Muslim Intellectuals From Maharashtra Condemn Violence In Bengaluru, Applaud Muslims Who Prevented Desecration of Temple
Pramod Chunchuwar | India Tomorrow   MUMBAI, AUGUST 19—Strongly condemning the violence in Bengaluru following a content defamatory to Islam in a Facebook post, a group of Muslim intellectuals in Maharashtra have demanded strong legal action against the perpetrators of the crime and their masterminds.     They also applauded the Muslim individuals and groups who formed a human chain around a temple in their locality to prevent any attempt at desecration.     However, they also said in a joint statement, that “any communally coloured action by state with vindictive motive will be counterproductive”.     They said that in a democracy, any group of aggrieved citizens have the right to protest, express their dissent through peaceful means. “But no individual, group or community can be allowed to take the law in their own hands. We, in particular, question the wisdom of Muslims who resorted to violence at a time when the...

UP Police:: Questions Being Raised About Claims of Alleged "Encounters"by Police In Azamgarh
Masihuzzama Ansari | India Tomorrow   LUCKNOW, AUGUST 16—Many people in Azamgarh district of East Uttar Pradesh are questioning the police claim of encounters in which several persons lost their lives and many got severe injuries.   Almost all the victims are reported to Dalits, OBC Yadavs and some Muslims.   One of them is Ajay Yadav of Saraimeer, a sleeping town in the district.   Speaking to India Tomorrow, Ajay Yadav said that it was in May 2018 when police apprehended him when he was driving his bike and took him to the police station.   “Cops tied my hands and legs with ropes and even blindfolded me”, Yadav said with tears rolling down his eyes.   “The SOG sleuths came after that. They forced me to sit in a Sumo car and took me to a secluded spot. They untied my hands and within minutes, they shot me in my knee”, he said.   Ajay’s father Satyaram Yadav, said “The police had shot a bullet in...

Has 'Project Shah Faesal' of Government of India Failed In Kashmir?
Shah Faesal may rejoin his duties, would prefer staying away from the crowd but the questions will keep haunting him.  Was Faesal and his IAS one of the many GOI’s long-planned CBMs? Has Project Shah Faesal failed? Has the Robot been called back to the factory for reloading?   Peerzada Ummer | India Tomorrow   SRINAGAR, AUGUST 16—The snow accumulated for three months of harsh winter chill had subtly begun to melt. Spring had arrived in Kashmir and it was the time for rose bosoms to open, for birds to sing, turn every leaf into a nest, and every tree into an orchestra.      It was the spring of political surprises too. Newspapers in March 2019 remained ruthlessly occupied with speculations of Shah Feasal, a 2010 batch IAS topper quitting his otherwise prestigious job and entering politics. On March 17, finally, he appeared in front of a crowd donning a blazer over Shalwar Kameez- imitating the style of Pakistan’s Prime Minister...

Dalit Village 'Pradhan' Shot Dead by Upper Castes in UP's Azamgarh, Upper Castes Leave The Village Due To Fear Of Reprisals
Arshad Afzaal Khan | India Tomorrow LUCKNOW, AUGUST 16— In increasing incidents of attack on Dalits and OBCs in East UP’s Azamgarh district, a Dalit village ‘Pradhan’ of Bansgaon was shot dead by members of the upper castes involving Thakurs and Brahmins.   The incident happened on August 14 evening. The deceased has been identified as Satyamev Jayate alias    Following the incident, the Dalit villagers, who are in majority, not only attacked the house of one of the suspects who happens to belong to the Thakur caste but also attacked the nearby police outpost and damaged several police vehicles as an eight year old Dalit boy-Sooraj-was crushed allegedly under the wheels of a police jeep that came to control the situation and opened several rounds of fire in which no one was injured.    Heavy police deployment has been made in the village to control the situation and maintain law and order. According to another account, the boy w...

Self-Appointed Vigilantes Continue To Attack Muslim Meat Suppliers, Livestock Traders In Haryana's Gurugram
 Syed Ali Ahmed | India Tomorrow   NEW DELHI, AUGUST 14—Self-appointed vigilantes continue to target Muslim meat suppliers and livestock traders in various parts of Gurugram and nearby districts thanks to inadequate response of the police to the crimes against Muslims.   Two incidents of attacks on meat suppliers and livestock dealers have been reported in the last two weeks itself in Gurugram district, with police registering FIRs in one case simply on statements of the accused, not the victims.   While one incident took place in Khatola village, another incident happened in Gurugram city.   Another incident took place a few months back in a residential colony in Gurgaon in which Muslim family members were beaten up by sticks inside their home. Following that barbaric incident, a number of Muslims had left Gurugram for Muslim-dominated area.   Four Hindu youths from Khatola village called Mursaleen and Nasir, residents of Ghasera village f...

Challenges and The Way Forward for Indian Muslims
This is a the last part of a three-part article in which veteran journalist Rehan Ansari reviews the conditions of Indian Muslims in 73rd year of India's Independence. In this part, he discusses what are the challenges facing the India Muslims and what is the way forward? His articles are based on a lecture by French political analyst Christophe Jaffrelot who has specialized on India.  Rehan Ansari (Special to India Tomorrow)   MUMBAI, AUGUST 14—Christophe Jaffrelot feels that CAA-NRC is the biggest challenge for Indian Muslims, in the short term, and education in mid and long run.   He says that Muslims are among the social categories along with SCs, STs and OBCs, where you don't find birth Certificate of children under 5. “It will be very difficult to prove Citizenship. It will be a challenge primarily in Assam as also Elsewhere”, he points out.   The international community, in February 2020, for the first time, reacted to the amendmen...

Situation Calm in Northeast Bengaluru, Tense on Social Media, BJP 'Attempts to Communalize Issue'
Syed Sujeel Ahmed | India Tomorrow   BENGALURU, AUGUST 13—All shops and establishments are shut in DJ Halli, KG Halli and Kaval Byrasandra on the second day of curfew imposed till 6 am on August 15, following Tuesday night’s riots. Sporadic movements of vehicles were seen in curfew-imposed areas as residents went out to nearby areas to attend to their chores.   “Just a fortnight back lockdown is lifted and again we are in a lockdown like situation,” said a shop keeper in Kaval Byrsandra sitting outside his closed grocery shop.   The DJ Halli police station limits is densely populated by the auto and taxi drivers from the city. Jeeps, commercial service trucks or tempos, autos and cars used to dot the road, which are now charred.   By and large the situation remained calm on the ground. However, throughout Wednesday, several state and national leaders from the BJP turned their ire towards Muslims and blamed them squarely for the incide...

"Police Treated Us Like Animals", Allege Foreign Tablighi Jamaat Activists Facing Trial For Visa Norm Violation
Syed Ali Ahmed | India Tomorrow   NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13—Several foreign activists of Tablighi Jamaat, who are stranded in India owing to police cases registered against them on ground of violation of visa norms, allege that they were treated like animals by the police at quarantine centres.   Narrating their experiences with the police and administration with this scribe, some of them currently staying in Jamia Nagar, said that they were pushed into rooms like hordes of animals. “They behaved with us as if we are animals and spreader of coronavirus”, several citizens of US, Australia, UK and other countries said.   Many of them also took objections to the headlines in newspapers describing Jamaat activists as carriers of coronavirus.   All of them have willingly chosen to face the trial instead of accepting offence, paying penalty and leaving for their countries, an option that was given to them by the government. Some of them had come to In...

Ram, Bhushan & Shourie Withdraw Contempt Plea
  NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13—Noted journalist N. Ram, advocate Prashant Bhushan and former Union Minister Arun Shourie withdrew their petition from the Supreme Court. The petition sought directions to declare unconstitutional a contempt law provision, which makes scandalising courts an offence.   A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra told the petitioners counsel senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan that it would not permit withdrawal, for refiling again in the apex court after sometime. Justice Mishra observed: "We can permit withdrawal for liberty to go to the High Court." Dhavan agreed to go before the High Court to challenge the validity of the provision of contempt.   This plea created trouble for some officials in the Supreme Court registry, for listing it before a bench other than the one headed by Justice Arun Mishra which has already taken up similar matters. According to sources familiar with the development, the issues connected with the wrong listing o...

Indian Muslims, In the 73rd Year of Independence: Part II; Their Condition Deteriorated With the Rise of BJP In Indian Politics
This is part II of a three-part article in which veteran journalist Rehan Ansari reviews the condition of Indian Muslims in 73rd year of India's Independence. By Rehan Ansari (Special To India Tomorrow)  MUMBAI:This report is based on a lecture by Christophe Jaffrelot, a French Political Scientist specializing in South Asia especially, India and Pakistan. This article breaks the myth that Congress has pampered Indian Muslims. He also responds to the question that what kind of difference, the rise of BJP made to the Muslims in India?     What difference the Rise of BJP made to Indian Muslims, in Socio-Economical terms? Although Jaffrelot felt that there are many issues. However, he chose to deal with two questions:   Marginalisation of Muslims in Parliament and Assemblies and Discrimination of Muslims by the police in different states.   The marginalization of Muslims in Parliament and Assemblies Since the 1980s Muslim Representations in Lok ...