Taking it as a unique example of communal amity, the Sikhs of Amritsar surrendered a historical mosque to Muslims and now five times salah has started there in Mohalla Islamabad of the city. In this regard, a programme was held in which speakers of both communities expressed their views. Maulana Javed Nadwi said that the place of worship is respected in every religion. One who truly believes in his religion will never disregard a place of worship belonging to any other religion. Social activist Subhash Chand said that this is a secular country where unity lies in diversity. Hindus and Muslims have been living together for centuries and we participate in the happiness and sadness of each other.
KASHMIR FLOOD VICTIMS PROTEST GOVT. ILL-RESPONSE
In protest against neglecting Kashmiri flood victims by the Government, people of affected areas blocked Budshah Bridge that disturbed communication and daily activities for hours in Srinagar on 15 October. Flood victims, who belong to Maesama and its surrounding areas, were shouting slogans against the government and divisional management. Victims expressed their pain and said that they have been totally displaced by flood and now they are living on footpath. The government made surveys of damages and assured the victims of rehabilitation. But, no kinds of aid reached them even after passage of one month since the devastating flood hit the valley.
‘ACHCHE DIN’ ONLY FOR BJP’S FINANCIERS: T-CONGRESS
The Telangana Congress leaders have accused the BJP-led NDA Government of making policies only to benefit some corporates who funded the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Lok Sabha election campaign. Speaking on the occasion of 24th anniversary of Sadbhavana Yatra in Hyderabad on 19 October, TPCC Vice-President Mohammed Ali Shabbir condemned the recent decisions taken by the Centre. Referring to the hike in natural gas tariff by 46 per cent, he said this would benefit corporates like Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries. Similarly, the labour reforms would benefit only a few large corporate houses while the interests of poor workforce would get hurt. He also alleged that the Centre was planning to privatise railways to benefit a few companies by taking investments from Japan.
“The previous Congress Government did not increase the natural gas price instead it intervened to ensure that the government enjoys its control over gas in KG Basin,” he said adding that the hike would have a direct impact on the prices of CNG, fertilisers and power. Shabbir Ali alleged that ‘Ache Din’ (good days) have begun only for the companies who funded the BJP’s election campaign.
HARDLY ANY INDIAN MUSLIM INDULGES IN TERRORISM: PRANAB MUKHERJEE
Asserting that the problem of terrorism in India was imported, President Pranab Mukherjee has said indigenous terrorist activity was “extremely negligible” with hardly any involvement of the 150 million Muslims of the country. “Of course there may be one or two out of 150 million but all of these are imported. These are coming from outside. Indigenous terrorist activity in India is extremely negligible and whenever such signs are visible we take appropriate steps,” he said in interviews to the Norwegian media ahead of his two-day state visit to Norway.
Mukherjee said terrorism has no respect for religion or borders with no ideology or their only ideology is wanton destruction and total negation of human values. “Nobody should say terrorism indulged by A is good and terrorism indulged by B is bad. Good terrorists, bad terrorists – these types of classification, to my mind, are meaningless,” Mukherjee said.
GOVT HARASSING COMMON MAN OVER NEW RATION CARDS, PENSIONS: SHABBIR ALI
Deputy CLP leader in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has accused the State Government of harassing the common people in the name of Telangana State Food Security Cards for the poor. Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on 14 October, Shabbir Ali alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has created confusion through Food Security Cards application process. Similar is the status of applications for pension scheme for old age, widows and physically handicapped. “What happened to the information gathered by the State Government through Gram Sabhas and through the Intensive Household Survey? Even after two months, the government is yet to digitise and analyse the information gathered through IHS. By this time, the government should have had the complete information of deserving eligible beneficiaries for ration cards and pensions,” he said.
REZZAK MOLLAH FORMS NEW PARTY, FOCUSES ON DALITS, MINORITIES
Expelled CPI(M) leader Rezzak Mollah on 18 October floated a new party, Bharatiya Naybichar Party (BNP), at an event at Moulali Youth Centre in central Kolkata. Mollah, in his speech, made it clear that his party’s policy would be to fight against the evils of the caste system, adding that since 94 per cent of Bengal’s population belong to the minority and backward communities, BNP’s major aim would be to create a holistic development of the minorities, Dalits and members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes.
“One cannot come to power by being simply armed with numbers. We would have to reach out to the poor and downtrodden, and work for them in order to gain their confidence,” he said.
SANJIV BHATT ASKS NANAVATI PANEL TO TAKE HIS NCM AFFIDAVITS ON RECORD
Suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on 18 October requested Justice (retd) GT Nanavati Commission, probing the 2002 communal riots, to take on record his two affidavits alleging complicity of Gujarat government which he had filed before the National Commission for Minorities (NCM). He also requested the panel to direct the state government to furnish Intelligence records of 2002.
In his affidavits submitted to NCM in 2012, Bhatt had alleged that Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the Nanavati panel had turned a blind eye towards involvement of the then Gujarat government in riots. The SIT was set up on a complaint filed by Zakia Jafri, whose husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed besides 68 other members of Gulberg Housing Society, in the communal riots.
MUSLIM, TRIBAL CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL RATE EXCEEDS STATE AVERAGE
Even when Rajasthan has recorded an overall decline in Out of School (OoS) children, Muslims and scheduled tribes seemed to have been less affected by Right to Education Act, 2009 which has improved the overall figures. Muslims and tribals have recorded 6.85% and 6.07% out of school population against the overall average of 5.02% in the state, a report said on 19 October.
Muslim children have recorded the highest percentage of OoS children among all religions and social classes in the report prepared by the Indian Market Research Board for the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Even after majority of them live in urban centers, which has further less than 3% of OoS children, indicates that very negligible progress has been made in the educational level of Muslims since the RTE came in place as compared to other communities.
TAMIL POET IQBAL NAMED FOR SINGAPORE’S HIGHEST CULTURAL AWARD
Indian-origin Singaporean poet and writer K.T.M. Iqbal was awarded Cultural Medallion, the country’s highest cultural award by President Tony Tan Keng Yam in Singapore on 16 October. It is the highest recognition for the 74-year-old Tamil poet whose achievements include more than 200 children’s songs written for Radio Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as seven collections of poetry.
Mr. Iqbal said he was “delighted” to receive the award which was “an incredible honour”. “My first love is poetry. We have been together for 60 years. I never imagined this would bring me the Cultural Medallion award,” The Straits Times quoted Mr. Iqbal as saying. Mr. Iqbal learned the basics of Venpa, a form of classical Tamil poetry from a poetry-writing workshop.