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We are moving towards such levels of anarchy that cricket matches are perceived as wars! Hey, what\u2019s happening to us? Can\u2019t we distinguish between a cricket match and war!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n First things first. Salaams and salutes to Captain Virat Kohli. He comes across as a true player and also a committed captain. The manner in which he dealt his team\u2019s defeat in the recent World Cup matches and the way he came to the rescue of his teammate Mohammed\u00a0 Shami, speaks volumes of his upbringing and values.<\/p>\n Sadly, none of the old retired captains and players spoke out. They miss no opportunity grabbing the vital space on the small screen, throwing up comments on the game, but distance themselves when sensitive aspects come up. If only they had spoken out, loud and clear, like Virat Kohli did. He spoke like a real man! Nah, no mincing of words, not scared of the third-class political climate prevailing in this country.<\/p>\n How one wishes Kohli moves further, from cricket to politics, so that he could be one of those governing this country and with that saving it from the clutches of the hawks.<\/p>\n Whilst on Kohli and the hate messages heaped on him, it gets crucial that the goon-attackers are not just identified but arrested and imprisoned. There\u2019s a limit to the political climate getting murkier by the day; what, with brutality and anarchy spreading out unchecked \u2026 well, to such an extent that goon elements are unleashed in our midst to halt any discourse and discussion.<\/p>\n We are moving towards such levels of anarchy that cricket matches are perceived as wars! Hey, what\u2019s happening to us? Can\u2019t we distinguish between a cricket match and war!<\/p>\n And in the midst of these build-ups, the worst hit are the students. Instead of arresting them and slapping harshest possible cases against them, it is crucial to note that they deserve leniency and compassion and a patient hearing.<\/p>\n Ground realities turning murkier by the day!<\/strong><\/p>\n Murkier it gets by the day! Yet we sit as mute spectators. Do we have the freedom to even raise our voice or throw up a query or two on the all\u2019s going – fine narrative, uttered rather too frequently and shamefully by the ruling lot!<\/p>\n Today let us talk of Dengue and Hunger and the related deaths from the onslaughts of the two deadly disasters. Mind you, the mosquitoes flourishing in our country, are all homegrown. No sir, they haven\u2019t flown in from any of the foreign lands but very much desi. One hundred per cent desi.<\/p>\n And all those hundreds and thousands sitting malnourished and hungry and dying, are our people whom we haven\u2019t been able to feed, as we have\u00a0 been so very busy feeding lies to\u00a0 satisfy the sham of the who\u2019s who!<\/p>\n The only gimmick left for the ruling lot is to get European parliamentarians from videsh<\/em> and take them around for those shikara and elephant rides, and then compel them to give all\u2019s\u00a0 okay certificate to the utter hopelessness spreading out.<\/p>\n Speak up\u2026for each other!<\/strong><\/p>\n Just before writing this column, I was viewing Professor V.K. Tripathi\u2019s much-in-circulation latest video\u00a0 where he is explaining to the masses the significance of the collective Friday namaaz for the Muslim community, adding rather too emphatically that the Right-Wing communal elements should not be allowed to disrupt the Friday namaaz held in the open, in the various parks of Gurgaon, with the prior permission of the\u00a0 administration.<\/p>\n Professor Tripathi has also highlighted in the video, Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s message for collective prayers and the rationale behind it. On why Muslims in Gurgaon are compelled to offer the\u00a0 Friday\u00a0 namaaz in un-used\u00a0 and less frequented parks, this retired\u00a0 IIT\u00a0 Physics Professor detailed that though mandirs have\u00a0 been allowed to be constructed in the\u00a0 new\u00a0 housing colonies and residential sectors of Gurgaon but no new mosque has come up. Perhaps, circumstances not favorable, in the backdrop of the communal poisoning holding sway.<\/p>\n After viewing this video, I have been sitting in that introspective mood: Why shouldn\u2019t we\u00a0 be speaking for each other,\u00a0 irrespective of which community we\u00a0 belong\u00a0 to.Why we, as a people, are not standing up, speaking out? Why should only Sikhs speak out if tortures are inflicted on the Sikh community? Why should only Muslims speak out if they are lynched? Why should only Christian leaders speak out if churches and priests are burnt?\u00a0 Why should only Hindus speak out if there\u2019s hounding of their community? Why should bureaucrats and\u00a0 civil servants bare the blatant truths only and only after they sit retired in that safe positioning?<\/p>\n Yes, even an individual\u2019s stand can make a difference, if that voice is dripping with utmost sincerity and determination. Didn\u2019t we all witness how the\u00a0 Imam of\u00a0 Asansol, Imam Maulana Imdadul Rashidi,\u00a0 had\u00a0 controlled reactionary\u00a0 violence from spreading out when his 16\u00a0 year old son, Sibtullah Rashidi, was\u00a0 killed\u00a0 in the communal clashes that shook West\u00a0 Bengal\u2019s Asansol in March 2018. Though this Imam\u2019s son was attacked and killed during the Ram Naumi processions, yet he appealed and pleaded that there ought to be no cries for revenge or counter killings. With that, this Imam did what politicians or the police force couldn\u2019t do \u2013 \u00a0that is, protect hundreds of his fellow citizens.<\/p>\n In fact, religious heads from any faith can go a long way in protecting the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of the innocents. They can also go a long way in trying to educate the masses. Way back\u00a0 in 1991, when I was\u00a0 travelling in Kerala\u00a0 to cover the literacy\u00a0 movement, district medical\u00a0 officer of\u00a0 Malappuram, Dr A. Mohammad, told\u00a0 me, \u201c Four\u00a0 earlier attempts to bring\u00a0 literacy amongst the\u00a0 Muslims failed. Then the Muslim League and the Imams of the masjids cooperated, and so a large number of illiterates came to the sessions. In Islam a\u00a0 lot of\u00a0 importance is\u00a0 given to education yet politicians played\u00a0 havoc and education\u00a0 amongst the\u00a0 Muslims received\u00a0 low\u00a0 priority. Now KSS\u00a0 and its volunteers\u00a0 have brought about a change\u2026already we\u00a0 can\u00a0 see \u00a0a\u00a0 big improvement as\u00a0 there\u2019s decrease in\u00a0 infant\u00a0 mortality\u00a0 rate and an\u00a0 increase in the family planning awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u00a0 is a misconception that Muslim clerics are averse to modern day health and welfare schemes. I have been collecting facts which go to prove that religious heads helped the local volunteers when calamity struck just about anywhere in the country.<\/p>\n In fact, maulvis had played a very\u00a0 significant role even during the country’s struggle for\u00a0 Independence and also during Partition. In a\u00a0 report on Darul Uloom (well-known Islamic seminary at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh ),\u00a0 journalist Mini\u00a0 Kapoor wrote \u2013 in\u00a0 1915, in what\u00a0 is termed as the Silk Letter\u00a0 Conspiracy, Maulana Mahmood\u00a0 Hassan had set up a nationalist\u00a0 government\u00a0 in exile\u00a0 in\u00a0 Kabul. The first head \/PM of this government was Raja Mahendra Pratap and Barkatullah Bhopali as foreign minister. Later the bulk of Deobandis supported Mahatma Gandhi’s Congress and opposed the two nation theory.<\/p>\n In these recent years, the Darul Uloom issued strong statements: appealing to the Muslim community not slaughter cows to respect Hindu sentiments. Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi of All India Ulema Council had been quoted saying. \u2018Muslims should respect the sentiments of Hindus for whom the cow is scared.\u2019 And it has also been highlighting the fact that Islam is totally against forced conversions under any given situation or context.<\/p>\n And on the several occasions I had visited the Lucknow situated internationally known seat of Islamic religious learning, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, what struck was the simplicity spread around. As I had walked around the campus, it seemed more like a Gandhian setup, with\u00a0 minimal furniture and the students and staff attired in cotton kurta pyjamas. And Nadwa maulvis told me that they believed in training the students to survive with the absolute\u00a0 basics.<\/p>\n In fact, I must also detail that one of the staff members of this historic institution is one of the leading writers of the day. Widely travelled, Dr Obaidur Rahman heads the Journalism Department and writes on different aspects and subjects. He holds a Ph.D. in Arabic from the Calcutta University and\u00a0 has won various awards for his\u00a0 literary works and writings. Author\u00a0 of\u00a0 several\u00a0 books, the\u00a0 title of his\u00a0 latest\u00a0 book – For\u00a0\u00a0 God\u2019s\u00a0 Sake\u00a0 Be\u00a0 Human-\u00a0 seems\u00a0 rather\u00a0 hitting!<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n 14 November: On Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru\u2019s birthday<\/strong><\/p>\n I can\u2019t\u00a0 ever\u00a0 erase\u00a0 memories of that\u00a0 particular\u00a0 day when we\u00a0 were\u00a0 sitting in the\u00a0 living room of\u00a0 my\u00a0 grandparent\u2019s\u00a0 ancestral\u00a0 kothi\u00a0 in Shahjahanpur. The radio was on and suddenly\u00a0 I saw my\u00a0 maternal grandmother, Amna\u00a0 Rahman, cry out\u00a0 in deep anguish when she heard the news of the\u00a0 passing\u00a0 away of\u00a0 the then\u00a0 Prime Minister of\u00a0 India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.<\/p>\n I was too young to comprehend the connect between her tears and the death of Nehru, but to this day I recall her words along the strain that Nehru was a saviour of the masses of our country. And much later she had explained to us that in a democracy it is not important to have a leader from a minority or majority community but a person one could respect and look up to\u2026someone who could take care of the masses, without discriminating along the religious or regional formats.<\/p>\n \u2018Panditji\u2019, as Jawaharlal Nehru was popularly called, stood for democratic values, for the\u00a0 rights and dignity of the\u00a0 minorities and the disadvantaged. Yes, communal attacks did take place even in those years, but they were controlled and there was that guarantee that justice would prevail. He was looked upon as a saviour. That feeling of security was intact because he was himself secular. I\u2019m certain if\u00a0 Nehru\u00a0 was around, it would have been impossible for the Right-Wing brigades to have destroyed the Babri\u00a0 Masjid or for the Gujarat and\u00a0 Delhi pogroms to have taken place, or for the Hindutva men to be ruling.<\/p>\n Nehru was a statesman who built our country\u2019s institutions and infra-structure that paved way for development to take off in the actual sense of the term. Also stands out the fact that Nehru was a leader of the masses. He was respected and loved in our country, and also worldwide. In fact, Jawaharlal Nehru\u2019s vision and policies vis-a-vis West Asia\u00a0 made the Arab countries tilt towards India. He was firm and clear on his stand on Palestine, and that made the Arabs strong allies of India. \u2026 I recall the\u00a0 receptions hosted\u00a0 by the Iraqi envoys in that sprawling bungalow on New\u00a0 Delhi\u2019s Prithvi Raj Road, which was gifted\u00a0 in the 1950s, by\u00a0 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to the first Iraqi envoy posted to India.<\/p>\n In fact, whenever the Arab commentators and academics would speak of India they would make sure to detail the genuine bonding of the Arab people with the Indian\u00a0 masses. This bonding was because of the connect established by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ****<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ponder on these lines of Akbar Hussain Akbar Allahabadi:<\/strong><\/p>\n My rivals have lodged complaints against me in police stations for the crime<\/p>\n That Akbar continues to take the name of God in the present age and time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We are moving towards such levels of anarchy that cricket matches are perceived as wars! Hey, what\u2019s happening to us? Can\u2019t we distinguish between a cricket match and war! First things first. Salaams and salutes to Captain Virat Kohli. He comes across as a true player and also a committed captain. The manner in which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,36,14770,2205],"tags":[14772,14771,14774,14773],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334654"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334659,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334654\/revisions\/334659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/334655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Humra-dengue-death.jpg\")
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