Belgian Indologist Dr Koenraad Elst’s anti-Islam remarks created a flutter at a Goa conclave on 20 December, prompting at least one foreign delegate, Former Jordanian prime minister Dr Abdelsalam al-Majali, to walk out while another, Dr Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, former secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Countries, lodged a complaint with organiser India Foundation whose directors include Union Minister Suresh Prabhu and Shaurya Doval, son of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Addressing the session on “Religion – Tolerance and Terror” at the India Ideas Conclave 2014, Elst said: “On the whole, you should make it uncool to be Muslims. That will help them. You do not forcefully need to convert them. Through this, they will themselves outgrow Islam.” Referring to the row over the ‘ghar wapsi’ campaign, Elst said: “The Vishwa Hindu Parishad is coming under criticism for the one thing that they are doing very well which is ghar wapsi. We need to liberate Muslims from Islam. Every Muslim is an abductee and must be brought back.”
Before he walked out, former Jordanian prime minister Abdelsalam al-Majali told the gathering: “I am appalled at what I heard from the platform about insulting Islam and insulting the Prophet. One can criticise this, that and the other but don’t insult. To try to destroy the whole faith is wrong. We came here to understand each other and try to be peaceful. It is very sad to be at such a conference to hear insults on a religion which is followed by over one billion people.”
Gunnar Stalsett, Bishop Emeritus of Oslo, and others also questioned the “demonisation” of an entire faith.
BIHAR MAN COMPLAINS TO POLICE OF JOB OFFER BY PAKISTAN’S ISI
Police have begun an investigation into alleged offer of a job by Pakistan’s ISI to a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in Patna, police said on 15 December. A case has been lodged at Sultanganj police station in connection with a mail received by Rizwan Ahmad, a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, informing him that Pakistan’s ISI has selected him for recruitment, sub-divisional police officer Rajesh Kumar said. The police officer said that cyber crime cell of the state police is investigating the matter.
Ahmad in his FIR said that he received a mail on 9 December on his personal email ID, and it appeared to him that the mail was a part of attempt to tarnish his image and to defame the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. “I have informed the police about the mail and sought proper investigation about the mail and punishment to the people behind it,” Ahmad said.
GOVT SAYS NO TO RESOLUTION CONDEMNING ISRAELI ATTACKS ON GAZA
The Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Gaza generated heat in Lok Sabha on 16 December with opposition parties demanding a resolution from the government condemning the killing of innocents. While the government refused to pass a resolution condemning Israel’s offensive, it assured the House that it would take cognizance of the members’ concern.
The issue was first taken up by PDP MP Mehbooba Mufti and her party colleague, as the two held placards while standing in the well of the House, and demanded that India shed its silence on the attacks and speak against the killings. “Speak India speak,” they said. Soon, Congress, TMC, Left, IUML and AIMIM joined the demand saying, “The government of India should respond.”
FALL IN FEMALE SEX RATIO WORRIES ACTIVISTS
There has been a decline in female sex ratio at birth in several districts across the State. This is becoming a trend in urban areas like Chennai as well, according to members of Campaign Against Sex Selective Abortion (CASSA). Quoting details obtained through an RTI query, one of the founding members, A. Gandhimathi, said the average female child sex ratio has declined to 905 (against 1,000 male infants) in 2011. The sex ratio was below 890 in 17 districts, including Cuddalore, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri in 2012. Several non-governmental organisations joined CASSA in protesting against the decline in female sex ratio and female foeticide.
“This indicates that there is an increase in sex selective abortions and misuse of pre-natal diagnostic techniques. While the number of scan centres has increased from 4,000 to 5,000 in the past four years, there has not been any monitoring of records,” she charged.
HINDUTVA OUTFIT PLANS TO ‘FINISH’ ISLAM, CHRISTIANITY BY 2021
Stoking a fresh controversy after conversion plans in Aligarh, Hindutva outfit Dharm Jagran Manch, which had planned a conversion programme in Aligarh, said that it plans to “finish” Islam and Christianity by 2021. “We have so far ensured ‘ghar wapsi’ (reconversion) of three lakh Muslims and Christians back to Hinduism. By 2021, we will finish Islam and Christianity,” Manch head Rajeshwar Singh Singh was reported as saying on 18 December.
His organisation had planned a mass conversion programme in Aligarh on the Christmas day but later called it off.
70 HINDUS CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY
Over 70 Hindus have allegedly converted to Christianity in Bahraich district. One person, belonging to an organisation called India Hope Centre, has been arrested in this connection and the local officials are probing the incident that took place two days ago. A report in a national daily said that activists of India Hope Centre were active in Kamlapuri village and were attempting to lure villagers to embrace Christianity.
District magistrate Satyendra Kumar on 18 December said that it has not been confirmed if the conversions took place. “We have sent a team of officials to the village in question to verify the allegations,” he said, but added that “India Hope Centre activities had picked up in the area since the past few months, especially after the floods”.
The conversion row threatened to flare up again with reports that over 70 Hindus had embraced Christianity in two districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and Hindu groups declaring they would hold immediate ‘ghar-wapsi’ programmes.
CONVERSION FOR ‘SOLE’ PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE IS NOT VALID: HC
Ruling that their conversions were not valid because it was done with “the sole purpose of marriage”, the Allahabad High Court on 18 December refused to grant any relief to five couples who had got married after the girls who were Hindu converted to Islam. The couples had approached the court seeking relief against alleged harassment by relatives and police.
A single-judge bench of Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani passed the order after clubbing five petitions from couples hailing from Siddhartha Nagar, Deoria, Kanpur, Sambhal, Pratapgarh and Mau in Uttar Pradesh. The court said that the conversion of a person, “without any real belief in the religion to which he/she is converting, was null and void”. Such a marriage was against the tenets of the Qur’ān and also the rulings of the Supreme Court on the issue, it added.
MEWAT STUDENTS TO BE HONOURED IN CALICUT
Four students of Al-Falah Model Sr. Sec. School Bhadas have been invited to 23rd International Conference on education and Gala Award programme at Calicut (Kozhikode) on 27th-28th Dec 2014 for their academic excellence in Board Examination by American Federation for Muslims of Indian Origin – AFMI (USA & CANADA ). Every year AFMI awards Muslim students across the country for their outstanding performance.
Mohd Nazim 85.00 % (father is a woodcutter),and Ikram Khan 84.60% (father is small farmer) ,got their primary education from Madrasa Abul Kalam Azad Bhadas and now have been selected for Silver and Bronze medal with cash prizes 3000 & 2000 respectively. While completing The Holy Qura’n in primary classes the students have marked their Step in this competitive World. Mohd Nazim is the only high school in his family. They have opted for PCM in their higher classes.