PAS’s existential dilemma is Najib’s gain DAP’s loss and P Uthayakumar Hindraf agenda

This was how Nazism creeped up on the Germans too. Slowly. Nobody made any noise about it. And one day it was in their faces. We must be careful.

I know. You feel like screaming it too, right? Go ahead. Scream so loud that the government and those people responsible for this madness can hear you.

NIAMAH!!!

If you truly want to help, there is one area where you could. We have a wonderful religion. However, like any religion, the interpretation of it can be orthodox or liberal. In many parts of the world, there’s an extremely strict interpretation of Islam in daily life. India is more liberal, and many Muslims would prefer to keep it this way. Can you support us in that? Don’t let our religious heads, extreme voices and fundamentalists control our lives, for that isn’t the essence of India. If you can do that, we will back you. You will truly be our representatives if you promote real progress – through empowerment and modernization of our community. The Indian Muslim has evolved. It is time you do too.

Deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy said parts of the new Bill could act as a tool of manipulation with regards to maintenance, custody of children as well as unilateral declaration on the religious status of disputed deceased partners in controversial conversions cases. “In reality in passing this bill, the Syariah court will abrogate the jurisdiction of the civil court in regards to ancillary reliefs for the non-Muslims,” he said in a statement today. He also pointed out that the Bill appeared to be in direct confrontation with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on Elimination of All Form of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Both these conventions had been ratified by the Malaysian government. He urged the AG Chambers to engage with other stakeholders such the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, religious leaders, Bar Council and the Syariah legal fraternity before tabling the bill. Calling the tabling of the Bill as provocative, Waythamoorthy said “any government Bills tabled should not antagonize the government’s transformation plans”. -

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today acknowledged there were “issues” in the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 tabled in Parliament last Wednesday. But he defended the move by stressing that the Cabinet had used “several guidelines” in assessing and ultimately approving the Bill, which allows unilateral conversion of minors to Islam, to be tabled in Parliament. “The cabinet has discussed this in detail and we understand there must be a fairer decision but we also understand that in the current situation, there have been several guidelines that we used,” said Muhyiddin in a press conference today. “One of them is the court’s decision on a previous case and the second is the Malaysian constitution. So that is the jurisdiction of power we have today.” The Bill has drawn flak from multiple corners, including Barisan Nasional component parties MIC and MCA, as the word “parent” instead of “parents” in the amendment makes it legal for a sole guardian to convert children below the age of 18 to Islam. MCA vice president Gan Ping Siew had slammed the “stealthy” tabling of the amendment in the Federal Territories Islamic law, according to news portal Borneo Insider. “I am shocked to learn that the government is tabling the Bill as it contains controversial provisions that affect the constitutional and religious rights of the non Muslim,” he was quoted as saying. “This will seriously and irredeemably affect the religious harmony and national unity of our country.” Muhyiddin said today: “We take heed of the criticism, we understand that there are a few matters that have become the focus of the public’s attention “We will take into consideration the views of certain quarters, including BN component parties MCA, MIC and others who have voiced out the same issue. We will act based on the policies made. But when a reporter pointed out that the amendments to the Bill contradicted a 2009 Cabinet decision to ban unilateral conversions of minors to Islam, Muhiddin said: “yes, but this is the latest [developments]. “We will examine this carefully and [Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic Affairs] Jamil Khir Baharom will make an announcement when the time comes,” he said.

On June 22, as Narendra Modi held a meeting in Dehradun’s Hotel Madhuban with top BJP leaders and bureaucrats from Gujarat regarding the crisis in Uttarakhand, a party worker, clearly impressed by the relief-and-rescue systems the chief minister had put in place, wanted to talk about it with me. He wasn’t even offering me a story. He was perhaps only hoping that I would be interested enough to write about it.

“Boss, what I have seen here is exceptional,” the man, Uttarakhand’s BJP spokesman Anil Biluni, told me. He was working so closely with Modi perhaps for the first time and was overwhelmed. It was a crowded room in the hotel where the conversation took place – leaders from the state, bureaucrats, security officers were milling around. Everyone had something to say. Modi was next door, still huddled with his people, brainstorming. It was about 8.30pm.

“Ok,” I said, finally. “Tell me about it.” Biluni spoke of the crack rescue team Modi had got together to get Gujaratis out of Uttarakhand. In the group were five IAS, one IPS, one IFS and two GAS (Gujarat Administrative Service) officers. Two DSPs and five police inspectors had also come along. They were all personally coordinating efforts and reporting directly to Modi. The Gujarat team had already para-dropped a couple of medical teams in some of the worst-affected places and set up camps across flood-hit Uttarakhand. Prominent BJP workers at the village and panchayat levels were dealing unhindered with members of the rescue committee, telling them where food, shelter and medicines were needed.

“See,” Biluni excitedly went on, “around 80 Toyota Innovas and 25 buses have been requisitioned to ferry Gujaratis to safer places in Dehradun. There are four Boeings on standby. I think in the past four days we have helped send home 15,000 Gujaratis.’’

The number struck me. “Did you say 15,000?” Biluni answered in the affirmative and said that’s the number those on the field had given him. It is entirely possible that we have helped extend support in terms of reaching food, transport, first aid, even some money, to 15,000 of them, he said, quite earnest. “There were more than 1 lakh pilgrims from Gujarat when the tragedy happened starting June 15.”

Close to 70,000 stranded people had been evacuated by the armed forces by then; many, held up at less dangerous places, had found their way back on their own. It seemed feasible that 15,000 had been given succour by Modi’s team.

The next day, when TOI carried a story on its front page that `Rambo’ Modi had rescued 15,000 Gujaratis (the headline, given by a well-meaning but enthusiastic desk hand, brought sharper attention to the piece), it created a flutter that almost swamped everything else that was being written from Uttarakhand. In the rush of things – I filed the story at around 10.30pm, late by our deadline standards – we made one crucial mistake. We failed to put the figure of 15,000 in single quotes. And because Biluni was quoted in the story, we took it for granted that the number would obviously be attributed to him.

In any case, the point of the story was to talk about Modi’s by now familiar micro-management of things and, two, to hint at the fact that here was the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate looking out for fellow Gujaratis, still trapped by his parochialism.

All hell broke loose and the heavens shook. There were frenzied debates on TV, online participation and a slew of agonized editorials. The BJP, happy till two days after the story appeared, suddenly froze. What was it doing talking about the rescue of Gujaratis as the country was headed for general polls and its man from Gujarat nurtured hopes of becoming the PM? Party president Rajnath Singh suddenly waded into the debate and said he didn’t know where the contentious figure had come from.

I knew about the storm the story had unleashed but was still writing from Uttarakhand. That was when Prashant Jha from The Hindu called me to talk about the article. In another front page write-up, he mentioned the fact, quoting me, that unlike what Rajnath announced, the story had indeed come from the BJP. That set off another round of requests for interviews from papers and magazines regarding the Modi story.

In hindsight, it would have served the BJP better had it owned up to the story. From all accounts, Modi was indeed doing a good job in Uttarakhand. All that the party’s spokespersons needed to say as rejoinder was that with such confusion all around the numbers – 15,000 – could have gone awry a bit on the higher side. That would have taken nothing away from the story. As a senior party leader later said, “It is a fact that thousands have been helped by the Gujarat government. And nowhere are we saying that Modi flew the choppers himself. We are just saying he extended all help that he could to thousands of people.”

Madhu Kishwar a few days later wrote a lead edit piece in The Economic Times, headlined ‘In Defence of Rambo’, and said that the Gujarat CM’s rescue efforts in Uttarakhand was really not aimed at publicity, nor was it a gimmick. She said: “Gujarat today has a fighting-fit bureaucracy because it was enabled to develop expertise, team spirit and deliver results under the most adverse circumstances. The Gujarat Disaster Management Authority (GDMA) has become a thoroughly professional institution capable of responding to natural or man-made disasters. It has a 24×7 monitoring system and well-publicised helpline numbers well known to Gujaratis — both in the country and abroad… That is why the first response of Gujaratis anywhere in the world is to contact the chief minister’s office if they are caught in a calamity.”

She went on to say: “Also, consider this. Modi arrived in Delhi late 17th night for a meeting with the Planning Commission on 18th when news of cloudburst and landslides was telecast on TV. He held an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation since he knew that thousands of Gujaratis are likely to be among the Chardham pilgrims. Right away, a camp office was opened at Gujarat Bhavan and the Resident Commissioner’s team in Delhi was made responsible for coordinating with Gujarati pilgrims. On the 18th morning, Modi called Dr Pranav Pandya of the All World Gayatri Parivar to provide space and infrastructure in his Shanti Kunj campus for the relief centre proposed to be set up by the Gujarat government. He chose this campus because of his close knowledge of, and rapport with, this Gandhian institution that can house and feed thousands of people at a short notice. On the 18th evening itself, a set of computers with internet connections, telephone lines, television sets and all other paraphernalia required for Gujarat government’s relief operation were set up. Therefore, when a team of Gujarat government IAS, IPS and IFS officers came, they could get going within minutes of reaching Shanti Kunj… Team Gujarat had two officers from Uttarakhand — Assistant Director General of Police Bisht and Forest Service officer SC Pant — who had close knowledge of the terrain to guide both the stranded pilgrims as well as rescue teams on the safest possible routes to take…When Modi landed in Dehradun, Team Gujarat was already in control. Far from attacking the state government, he offered all possible help…officers were provided phone numbers of BJP functionaries of all 190 blocks in Uttarakhand and vice versa… The Congress party is understandably upset because its chief minister has proved a disaster, its party machinery is in disarray, Congress Sewa Dal workers are nowhere in sight, Rahul Gandhi’s Youth Brigade is clueless even in routine situations, leave alone know how to face a crisis like the Uttarakhand deluge. That is the reality of the Uttarakhand relief operation led by Narendra Modi.”

There was also a preposterous insinuation that the Modi story was “fed” by his “public relations agency, an American outfit called Apco Worldwide. In 2007, Apco was hired, ostensibly to boost the Vibrant Gujarat summits, but to actually burnish Modi’s image, for $25,000 a month”. The fact is that it happened at a more organic level, the way it happens when reporters are on the ground and begin speaking to the people they trust. Sitting in Delhi, away from the spot and burdened by ideology, columnists quite often lose objectivity or don’t care too much for it. A reporter, provided his integrity is intact, can spot a ‘plant’ a mile away in the first year of his career.

So that’s that about the Modi story. That it came from one of the BJP’s leaders; that, to be fair to Biluni, he did not try to hardsell it; that in the mad, late night scramble to write the story we missed directly attributing it to the source or putting the said number in quotes; that the party made things worse by pretending they had no idea where all this was coming from; that instead of doing its bit to make Modi look like a hero they unwittingly turned him into the butt of jokes; that in such a charged political atmosphere, what with Modi’s increasing focus on New Delhi, the story acquired wings and dimensions of its own – like the Innovas with helicopter rotors.

BJP President Rajnath Singh recently made an appeal to Indian Muslims, asking them to forget [or ignore] the 2002 post-Godhra riots. I have a few things to say on this issue. You can read the ten points below. But first: it’s not an issue for Indian Muslims alone. Innumerable non-Muslims are fighting to get justice for the victims. The question of forgetting and forgiving is really strange. We all know that Time is a great healer. Many among Muslims also may wish to forget and forgive at some point of time. Others may not. Naturally, those who suffered [either Hindus or Muslims] can’t forget easily. The criminal cases are in courts. However, for electoral gains, it is expected that Muslims must shed their anger against BJP. If you remember, in the decade of 90s, sections of Muslims were getting fed up of Congress and were seeing BJP as an alternative just when 2002 riots took place. They voted en bloc against BJP in next Lok Sabha elections. People ask about the difference between Gujarat riots and all other riots or massacres in the past. I haven’t forgotten the role of administration in Maharashtra when Sudhakar Rao Naik was the Chief Minister and Mumbai saw the worst communal conflagration in 1992-93 under Congress rule. I haven’t forgotten Moradabad riots of 1983 or the 1969 Ahmedabad riots about which we heard from early age. Neilly, Hashimpura-Maliana, Jamshedpur and Surat are all recalled still by victims or those who witnessed them. Muslims don’t have any pathological hate for BJP. Elsewhere, in other states, they have voted for BJP candidates. In MP and Chhattisgarh, Muslim majority areas have seen voting for the BJP candidates, in different elections. Who would want to be eternally facing the might of the state in any region! It’s quite easy to say that we forgot, then join them and make them happy in order to enjoy ‘fruits of development’. After all, how many idealists or fighters are there in our society? Don’t we all make compromises in our lives all the time. But still, people are not forgetting, not ready to just say that “we have moved on”. The wounds are too deep, too painful. Why? Gujarat 2002 changed everything. Not other riots but 2002. You know why? It was the first televised riot unlike Neilly or Hashimpura. In those incidents, it took months for people elsewhere to realise extent of the killings. Here, the hate was seen, felt and state’s absence was visible. Raj Dharma was not followed. It was clear, deliberate. TEN REASONS WHY IT IS NOT EASY TO FORGET 2002  1. Even if everything that happened during riots is forgotten and it is accepted that it was an aberration or sudden failure of administration in anticipating and containing the outburst of anger, did we see any effort to reach out to victims after the riots? We hear a lot of need for reconciliation. But for years, even after 2002, we saw just plain hatred. No sorrow, all Shaurya. We remember Chief Minister’s statement about Muslim women, four years after the riots. The entire election campaign after riots rode over ‘Ham Panch-Hamare Pachchees’ slogan. 2. There have been major riots in India in the past. But the politicians, at least, appeared solemn, saddened and sympathetic. They visited the riot-affected areas or at least did the lip service. What else we expect from our politicians? Not much, at least, a few kind words. Here there was none. The administration didn’t come to the succour of the victims. 3. Today we get lectured about inclusive development and are told how State government in Gujarat is concerned about the progress and protection of all its citizens. But where was the concern after riots? Do you remember any BJP leader visiting the relief camps? Who provided or offered any help whatsoever to survivors! 4. Perhaps, a lot might have been forgotten had Narendra Modi just placed his hand on the head of an orphan of the Ahmedabad riots. Had he just embraced a child, shown a little affection or concern and wiped his tear, perhaps, we could have believed a lot about administrative failure and BJP’s intent. 5. Of all the mosques and religious structures that were demolished, there was also the tomb of the legendary Urdu poet Wali [Wali Gujarati] also known as Wali Dakani–the Urdu poet who loved Gujarat and sang paeans of it. Was there even a word about restoring or reconstructing the mazaar? 6. People have grievances against their leaders and governments. They may or may not act on our demands but at least they should listen. Here, there was nothing. Just cold silence. No empathy, no healing touch was visible for the next 7-8 years. Isn’t the anti-Sikh rmassacre in Delhi still an issue, more than a quarter century later? Aren’t the politicians named by victims finding it tough even today? 7. Now that pan-Indian acceptability is needed and the BJP wants to form a government at the centre and needs allies in other states, Muslims are asked to forget 2002. It’s not a Muslim-only issue. Muslims even didn’t know how to fight this battle to secure justice. It is the large number of Hindus who are putting their lives to discomfort, fighting this battle and most of them will continue to do so. Are they ready to forgive? I have already written about this great untold story of secular India, on this blog. It is this reason that India remains India. 8. If there is injustice you should accept it or take measures to correct that. Even today, we don’t hear any remorse for what happened over a decade ago. Congress said Sorry for Sikh riots,BJP can’t do the same. By the way, there is no reason to ask someone to say it, if they don’t really mean it. 9. Frankly, I don’t think the issue is as simple as it is made out. Its not Muslim Vs BJP or Muslim Vs Modi. Its about Justice Vs Injustice, Hate Vs Harmony and Atrocities Vs Penance. People who urge riot victims to forget, conveniently ignore that they recall 1526 AD and 1000 AD, at the drop of hat. If not they, their followers do it regularly. Even today, running businesses or earning livelihood is not easy for Muslims in the state.There are a host of other issues on the ground. Please try to do something and then ask to move on. 10. Ours is a democracy. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has a strong constituency, a large number of supporters, and he may lead the party to a massive win. He has definitely managed to create an image for himself. I don’t discount the possibility, even if remote, of him even becoming Prime Minister. No one can stop that if the electorate in this country would really want him at the helm. There is no need to talk about forgetting or forgiving, but the BJP leaders haven’t come out to be large-hearted. Also, they haven’t shown the ability to be inclusive which is required from great leadership that really intends to move on or wish the citizen to do so. TEMERLOH NASRUDIN HASSAN. THANK THE CHINESE VOTER NOW THE CHINESE MUST GIVE SYARIAH LAW A CHANCE, Give syariah law a chance for all Malaysia, says PAS Youth Syariah law should be given the chance to tackle crime if the existing criminal law system is inadequate, says PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan.Seems like this PAS fella is riding the Chinese Voter support, while I truly believe that Syariah law can work , but … Read more