[Reader-list] Not so peaceful message from Hazratbal

[S. Jabbar]

Behen Radhika,

Which Hindus dislike self-appointed Muslim leaders? Yourself, some others,
all 800 plus million in this country?

Which Hindus dislike self-appointed Hindu leaders?  For instance, Togadia
and Singhal are all self-appointed leaders of something they call the VHP or
World Hindu Organisation.  Do they represent all Hindus across the globe (I
don't think any of my neighbours or friends were asked to vote) or do all
Hindus like these self-appointed Hindu leaders just because they happen not
to be Muslim?  In which case what percentage of the 800+ million do you
reckon?

And conversely do all Muslims therefore like self-appointed Muslim leaders?
What percent of Muslims dislike self-appointed Muslim leaders or for that
matter self-appointed Zoroastrian, Manichean or Nath sadhu leaders?

Do you see where my logic is leading?
To nowhere, to a dead-end, at best to cuckoo land.  I'm afraid since it
mirrors yours you can draw conclusions about how you sound to others.

Now you are entitled to your opinions, but it bothers me when people can't
come up with examples of their own and choose to fire their cannons off my
shoulder.  

By your logic if the 133 million Muslims of India went on a rampage every
Friday this country would, no doubt, be beset by 'action-reactions' every
weekend.  I know I goofed off yesterday, didn't attend Jumma namaz, snoozed
the afternoon off instead and then watched Wimbledon all evening (where our
only female tennis star was absent, no doubt because she was out burning
down a tennis stadium after Friday prayers), but when it came to the news
this morning, the papers only had stories of rampaging Hindu mobs in Indore
and in Jammu.  

In fact, in Indore, the mob surrounded a Hindu jeweler and bullied him to
the point where he poured kerosene on himself and set himself alight.
Scanning the papers I was convinced it was the beasts who ran out after
Friday prayers and lynched him, but no, they were not Salims, Hanifs or
Aslams but mini Rajs, Bals, Narendras and Lal Krishnas, bless their little
souls.

Yesterday's HT had an interesting layout in their the edit page, and I'd
urge people to look at it  There were 2 unrelated photographs, but both as
uncannily similar and different as they can get.

 One had three or four small Chinese kids (5 or 6 yr olds) in a provincial
school in China.  The blurb explained: these were special sports schools in
the provinces (not just the metropolises, mind you), geared to train
children to excel in sports.  This photo showed potential Olympic star
gymnasts stretching their limbs.  One was bent down, two stretched their
arms sky high.

The other photograph needed no blurb.  It is something we see every other
day splashed across Indian newspapers: 3 old, bearded men, vermillion
smeared across their foreheads, mouths contorted into a ghastly O, hands
raised to the sky-- no, no, not doing gymnastics, but in outrage about their
religious rights.  Now you can switch the costume, replace the tika with a
green cap or a turban and lo! You have the picture of our great democracy
and people's right to get outraged, and the right to burn shops, beat up
passers by, pelt stones, close down highways and schools and generally have
the time of their lives whether it is about a cartoon or whether it is a
canvas, a mosque, gurudwara or a temple.... And all of us tearing our hair
out & wasting our time & energy on these useless debates...

In the meanwhile there will be other countries where children will wake up
after a good night's sleep, eat a full breakfast, drink clean water, have
access to toilets and showers, wear clean clothes, go to school,  study, and
then go to train to become the best a human being can become, whether in the
arts or sciences or sport.

Best
sj


On 7/5/08 1:42 PM, "radhikarajen at vsnl.net" <radhikarajen at vsnl.net> wrote:

> Behen Sonia,
> 
>  this is precisely why hindus dislike the self appointed muslim leaders who
> use religious places not for prayer but for confrontation with other followers
> of different faith. On friday, we always see the unruly mob getting infuriated
> by the leaders and provokes into show off the united strength on unleashing
> the mob fury. Even if the population is hardly 17 percent of one billion, on
> fridays it becomes a potent force of damage to national unity at the behest of
> self appointed leaders, unlike hindus who go to temple at the their choice on
> different day, too many deities and too many worshippers on too different
> shrines but altogether not enough to damage the nation. That is why the
> attitude of such muslim leaders who use the poor muslim on his /her faith to
> be anti-national are hated.
> 
>   regards.
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "S. Jabbar" <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com>
> Date: Saturday, July 5, 2008 1:21 pm
> Subject: [Reader-list] Not so peaceful message from Hazratbal
> To: sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>
> 
>> Hurriyat Seizes Hazratbal Stage
>> 
>> Srinagar, July 04, KONS: Brushing aside the Waqf Board¹s resistance,
>> Hurriyat leaders today took hold of the politically potent
>> Hazratbal stage
>> in a bid to make an unmistakable display of their public clout in
>> Kashmir.The shrine has been a centre of public movements for
>> decades, successively
>> and artfully used by major political figures, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah
>> included, to retain their hold on the masses.
>> After falling into the militant lap during the early nineties, the
>> currentrulers of the state tried to de-politicize it by
>> overhauling its management
>> system by replacing the NC-backed Muslim Auqaf Trust with the
>> seeminglyneutral Waqf Board.
>> Both Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and Ghulam Nabi Azad have scrupulously
>> avoidedturning the shrine into a platform for themselves, perhaps
>> out of the
>> conviction that it was a double-edged sword which their opponents,
>> bothmainstream and separatist, could turn against them.
>> But the tide seemed to have turned today, despite the Waqf Board¹s
>> warningthe other day that Hazratbal would not be allowed to be
>> used for political
>> activities.
>> Filling in for their respective chairmen, senior Hurriyat leaders,
>> ShabirAhmad Shah and Muhammad Ashraf Sahrai, addressed the
>> congregation at
>> Hazratbal in defiance of the government-controlled Waqf Board¹s
>> ban on
>> political activity at the holy shrine.
>> Shah said that the people of the state were united and ready to
>> counter any
>> conspiracy. 
>> Calling for a total boycott of the forthcoming assembly elections,
>> Shahsaidthat polls were not a solution to the Kashmir issue and
>> ³we cannot benefit
>> India by taking part in the polls in a betrayal of the sacrifices of
>> martyrs.² 
>> ³Boycott is a powerful and peaceful weapon in the hands of the
>> people by
>> which they can counter Indian propaganda on Kashmir,² he said.
>> Referring to the land transfer issue, Shah said that it was not a
>> matter of
>> land alone but a question of the national identity of Kashmiris
>> for which
>> the entire state had marched with steeled breasts.
>> ³We are not against the yatra, nor do we want to harm the yatris,
>> and the
>> Kashmiris have proved it in the recent days,² he said.
>> ³It is unfortunate that Muslims are being targeted with violence
>> in Jammu,
>> and the police is a mute spectator, even though no yatri or
>> tourist suffered
>> as much as a scratch in the nine days of agitation in the valley,²
>> he said.
>> Attacking pro-India parties, Shah said that they had been exposed
>> and that
>> the people had realized that they were out to barter away Kashmiri
>> land.³In the present circumstances, people should take timely and
>> correctdecisions, as even a minor mistake can prove to be a heavy
>> burden on coming
>> generations,² he said.
>> Condemning the aggressive designs of the extremist Hindu parties,
>> he said
>> that they had begun to serve their ends by giving communal colour
>> to even
>> peaceful issues.
>> ³They are spawning hatred in the name of religion. The people of
>> Jammu and
>> Kashmir will have to defeat their plots,² he said.
>> Geelani¹s right hand man, Muhammad Ashraf Sahrai, said that
>> Kashmiris would
>> complete the mission of the martyrs as they had offered immense
>> sacrificesduring the ongoing struggle and there would be no
>> compromise on these
>> sacrifices. 
>> The congregation also offered thanksgiving prayers over the
>> success of the
>> public agitation against the transfer of land to the Shrine Board.
>> 
>> From the Kashmir Observer
>> 
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