Zul-Qada / Zul Hijja 1422
February 2002
Volume 15-02 No:182
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Zul-Qada / Zul Hijja 1422 February 2002 Volume 15-02 No:182 |
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DD’s Version of Muslims After the September 11 terrorist attacks on WTC, the December 13th attack on our Parliament is a further blow here in India. Muslims are labelled as terrorists. But the fact is that Muslims are themselves terrorised. Check out some of the programmes on Doordarshan and even the advertisements for public awareness. Most of the characters here are made to look like Muslims indulging in violence. Why is DD singling out the Muslims and projecting them as terrorists?
Shaikh Hasib
Mumbai
I am a Hindu Brahmin, grew up in Mumbai and now live in the USA. I visited your website and I am very impressed. Indian Muslims have been the most responsible Islamic community in the world. If Muslims followed the true spirit of the Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammed (Pbuh), there would be very few problems in the world. Even I as a Hindu, find the Prophet's teachings very wise. If you need any contributions, I will be glad to donate some money for you to pursue your good work.
Shastri Nick
Shabana
Palakkad
Ayesha Abdul Rahman
yaarahma@hotmail.com
It was interesting to read the query by Md Altaf Husain about the legitimacy of government subsidy to Haj pilgrims on their airfare and the reply by Maqbool Ahmad Siraj in Islamic Voice of November 2001. But I do not agree on some issues. Firstly, I do not believe in subsidised pilgrimage and nobody-Muslim or non-Muslim should ask for it. But if the government because of genuine concern offers to subsidise the expenses, there is no harm in accepting it. Secondly it is not a special favour to Muslims. When Hindus go on their yatras like the Kumbh Mela, the entire arrangement is done at government cost. Thirdly, the much-talked about airfare subsidy is a myth-this is common knowledge that ordinary airfares are inflated and Haj flights with minimum frills on board must be much cheaper. Chartered flights all over the world are cheaper, so why does the cost in India for Haj flights go up?
Dr M. S. Quraishy
Calcutta
In the article - "Something Major is Happening" in Islamic Voice of December 2001, the author gives prominence to the views of the so-called moderates who call for a reformation in Islam, and the implicit tone is that of compromising the ideals of Islam for modernity. Most of the readers of Islamic Voice are educated Muslims who seek refuge in the answers provided by Islam for their problems. Articles like these seem out of place in your publication which is supposed to provide Islamic information which is soothing to the Muslims.
Ali Faisal Raza
AliFaisal_Raza@infy.com
This is with reference to the report on "Coorg Mosques" in Islamic Voice, January 2002. I was one of the members of the delegation of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind which toured the areas where mosques were burnt. While the truth about the riots will emerge in due course, it is to be kept in mind that if the bureaucracy and police is alert, most riots can be averted and people who incite riots for their political ends should be deprived of their leadership. The media too should chip in to promote communal harmony with unbiased coverage. Is this too much to expect?
Altaf Ahmed
Mysore
It is a known fact that Muslims as a whole have no say in the media world. But here I must say that Muslims too have played a role for this state of affairs. The most glaring example of this was when I was asked to cover the Aalami Tablighi Ijtima at Bhopal recently. I had a detail discussion about it with my features editor Shashidha Kapoor about the significance of the ijtema. A day prior to the Ijtema, we went to Taj-ul-Masjid and perhaps it was one of the greatest embarrassments I faced in my journalism career when we were made to run from pillar to post to get our queries clarified by the Tablighi people. We found they were not ready to listen to us and were least caring about what media was going to write. We got poor response for collecting basic inputs for our feature. Our request to a member of the Ulema who was in charge of organising this event, for authentic information, was rudely turned down. In strong words, I was told not to trouble him. We didn't give up. And thanks to Almighty Allah who enabled us to come out with a brilliant feature on the Tablighi Ijtema in The Hindustan Times. The ijtema carries a great spiritual message for the Muslims and the non-Muslims. But why were the organisers hesitant to speak to the Press? Why shouldn't there be a small press briefing about the event by the religious scholars. While Muslims are unable to counter the biased media coverage, at least they should take the opportunity to convey the message of Islam. Why should the knowledge about Islam be restricted to Muslims only? Highlighting issues pertaining to Muslims only in Urdu newspapers will not do any great service to the cause of the community.
Ejaz Kaiser Bhopal
ejazhifi@yahoo.com
"Targetting Madrassas" was an enlightening piece by your staff writer in the December issue of Islamic Voice. Since madrassas impart teachings of the Quran, leaders like Gladstone tend to feel terrorised by the madrassas, as he had proclaimed in the British Parliament holding the Quran in his hand: "Those who believed in this book could never be suppressed." So if fighting against oppression without fear of death is terrorism, then it has been ordained by all the previous Divine books too.
S. Akhtar.
Khanpur, Deh
The coming together of arch enemies Russia and America to fight the so-called war against terrorism looks more like a 'plot against Islam.' While the world has advanced scientifically, hypocrisy has also reached new heights-all to be in the good books of the Big Brother-the United States of America.
C. K. Abdullah
Hubli