Pak Tea House » Uncategorized » Indian Muslim Intellectuals Condemn Pak Punjab Governor’s Killing
Indian Muslim Intellectuals Condemn Pak Punjab Governor’s Killing
STATEMENT CONDEMNING THE KILLING OF SALMAN TASEER
We are shocked by the killing of the Governor of the province of Punjab in Pakistan, Salman Taseer by a member of his bodyguard force. He had dared to support Asia Bibi sentenced to death for having committed Blasphemy according to the infamous Blasphemy law of Pakistan.
He was one of the liberal and democratic voices in Pakistan who have been fighting for the repeal of this reprehensible law. More appalling than the killing is the cynical and vocal support of a section of the society of Pakistan to the killer of Governor Taseer. We are worried by the trend of increasing religious intolerance in Pakistan and feel that if not fought with resolve and courage, it might lead to a deathly silence in Pakistan for a long, long time to come.
While concerned for the safety of democratic and progressive voices we are equally worried for the general well being of the common people of Pakistan and express our solidarity with them.
1. A Kamila, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Chennai
2. Aban Raza, artist, Delhi
3. Aijaz Ilmi – Journalist – Delhi
4. Aijaz Zaka Syed – Journalist – Dubai
5. Ali Javed, University of Delhi
6. Arjimand Hussain Talib, Writer-columnist, Kashmir
7. Arjumand Ara, University of Delhi, Delhi
8. Arshad Ajmal, social activist, Patna
9. Barkat ul Nisa Kamili, Student, Kashmir
10. Basharat Hussain ,Human Rights Activist, Jammu
11. Dr. Sarkar Haider – Doctor – Bareilly
12. Dr.Mohd.Arif,Centre for Harmony and Peace,Varanasi
13. Faiz Raza, Computer Engineer, Delhi
14. Faizan Haider Naqvi, Entrepreneur, Delhi
15. Farhat Amin, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Cuttack
16. Farida Khan – Professor, University of Wisconsin, US
17. Farukh Shaikh, Actor, Mumbai
18. Gauhar Raza, scientist, filmmaker, poet, Delhi
19. Haider Naqvi, HT Bureau Chief, Kanpur
20. Hanif Lakdawala, social activist, Gujarat21. Hasan Kamal, Editor, Sahafat Daily, Lucknow
22. Hassan Kazim – Journalist – Delhi
23. Hozefa Ujjaini, Aman Samudaya ,Gujarat
24. Imtiyaz Hussain,Civil Servant,Srinagar
25. Inder Salim ,Artist , Delhi
26. Iqbal Niazi, Delhi
27. Irfan Engineer, Social Activist, Mumbai
28. Ishrat Jamil – Theatre – Delhi
29. Jamal Kidwai, Director Aman Trust, Delhi
30. Jamil Malik – Entrepreneur – Delhi
31. Kamran Siddiqui – Service – Noida
32. Kashif-ul-Huda, Editor, TwoCircles.net
33. Khatun Shaikh, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Mumbai
34. Mantasha Binti Rashid, ANHAD, Kashmir
35. Mohd Kazim, University of Delhi, Delhi
36. Muhammad Tauqeer – Business – Delhi
37. Mushir ul Hasan, academician, Delhi
38. Muzaffar Bhatt ,RTI Activist, Srinagar, Kashmir
39. Nagma Shaikh, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Bangalore
40. Nasiruddin Haider Khan, journalist, Delhi
41. Nazim Naqvi – Journalist – Delhi
42. Noorjahan, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Mumbai
43. Nusrat Sheikh, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Osmanabad
44. Prof.Nadeem Hasnain, Professor & Head Department of Anthropology, Lucknow University,
45. Rashida Ansari, grassroot activist, Gujarat
46. Raza Imam – Educationist – Gurgaon
47. Rehan Haider – Service – Bareilly
48. Rizwan Shahid – Media – Delhi
49. Sadiq Naqvi – Hardnews Magzine – Delhi
50. Safiya Akhtar, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Bhopal
51. Sania Hashmi, filmmaker, Delhi
52. Seema Mustafa, journalist, Delhi
53. Shabir Hussain Senior journalist Srinagar Kashmir
54. Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist-ANHAD, Delhi
55. Shafiq Mahajir, advocate, Hyderabad
56. Shaheen Nazar, Journalist, Aligarh
57. Shahid anwar, playwright, Delhi
58. Shaiq Ali Khan, Banker, Dubai
59. Shama Zehra Zaidi-Filmmaker-Mumbai
60. Sharmila Tagore, actress, Delhi
61. Sheba George, Social Activist, Gujarat
62. Sofiya Khan, Director Safar, Gujarat
63. Sohail Hashmi, filmmaker, writer, Delhi
64. Syed Hassan Kazim, Journalist, New Delhi
65. Syed Zulfeqar – Business – Rae Bareli
66. Tanveer Hussain Khan, social activist, ANHAD, Srinagar, Kashmir
67. Tauhid Alam, Business, India
68. Wasi Haider, Professor and Chairman, Dept of Physics, Aligarh
69. Zaheer Anis – Lawyer – Lucknow
70. Zakia – Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Bangalore, Delhi
71. Zoheb Kamal, Content Editor, New Delhi
72. Zoya Hasan, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
Filed under: Uncategorized · Tags: activist, Kashmir, Mumbai, Pakistan
21 Responses to "Indian Muslim Intellectuals Condemn Pak Punjab Governor’s Killing"
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- AKB
said DAMN THESE LIBERAL MULLAHS!!
.
Dharun Ravi Sen... - AKB said @ ahem
I have never seen a bigger idiot than y...
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said Tajender,
you copy and paste machine, do you even... - tajender
said rajtoo like anyother brhmnst u have nothing except... - RajTOO said Tajender is a pure Paki. Just because he copies an...
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Monotheism is inherently totalitarian an... - ahem said tajender reveals himself as a tamilian muslim....
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And I was under the...
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sorry for the wrong spells! I must not miss th...
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“We are shocked by the killing of the Governor of the province of Punjab in Pakistan, ….”
We Pakistanis are SORRY for shocking you guys.
We Pakistanis are now immune to shocks.
The problems that they are attributing to Pakistanis are here in India also. Why then this natak and rona-dhona.
These Shabana Azmi types are media candy. I’ll be suitably impressed when the dudes at Darul Uloom Deoband condemn it. Or the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid. The Pakistani mullahs have collectively gone rogue. Time for the Indian Muslim graybeards to seize the theological mantle – provide a credible alternative to the alien Wahabi though-process – if it can be called that. And time for the government of India to fund the effort.
Acha shukria aap logoN ka… vesey let this be a lesson to you Indians… I agree with libertarian it would be something if the deoband ppl condemend this however they probably will never! Indian Muslims should make every effor to protect themselves from this extreme ideology and join in Indiá’s commercial success… if needed all other Indians should help in this regard…
Cheers
EDITED FOR NONSENSE
Indian Muslims are mostly liberal with a few exception. Deoband and JUH is also not too conservative and their fundamentalism is always challenged/criticised whenever they pronounce fatwa on any dubious/comical things (forgot about the criticism they got where they gave fatwa, where raped daughter-in-law has to marry her father-in-law the rapist and to accept her husband as her son). They are also not shy on coming on national television and face the liberals like Shaban Azmi or her husband Javed Akhtar and politicians. A few maulana from Deoband and AIMPLB member (I’m forgetting the name of one coming from Lucknow), I’ve listened on the TV debate are very liberal and pleasing to listen, they never uttered a single word which is against to secularism of India (ironically in India they are the most vocal supporter for secularism) or other religion.
It is opportunist politicians who have transformed their genuine grievances and fears into vote banks rendered them backward, illiterate and poor thus not giving a share in the economic growth of India.
straighttalk….
My own experience is that Indian Muslims are very conservative… As for fatwas… how about the fatwa by deoband that working for women is unIslamic and that working in the banking and commercial sectors is unIslamic.
Let us put things in perspective here. In Pakistan we are caught up in a situation where Mullahs are using religion as a tool against a weak and irreligious ruling elite. In the process liberalism and common sense has faced attrition. It does not follow however that Pakistani Muslims are more conservative than Indian Muslims… infact quite the opposite Pakistani society continues to shock Indian Muslims in terms of the outward symbols of liberalism etc.
PS: Salmaan Taseer is the embodiment of Pakistani liberalism.
YLH
“My own experience is that Indian Muslims are very conservative”
So what differentiates India and Pakistan muslims is that Pak has 97% and India only 15%. Had this ration prevaled in Pak also, things would have been much different. Muslims of this subcontinent need protection from their fellow muslims and no body else. Jinnah was awfully wrong in his vision.
I have to agree with YLH here… i found Indian Muslims to be much much more conservative than Pakistanis in general, and I think that is becasue in Pakistan we are all Muslim so we dont have anything to prove to anyone, but in India they are a minority and wear their religion on their sleaves (beard and burka)…
Ally,
“but in India they are a minority and wear their religion on their sleaves (beard and burka)…”
Can you enlighten us about the source of this nugget of information. Have you been to India? In fact, any picture from Pakistan is clogged with the hirsute junkies and burqas..
YLH,
If you equalize for economic and social status, my bet is that your conclusion about Indian muslims being more conservative does not hold any more. A majority of the Muslim elite in North India migrated to Pakistan at partition, leaving behind the poorest and socially most backward parts of the Muslim community in India. Secondly, a prosperous state like Punjab was emptied of Muslims on the Indian side. Hence, comparisons of Muslims in say Delhi with those in Lahore does not control for economic/social status. If you compare Muslims of similar status, I am pretty sure that the ones on the Indian side are typically more liberal. For instance, the kind of support for the killer of Salman Taseer amongst educated Muslims would be much more difficult to find on the Indian side. There are of course lunatics on all sides, but the imperatives of living in a largely non-Muslim society, with at least some sense of empowerment due to democracy contribute to a more liberal ethos.
Secondly, Indian muslims may be conservative on some fronts. For instance, in family laws, where the Indian Government has ceded authority for practical purposes to a conservative body of ulemas – the All India Muslim Personal Law Board – preventing reform. Add to that the desire by a minority that feels threatened to hold on to things that differentiate them. However, they are way more moderate on many fronts. There is no equivalent of the extremist side of Pakistani mullahdom, with its support for terrorism and violence. The kind of conservatism that one can see in the NWFP and the tribal areas are unimaginable in India.
That said, there has been a recent resurgence of conservatism amongst Indian muslims, led by several factors. First is the migration of large number of Muslims to the gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, which is not a preferred place for non-Muslim Indians. Many who return from there bring back some degree of conservatism as well (e.g. a neighbor’s daughter got married to a Muslim man – he was totally liberal in religious matters for a long time, letting her practice her Hinduism even though she had been forced to convert at the time of her marriage. After returning from a stint in Saudi, this changed entirely and he started insisting that she stop being a Hindu). Second, polarization of society due to events like the Babri Masjid demolition and the Gujarat violence. These events have caused some cities to get more segregated, with Hindu and Muslim areas, further facilitating conservatism. Third, an overall trend of radicalization of Muslims worldwide, to which Indian muslims are not fully immune.
One visible sign of the increase of conservatism is the increased use of the burqa by Muslim women – I was in Mumbai last month and was quite taken aback by the number of women wearing the Arabic style veil (which shows only the eyes) – something that I had not seen to this extent. But there are parallel trends too – a Muslim middle class that is quite liberal and at least in some parts of the country, pretty well integrated with the rest of the population.
It’s difficult to judge who is more or less conservative sitting only on one side of the fence. As far as Indian Muslims are concerned, two things are clear: (1) Most don’t care what Deoband Mullahs say. (2) They are as concerned about jobs and upward mobility as Indian Hindus. Theological issues have taken a back seat.
The thing they worry about, however, is the next terrorist attack either from across the border or from the homegrown fringe Hindu (or Muslim) radicals. In both cases, the first suspicion falls on them. Other than this and its repercussions, Indian Muslims are not very different from Indian Hindus.
India should lend all these so called Muslim intellectuals to Pakistan. Any taker out there? AFAIK, i have not seen any real intellectual wearnig Belief system on the sleeves.
>how about the fatwa by deoband that working for women is unIslmic
>and that working in the banking and commercial sectors is unIslamic.
Those nuts probably don’t have the clout to enforce their ridiculous fatwas and their primitive mindset on others. While I would like to believe that no one really cares, there are any number of suckers with their thumb stuck firmly in their mouths.
>Let us put things in perspective here. In Pakistan we are caught up in
>a situation where Mullahs are using religion as a tool against a weak and
> irreligious ruling elite.
Lets step back one more for a wider perspective. The mullahs on the Indian side would like to do, exactly, what their Pakistani lookalikes are doing (overwhelm the rule of law with mob like strength) they are largely unsuccessful due to the fact they are simply outnumbered by others.
Thankfully the rule of law is a wee bit stronger on the Indian side and by and large there are more people who respect the rule of law than those who don’t.
They (mullahs) probably have a free run on the other side (Pakistani side) of the border. It would be unthinkable for these guys (Indian mullahs) to openly support a murderer.
> In the process liberalism and common sense has faced attrition. It does
>not follow however that Pakistani Muslims are more conservative than
>Indian Muslims… infact quite the opposite Pakistani society continues to
> shock Indian Muslims in terms of the outward symbols of liberalism etc.
Can I add by saying the Indian muslim is probably more prone to get into problems of cognitive dissonance. The Indian muslim (a vast majority of them) does not have the means to provide his children with modern education, he is more prone to being conservative.
And constant exposure to a more liberal/plural society didn’t help the Indian muslim. Instead of opening up and accepting change, he shuts the door and goes deeper and accepts a more rabid form of islam, nudged a little deeper by the saffrons.
The mullahs of India are just as bad as the Pakistani mullah. Its just that lack of funding and support has kept them in check. Even if they find the funds and some sort of support in numbers, they will still be defeated by firm rule and forces of law in India
Luq
All this gloating about muslims in India being less conservative than their counterparts in pakistan is BS . Some of you need to spend just half a day in muslim dominated village or kasba in India to find out the immense support and respect for taliban. Only reason that is not expressed publicly is because they are outnumbered as a whole .
Wait for them to gain some numbers and they ‘ll show your future generations the true face of islam ….
Luq //Can I add by saying the Indian muslim is probably more prone to get into problems of cognitive dissonance. The Indian muslim (a vast majority of them) does not have the means to provide his children with modern education, he is more prone to being conservative//
You couldnt have said it better. Poverty leads to more religiosity as the guy with 10 children says regulary ‘ sub allah ki dain hai’ he automatically becomes a fodder to the mullah.
Whosoever decided bravely to give his children mainstream education is happily enjoying the benefits today.
@Prasad
What I really meant was —> When the “muslims” from the economically backward groups do come in contact with modernity, instead of adapting to change, they are more prone to going in the opposite direction, resisting change and holding on to (tighter than before), obsolete ideas.
Now replace the word “muslims” with another group and the theory probably still holds good.
I agree with you that education is really the key. Having said that, consider this. After coming in contact with a lot of our immediate family members who have migrated to Canada, US and UK are even more radicalized than the local mullah.
Luq
In India there are two kinds of Muslims. One of North India and the other of South India. They are culturally very dissimilar. The former ones resemble Pakistani Muslims very much.
The towns of bhatkal, coimbatore , mamallpuram are in south india and they produce madini types and the one who cut off the hands of christian professor very recently, i am forgetting the name but u can google and find out.
Conservatism in its own does not mean hate for others, or else hindu community being so conservative would not have allowed influx of Greeks, christians, parsis and muslims., Same is true for today’s USA and UK which have sufficient non christian population (exceptions are in every society). It is the thinking where one starts believing that he and his religion is only true and took upon himself the sacred duty of cleaning the earth from non believers. These Mullah, thinks the same and wants that it is done by the people (brainwashed). In India, majority neither fears nor cares their fatwa but same type people are in minority in Pakistan. Result can be seen by everyone .