Only patriotism can make India a Developed Nation

President of India Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, by his vision 2020, has given a call to Indians, to cooperate to make India a developed nation by 2020. All the students, youth & the people who want to see India on the path of progress & the NRI’s who have brought credit to India are very happy on this declaration of the President but there is a pessimistic group present in the country who instead of giving his contribution for the development of the country is busy in his selfish & limited plans. Surprisingly, there is a student of lesser age in the country who wanted to know from Dr. Kalam that why India can’t be a developed nation in 2015? Obviously today country needs young blood with such zealous & enthusiastic thinking that can play an important role with their hopeful & encouraging ideas in making India a developed nation.

At the same time, in India, here is a left group that shows to be a patriotic group but this show of theirs is unable to take the country on the path of constructive advancement. Communalism & casteism are the main hurdles in the path of Indian development. Whereas Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, an organisation that nourish esteemed Hindutva thinking & its associate organisations, Vishwa Hindu Parishad & Bajrang Dal, that are trying to unite the Hindus on the basis of the religion. These powers are misleading the Hindus that the Hindus are feeling themselves alone & insecure in the world. So all the Hindus in India should unite in the name of Hindutva. Now days, these communal organisations have started a struggle in all the villages, towns, cities, districts & states to be one under the banner of Hindutva. The persons who favour this thought don’t consider secularism, a soul of being an Indian but they opine that ‘The Hindutva’ is the soul of India. They don’t think that unity of all the Indians will lead India on the path of progress but they consider that their ‘awakening’ programme will help to solve all the problems of the country. The people of this organisation argue that India is as Hindu nation & it should be a Hindu state also. The people of this thought are gathering in lakhs in second week of February on the bank of the Ganga River in the historic city of Allahabad. The roots of Vishwa Hindu Parishad are so deep in this country that at present it is running 18000 schools at 12000 places in the country. The size of Vishwa Hindu Parishad has too much spread in India that 6000 committees of Vishwa Hindu Parishad have been established in the country & that too after taking its active part in Ram Janm Bhoomi Movement. Whereas its associate Bajrang Dal has set up its societies at 40000 places. This meeting that will be organised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad in February will be at 300 Acres of land & is mainly expected to discuss about the Hindutva, Gau Raksha (Protection of Cows) & on the present position of the Hindu Culture. The estimated expenditure on this meeting is expected to be 8 crores of rupees.

In the same way, the Muslim community also attempts to unite sometimes on the basis of communalism. Such communal organisation has already divided India in 1947 on the basis of community. After 1947, the fundamental Hindutva organisation looks at the Muslim in India as the second class citizens. Whereas the Hindus the biggest majority in India, with secular & liberal thoughts, look at the Indian Muslims just like other Indian citizens. They have made many plans, committees & departments to enable them to join the mainstream of progress of the country. Some surveys done in the country have revealed that most of the Muslims in India are illiterate, poor & unemployed. Whenever the central government or any state government takes the steps to uplift the backward Muslim class, at that time these communal powers raise a hue & cry & try to nullify it by polarisation of the Hindu votes.

In India, many organisations are active on the basis of caste & community but it is a matter of pleasure that even today 71% of Indians including the Hindus, the Muslims, the Sikhs, the Christians are proud of being Indians & not on being of their own community. Last days, a reputed information service of the world, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) got a wide survey done in India. The facts that came to light after this survey those clearly showed that the persons, who depend on religion & community for politics, may spend whatever they want for their selfish ends but the survey reveals that more than 55% of Indians want social harmony & communal peace & consider communalism & casteism big hurdles. The results of this survey gave weight to the Vision 2020 of the President Kalam when it showed that 6 out of 10 Indians consider it a matter of personal importance when India becomes the super power in economic, military & political spheres. 58% of Indians expressed their views that security of India is in danger by some Indians. This survey also revealed that 50% people don’t take religion seriously. This survey by BBC must have discouraged the communal & caste based organisation.

In fact, the energy used for encouraging communal & caste based programmes by some organisation, if it is used on the resources that are helpful in making India a developed nation, undoubtedly, that imagination, thought by the optimist boy, of making India a developed nation in 2015, five years earlier, as expressed by the President Kalam, can be turned into reality. All the Indians should learn a lesson from the history that tells that communalism has leaded us to nowhere. This made us weak & never gives us strength. It may be the partition of 1947 or the incident of December 6, 1992 or bomb blasts of Bombay or Godhra train incident or communal riots that took place in Gujarat, Meerut, Bhagalpur, Jamshedpur, Aligarh etc. or the terrorism that was in Punjab, two decades ago, all these shed Indian blood by the Indians. All these incidents weaken India & make India economically weaker. These incidents don’t lead India to the path of progress. That’s why, often a question is asked in India that how Japan that has suffered an atomic attack, is advancing by leaps & bounds. Many people ask the same question about China. There is only one answer to these questions & that is, all the people in those countries are sincerely devoted to their nation. That devotion is not a show or drama. They prove their patriotism by their deeds & duty. They don’t involve in mere words. The shops based on caste & communal works don’t give profits there. Such efforts are condemned in those countries.

Today, India too needs such efforts. Now they are to think, those who blow empty trumpets of patriotism, if their organisations are useful for the Hindus & the Muslims in India or the country. Undoubtedly, a person who is a native of India, if only takes pride in being of a particular community, it will not make India an advanced nation. But if all the people of India sing in the joint voice- ‘We are proud of being an Indian,’ certainly it will make India a developed nation before 2020.

INDIA: Festivals & Communal Harmony

India, a land of different religions, cultures & faiths, is a country where now it is a season of festivals. This will continue for a few days. In comparison to other religions the Hindus & the Muslims are in majority & as it is so, the festivals, in large number of these two communities are celebrated with great pump & show. The celebration of the Hindu festivals is based on calculation of Vikrami Samvat Calendar whereas the Muslim festivals are celebrated on the calculation of Islamic Calendar or Hijri. At present Vikrami Samvat is 2063 whereas the year of Islamic Calendar is Hijri 1427. Regarding dates, there is no similarity & there can be no comparison between Hindi Vikrami Samvat & Hijri year of the Islamic Calendar. Regarding faith, the Muslim community favours oneness of God whereas the Hindu community worships 33 crores of Gods & Goddesses. In spite of it, in a country like India, both the communities, the Hindus & the Muslims celebrate the festivals of each other collectively & enjoy & greet one another.

It is a matter of great sorrow that some communal powers living in India envy the communal harmony & some foreign powers want to destroy the communal harmony & communal unity, whenever they get time. In the last five years, there have been many attempts to hurt the communal unity of India. For these ill wills, there was an attack on the Raghunath Temple & even the Akshardham Temple was also attacked. The historical Sankat Mochan Temple had also been the aim of these dreaded terrorists & sometimes these unreligious people attacked the innocent & unarmed pilgrims of Amarnath Pilgrimage & thus gave a proof of their barbarism. But the Indians gave right attention towards the activities of the terrorists & reached the conclusion that the motive of these unwanted activities was to destroy the existing communal harmony of the Indians. So, even in spite of the attacks on the ancient & pious places of the Hindus, the chain of communal harmony could not be broken & the terrorist couldn’t get success to fulfill their wrong desires.

After that, the terrorists who were defeated by the tolerance shown by the Hindu community, tried to hurt both the communities, the Hindus & the Muslims, when both the festivals the Diwali & the Eid were to be celebrated within one week. On October 29, 2005 evening in Delhi, the capital of India, when the Hindus & the Muslims were busy in purchasing goods for their respective festivals, there were serial bomb blasts at many places, well known shopping centres, where 65 persons were killed & 217 were injured. The dead & the injured were from both the communities. This was the biggest terrorist attack on the common citizens in the capital of the country. But this severe attack couldn’t shatter the communal harmony of the country. After that on July 11, 2006, there were serial bomb blasts in local trains in the metropolitan Mumbai where a large number of citizens were killed. Even this too, couldn’t break the chain of communal harmony & the peace & calmness prevailed there. Within 24 hours Bombay that is called the commercial capital of India was normal & its life come on the track again.

It seemed that the continuous attacks on the Hindu holy places & temples, the terrorist attack on the parliament of India, the attacks in busy markets during the festive seasons etc. couldn’t satisfy the unreligious terrorists. That’s why the dreaded terrorists who called themselves the keepers of the Islam aimed at a city named Malegaon in Maharashtra in India, a very sensitive city, where about 75% inhabitants are the Muslims & the remaining 25% are the Hindus. On last September 8, on Friday, when people of the Muslims community were making Friday prayers to god & at the same time it was their (Shab-E-Baraat) festival day, there were many serial bomb blasts on the places where there was a great crowd in Malegaon. It was in mosques & in graveyards. It is doubted that these were attacks of suicide bombers. 40 persons lost their lives & more than 200 were injured in these attacks. The persons who died & were injured in these attacks mostly belonged to the Muslim community. There were many women & children among the dead & the injured.

The terrorist attack in Malegaon made it clear that the terrorists have yielded to the tolerance of Indian Hindu community & being fed up that they have started to aim at the Muslim shrines & the Muslim community only to avenge so that members of one community may stand against the members of the other community. They want the communal riots in the all country so that here becomes an atmosphere of instability. This will fulfill the unholy desire of the terrorists & so called crusaders. But this time too, they couldn’t succeed in their desire. Even after the Malegaon blasts, there remained the calmness & the foes of humanity had to give in.

On the one side, the terrorists in India are trying to hurt the communal harmony & on the other side because of the paradox of dates & years, for the last three years, the festivals of the Hindus & the Muslims are falling on the near dates. Clearly, it can be seen that some bad & misguided persons may try to keep apart the Hindus & the Muslims by their cruel & inhuman actions but God is not in favour of the terrorists. For example, the most famous & sacred festival of the Hindus, the Diwali & the most well known & pious festival of the Muslims, the Eid-Ul-Fitr are being celebrated on the near dates. In the last days, Shradhs, that are days for pacifying the departed souls of the family among the Hindus, & Shab-E-Baraat festival, by the Muslims, fell on the near days. Surprisingly, as there seems similarity in the names of these two festivals as Sharadhs & Shab-E-Baraat look having similar pronunciation, in the same way motive of the two communities behind the celebration of these two festivals is almost the same. In the Hindu religion, as during Shradh days, people give charity, food & clothes in the memory of their dead relatives, similarly the Muslims, among Shab-E-Baraat days go to the graves of their dead relatives & pray to god for the peace of their soul. They give charity etc.

God hasn’t only compelled the Hindus & the Muslims to celebrate these two festivals but the festival of Navratras for nine days are also being celebrated along with the most pious Islamic festival Ramzan. There is surprising similarity between these. The people of both the communities observe fast on these festivals. The difference is only of words. The fast observed among Navratras is called ‘Vratt’ & the fast observed for Ramazan is called ‘Roza.’ During this Ramazan, there fall the famous festivals of Durga Pooja & Dushehra of the Hindus.

Even despite of all differences of dates & calendar, the celebration of the above festivals that look alike & have the alike motives by both the communities, are not a proof of communal harmony that God wants to keep among both the communities? God will keep peace & harmony, however hard the narrow minded, enemy of humanity demons like terrorists may try to break the bonds of mutual love between the two communities. Certainly it is not a chance but a miracle. On the one side, the terrorists are trying continuously to strike on the humanity & faiths of the people & on other side God is making the path by these festivals to unite the human beings. We peace loving Indians believe that our communal unity will remain as it is & god will help us to remain united & the terrorists will never succeed in their wicked aims.

BY
TANVEER JAFRI
(Tanveer Jafri is a popular columnist and member of the Haryana Sahitya Akademi and Haryana Urdu Academy. He lives in Ambala. He can be contacted at tanveerjafri58@yahoo.co.in)

Osama Bin Laden's Religion?

Just after 5 years of the terrorist attack of 9/11 on America, again a debate has started on terrorism prevalent in the world. In the last 5 years, Al Qaeda & its leader Osama Bin Laden captured the attention of the media, whereas after this attack, American President George Bush left no stone unturned to change the scenario of the world politics by his 'War against Terrorism.' Before & after the incident of September 11, 2001, the news through Laden, the Al Qaeda chief, were open in which there was Fatwa (Religious Instruction) that it was the duty of every Muslim to attack American people & harm American interests in the world. First of all in 1998, Laden ordered all the Muslims of the world to attack military camps of America & its allies. He said that these attacks were to remain in force till they call back their each & every soldier from all the Muslim countries of the world.' Obviously this fatwa or the religious instruction issued by Laden given to the Muslims brings a question in the forefront that what right Laden has to give directions to the Muslims of the world? What right he has to issue this type of Non-Islamic Fatwas? When & on what basis was Laden authorized by the Muslims of the world to organize Al Qaeda & spread terrorism for killing the innocents of the world? Last but not the least question arises if Osama Bin Laden according to Islamic law is a Muslim or not? To know these questions, it is important to know the personal & family background of Laden.

The name of this terrorist chief is Osama Bin Mohammad Ben Avad Bin Laden & he was born on 10 th of the March 1957 in Riyadh City of Saudi Arabia. He was born in a rich & respected family of Saudi Arabia. His father Mohammad Bin Laden was the owner of a famous company 'Bin Laden Company' & was quite near to the royal family of Saudi Arabia. Mohammad Bin Laden made 22 marriages in his life. From these wives he got 55 issues, Osama Bin Laden was first son of 10th wife & was 17th in order. Osama's mother Hamida Al Attas was born in Syria. After sometime of Osama's birth his father divorced his mother. After that, his mother made her second marriage to an officer working in Bin Laden Company & his name was Mohammad Al Attas. Osama's mother gave birth to three sons & a daughter from his second husband. In this way Osama was brought up among his step father & four step brothers & sisters.

Astonishingly the family background of Osama Bin Laden not a surprise in a so called Islam country as Saudi Arabia because it is a common matter in the Arab world to make many marriages under the pretext of Islamic religious law which allows for four marriages only. But when a dreaded man as Osama Bin Laden becomes the chief of terrorists & empowers himself to direct the Muslims of all the world, then it becomes pertinent to see that according to Islam's religious law whether he himself is a Muslim or not? And to what extent he & his father have given regards to Islamic religious laws & how far he has acted upon these laws. As is said by the Islam prophets that to disobey & ignore the tenets written in Islamic religious laws, is Non-Islamic. So a man who is involved in Non-Islamic activities & doesn't obey the directives of the Islamic religious laws and defines it just according to his own convenience, how can such a person call himself a real Muslim?

Mohammad Bin Laden openly ignored the directive of making four marriages as given in Islamic religious laws & made 22 marriages. Obviously the 18 marriages made after the four as allowed by the Islamic religious laws are illegal, accordingly. As Osama Bin Laden is from the tenth wife of his father & Islamic religious law doesn't allow for more than four marriages, so this marriage of his father & his mother can't be said legal according to Islamic religious laws. Obviously when the marriage is not according to Islamic religious laws the son too is not according to Islamic religious laws. Now the question is that after this type of marriage which is not according to Islamic religious laws, how can the son Osama be called a Muslim? How can he be accepted a hero of the Mohammedans of the entire world? Now a matter under perusal can be, where keepers of the Islam everywhere quote the Islamic religious laws & make the peaceful religious issues as controversial, by bringing these under the context of Islamic religious laws, is it not a subject to think that if Osama Bin Laden has a right to call himself a Mohammedan or not?

The anti-Islam movements & activities of Osama Bin Laden & the harm being made by these to the Muslims of the world arises a question in the minds of the Muslims of the world if the activities of Laden & instructions issued by him are not a part of an inconvincible conspiracy? All the world is very well aware of the fact that Osama Bin Laden & Al Qaeda are the product of America & were prepared by American intelligence agency, CIA, to be active in Afghanistan & to struggle against Soviet Union. At that time, by the dethronement of Najib government in Afghanistan, return of Soviet armies from Afghanistan & organization of Taliban, all these were helpful to American interests & were harmful to international Soviet interests. It is not mistaken that even today, the religious instructions of Osama Bin Laden seem to be against America but in reality, his all steps are anti-Muslim & seems to be fulfilling the American desires.

After the terrorizing incident in America on September 11, 2001, George Bush declared a war against terrorism & there was a planned movement to harm the Muslim countries & to massacre the Mohammedans on the name of terrorism. Laden, undoubtedly devastated the two big towers in New York, which were known as World Trade Centre, by its Anti-Islamic & anti-humanitarian orders, but is it not true that as a result of this dreaded incident these two multi-storied buildings took sacrifice of two countries- Afghanistan & Iraq? Who can speak in favour of kidnapping of innocents, kidnapping of scribes & news reporters & beheading them? Which Islam & which Islamic religious laws allow this hateful action? What benefit are these, hateful & inhuman acts are providing to the Mohammedans of the world? If the Mohammedans of the world carefully look at the works of Osama Bin Laden, they will find that the killing of one American citizen by Laden's people has been reciprocated by one thousand lives of the Mohammedans. Today, because of inhuman & anti-Muslim activities of Laden, the valuable natural oil resources of Iraq, which were its pride, are now under the control of America.

Do the above facts not compel to think that Laden's calling himself a Mohammedan & to take charge of Islamic flag in his hand is not a result of any secret design? At the same time, Osama Bin Laden a Mohammedan or not, keeping in view his inhuman activities & Islamic religious laws.

BY
TANVEER JAFRI
(Tanveer Jafri is a popular columnist and member of the Haryana Sahitya Akademi and Haryana Urdu Academy. He lives in Ambala. He can be contacted at tanveerjafri58@yahoo.co.in)