikh Saleem Chishti (RA)'s grave.
Something must have conspired there.
Those who have left this world have crossed the boundary of rewarding actions-accept for what continuing things they might have left.
But the new emperor, called Nicolas Sarkozy, too wanted a child.
And lo and behold Carla Bruni is expecting.
Your poor Alig too has an axe to grind.
Dear M. Sarkozy what about repealing that hideous anti-hijab law?
Let us understand it this way. Suppose lady Carla want to be attractive to other men also then it is an insult to you. Believe us, it is. If she has married you then it is obscene in the extreme that she should be seen attractive to others also. This is called modesty. Shaikh Saleem Chishti (RA) also thought in the same way. This is coming from a Chishti.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

The 9/11 Juggernaut

This will be a post collecting the massive hype about tenth anniversary of the destruction of WTC towers on September 11, 2001.

(1) Horror of 9/11 Travel

Misunderstanding Sir Syed

If Professor Irfan Habib Sahab does not understand Sir Syed it is understandable.
Former has chosen Marxism over Islam as a way of life.
If Subhasini Ali does not understand Sir Syed it is understandable.
Because she also has chosen Marxism as a way of life.
Occasionally both of them say things that happen to be in kind vain for the followers of Islam.
But what is the price to be for that?
It is a matter of fact statement that if you want to give the same education to girls that you are giving to boys then similar facilities should be given.
The real or imaginary discrimination in terms of books available to girls have given people the ammunition to take a pot shot on AMU regarding gender injustice.
When the same thing happened last time Abdul Hafiz Gandhi went to the citadel of the residual Marxism, JNU, and held a press conference there.
But may be some home work should have been done here also.
To explain Sir Syed to the progressive, liberal and modern elements in house.
Sir Syed wanted crown of no god but God on heads.
The detractors might not agree with that but that is the reality.
When communism collapsed somebody said that the last communist will be a Mukherjee or a Chaterjee because of the people of West Bengal showing unusual attachment to that ideology.
Both West Begal and China have made smooth transition to non-Marxist life style.
Not some of the people affecting things Aligarian.
The reason is rather trivial-the inheritors of Sir Syed seem to be an easy target.
As a food for thought we leave the fans of the socialist newspaper The Hindu with the posts at this blog about its obsession with a country to the north of India. The blogger there has since expired but the conclusion still holds that a significant chunk of intellectual class has left that readership of that newspaper.

Aziz Burney Redux

The enormity of Gopalgarh, Bharatpur riot has made it difficult for your poor Alig to cover it at all. But Aziz Burney has has shown enormous courage and perseverance in covering it in Urdu daily  Roznama Rashtriya Sahara.

Chopping Vegetables With Sword

Do you chop vegetables with a sword?
No, you do not.
But the law enforcement authorities do believe in using charges of terrorism when the event is just a routine crime. It helps, they would like to think,  if the suspects belong to a particular belief.
Result? Irretrievable damage to the case.
Case in point?
Haren Pandya murder case.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

A Sagacious Briton

Business Secretary of Britain Vince Cable said that the times is ripe for non-rising living standards.
A sagacious Briton indeed.
But no his countrymen do not appreciate his real talk.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Mysterious Incident

Mehmoud Ahmedinezad called the destruction of the two towers of World Trade Center on September 11, 2011 as mysterious incident.
And then there was walk out in UN.
Touchy UN.

Or touchy UN members.
Strange people indeed. When UN embargo killed a million Iraqi children these touchy members must have decided a permanent walk-they should not have been inside in the first place to stage this walk out.
Then there is precedence to this kind of actions.
Israel has been doing what it wills and the world watches in an unmanly manner.
Mehmoud Ahmedinejad is just following suit.
And some how the diplomacy savvy, technology totting, power drunk western nations still do not get the point that they are faced with a country that is not ready to take a shabby treatment lying on its back.

Annual Physics Game

Annual Physics game is about predicting the current years Nobel Prize winner.
The announcement will come just next month-October is the Nobel Prize month.
Thomson-Reuters does the job for you.
They have chosen only three topics
(1) Bell Inequalities and Quantum Entanglement (Aspect-Clauser-Zeilinger)
(2) Photonic Band Gap Material (John-Yablonovitch)
(3) Ferromagnetism in Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors (Ohno)

Our choice will be the first one.
Because if the second team is the one that wins it we can scream that hurray Sanjeev made it!
Sanjeev as in Sanjeev John. (And no, no your poor Alig does not know him. And no your poor Alig has not been to the same laundry as Sanjeev. So see here. Of course if you are in Toronto then just go and say your hi now-he'll be flooded by phonies later on. Hello Aligs, listening? Oh thanks.)
And if the last named wins it then also we can shout that Oh no I was wrong!

Talking Prematurely?

No material particle can travel faster than the speed of light in vacuum.
Including neutrinos.
BBC says that CERN scientists are baffled by some results.
Has somebody been shooting his mouth out of turn. We know some people do that.

Clueless France

Accepting others choice of religion and life style has been a self claimed hall mark of western society. Including France. But now their composure is slipping. Banning the niqab is the case in point. What are they doing to women? The women on the receiving end this time are our women unfortunately. The Qur'anic injunction is rather clear in this regard. On the Day of Resurrection if somebody says that I did not observe purdah because I was living in France of Netherlands where it was banned then the argument will be presented that has the earth created by Allah(SWT) become so small that you had no other place to go?

And the employment situation does not remain a valid argument by now. The reason is clear. West is cutting jobs. And the western people are making a beeline for gulf jobs. And the western economy has hit the ceiling.
This is time of grave uncertainties so major readjustments have to be made.

There is a lesson for the west also. As they say that every crisis is an opportunity. (There is opportunity without crisis also-only if we could look properly at the world around us.) This is the time to revise your assessment of Islam (if not Muslims-they really might be the worst practitioners of Islam). Islam is a Mercy from your Lord to you also. Only if you could take heed. (And if this looks like a facile-lame duck argument then we are only partially to be blamed.)

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Pope in Bavaria

Why should he not be? This is his homeland.
He'll even address the the German Parliament. (This is a damp name. The German word is better-German Bundestag.)
Of course hundred MPs will not be present to listen to him.
That is a large number in the total strength of 622.
Of course the Pope understands that.
MPs say, or at least some of them say, that he is not the head of a state. He is head of a religion.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is a Lutheran. (By the way is the Pope Catholic?)
But she'll listen to the Pope.
She is famous for revealing to the world that multiculturalism has failed.
Good. So bring the Pope to the Parliament.
And it is a good news-whether some people like it or not.
Because this basically means that people are turning to God.
That they do not know His attributes properly is a serious matter but their turning to God is no small event.

Jill Coming Tumbling After

One of the highlights of year 1979 was the falling of the space station called SkyLab.
Now another US satellite twenty year old UARS, pretty massive in itself, is heading homeward.
Of course amateurs, like Thierry Legault, know it better.

Female Platoon

Us bow now have had enough time to absorb the aftermath of Vietnam war.
Including movies. (No promotion intended at all.)
Man has been given the capability to lean from its past. If he wants.
Same about societies.
In some ways Us in particular and the west in general is guilty of nor learning their lesson.
There is person who said that he was disturbed for days on end after watching a film called Platoon.
(No film promotion intended again.)
And there are more such depictions that will leave you tormented.
But people do not take heed.
Man were suffering (and making other suffer) in war situation but this has been taken to a new level by introducing women to war.
And the end result is horrifying. Trauma and torment.
What are we doing to ourselves?

How to Drown UN?

How to drown UN?
Ask US.
By bypassing it-as in actions against those countries which UN will not permit. US did what it wanted to do.
And then there is the history of a series of vetoes used to trample the rights including human rights of the people of Palastine.
The latest is that Barak H. Obama is slated to use veto in UN against creation of Palastine State.

This is a case of morbid obsession.
If we believe Pat Condell, even comedians get many things right-no disparagement implied, it has been a sadistic pleasure for the west, including the US, to take revenge for the failure of crusades by supporting Israel.
Now in this obsession morbidity has set it because US itself is in a precarious state. (And Europe too is hanging in a limbo by thin thread called Greece.) You poor Alig has been fearing a civil war situation in Us for some time but has been spared the agony of stating that by the Mayor of New York.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Lessons from Maxico

Maxico is geographically attached to USA-the most developed nation on the globe.
One would expect it to be developed nation.
It is not. It is counted amongst the developing countries-formerly known as the third world by the decent people of the first world. (Sorry for falling into rant-who else will complain on our behalf?)
Look at this report that has just come in.
The extra contitutional people abduct people in numbers.
They torture them.
Then they come and dump the bodies in public view.
Earlier (dismembered) heads were rolled into bars.

And why does it happen? It happens if you ignore the crime for too long.
And handling crime is not a cake walk.
And it does not help if people are confused about punishment.
Should there be capital punishment or not.
You do not have this kind of problems where the society is not confused by such frivolous ideologies.
Some countries declare that drugs are death-like Singapore and Malaysia.
And these are not like Maxico.

Shahryar Sahab

Professor (Kunwar) Akhlaq  Muhammed Khan Shahryar got the 2008 Gyanpeeth Award.
The ceremony was held in Air Force Auditorium, New Delhi.
The award was presented by Amitabh Bachchan.
Shahryar Sahab said that we are fortunate to live in a world where people can imagine other's pain and sadness, and feel the same emotions. Titles of his works include: (Some of them will overlap.)
Satwan Dar
Hijr Ke Mausam 
Khwab Ka Dar Band Hai
Mere Hisse ki Zamin
Kahin Kuchh Kam Hai
Neend Ki Kirchein
Hasil-e-Sair-e-Jahan
The Gateway to Dreams is Closed
Selected Poetry of Shahryar

And your poor Alig does not get much of the purport of his poetry. No aspersion on our Dr Sahab at all-his worth is well acknowledged. Not only Urdu world but Hindi world as well as whole of India knows some of his works. The latter is understandable to your poor Alig too but whole of Sharyar poetry is not like that.
Once your poor Alig remarked to Dr Farhan Mujib (we have already said that the covers of most of his works have been painted by Dr Farhan Mujib) that poetry of Javed Akhtar Sahab (we wish that he'd devote more time to poetry) is much more accessible as compared to Sharyar Sahab. Dr Mujib is both by situation and inclination very appropriate to comment on it. He said that Javed Sahab's poetry is about ideas while Sharyar Sahab's poetry is about feelings. And this should give some idea about latter's popularity.
He is not a stage poet-a fact he acknowledged at Gyanpeeth ceremony saying that he is known as a good writer but a “bad orator” of his own works.He has been widely seen on Mushayras but he does not prefer them. His preferred mode is that an evening should be completely devoted to a single poet.

So congratulation to Alig community once again. Of course who else after him is also a good question? Yes, who else?

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Strange Logic

Hindustan Times says:

"LK Advani visited Pakistan and asserted that MA Jinnah was a secular person. This eroded Advani's credibility. So Modi would not like to commit the same mistake and therefore he refused the skull cal offered by an Imam."
As a bolt from the past see how Modi scares the life out of Karan Thapar.

Now IMF 's Turn

When you have a bad news you get to hear it from different sources.
It is IMF's turn to give the bad news to the world.
The European economy has issues-Greece hanging precariously in the vicinity of debt default with the possibility of a domino effect.
And the US economy blues.
The two combine to give sullen looks to some people.
But why should we no bodies bother about them?
Well sooner or later it gets percolated to we the miserable people also.
For the rich it merely means cutting some holidays for the weaker people it has more drastic effects.
It his the essentials.
And this all is from Allah(SWT).
Earlier He'd change the faces of the people to animals when they'll indulge in sins.
Now His Mercy has changed that-He only raises the prices of the essential things.
The funny thing is that sins are committed by all-the rich as well as the poor.
And hence everybody get hit.

The Wealthy and the Wealthy

The Italian country style get invaded by the rich of Russia, America and the Gulf.
Do not like the sound of the last.
Allah(SWT) said that if it was not a danger to the faith and belief of the believers then he would have made the residences of the infidels of silver and gold.
So there mighty be filthy rich in the world.
And now that the believers already know that Allah(SWT) might give the unbelievers extreme wealth the possibility might be coming to be true.

Cyber Damage

How potent a weapon is hacking?
We are still in its infancy to say exactly.
But is can be a serious thing.
Viruses and Trojans are known to all.
Denial of Service attacks are the new things that raise their ugly head occasionally.
Then there is military and defense spying.
Obviously that will be done by governments. On other governments.
Manufacturer of F-16 and the like, Lockheed Martin,  has been targeted.
So has been Mitsubishi Heavy- a Japanese company making nuclear plants and missiles and what not.
The hackers managed to plant viruses onto 45 servers.
This could be very damaging for it has the potential of sending all of the info at these servers to the hackers.
Since Chinese script has been found in the viruses the pointers have pointed to the pointed.
And China protests that it has been a victim not the perpetrator.

Don't Trust You

Give a toll-free miss call at (a Delhi Number) to join Modi's Sadbhawna Upwaas (Goodwill Fast).
No thanks Mr Modi.
We do not trust you.

The Mammoth Went Down

The mammoth has gone down.
The mammoth is the US military.
Gays are no more banned to serve the US military.
But when a mammoth goes down it has the possibility of taking many with it.
There was a meeting of American Psychology Association where gays stormed the venue and got their recognition.
The powerful country could not protect its prized asset, the professional class-in this  case the psychologists, from rowdyism. And the world is paying the price. Gays are gate crashing every avenue.
Is US turning into an abnormal country? That is, if it has not been that for long.
Suppose ex-criminals stormed the US parliament to get the penal code abolished? In all probability the US of A has most versatile of such communities.
It makes one's head spin but US does not know as to where they are going.

Source: BBC, Al Jazeera, New York Times

Efficient War on Terror

Your poor Alig was delaying it but can not procrastinate any longer.
The war on terror has become very efficient.
We know it for long.
We also came to know that, or revised our lesson, as a part of the 9/11 media juggernaut.
The automated killing using drones.
Another reminder is here.
The question is as to whom they are killing with these new hideous toys.
The ground reporting (not the reporting of embedded journalist), see the comments in the first link, is that the overwhelming casualties in these attacks are civilian.

The public attitude to this technology should be the same as that to chemical weapons and land mines.

Dinosaurs Were Peacocks

Dinosaurs are fascinating.
Just like the tigers and lions in their drawing rooms who have removed them from there after PeTA actions.
They are harmless now.
One boring thing about them was their monotonous colour.
No more.
The amber scientists have started adding colour to these beasts.

Source: NYT

Syria To Go, Next Please

Now that we are talking about signs of would be events and their diagnosis let us take the things one step further. When animals start behaving in a peculiar manner it was taken by ancient people that some natural calamity might occur. Nothing surprising about it. We know some animals have better infra red abilities than us and some have better ultra sonic abilities than us and some have better humidity detection facilities than us so they may react before us to the impending events. Then there are countries that have better social upheaval detection abilities than us. Like the US of A. They are gearing up for life without Bashar-al-Asad of Syria. What to do?
Nothing, just prepare for life without him.

Bad Time to Be a Scientist

There were hundreds of small tremors in 2009 in Italy.
The scientists assured that there in nothing to worry. It is all in a days work.
But it was not.
Soon there was the L'Aquila earth quake.
The death toll was 308.
Now a man wants to prosecute the scientists for their wrong diagnosis.

Source: BBC

Monday, September 19, 2011

Internal Bleeding? Be A Spendthrift

Paul Krugman is an economics Nobel Laureate.
But Nobel Prize or no Nobel Prize he needs a man on the practical front to support his ideas-like Google CEO  Eric Schmid.
The idea is that US and Europe should spend more:  
.. need ... government stimulation in terms of buying power and investment.
Now why should they spend more? Have they got lots of money?
No the situation is the opposite.
Because of economic problems some countries in Europe and US have been implementing austerity measures.
This has not restored people's confidence in government measures.
The industry has been reducing its production capacity.
Similar reduction in service sector might take place.
And other factors combine to make the future prospects bleak.
So the Krugmanian, or Schmidian panacea to the economic and financial problems of US and Europe is more spending.

On the face of it this looks like an honest to God Keynesian solution except for an elementary flawed assumption.
The wrong assumption can be stated as follows:
Economic growth can be sustained for all times.
This is in simple terms an insistence on growth economy. Having enjoyed a century of growth economy it is difficult for the developed countries to imagine that their might be a glass ceiling. Housing sector meltdown on 2008 or even the Great Depression are just inconvenient technical details.

The surprising thing is that it is the same economist who identified that the 2008 problem was caused by the erroneous belief of the economists that our equations must have beauty rather then conforming to reality.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Italian Public and Prime Minister

Private life, if it can be called that, of Italian Prime Minister has come under scrutiny.
Quite sordid affair it is. If that captures the gist of it.
The open, free, liberal and permissive society at its best or worst-take your pick.
Thankfully the court has asked 5000 photographs, related to the case, to be destroyed.
(It it has any meaning-you do not know about the copies available.)
Dear Italians can you adopt Christian morality?

Future of Swiss Financial Sector

A rogue trader in Swiss bank UBS flushed $2.3bn down the drain.
This has been already topped, in past, by three or four people.
But because of international pressure Swiss are being persuaded to reveal the status of foreign assets in their banks. And the credit rating companies are sure to revise down UBS credit rating.
This does not bode well for Swiss financial sector.

Source : Telegraph

Wife's Disciple

Narrated by Hadhrat Tanwir Ahmed Khan Sahab(DB)

Shaikh: What was that noise in the house some time back?
TAK: Hadhrat I was scolding my wife.
Shaikh: So you scold your wife?
TAK: Yes Hadhrat, in fact, we do avail some punches also occasionally-we are Pathans.
Shaikh: I see.
TAK: Hadhrat if we do not do that then people from our community will start calling us wife's disciple and woman' servant.
Shaikh: (With a lowered voice) you have to become a wife's disciple.
TAK: ?

Source : Audio (Urdu)

Fukushima Fallout : Siemens Turnaround

As a fall out of Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Germany decided to phase out its 17 nuclear power reactors by 2022. All built by Siemens. Moreover Siemens has decided to quit the nuclear energy in total. Nuclear power is a double edged sword. Your poor Alig has not been able to decide one way or other about it. The question is both moral one combined with technical details that are essential and that can not be easily explained to those who specialize in moral decisions-the jurists (Fuqaha).

Source : BBC(1,2,3,4,5)

Bravo Mayawati

Hamare Daur Mein Dali Khirad Uljhanein Laakhon,
JunuN Ki Manzilein Jab Hongi AsaN Hum Nahin Honge

(Wisdom has put a million hurdles in our times
We wont be around to see the clear road to craze)

Before the so called wisdom settles in it is time to thank Ms Mayawati for her historic step.
She has written to the Prime Minister for reservation to Muslims (and other minorities) according to their proportion.
Source: Times of India, Indian Express, The Hindu, IBNLive, Hindustan Times, DNA, TwoCircles
           

The Year 1979

The milestones of 1979 are very faintly present in the memory of your poor Alig. That was the time when this sinner was becoming barely aware of the social, cultural and political environment and events. But it was a momentous year in the history of the world, Islam and India:

(1) Collapse of Pol Pot regime in Combodia
(2) Iranian Revolution
(3) Sino-Vietnamese War
(4) Independence of Saint Lucia
(5) Discovery of Jupiter's Rings
by Voyager
(6) Space Shuttle Program
(7) Egypt-Israel Treaty Signed by A.Sadat and M.Begin at White House
(8) Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident
(9) Idi Amin of Uganda Escapes Kampala
(10)  Home Rule for Greenland
(11)  SALT II Agreement Between Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev
(12) USA Begins Secret Afghanistan Aid Against Pro USSR Regime
(13) Saddam Hussein is Iraq President
(14) Sandinista National Liberation Front Finishes the U.S. Backed Somoza Regime in Nicaragua
(15) Lord Mountbatten Assassinated by IRA
(16) Iran Hostage Crisis:
(17) Small Pox Crushed
(18) USSR in Afghanistan
(19) Physics Nobel Prize  for Sheldon Lee Glashow, Abdus Salam, Steven Weinberg
(20) Peace Nobel Prize for Mother Teresa
(21) Chaudhary Charan Singh is Prime Minister of India
(22) Margaret Thatcher is British Prime Minister
(23) President of India N.Sanjiva Reddy Sets up Mandal Commision
(24) Hockey Player Dhyan Chand No More
(25) Hazari Prasad Dwivedi (An Era of Hindi Literature is Named After Him) No More

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Tragedy as Integral Part of Life

Senior followers of An Alig's Armchair will recall that this blog got kick started because of illness of Miyan, that late Dr Syed Muhammed Ahmed Sahab, former Assistant Public Relations Officer of AMU, Aligarh. Allah(SWT) in His wisdom sometimes allows some tragic incidents too in people's life. The one that is weighing heavy on the poor heart of your poor Alig concerns Miyan's books. During Miyan's burial people heard an obnoxious person say that half of the books in Miyan's possession belonged to him. This was a blatant lie. But then frauds are no so uncommon in life. After Miyan's demise the question of his books was a prominent one. At some point of time the relatives decided to give them to a public library in Delhi. This was a horror scenario. Miyan's books (an enviable collection that should have put any decent society into action to create Muhammed Ahmed Collection) fall into three broad categories: Aligarh Movement, Islamic Studies and History of Islam and Muslims. Of course the variety is much wider than that. The best place to value them would have been Aligarh. Your poor Alig tried to convince people about the sensitivity of the situation but to little avail. The heart sinking news was received that the books have been disposed in waste for a meager sum except for those that were in Old Boys Lodge. We hope this all is a mere nightmare.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Decline and Decline of French Attitude

Banning street prayers is the latest in this.
French, and Europeans in general, are irked with street prayers.
But this is not the problem. Problem lies in the current European paradox in relation to prayers in street.
They also feel very uncomfortable with the increasing number of mosques.
If permission is granted to build enough mosques then, Lord willing, Muslims will rise to the task and take care of their necessity. And the street prayer problem will disappear. But they do not accept this solution.
Of course there is an intermediate solution also. Europeans have left their Churches and Muslims have asked to use them for Friday congregations. This can solve the street congestion problem on Fridays-actually Friday prayer time.
Apparently this is more horrifying solution to the Europeans.
What about being logical Sir?

Andhra Tomato Raita

To the uninitiated this is a dish.
Nearly universal in India. We have chosen the Andhra version for you.
It is not the main dish-it accompanies Pulao or Biryani.
Here is the recipe.

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi was Hungarian.
No, no he was not an Alig. Aligarh Movement is about getting connected with modern sciences. And hence scientists also. A. S.-G. is one such significant name in science.
He got Nobel Prize in 1937 for Physiology or Medicine. Died in 1986.
Participated in World War II resistance and also dabbled in Hungarian politics.
He is credited with the discovery of Vitamin C.
Ah! There we feel connected.
Today's Google page is  dedicated to him.

And here are the wonderful quotes from him.

(1) The real scientist . . . is ready to bear privation and, if need be, starvation rather than let anyone dictate to him which direction his work must take

(2) Here we stand in the middle of this new world with our primitive brain, attuned to the simple cave life, with terrific forces at our disposal, which we are clever enough to release, but whose consequences we cannot comprehend.

(3) A vitamin is a substance that makes you ill if you don't eat it.

(4) Research is four things: brains with which to think, eyes with which to see, machines with which to measure and, fourth, money.

(5) Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought.

(6) Water is life's mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.

(7) A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind.   
Your poor Alig is wary of quotable quotes. For good reasons. A quotable quote might easily take you out of the fold of Islam. The problem with quotable quotes is that they all look appealing to intellect.  They might be allowed (halal) or forbidden (haram). You see there is some joy in sin-initially. That is why people commit them. To cut the long story short we must be very careful with quotes from modern world. Do not propagate them before checking their validity. And please, please have an eye on what your child is learning in his or her school. When maturity settles in then it will be quite difficult to clean their mind of the wrong ideas picked up through quotable quotes. We'll conclude with one example. Your child in told in the school that God helps those who help themselves. The Holy Qur'an says that Allah(SWT) helps those who help Him. The two things are not the same. To the best of our knowledge above quotes from the Nobel Laureate are trouble free.

And that is the end of Our Call for now with all Praise due to the Lord of the worlds.
 

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Cameron and Sarkozy

The people who spearheaded the NATO operation in Libya visited it.
There is an Indian proverb whose purport is that the village is yet to be established but thieves are already there.
Sarkozy is famous for banning Hijab. Should these people not first get connected with the wishes of the people whom they want to interact with?

Source : BBC

Group Dynamics

(1) AMUNetwork (7854)
(2) worldofaligs (2893)
(4) voiceofaligs (1851)
(5) AligarhNetwork (1695)
(Data on : 06.12.2010)

(1) AMUNetwork (8088)
(2) worldofaligs (2930)
(4) voiceofaligs (1595)
(5) AligarhNetwork (2104)
(Data on : 15.09.2011)

Slavery Under Your Nose

Or British nose, to be pedantic.
In the Holy Qur'an Allah(SWT) says, to Muslims, that you are the Best Generation, raised for the people. And there is a reason given for that. "You demand the good, forbid the bad and you believe in Allah."
For our brothers from the west all three of these points are a big no-not for all but for the majority.
And there are consequences.
Everyday you get to here of one horror story after another-stories that are difficult to report.
May Allah Most High have Mercy on our state.
The story of the day (in fact it has been unfolding for nearly a week) is about slavery in UK.

How human will is destroyed, man degraded and enslaved leaves you chilled.
Source : BBC

Why Not Tamil Nadu?

Tamil Nadu is all set to roll out a laptop savvy generation. start with the kids and give them a lattop computer. That is what they have decided. Not bad. I we know it is the computer industry that has pocketed our politicians. But that still misses the point.  If kids should no cycling then why not computers. Of course one has to think comprehensively-there are negative points also and all of them must be sincerely and seriously addressed. And there is little chance that this might be on the radars of TN administration-please take your poor Alig to be a TN fan.

Time for All Crooks to Come Together

Now is the time for all the devious forces to come together and thwart the establishment of the State of Palestine. In fact it is not even that. It is merely the membership of UN. Dear Us believe in nipping the inconvenient things in the bud-things inconvenient to them. Their convenience is all that matters. Of course they do take the others opinion to be a minor distraction. Sixty three years of bigotry might make a person look old but our western brothers are perpetually in caught in teenage.

From Student, With Love

Here it is:
Dear Sir,

It was indeed a very warm and pleasurable experience for me to visit the Department after almost five years. I was delighted to see you and the talk was as fresh as it was on the day in year 2001 when I had met you in the lab.

A cup of tea brought me the memories and joy and I was reminded of the wonderful people who taught me, helped me and were with me during my academic life at the department.

Dear Sir thank you again for contributing to my academic growth during my stay and I am thankful to the entire department.

Was Salaam
These are the little joys of life that make life what it is.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Lack of Luster, Italy Wise

Once upon a time it so happened that Silvio Berlusconi had a collection of glossy magazines with models on the covers and told his visitor about the ones he had had.
Things have changed a little.
See how he looks now.
Italy is about to be pocketed by China. So far figuratively only.
When the things change they do not remain the same.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Confused India Today

India Today loves grading.
Universities, colleges, people, anything.
The latest indulgence concerns grading the scientists.
And Ashoke Sen has been relegated to slot number seven.

Draw Right Conclusion

Anjali Gupta was court-martialled and dismissed from Indian Air Force more than six years ago.
She had complained of sexual harassment from her senior.
She has committed suicide at a (male) friends house in Bhopal.

You do not store fire and petrol together. Do you?
Then why men and women in the same army, air force or navy unit?
The defense requirements of the world were not suffering at all before this new fad of inducting women into armed forces.

Even US servicewomen have told that the most dreaded thing for them in combat is a rape from a male soldier of their own forces.
Is is too difficult to understand.
And even if Us wants to prove something why should India do the same?
Who is the Guru? US or India? When will we stop worshiping white skin?
Stop it before it is too late.
It is too late in case of Anjali Gupta.

It is a shame to men that it is presented as a matter of pride to induct women into armed forces.
Why can't they think like men? Isn't their induction an insult and aspersion on male capability to defend the country? Can't we think straight?

And it is a shame to femininity.
Before a woman has to show manliness doesn't she have to pass through a half-way mark.
The sheer ridicule of this all is rather frustrating.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Inconvenient Present

Issues which threaten peace and communal harmony in India


  Navaid Hamid 
Four days back when I got the Agenda papers (for the meeting of National Integration Council), I was little bemused to see the question marks after every item of the agenda circulated. What I tried to understand and speculate, was the confusion about the communal harmony, discrimination and civil disturbances in the minds of the government functionaries. Are the officers who had drafted the agenda, had done so under duress and are in disagreement of the agenda? I could not reach to any conclusion.
I am also surprised not to find any mention of the discrimination being faced by the SC population at large in the agenda papers. Is that not true that even today there are numerous temples in the country which refuses entry to them in their sanctum? The violence in Mirchpur-Hissar, Kaithal, Bohana-Sonepat, Jhajjar-Dullina, Kherlanji-Maharashtra, reminds us about the pressure on them. For months the SC population was forced to live outside the violence affected areas. Their just demand for reservation in private sector needs urgent attention of the nation for inclusive development of the population at large.


A Bajrang Dal activist during the Gujarat riots. Communal riots on regular basis in India, remain a challenge for the national integration.[Photo by Outlook]
It would be easy to talk goody goody things but would be great injustice if we fail to do analysis of the actions of the political leaders and segregate these actions from the agenda or the discussions being held in the meeting.
There are forces in the country that have a wishful thinking of destroying the pluralistic nature of our nation and fail the constitution when it suits them. These forces unfortunately had been successful in infiltrating in every segment of Indian society and are deadly against the inclusive development and equal opportunities to every segment of our nation.
From time to time, attempts are being made to defame and indulge in hate campaigns against minorities in general and Muslim in particular. Question marks are put on their nationalism routinely. I wonder, is there any formula or blood test procedure for proving nationalism? I request the Honorable PM to advise the Ministry of Science & Technology to explore and encourage the Indian scientists to work and research on the same to satisfy neo-nationalists and the forces of hate.
I was amused when the Government had announced and nominated Mr. Udhav Thakrey to NIC and I take this opportunity to personally welcome him to this august body as a colleague. His nomination to NIC shows the magnanimity of those, who recommended his name to the PM, because they might have the wisdom to fully believe in the idiom "bell the cat," after his party's violent and aggressive campaign against the poor laborers and migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The only grudge I have, is about the non convening of the NIC meeting when the poor migrants were beaten, assaulted and forced to run from Mumbai.
Much water had flown in Narmada (river) in last nine years but the blood stains of the pogrom of Gujarat still reminds the nation about the political patronage to and involvement of the political figures in the genocide of innocent Muslims in Gujarat. Blood stains of martyr Ehsan Jafri, former Member of Rajya Sabha and dozens of his compatriots of Gulbarga Society, are still wet and their families, including the widow of former Indian law maker, Ehsan Jafri, are anxiously waiting for justice. For more than six years the travesty of Justice was at its blitz because of the indifferent attitude, criminal silence and acts of ignoring the crimes of their protégé in Gujarat by their masters in Delhi.
It was only after the intervention of the Supreme Court, a ray of hope for justice emerged for the victims of the genocide, when SC's appointed SIT probed roles and arrested two of the high profile Ministers of Gujarat Government, Ms. Maya Kodyani and Amit Shah for their role in the Gujarat pogrom. I am amused that Ms. Maya Kodyani and Mr. Amit Shah are still members of BJP.
India needs a strong and effective Communal violence Bill which can address the protection of religious minorities , SC & ST population to enhance state accountability and check discriminatory exercise of state powers in the context of the identity based violence and thus restore equal access to law, to minorities and SC & ST population. The experiences of Nillei massacre of Muslims in Assam in 1983, the Sikh massacre of 1984 and the genocidal pogrom of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, are good examples of the failure of the state machinery to protect the numerically weak religious groups from the onslaught of the perpetrators of hate crimes. No doubt people from all communities are affected by the communal violence but studies point that religious minorities suffer greater harm and loss and find less protection of law due to institutional bias in the performance of statutory duties. This is a serious lacuna which needs to be addressed by the nation’s law makers.
Today Mr. Lal Krishan Advani ji is present in the NIC meeting. Nation was not only horrified with exposure of Sangh related terror activities and arrests of Sadhvi Pragya Singh and her colleagues, Major (Retd.) Ramesh Upadyayay, Col. Srikant Prohit and others in the bomb blasts in several Muslim concentrated cities including Hyderabad, Malegaon and Jaipur but also with the communalization and politicization of their arrests by Mr. L.K. Advani and his colleagues. If terrorism has no religion, what was the need to organize press conferences, led delegation to the Honb'le President of India, condemn the arrests, lend support to them and jump to early conclusion that these former active members of RSS and members of Sangh parivar at large are being victimized? Was that not the game of vote bank politics?
People talk about the sanctity of Saffron color in the cultural civilization of India. Does Sadhvi Pragya have not stained the saffron with blood? No body from Sangh Parivar is ready and forthcoming to respond to the million dollar question. I wonder where is our collective endeavor and commitment to fight militancy and terrorism when we rush to support or demonize because of our religious affiliations.
Right wing majoritarian terrorism is on the rise across the globe. In the recent Norway terror attack, the Christian Norwegian, inspired by Sangh groups in India had committed the heinous crime. It would be unfair to ignore such developments and realities.
After the acquittal of almost all Muslim youths arrested in the Hyderabad blasts by the AP High Court, justice demands that the government should at least give suitable compensation to the released youths, who had been wrongfully confined in the blast cases. Most of these youths were dreaming to contribute to the progress of the nation and were pursuing higher studies to excel in their lives before their arrests. Who can compensate for the agony and shame, they and their families faced because of their wrongful confinement and ruining of their bright academic future? The silver lining of the episode is that almost all released youths have no ill-feeling for the nation but they are worried about their future. Is this not our duty to stand with them and make them feel to be part of India? I would requests the captains of the Indian Industry to demonstrate compassion and mercy to the victims and evolve a process to make them co-workers of their vast business empire to send a message of affection and care to the innocents.
The way the Muslims are targeted and others are ignored, would complicate our desire to fight terror. People talk about the presence of Indian terror modules. If it is true that there are Indian modules who have been attracted to terror activities from the Muslim community, it requires an urgent analysis about the reasons behind the same. If the community who had remained indifferent to the developments in Afghanistan and Iraq and had refused to get inspired from the terror activities in J&K so far, what had made them attracted to such terror acts now? Why there have been no serious actions and discussion on the terror activities on Abhinav Bharat and other Sangh inspired terror outfits. One can claim that Sangh is a nationalist cultural organisation but why every Hindu terrorist arrested so far has root in the Sangh affiliated organisations.
We talk about integration of J&K but refuse to integrate its people in the Indian society. Most recently the activists of ABVP in the state of Madhya Pradesh, had violently opposed the admission of the Kashmir's students in state universities, in spite of the fact that these students had got their admission only because of their academic excellence. I have not seen any statement of any nationalist leader in support of these innocent Kashmiri students. These misguided youth from ABVP have followed the path of hate shown by Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Narnirman Sena in Maharashtra. The only difference was the in Maharashtra the victims were north Indians and in Madhya Pradesh the victims were from Kashmir and Muslims too. During Amarnath Yatra row, one of the Ministers of the BJP in the coalition government of Punjab had organised an economic blockade of J&K state which was lifted only after the intervention of Mr. Advani when it was highlighted and condemned by the civil society and covered by the media. Unfortunately, some people talk about integration only when it suits them politically.
We have different parameters for judging and reacting to the political developments. It’s easy to condemn Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, for his comment on his hypothetical assumptions of a resolution by the J&K Assembly on Afzal Guru clemency but difficult to condemn the clemency's proposal for the killers of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi , by the Tamil Nadu Assembly or that of the Khalistan's propagator by the Punjab Assembly from the same people who had rushed to condemn Omar Abdullah. Is the killing of Rajiv Gandhi was not an assault on the nation? Amusingly the party who had condemned Omar for his wishful thinking is part of the coalition government in Punjab.
I was horrified to watch a TV debate after the debacle of the Left Front in West Bengal. One of the top functionaries of CPI, with whom I have good relations, commented that the Left had lost the elections because of the alliance of the Maoists and the communalist Muslims. The community who had stood like a rock behind Left Front in West Bengal for more than three decades suddenly became communal, if they voted for a different party because of the failure of the Left alliance to give it the justice and equitable share in development and empowerment for 35 years. The statement is enough to prove that the malaise to demonise the Muslims is not confined in one single political party. There are forces that are present in every party who consider them as vote banks, unfortunately.
After the Sachar report, Muslim community had expected a fair and inclusive development plan for its empowerment. I Know that UPA has expressed its strong desire to initiate schemes for the educational empowerment of the Muslim community but what all had been done needs an in-depth analysis. Nothing concrete would emerge unless there is a separate sub plan for Muslims in the ensuing Five Year Plan.
I must congratulate Sangh parivar for successfully brainwashing large segment of Indian middle class to oppose the entry of the Muslim families in their immediate neighborhood and opposing construction of Mosques. Most recently the nation’s capital had witnessed three unfortunate incidents. In the radius of four kilometers of Indian Parliament, the residents of Jorbagh opposed the repair of a mosque in the historical karbala complex and the extension of a Masjid on the Waqf land in Bhogal. In both the cases Sangh dominated RWA’s, went to the court and got orders to restrict the repairs in karbala and demolish the mosque in Bhogal. In the third case, within the radius of around 12 kms from Indian Parliament, in Rohini, the state government was forced to cancel the allotment of land for mosque to the Muslims of the area under pressure of the Sangh dominated RWA of the locality. If this had been the case in Delhi, one can easily imagined the situation in other far flung areas of the country. On the occasion of Eid 10 days back, the Naurangsar Panchayat in Churu District of Rajasthan had not allowed the small local Muslim population to perform Eid prayers on the unused government land and the strong police force had harassed the population of 300 Muslims throughout the Eid day.
The continuous decline of the Muslims in Parliament and State Legislatures needs an urgent attention. Sacchar had pointed that there are 80 reserved Parliamentary constituencies where the population of the Muslims is larger than that of the Scheduled Castes. In the delimitation process, constituencies are crafted in such maverick and unconventional way that the Muslims are finding it difficult to reach to the House of Legislatures. If the present version of Women Reservation Bill is passed, it is feared that the strength of the Muslims would come down to single digit within ten years of its implementation. If that happens, that would be the saddest day for the pluralistic character of the nation state. I humbly request all political parties to seriously consider on the dangers of restricting their participation in electoral process in nations’ interest.
There is a fine distinction between the concepts of integration and assimilation. A successful democracy is one which integrates all segments of its society and discourages all those who desire assimilation of its minorities.
(The author is a member of the National Integration council. The above presented text, is his speech at the recently held meeting of NIC. He can be reached at navaidhamid@gmail.com)

Source: Two-Circles Network

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Hope for Europe

If you have people in Europe who stay connected with reality then this is indeed a good sign.
According to Bolkestein Islam is not a threat to the West, it is the West that poses a threat to Islam.
Of course the majority does not want truth to be spoken.

Source: Dutch News via Islam in Europe

Friend of USA

Israel is a friend of USA.
Whenever a resolution to condemn Israeli violence comes to UN for voting US vetoes it.
Israel also shows its friendship-in its own way.

See here for the activities of a government scientist.

State of Europe

Depression
Anxiety
Insomnia
Dementia
for forty percent of the population.

This looks like a calamity.

Source: Reuters via Sunni Forum

And Then a Blaze

A repeated battering by hurricanes and now a blaze in Texas. According to New York Times:
It has destroyed more homes than any other single wildfire in state history ...
Natural disasters are natural.
Nature is from God.
Every natural disaster should be taken as a reminder that we might be doing something that is not pleasant to Him. We do not think that way. We think that natural disasters are natural-they just are there. We think that they is no cause or reason behind them. This is the hardening of hearts. Allah (SWT) says that if you are obedient then what will He get by giving you punishment. For those who take heed there is great admonition in this. But are we listening. Then there is a lesson for Muslims also in this. If they worry only about their own worship then they are liable to get caught in the ensuing punishment on the society they live in.

Is anybody listening?

Monday, September 5, 2011

They Are Back!

We mean Aligarh Network.
So it was a technical snag.
Sigh.
Sigh because you have to surf one more group and you'll be lucky if you get an extra post that you do not get elsewhere.

Violence of It

This post has been noticed by the person in question.
And commented upon.
Just check the violence of it yourself.
The blogger there is not the run of the mill European-he is an exceptionally obnoxious specimen so not much general conclusions can be drawn from his behaviour. But then history also has examples where a runaway character can play havoc on human race.
Psychopathy is an extreme phenomena. In spite of its tremendous achievements in scientific fields even now west is grappling with the problem of understanding it.
Two very strange examples can be presented.
Charles Gurmukh Shobhraj (what a mater piece of a name combining three faiths!) retired as a celebrity in Paris after lots of mayhem in India and around. Very strange indeed. How can a bikini killer be a celebrity? This stretches the imagination a bit too far.
Second example is of the the cult of Nikal Seyn mentioned by William Dalrymple in the Last Mughal.
This is the cult that worships an English commander Nicholson who was responsible of killing a large number of people during the battle of Delhi in 1857-a psychopath.
A strange thing again. It defies explanation because the sheer incomprehensibility of the phenomena of sociopathy-psychopathy.
There might be more examples.
The blogger in question is one such example.
There is a battalion of loyal followers there.
They think they are getting their daily fill of intellectual excitement-which they are but at what cost? They know it not at all. It is pathetic that people in their sixties and seventies are subjecting themselves to the degradation of using that blog for interacting with people-a continuing tragedy.
Having experienced a few such people from very close quarters the mechanism can be summarized as follows. A person things that though this fellow is treating others very badly but he'll not do that to me-he is so nice to me. And this is true. A sociopath is in general very nice to his victims-till he decides to strike.
In case of sociopaths it is social devastation of the victims that ensues in extreme cases (the cases of serial killers) the victims have much more serious consequences.
But then that is what makes sociopathy an extremely difficult problem to handle. A victim is very reluctant to accept that he had been had.


There is a Tradition which told the story of an old blind woman whose son was sick. One day people started saying words of consolation to her. She was alarmed and asked whether her son is dead. She took people's silence as the confirmation as she should have. That is when she supplicated that O Allah do not test me with this one. We do not know about the authenticity of this Tradition but we can always supplicate to our Lord Most High for freeing human race of testing through sociopaths and psychopaths.

Accept O Allah by mere Mercy of Yours.