To counter the impacts of the saffron hate campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has launched a 10-day state-wide Peace and Love Campaign. Through the campaign, Jamaat leaders and activists are meeting non-Muslims with a message of peace and communal harmony and holding rallies and interfaith public meetings in over two dozen districts of western Uttar Pradesh – the region which has been the centre of aggressive hate campaign of Sangh Parivar in the name of false propaganda of ‘Love Jihad’ and forced conversions.
The campaign started on 21 September with a public meeting in Saharanpur. The programme was addressed by Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Omari, Amir (President) Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Mohammad Salim Engineer, National Secretary. During the campaign, the organisation is holding over 50 public meetings in several districts including Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bijnor, Rampur, Moradabad and Aligarh. Besides state leaders of the Jamaat, many of these meetings will be addressed by central leaders including secretaries Mohammad Salim Engineer, Mohammad Iqbal Mulla and Ejaz Ahmed Aslam.
WHEN WATERS ROSE, SRINAGAR MUSLIMS RESCUED PANDITS
Though many Kashmiri Pandit families have left Srinagar, 10 to 12 families are still living in Wazirbagh and its adjoining areas. There are several Sikh families too whose garments and hardware shops now lie submerged in water. When flood waters were rising by a few feet every hour, the family of a Kashmiri Pandit, Ashok ji, was among the first to be rescued by Sohail Tabrez and Akil, the Muslims of the locality, a national daily reported on 16 September.
The sprawling three-storied house of Ashok ji is being looked after by Shariq Mughal and Akil, both teenagers, who along with their friends take over a dozen trips a day on a boat taken from the army by depositing their identity cards. When they reach the submerged Kalgi Dhar gurdwara in neighbouring locality, they call out to Inderjit Singh, the gurdwara’s old caretaker to take his supplies of the day.
JAIL OFFICIAL ASKED ME TO CUT BEARD: TERROR ACCUSED TELLS COURT
A terror accused has reportedly filed a complaint against the superintendent of Arthur Road jail for allegedly ordering him to cut his beard. Abdul Latif alias Guddu, 33, accused of plotting strikes at ONGC headquarters and two markets in the city in 2010, has demanded Rs 10 lakh as compensation and strict action, including suspension, to be taken against the jail authority for “hurting his religious sentiments”.
In his complaint submitted to a sessions court on 19 September, Latif alleged that on 18 September, during a “weekly round”, superintendent Ahir Rao questioned him regarding his beard. According to the complaint, Latif responded by saying, “main Musalmaan hoon, aur mere dharam ke hisaab se rakha hoon (I am a Muslim, and have kept a beard in accordance with my religion).”
“Jail main koi Musalmaan nahin rehta. Daadhi rakhe toh aur sadega jail me. Main kuch nahin jaanta, mujhe yeh daadi kati hui chahiye (Nobody is a Muslim in jail. If you keep a beard, you’ll rot longer in jail. I want this beard cut),” Rao is alleged to have instructed, according to the complaint. “Yeh mere dharam ke khilaaf hai (This is against my religion),” Latif objected. Latif claims he could produce witnesses in court, if required. “The court has taken cognisance of the complaint and has directed the jail authorities to file a reply in court on September 24,” said the counsel for Latif.
U.S. COURT ISSUES SUMMONS AGAINST MODI
Even before he touched down on U.S. soil after a nine-year visa ban, a federal court in New York has issued summons against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his role in presiding over the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat during 2002 when he was Chief Minister of the state, a national daily reported on 26 September. The lawsuit, filed by the American Justice Centre (AJC), a non-profit human rights organisation identified among the plaintiffs “two survivors of the horrific and organised violence of Gujarat 2002”, and called for a response from Mr. Modi based on the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA).
The summons issued by the Federal Court of Southern District of New York requires Mr. Modi to respond within 21 days after it is served. The summons document also notes that if the Prime Minster fails to answer the attached complaint, “Judgement by default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint,” adding that Mr. Modi was expected to file his answer or motion with the court. The 28-page complaint was said to seek compensatory and punitive damages and “charges PM Modi with committing crimes against humanity, extra-judicial killings, torture and inflicting mental and physical trauma on the victims, mostly from the Muslim community”.
SIO HOSTS SEMINARS ON HOW TO STUDY FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR
Seminars on “How to Study from the Beginning of the Academic Year” was conducted by SIO MHSS chapter of Students Islamic Organisation of India, at Seminar Hall, M.H Saboo Siddik Polytechnic, Mumbai for the first year students. Three seminars covered different branches on 23 and 24 September. The College had issued Notices for the same and ordered the students to compulsorily attend the Seminars.
Mr. Shaikh Hassan, member of SIO, emphasised on Goal setting, Memory techniques, and encouraged students to study conceptually, and motivated them towards self-studies and Time Management. This was followed by a short Lecture on “Role of Students in solving social problems of society” by Mr Naushad Usman, who encouraged them towards social welfare, positive and constructive development and upliftment of the weaker section of the society.
INDIA TRIUMPHS IN MARS MISSION
India’s low-cost mission to Mars successfully entered the red planet’s orbit on 24 September. The mission completed the trip on its maiden attempt. The Mars Orbiter Mission was achieved on a budget of $74 million, nearly a tenth of the amount the U.S. space agency NASA spent on sending the Maven spacecraft to Mars. India joins the United States, Russia and Europe in successfully sending probes to orbit or land on Mars. Apart from India, none managed to succeed on their first attempt.
The mission also makes India the first country in Asia to reach Mars, after an attempt by regional rival China failed to leave Earth’s orbit in 2011. ISRO successfully ignited the main 440 Newton liquid engine and eight small thrusters that fired for 24-minutes and trimmed the speed of the craft to allow smooth orbit. A confirmation of orbit entry was received at around 8 a.m. India time (0230 GMT).
ACCUSED FOR NOT STANDING TO NATIONAL ANTHEM GETS BAIL
Kerala High Court on 22 September granted bail to a youth, who was arrested and slapped with sedition charge because he did not stand up during the national anthem in a movie theatre. M Salman, 25, was charged under Section 124 A of the IPC (sedition) for allegedly “sitting and hooting” when the national anthem was being played at a movie theatre on 18 August. He also faced charges under Section 66 A of the IT Act for allegedly posting a derogatory comment about the national flag on Facebook.
Salman was arrested on 20 August. While granting the bail, single bench of Justice A Hariprasad observed that there was no offence amounting to the security of the nation against the alleged accused.
‘INDIAN FILMS RANK HIGH ON SEXUALISATION OF WOMEN’
India tops the charts in showing attractive women in its movies and as much as 35 per cent of these women characters are shown with some nudity, finds a first-ever U.N. sponsored global study of women characters in popular films across the world, a report said on 24 September. The study, commissioned by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, with support from U.N. Women and The Rockefeller Foundation, reveals deep-seated discrimination, pervasive stereotyping, sexualisation of women and their underrepresentation in powerful roles by the international film industry.
Indian films, the study finds, have a significantly higher prevalence of sexualisation of women characters and the movies score low in depicting women in significant speaking roles. While women represent nearly half of the world’s population, less than one third of all speaking characters in films are women and U.K.-U.S. collaborations and Indian films are at the bottom of the pack.