[Reader-list] In Valley, gunmen take to moral policing: ‘enforce hijab in college’

[anupam chakravartty]

Dear Rashneek,
"They would cleanse the society by imposing purity on the inhabitants and
the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and call them dervishes oops
divinely ordained dervishes."

I think you are confusing Talibanisation with Marxism and Maoism. If the
so-called "armed" gunmen threatened the college principal, as the reports
stated, to which he opposed and said:  "he would not be cowed by the threat
and would continue to do his work at the college" and also the fact he is a
specialist in greatest Islamic revivalist of our times, Sayyid Qutb (who the
neo-liberal sorts think that because of his criticism of the American way of
life has helped in shaping of al-qaeda) then there is an inherent
contradiction in your claims about dervishes. here we have someone who is
specialist, who is opposed to imposition of hijab. i think i would
appreciate the principal's stand.
- thanks
anupam


On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 9:26 AM, rashneek kher <rashneek at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> A story done by Indian Express on the Islamist Icons(Robin Hoods of our
> friends) imposing Hijab and threating Prinicipals of Colleges by burning
> their cars.
> How I wonder would Taliban control the land that once infidelds lived
> in.They would cleanse the society by imposing purity on the inhabitants and
> the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and call them dervishes oops
> divinely ordained dervishes.Their divine powers derived from mediveal
> obscrutanist religiou practices-soon flogging,killing in football grounds
> and burning of girls schools would be the order of day.And our Marxist
> demi-icons would sing paeans to the piety of the new age dervishes.
> It may also be worthwhile to mention that the leaders of the "azadi" today
> have done exactly this when they "were a part of the armed struggle".For
> the
> proponents of jihad and their supporters...from Riyaz Wani
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  In Valley, gunmen take to moral policing: ‘enforce hijab in college’
>
>
>
>  In the first such incident in the Valley since the decline of militancy
> started two years ago, masked gunmen waylaid the principal of a North
> Kashmir college, destroyed his car, and gave him a three-day ultimatum to
> ensure the 3,000 girl students in his institution began wearing the hijab.
>
>  The principal, Muhammad Ashraf, a respected Islamic scholar, told The
> Indian Express today that he would not be cowed by the threat and would
> continue to do his work at the college.
>
>  Ashraf said seven men stopped his car — in which he was riding with his
> son
> and a local acquaintance — near his village at Dangiwacha, and commandeered
> the vehicle over a dirt track into a thicket of bushes. “They wore masks
> and
> dark glasses and were heavily armed with Kalashnikovs, pistols and
> grenades,” Ashraf said.
>
>  According to the principal, the men appeared to know a lot about him: that
> he was a specialist on Sayyid Qutb — the Egyptian Islamist political
> theorist and leading intellectual of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 50s and
> 60s who is thought to be one of the philosophical progenitors of Al Qaeda —
> and that he had been trying to enforce discipline in his college.
>
> “You have taken some really good steps in the college like banning smoking
> and cellphones. Now, you must do something that we want you to do. Enforce
> an Islamic dress code for girl students,” Ashraf said the men told him.
> They
> gave him three days to carry out their diktat, failing which they would
> “act”, they said.
>
> Ashraf’s college, Degree College, Sopore, has around 7,000 students on its
> rolls, 3,000 of whom are girls. It is among the largest colleges in the
> state.
>
> “They told me that they had picked me to send a message to all other
> schools
> and colleges in the Valley in which girls study,” Ashraf said.
>
> Perhaps to rattle the principal and send the message that they meant
> business, the gunmen set his vehicle on fire. Ashraf and his companions
> were
> released after about two hours in captivity.
>
> The Dangiwacha police have filed a case, and are looking at all angles,
> including one unrelated to militancy. “We are exploring the possible
> dimension of college rivalry,” said a senior officer who did not want to be
> named.
>
> No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the incident. The
> separatists too have been silent, and are perhaps trying to ascertain if
> militant groups were involved.
>
> Senior Superintendent of Police Viplav Kumar said a hunt was on for the
> gunmen. “We are trying our best. Hopefully, we will crack the case soon,”
> he
> said.
>
> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-valley-gunmen-take-to-moral-policing-enforce-hijab-in-college/507208/0
>
> best
>
> --
> Rashneek Kher
> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>