Aligarh Muslim University Paralyzed Again
Mirza A. Beg
Monday, September 17, 2007
TwoCircles.net Tuesday, September 18, 2007
http://www.twocircles.net/2007sep18/aligarh_muslim_university_paralyzed_again.html
Indian Muslims.info, Tuesday, September 18, 2007
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/sep/18/aligarh_muslim_university_paralyzed_again.html
Khabrein.info, Wednesday, September 19, 2007
http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6410&Itemid=88
Counter Currents.Org, Wednesday, September19, 2007
http://www.countercurrents.org/beg190907.htm
Indian Express, Thursday, September 20, 2007
http://www.indianexpress.com./story/218755.html
About five month ago Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was in turmoil. Two students had been killed and the administration was moribund. The Vice Chancellor, Mr. Naseem quietly abdicated or felt forced to abdicate and skipped town through the back door. Alumni and well-wishers of AMU were abuzz with righteous hand winging and heartfelt advice. I expressed my views in an article, on the vicious cycle at the AMU. http://www.countercurrents.org/beg200407.htm,
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/april/12/articles/the_vicious_circle_at_aligarh_muslim_university.html
A month later a new vice Chancellor was ushered in with fanfare. He made much needed changes in the administrative staff. Most, who claim to be in the know, seemed to have approved.
Suddenly on the 12th of September the news of rape of a student in the Abdullah Girls Collage hit the news. On September 16th another student was murdered in the heart of the campus by unknown assailants. These two events are unspeakably horrible. All efforts should be made to bring the culprits to the bar of justice. Instead, they trigger a mass violent protest and the university is closed for indefinite period (Sine die). Slide back to nightmarish yesterday again.
It is a vicious cycle indeed. If we keep repeating our nightmarish yesterdays, the bright mornings of hope will for ever elude us and be beyond our reach.
Terrible things happen from time to time. How do we react and conduct ourselves is the measure of civilization, decency and courage. It appears that we always fall short, and keep repeating the same mistakes, as if we are locked on a treadmill, condemned to tread the same strip over and over again. The obligatory condemnations pour in from all quarters and we feel ever so slightly better.
Rape and murder are criminal offences of exceedingly grave nature, and a purview of the police investigation. They are not, and can not be construed as an internal disciplinary matter of the university.
There are mechanisms in place to handle such cases in the penal code, albeit the wheels of bureaucracy and justice grind slowly. That is where the clout of the university administration and the political leverage of the students and the community could have been brought to bare to move the process as fast as judiciously possible.
It appears that the administration does not know how to take immediate action to let the students and their parents know that they are not asleep at the switch.
The students or at least many of them have no idea of the purpose of the university and the importance of their being on the campus. It appears that they wait for a provocation and go on a rampage destroying and burning the very structures of the hallowed institution that is supposed to show them the path to success, so that they can be responsible for their own and the community’s destinies, so that such events do not happen.
Instead of pillaging the students could have given a little time to the administration to gather its wits and take action. Granted, the past administrations from time to time have been corrupt or at the very least inept. They could have kept a close watch on the progress of the investigations. They could have written, and in time deluged the relevant offices with petitions. In the absence of proper response, carried out large peaceful and quite vigils every day at a certain appointed times, and not disrupted their own and others education.
Islam teaches us self-control and relentless pursuit of justice with the right means, avoiding injury to innocent others. In the land of Mahatma Gandhi the lessons and effectiveness of peaceful protests are engraved in our history. They have been successful and are part of the unread pages of the history books. They ought to be engraved in our hearts, but sadly they are obscure even in the institutions of learning.
An institution dedicated to intellectual development and pursuit of the betterment through learning can ill afford a lock of reoccurring yesterdays on our psyche to blind us to the waiting tomorrows.
There are many good students and very good faculty members, but they are effectively prisoners of impetuous few who would rather destroy and burn the halls of learning. Until the students realize that they are at AMU to get the best education they can and stop listening to those who preach otherwise; the members of faculty realize that they are there to intellectually serve the institution the best they can and shun the deleterious groups; and most of all the community demands that of its children to behave, no one can be found to govern an institution where education is treated as incidental. Most intellectuals will tend to shy away from such an impossible task.
I have written this before, “This is a microcosm of the Muslim community as well. Great Leaders are born occasionally, their appearance can not be willed. They are exceptions not a norm. Individuals make a Community; we as individuals need to take up the challenge to improve. Most societies improve with individual responsibilities not with slogans shouted behind a time serving leader.”
The first responsibility of the administration is to bring the rapist and murderers to justice. The second responsibility is to take much needed steps to make the campus safe. And the third responsibility is to punish those students who destroy and burn the university property and disrupt the education by force.
Mirza A. Beg can be contacted at mab64@yahoo.com, or http://mirzasmusings.blogspot.com/
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
India-Lanka Strait 07-09-14
Setusamudram Channel- Good Project, Bad Politics
Mirza A. Beg
September 14, 2007
Counter Currents. Org, Friday September 15, 2007
http://www.countercurrents.org/beg150907.htm
TwoCircles.Net, Saturday, September16, 2007
http://www.twocircles.net/2007sep16/setusamudram_canal_good_project_bad_politics.htm
Daily News, Sri Lanka, Monday, September 18, 2007
http://www.dailynews.lk/2001/pix/PrintPage.asp?REF=/2007/09/17/fea01.asp
Setusamudram, a shipping canal completely within Indian territorial waters in the Palk Strait, the sallow continental shelf between India and Sri Lanka is likely to become a new cause-celebre for the sectarian forces. The canal would shorten the shipping distance between the east and the west coast of India by about 500 miles. The project has been challenged by the rightwing Hindu groups and has landed in the Supreme Court for adjudication. They claim that it will destroy the mythical bridge constructed by Lord Rama (an Incarnation of Vishnu) with the help of the Monkey brigade under the Monkey god Hanuman in prehistoric times. This is a problem that should not have been, but for the crass political calculations of the BJP (A right wing Hindu Party) and the inept handling by the government of India. But that is the nature of electoral politics.
Though the medieval feudalistic systems are on their way out and are being replaced by the democratic, secular pluralistic systems, but the attitudes take a very long time to change. One of the problems endemic to all democratic secular pluralistic societies is how to navigate policies in the interest of progress and public interest through the shoals of religious and cultural beliefs rooted in perceived glorious pasts. Without exception, all who wear religion on their sleeves, read history not with the critical scientific attitude, but with reverence rooted in belief and its glorification. The evolution versus creationism contest falls in this category as well.
In the most pristine form these beliefs are spiritual, personal and beyond question, because by definition belief in supernatural stands above and beyond reason. Democracy has no problem with that, but inevitably for political supremacy they are almost always used to rile up the populace, which without realizing the motives falls for it.
Geologically speaking the Indian Subcontinent and the Island of Sri Lanka are a part of the Indian plate (Plate tectonics). The Palk Strait is a very shallow sea on the contiguous continental shelf that is the real geological boundary of the Indian Plate. India and Sri Lanka have been separated by the rise in the sea level, flooding the low land between India and Sri Lanka forming the Palk Strait. Just as many large tracts in coastal parts of India as well as all over the world would become large Islands, if all the glaciers melt raising the sea level further by about two to three hundred feet.
The mistake the UPA government has made is playing in the hands of the Hindutva forces in its briefs filed before the Supreme Court. The government had no business, commenting on the historical validity of the existence of Lord Rama. That was not germane to the court pleadings and is not the purview of a secular government. Secular government ought to steer clear of references to or questioning any religious belief unless absolutely necessary.
The argument should have been very narrowly focused based on the overwhelming evidence from the findings by the Geological Survey of India and the Archaeological Survey of India, two very old and prestigious scientific organizations.
Geologically it is normal for sand bars to form, connecting two islands or a string of islands in the high energy environment, where sands derived from nearby rivers or degrading coral reefs are deposited by breaking ocean waves. They are called Tombolos, derived from the Latin word tumulus.
Archaeologically no artifacts have been found by the Archaeological Survey of India, indicating human or in this case Monkey activity.
Unfortunately by unnecessarily questioning the historical veracity of Lord Rama the government and the politics is being battered on the shoals and Monkey business of religious exploitation by the feudalistic pseudo democratic parties.
Mirza A. Beg can be contacted at mab64@yahoo.com or http://mirzasmusings.blogspot.com/
Mirza A. Beg
September 14, 2007
Counter Currents. Org, Friday September 15, 2007
http://www.countercurrents.org/beg150907.htm
TwoCircles.Net, Saturday, September16, 2007
http://www.twocircles.net/2007sep16/setusamudram_canal_good_project_bad_politics.htm
Daily News, Sri Lanka, Monday, September 18, 2007
http://www.dailynews.lk/2001/pix/PrintPage.asp?REF=/2007/09/17/fea01.asp
Setusamudram, a shipping canal completely within Indian territorial waters in the Palk Strait, the sallow continental shelf between India and Sri Lanka is likely to become a new cause-celebre for the sectarian forces. The canal would shorten the shipping distance between the east and the west coast of India by about 500 miles. The project has been challenged by the rightwing Hindu groups and has landed in the Supreme Court for adjudication. They claim that it will destroy the mythical bridge constructed by Lord Rama (an Incarnation of Vishnu) with the help of the Monkey brigade under the Monkey god Hanuman in prehistoric times. This is a problem that should not have been, but for the crass political calculations of the BJP (A right wing Hindu Party) and the inept handling by the government of India. But that is the nature of electoral politics.
Though the medieval feudalistic systems are on their way out and are being replaced by the democratic, secular pluralistic systems, but the attitudes take a very long time to change. One of the problems endemic to all democratic secular pluralistic societies is how to navigate policies in the interest of progress and public interest through the shoals of religious and cultural beliefs rooted in perceived glorious pasts. Without exception, all who wear religion on their sleeves, read history not with the critical scientific attitude, but with reverence rooted in belief and its glorification. The evolution versus creationism contest falls in this category as well.
In the most pristine form these beliefs are spiritual, personal and beyond question, because by definition belief in supernatural stands above and beyond reason. Democracy has no problem with that, but inevitably for political supremacy they are almost always used to rile up the populace, which without realizing the motives falls for it.
Geologically speaking the Indian Subcontinent and the Island of Sri Lanka are a part of the Indian plate (Plate tectonics). The Palk Strait is a very shallow sea on the contiguous continental shelf that is the real geological boundary of the Indian Plate. India and Sri Lanka have been separated by the rise in the sea level, flooding the low land between India and Sri Lanka forming the Palk Strait. Just as many large tracts in coastal parts of India as well as all over the world would become large Islands, if all the glaciers melt raising the sea level further by about two to three hundred feet.
The mistake the UPA government has made is playing in the hands of the Hindutva forces in its briefs filed before the Supreme Court. The government had no business, commenting on the historical validity of the existence of Lord Rama. That was not germane to the court pleadings and is not the purview of a secular government. Secular government ought to steer clear of references to or questioning any religious belief unless absolutely necessary.
The argument should have been very narrowly focused based on the overwhelming evidence from the findings by the Geological Survey of India and the Archaeological Survey of India, two very old and prestigious scientific organizations.
Geologically it is normal for sand bars to form, connecting two islands or a string of islands in the high energy environment, where sands derived from nearby rivers or degrading coral reefs are deposited by breaking ocean waves. They are called Tombolos, derived from the Latin word tumulus.
Archaeologically no artifacts have been found by the Archaeological Survey of India, indicating human or in this case Monkey activity.
Unfortunately by unnecessarily questioning the historical veracity of Lord Rama the government and the politics is being battered on the shoals and Monkey business of religious exploitation by the feudalistic pseudo democratic parties.
Mirza A. Beg can be contacted at mab64@yahoo.com or http://mirzasmusings.blogspot.com/
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The Unity Day USA 07-09-10
Celebration of the “Unity Day”
Mirza A. Beg
September 6, 2007
Media Monitor Network, Sunday, September 9, 2007
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/45914
When nations suffer a collective trauma, particularly the trauma of an unexpected attack, it is injurious to national psyche and pride. People rally behind a leader to draw on the collective strength to face the enemy. The attack on 9/11 was such a trauma.
In the fog of the immediate aftermath of the event, the reaction is swift, without much time for understanding and discussion of a cogent thoughtful policy. The nuances and sensibilities do not have much chance to be considered. Phrases such as, “Those not with us, are against us”, appeal to the raw injured nerves. The common retort to all thoughtful introspective analyses become, 9/11 changed every thing. This led to many ill considered impetuous policies that have come back to haunt us, causing many more wars, deaths, injuries and much destruction in far off places.
Though the world has not been a peaceful place ever, and the 20th century was particularly bloody. Compared to post Sept 11th, the world of September 10th looks rosy. The emotion to build a grand monument to the September 11th is quite natural, and the effort to build a majestic and meaningful structure in the chasm like wound left by the fall of the twin towers is laudable.
Instead of longing for a past that is always more fanciful than real, a greater and more meaningful monument to the spirit of the national resilience will be to create new realities, to overcome the fear rooted in prejudice, voices of derision tearing the fabric of national ethos and policies skirting the constitutional guarantees.
The United States was created to advance and serve a pristine idea of equality of all human beings and their inalienable right to, life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. That ideal should not be abandoned or interrupted, because that will be a real defeat. We need to go forward and build harmony based on understanding and respect for all, by sharing our thoughts and visions.
The United States of America has passed through some very trying times through its history, overcoming the inhumanity of slavery on a group of its citizens and civil war, to evolve into a multi racial, multi ethnic, multi religious, and multi cultural society, a welcoming microcosm of all the peoples of the world. A richly woven fabric of ideas and culture rooted in its cherished constitution.
The real strength of the United States is in the freedom to think and act with intellectual and political diversity under the guidance and parameters of the constitution; a freedom to pursue a dream of excellence. A deep understanding and celebration of this idea will indeed be a more productive and lasting monument to the idea and purpose of the United States of America.
A very good friend of mine, Mike Ghouse from Dallas Texas has been championing the Unity day on September 10th for last two years with very good results. People and civic leaders from all religions as well as nonreligious ideologies and cultures join on a common platform to raise their individual and collective voices for the shared stream of respect and love for humanity. They celebrate the freedom of thought and action the US constitution provides to each of us, irrespective of color, creed, or national origin.
The celebration of the “Unity Day” with understanding of its cherished constitution is indeed a potent and a grand monument to the spirit of the national purpose of The United States of America.
Mirza A. Beg can be reached at mab64@yahoo.com or http://mirzasmusings.blogspot.com/
Mirza A. Beg
September 6, 2007
Media Monitor Network, Sunday, September 9, 2007
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/45914
When nations suffer a collective trauma, particularly the trauma of an unexpected attack, it is injurious to national psyche and pride. People rally behind a leader to draw on the collective strength to face the enemy. The attack on 9/11 was such a trauma.
In the fog of the immediate aftermath of the event, the reaction is swift, without much time for understanding and discussion of a cogent thoughtful policy. The nuances and sensibilities do not have much chance to be considered. Phrases such as, “Those not with us, are against us”, appeal to the raw injured nerves. The common retort to all thoughtful introspective analyses become, 9/11 changed every thing. This led to many ill considered impetuous policies that have come back to haunt us, causing many more wars, deaths, injuries and much destruction in far off places.
Though the world has not been a peaceful place ever, and the 20th century was particularly bloody. Compared to post Sept 11th, the world of September 10th looks rosy. The emotion to build a grand monument to the September 11th is quite natural, and the effort to build a majestic and meaningful structure in the chasm like wound left by the fall of the twin towers is laudable.
Instead of longing for a past that is always more fanciful than real, a greater and more meaningful monument to the spirit of the national resilience will be to create new realities, to overcome the fear rooted in prejudice, voices of derision tearing the fabric of national ethos and policies skirting the constitutional guarantees.
The United States was created to advance and serve a pristine idea of equality of all human beings and their inalienable right to, life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. That ideal should not be abandoned or interrupted, because that will be a real defeat. We need to go forward and build harmony based on understanding and respect for all, by sharing our thoughts and visions.
The United States of America has passed through some very trying times through its history, overcoming the inhumanity of slavery on a group of its citizens and civil war, to evolve into a multi racial, multi ethnic, multi religious, and multi cultural society, a welcoming microcosm of all the peoples of the world. A richly woven fabric of ideas and culture rooted in its cherished constitution.
The real strength of the United States is in the freedom to think and act with intellectual and political diversity under the guidance and parameters of the constitution; a freedom to pursue a dream of excellence. A deep understanding and celebration of this idea will indeed be a more productive and lasting monument to the idea and purpose of the United States of America.
A very good friend of mine, Mike Ghouse from Dallas Texas has been championing the Unity day on September 10th for last two years with very good results. People and civic leaders from all religions as well as nonreligious ideologies and cultures join on a common platform to raise their individual and collective voices for the shared stream of respect and love for humanity. They celebrate the freedom of thought and action the US constitution provides to each of us, irrespective of color, creed, or national origin.
The celebration of the “Unity Day” with understanding of its cherished constitution is indeed a potent and a grand monument to the spirit of the national purpose of The United States of America.
Mirza A. Beg can be reached at mab64@yahoo.com or http://mirzasmusings.blogspot.com/
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