While many people remember the carnage during the last century, the international media is quiet about the victims of Gujarat--both the dead ones and those who survive the nightmare and now live on hell on earth. Some watch Bollywood movies with the gyrating pelvises, but ignore one of the best movies on the subject PARZANIA. Parzania is the true story of a Parsi family that lost its son in the Hindu carnage on Muslims. Parzania cannot show the rape, pillage, arson, cannibalism, and live burning of human beings, at least it reminds the world of man's humanity on man. The victims of the Gujarat genocide have not gotten justice in Bharat (aka India). The Chief Minister of the state is hoping to become the next prime minister of the country. He roams free and boasts about the genocide on his watch.
Silence is complicity.
The land of the Indus is incensed about a woman being spanked, and ignores the rape and burring of thousands of Muslim women in Bharat. The Pakistani establishment is impotent to bring the story of Gujarat to the United Nations and the Pakistani media is silent about the butchery. Asma Gilani has written reams about incidents in Pakistan, not a word about the Gujarat slaughter. Ikram Sehgal visits Delhi often, but has never uttered a word Modi's depredation. Pervez Hoohbhoy, Ayaz Amir and Imtiaz Alam say a lot about the Pakistani military. Mums the word about the Gujarat hecatomb where Muslims were sacrficed to Kali Devi.
The worst ever communal carnage of this century in which over 2000 innocents lost their lives
Survivors not only lost their livelihood and shelter but also have been degraded to the status of second class citizens
Most of the citizen?s inquiry committees by human rights activists have pointed out about the role of state administration and Modi in particular in the violence
Hundreds of thousands cannot return home
Maya Kodnani, Narendra Modi?s cabinet colleague who instigated and led the carnage in Naroda Patia
Modi is being projected as the future Prime minister of India
India as World Power 1 Superpower India Pt 2
The international press is also silent. Fareed Zarkaria mentions shining India, but forgets to tell the world about the despoliation of Muslims. Joe Klein of Time Magazine discusses the Superpower, but ignores the slums and hides the truth about the Chief Minister of Gujarat--Narendar Modi
GENOCIDE AGAINST MUSLIMS: The charred bodies of Muslim after the Hindus attacked, murdered and burned them in Gujarat in 2002. The fate of Mulsims in IndiaIn the worst ever communal carnage of this century, the post Godhra Gujarat violence, over 2000 innocents lost their lives. Most of the survivors not only lost their livelihood and shelter but also have been degraded to the status of second class citizens. Most of the perpetrators of violence, have not only gone scot-free; many of them had an upward political mobility. The efforts of the victims and human rights activists had yielded very few results and majority of the victims are grieving and living with the scars of their losses. In the whole process, the direction of Apex court to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the role of Modi, his cabinet colleagues and other top functionaries of state and those involved in violence, has come as a sigh of hope. The court gave the direction (April 27, 2002) in response to appeal by Jakia Ahsan Jafri, the widow of slain Congress MP, Ahsan Jafri. One complements the courage and doggedness of Jakia Jafri for all her efforts.
This comes in the backdrop of the arrest of Maya Kodnani, Modi?s cabinet colleague who instigated and led the Role of Narendra Modi By Ram Puniyani, 02 May, 2009, Countercurrents.org
Indian police inspect the charred remains of a Muslim in Ambasacarnage in Naroda Patia. Just to recall, Ahsan Jafri ex Congress MP had made frantic calls to all those concerned but the police help was not forthcoming to save him from the mob assembled by the VHP-Bajrang Dal and others, the lead players in Gujarat carnage. So far the official inquiry committees have not pointed its finger on the role of Modi, while the Human Rights Commission report (2002) pointed out that state machinery failed to protect the innocent people. Most of the citizen?s inquiry committees by human rights activists have pointed out about the role of state administration and Modi in particular in the violence. In the major such report of ?Citizens tribunal? headed by retired Justice Krishna Ayer and Justice P.B.Sawant, (Crime against Humanity), a Minister in Modi?s Government Haren Pandya gave description of the meeting which Modi had called on the evening of Godhra train accident. As per Pandya Modi instructed all the top state officials to let the Hindu anger not be curtailed in the aftermath of Godhra. Modi popularized the thesis that Godhra train was burnt in a pre planned manner by the international terrorism, in collusion with the ISI and local Muslims. Infamously, he announced that every action has an opposite reaction, meaning that now Hindus will take revenge and state should sit back and let the opposite reaction take its course. Gujarat Carnage:
Indian Terrorists: Wanted Dead or Alive
When will Delhi hand over these terrorists?
BJP caught red handed in terrorism-Gujarat blasts
Strategy to deny visa to Narendra Modi--the Hitler lover & Butcher of Gujarat
GUJERAT GENOCIDE AGAINST MUSLIMS: Indian Muslims digging graves for loved ones who fell victim to bloodthirsty Modi mobs in GujaratIt is a mad hatter's world. Those who massacred 15 million during world war one, 50 million in word war two and used atomic bombs to decimate entire cities today give the world lectures on nuclear proliferation, violence and peace. It is strange world when charitable societies in the Muslim world are shut down, ostensibly because they support the ex-CIA-agent-turned terrorists while the (Gujarati) Indian American Hotel Association in the United States is free to send millions of Dollars into the coffers of the butcher of Gujarat--Narendar Modi. It is a very strange world when Bobby Jindal, a supporter of Narendar Modi and one who has appeared in fund raising for Modi and (Gujarati) Indian American Hotel Association can hope to become the leader of the Republican party, while orphanages in Pakistan are shut down because they may help some unknown terrorist.
Silence is Complicity!
GUJARAT GENOCIDE AGAINST CHRISTIANS, DALITS & MUSLIMS Governor Bobby Jindal funded by Anti-Semitic Terrorists Modi & Hindu fundamentalist Modi in “India” funded by US Gujaratis Governor Bobby Jindal is financed by Indian American Hotel Association and he supports the IAHA which funds Modi Christians in India raped & murdered by Hinduists supported by network in the US Indian Hotel Association hosts Modi after US denied him a visa
Same Harem Pandya was murdered later and his father stated that his murder had taken place on the instance of Modi. While the carnage was on, the Central government, NDA led by BJP, kept watching and barring some stray noises by PM Vajpayee and Home Minister Advani, the carnage went on spilling the rivers of blood. Despite Modi?s claim that he controlled the violence in 72 hours, it took months for the din to settle. Modi's acts of omission were more than obvious. His permitting the procession of dead of Godhra tragedy in the lanes of Ahamadabad, violating all the norms of prevention and control of riot situation are too well documented by now. Now as matters stand our legal system has lots of loopholes and most of the guilty are not punished. On the contrary, in the case of Gujarat, Modi ?succeeded? in splitting the Gujarat society along religious lines, and he took advantage of the communal divide by riding back to power and strengthened his vice like grip on the administration and state as a whole. And now, In Gujarat the matters are not seen as guilty versus innocents, they are seen as Hindu versus Muslim.
GUJERAT GENOCIDE AGAINST MUSLIMS: Modi's Gujarat anti-Muslim Pogram: Indian policemen walking past the charred body of a MuslimWhile on one hand Modi is being projected as the future Prime minister of India, not only by many captains of industry but also by the party sustaining on the fodder of communal divide, the BJP. While most of the people with plural values and concern for national integration are welcoming the direction of Apex court, the others doing electoral calculations point out that this investigation will enhance the standing of Modi. BJP spokesman also pointed out that this direction of Apex court will be helpful to the BJP in electoral arena. The nation is standing on a tragic point where the communal polarization brought in by communal violence and anti-minority propaganda has resulted in the loss of sensitivity of a section of society towards the miseries and travails of large part of our own country, our own nation.
Gujarat Carnage: Role of Narendra Modi By Ram Puniyani, 02 May, 2009, Countercurrents.org
The Gujarat victims are not the only ones who suffer on a daily basis. The plight of 450 million Indian enslaved Untouchables is a story that does not see the light of day. More than 60 per cent of Dalits are landless. Over 40 million of them are bonded labourers. Dalits are the worst victims of labour coercion “The 1991 Government survey of India states that on an average day, two Dalits are killed, three Dalit women are raped, two Dalits’ houses are burned and fifty Dalits are assaulted by people of a higher caste.” ” High-caste Brahmins formed a private army, the Ranvir Sena, to stop communists from encouraging Dalit field workers to demand higher wages
Delhi: 3500-yrs of massacres of Dalit-Sudra Blacks by Arya-Brahmins Who are the Untouchables? by Dr. Ambedkar Sudra Holocaust:Ongoing Genocide of millions of Dalits in India
Dalit leader Dr. Ambedkar struggled to emancipate the “untouchables” from the shackles of Hindu prescribed slavery-- the caste system.
Ambeekar wanted to free the Dalits & to allow them to regain their inalienable rights as human beings--highlighting the servitude, humiliation, trials & tribulations of being born in a low caste family and struggled to uplift the “untouchables”, the indigenous people, women & other disadvantaged sections of society.
Dr. Ambedkar on Pakistan
Today Dr. Kancha Iiaiah carries on the struggle of the Dalits.
Civil Rights Activist Dr. Kancha Ilaiah
Why I am not a Hindu and other Dalit articles
Muslims must work AMONG Dalits & liberate them: Dr. Ilaiah
INDIA: Dr. Ilaiah, persecuted Dalit author of “I am not a Hindu”
In response to court directive, Modi asserted that he is ready to go to jail. This assertion is the outcome of his knowledge that in the polarzed state he will benefit despite his criminal acts. The observation so far has been that Modi has shown no remorse for what happened in Gujarat, forget apologizing for the same. The path to power for the practitioners of divisive politics is through the rivers of blood, and they know it.
02 May, 2009, Countercurrents.org
Butcher of GujaratSo should we press for justice or fall in the trap of electoral arithmetic? The point is if we loose our basic human morality, if we compromise on the issue of rule of law, what is the worth of values of Constitution? Tragedy is not that the nation is knowing the guilt of the ilk of Modi and is watching helplessly, the tragedy is that our justice delivery system has been eroded from bottom upwards, where justice is sacrificed at the drop of a hat. The communal mind set cultivated by divisive politics, the large section of state machinery being guided by considerations other than the values of constitution is a matter of deep concern.
Gujarat Carnage: Role of Narendra Modi By Ram Puniyani,
Hinduvata genocide against Muslims in Gujarat, India Modi and massacre of Gujarat Muslims expose Bharti designs Mr. Modi the Chief Minister was implicated in these riots--supported by Indian Hotel Owners Association in America--the same group that supports Gov. Bobby Jindal
Historical Mysteries
Did Ashoka exist? or did Pandit Radhakanta create him for James Princep in 1837 to perpetuate figment of Akhand Bharat? This is the first time Ashoka's name was been documented Why did Mahmud of Ghazni attack Somnath?
It is because of this total communalization of state apparatus that the Supreme Court had to reprimand Modi, time and over again. It is because of this that the major cases were shifted out from Gujarat. It is the same place where Zahira Sheikh changed her versions times and over again, lured by the lucre offered to her by BJP workers.
Modi bloating his chest while sitting over the corpses of thousands, is a symptom of deeper rot which has set in the society. By now first the cases are not investigated properly due to communal considerations, then when the reports nail the culprits, many of them are not touched for political considerations. Rather than having remorse and anguish on what happened to say that this Apex court direction will benefit BJP, is the most immoral and base statement which only heartless inhuman characters can make.
A heavy responsibility lies on SIT to cull the truth out, to ensure that the rule of justice and law prevails, in the communalized state apparatus in Gujarat. One hopes the victims of Gujarat will get justice, and the process of restoration of their civic and political rights begins in right earnest.Gujarat Carnage: Role of Narendra Modi By Ram Puniyani, 02 May, 2009, Countercurrents.org
Secular India =Dalits under Hindu Rashtra & Muslims under Ram Raj
India: Unable to bear the Brutal Brahamanic persecution-- Buddhism survives in South East Asia Why did Buddhism disappear from South Asia? Brahmin atrocities conducted mass genocide Persecution of Buddhists in India The Manuwadi Hindus destroyed Buddhism in its own land of birth
Showing posts with label Indian Muslims. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indian Muslims. Show all posts
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
My America wants to reconcile with Muslims-New report
پاکستاان لیجر | PAKISTAN LEDGER | پاکستاني کھاتا |Sept. 23rd, 08 | Moin Ansari | معین آنصآرّی |
We have been trying to educate the people about changing the approach towards Muslims for the best part of the decade. If Clinton, Albgith, Lugar and Weber can affect a change in the near future, perhaps we can all build a better world for our children.
AJMA Yahoo Group for interfaith dialogue The American Joint Multifaith Association (AJMA)has been working for years to develop better community relations amongs the physical and spiritual children of Abraham
Rebuilding the Abrahamic symbiosis in America
Moin Ansari's interview with Harold Channer 1
Wasim Khan and Moin Ansari's interview Prt 2
The new policy based on a bi-partisan panel of 34 US leaders (which included one third Muslims) reverses the brute force approach and is based on the following salient points:
Diplomacy as the “primary tool”
Promote better governance in authoritarian Muslim countries that are American allies like Saudi Arabia and Egypt,
Help create jobs and economic development in Muslim countries, and
Foster exchange programs to educate people in the Muslim world about the United States, and vice versa.
Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State; Principal, The Albright Group LLC
"Few challenges matter more than reducing distrust and misunderstanding between the United States and people living in Muslim majority states. This timely report is a groundbreaking, stereotype-shattering and thought-provoking contribution to that essential cause."
We’re not involved in a clash of civilizations or conflicting religious beliefs. There are policies and actions that are at the root of it, and in some cases they are our policies and in some cases theirs.” Ms. Madeleine K. Albright
General Anthony C. Zinni, USMC (ret.)
"This is an exceptional and important report that is a must read for all those Americans involved in policy development, operational planning, and understanding of this critical part of our global society."
Richard Land, President, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention; Member, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
"This initiative is a serious, comprehensive, bi-partisan effort that seeks to address a critical and dangerous problem: The world Muslim community misunderstands Americans and Americans misunderstand them. This initiative lays out a detailed and comprehensive plan to vastly decrease that misunderstanding through a multi-faceted approach that will build constructive bridges of mutual understanding between Americans and the Muslim world."
Ingrid Mattson, President, The Islamic Society of North America; Professor of Islamic Studies, Director of Islamic Chaplaincy, and Director, Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Hartford Seminary
"It is a sign of great hope that the Leadership Group, despite having substantial differences over policies and politics, was able to come together to develop this report. This was made possible by a shared belief that the vital interests of the American people need not, and must not, conflict with core American values affirming the dignity of all people and their right to freedom and self-determination. This is a message that the mainstream majority in the Muslim world will surely welcome, and it will help them in their desire to improve relations between their people and the United States."
"People have told us they admire our democratic values, but there’s this gap between the values people admire and the perceived treatment of Muslims.” Ms. Mogahed
“ “The urgency is quite great” ..“The Bush administration is held in low regard in the Muslim world, and unfortunately that’s led to America being held in low regard.” Mr. Weber
The SFCG.org site lists the following goals for the group and why the bipartisan report was needed.
Overview
The United States urgently needs to develop a new approach to address tensions with Muslim countries and communities. Conflict, misunderstanding and distrust plague relations between the U.S. and Muslims around the world. The national intelligence community, many other experts and more than 70 percent of the U.S. public believe that the risk of future terrorist acts is high, and that our current strategy is not reducing widespread Muslim hostility toward the U.S. In response, the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project is producing a new strategy that better meets the long-term national security interests of the U.S., by addressing the sources of tension between the U.S. and Muslims in key countries and regions. The project’s goals are to:
create a coherent, broad-based and bipartisan strategy and set of recommendations to improve relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world; and
communicate and advocate this strategy in ways that shift U.S. public opinion and contribute to changes in U.S. policies, and public and private action.
An eminent Leadership Group on U.S.-Muslim Engagement has been working since January 2007 to reach consensus on comprehensive recommendations. In September 2008, the project will issue a report and launch an intensive education campaign to influence the views and actions of national officeholders, candidates for office, the new administration elected in November 2008, private institutions and the public at large.
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN Published: September 23, 2008
After 18 months spent examining the deteriorating relations between the United States and the Muslim world during the Bush administration, a diverse group of American leaders will release a report in Washington on Wednesday calling for an overhaul of American strategy to reverse the spread of terrorism and extremism.
The report recommends more diplomatic engagement, even with Iran and other adversaries, and a major investment in economic development in Muslim countries to create jobs for alienated youth. It calls on the next president to use his Inaugural Address to signal a shift in approach, to immediately renounce the use of torture, and to appoint a special envoy within the first three months to jump-start negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The report, “Changing Course: A New Direction for U.S. Relations with the Muslim World,”; was produced by 34 leaders drawn from religious, business, military, foreign policy, academic, foundation and nonprofit circles. The group included Democrats like Madeleine K. Albright, who was secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, and two former Republican congressmen, Vin Weber and Steve Bartlett.
It also included Thomas Dine, a former executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America. One-third of the group were Muslim Americans. The members were selected by the sponsoring organizations, Search for Common Ground and the Consensus Building Institute, which both promote nonviolent conflict resolution.
“I came into it somewhat skeptical we could come to agreement,” Mr. Weber, who is now chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, said in an interview. “I supported the invasion of Iraq, and that has clearly been a very negative thing for the perceptions of America in the Muslim world.”
As the group pored over polls of people in various Muslim countries, they concluded that the negative perceptions were generated more by American policies than by Muslim religious or cultural beliefs. If policies shift, perceptions are likely to change, too, the report says.
Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, said polls showed that people in Muslim countries feel “disrespected” by the United States, a sentiment that intensified with the invasion of Iraq and the photographs from Abu Ghraib prison showing detainees tortured and humiliated.
Ms. Mogahed said, “People have told us they admire our democratic values, but there’s this gap between the values people admire and the perceived treatment of Muslims.”
Ms. Albright said in an interview: “We’re not involved in a clash of civilizations or conflicting religious beliefs. There are policies and actions that are at the root of it, and in some cases they are our policies and in some cases theirs.”
The group’s four basic recommendations are to rely on diplomacy as the “primary tool,” promote better governance in authoritarian Muslim countries that are American allies like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, help create jobs and economic development in Muslim countries, and foster exchange programs to educate people in the Muslim world about the United States, and vice versa.
“The urgency is quite great,” Mr. Weber said. “The Bush administration is held in low regard in the Muslim world, and unfortunately that’s led to America being held in low regard.”
The McCain and Obama campaigns have been briefed on the report’s recommendations, and both were receptive, said Mr. Weber and other members of the group. There is a briefing on Wednesday for the House Foreign Affairs Committee and members of Congress, and a public release at the National Press Club in Washington.
Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the Republican leader of the Foreign Relations Committee, has sent the report to his colleagues with a letter saying it contains “constructive recommendations on how we can approach this pressing concern in a bipartisan framework.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/wa...ss&oref=slogin
Madeleine Albright Principal, The Albright Group; former U.S. Secretary of State
Richard Armitage President, Armitage International; former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State
Ziad Asali President and Founder, American Task Force on Palestine
Steve Bartlett President and CEO, Financial Services Roundtable; former U.S. Representative; former Mayor of Dallas, Texas
Paul Brest President, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Red Cavaney President and Chief Executive Officer, American Petroleum Institute
Daniel Christman Lt. General (ret.), U.S. Army; Senior Vice President for International Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Stephen Covey Co-Founder and Vice Chairman, FranklinCovey; writer, speaker, and academic
Thomas Dine Principal, The Dine Group; former Executive Director, American Israel Public Affairs Committee
Marc Gopin James H. Laue Professor of World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution; Director, Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University
Stephen Heintz President, Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Shamil Idriss Chairman of the Board, Soliya
Daisy Khan Executive Director, American Society for Muslim Advancement
Derek Kirkland Advisory Director, Investment Banking Division, Morgan Stanley
Richard Land President, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention; Member, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
Robert Jay Lifton Lecturer on Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; author of Superpower Syndrome
Denis J. Madden Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore; former Associate Secretary General, Catholic Near East Welfare Association
John Marks President and Founder, Search for Common Ground
Susan Collin Marks Senior Vice President, Search for Common Ground; author of Watching the Wind: Conflict Resolution during South Africa's Transition to Democracy
Ingrid Mattson President, The Islamic Society of North America; Professor of Islamic Studies and Director of Islamic Chaplaincy and Director, Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Hartford Seminary
Sayyeda Mirza-Jafri Strategic Philanthropy Consultant
Dalia Mogahed Executive Director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; coauthor with John Esposito of Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think
Vali Nasr Professor of International Politics, The Fletcher School, Tufts University; Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
Feisal Abdul Rauf Imam, Masjid al-Farah in New York City; Founder and Chairman, Cordoba Initiative; author of What’s Right with Islam Is What’s Right with America
Rob Rehg President, Washington D.C. office, Edelman
Dennis Ross Consultant, Washington Institute for Near East Policy; former U.S. Special Middle East Envoy and Negotiator
S. Abdallah Schleifer Distinguished Professor of Journalism, American University in Cairo; former Washington Bureau Chief, Al-Arabiya news channel; former NBC News Cairo bureau chief
Jessica Stern Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Mustapha Tlili Director, Center for Dialogues: Islamic World-U.S.-The West, New York University
William Ury Cofounder, Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School; coauthor of Getting to Yes
Vin Weber Managing Partner, Clark and Weinstock; Chairman, National Endowment for Democracy; former U.S. Representative
Daniel Yankelovich Founder and Chairman, Public Agenda; author
Ahmed Younis Senior Analyst, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; former National Director, Muslim Public Affairs Committee
Dov S. Zakheim Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton; former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
*Organizational affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.
We have been trying to educate the people about changing the approach towards Muslims for the best part of the decade. If Clinton, Albgith, Lugar and Weber can affect a change in the near future, perhaps we can all build a better world for our children.
AJMA Yahoo Group for interfaith dialogue The American Joint Multifaith Association (AJMA)has been working for years to develop better community relations amongs the physical and spiritual children of Abraham
Rebuilding the Abrahamic symbiosis in America
Moin Ansari's interview with Harold Channer 1
Wasim Khan and Moin Ansari's interview Prt 2
The new policy based on a bi-partisan panel of 34 US leaders (which included one third Muslims) reverses the brute force approach and is based on the following salient points:
Diplomacy as the “primary tool”
Promote better governance in authoritarian Muslim countries that are American allies like Saudi Arabia and Egypt,
Help create jobs and economic development in Muslim countries, and
Foster exchange programs to educate people in the Muslim world about the United States, and vice versa.
Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State; Principal, The Albright Group LLC
"Few challenges matter more than reducing distrust and misunderstanding between the United States and people living in Muslim majority states. This timely report is a groundbreaking, stereotype-shattering and thought-provoking contribution to that essential cause."
We’re not involved in a clash of civilizations or conflicting religious beliefs. There are policies and actions that are at the root of it, and in some cases they are our policies and in some cases theirs.” Ms. Madeleine K. Albright
General Anthony C. Zinni, USMC (ret.)
"This is an exceptional and important report that is a must read for all those Americans involved in policy development, operational planning, and understanding of this critical part of our global society."
Richard Land, President, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention; Member, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
"This initiative is a serious, comprehensive, bi-partisan effort that seeks to address a critical and dangerous problem: The world Muslim community misunderstands Americans and Americans misunderstand them. This initiative lays out a detailed and comprehensive plan to vastly decrease that misunderstanding through a multi-faceted approach that will build constructive bridges of mutual understanding between Americans and the Muslim world."
Ingrid Mattson, President, The Islamic Society of North America; Professor of Islamic Studies, Director of Islamic Chaplaincy, and Director, Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Hartford Seminary
"It is a sign of great hope that the Leadership Group, despite having substantial differences over policies and politics, was able to come together to develop this report. This was made possible by a shared belief that the vital interests of the American people need not, and must not, conflict with core American values affirming the dignity of all people and their right to freedom and self-determination. This is a message that the mainstream majority in the Muslim world will surely welcome, and it will help them in their desire to improve relations between their people and the United States."
"People have told us they admire our democratic values, but there’s this gap between the values people admire and the perceived treatment of Muslims.” Ms. Mogahed
“ “The urgency is quite great” ..“The Bush administration is held in low regard in the Muslim world, and unfortunately that’s led to America being held in low regard.” Mr. Weber
The SFCG.org site lists the following goals for the group and why the bipartisan report was needed.
Overview
The United States urgently needs to develop a new approach to address tensions with Muslim countries and communities. Conflict, misunderstanding and distrust plague relations between the U.S. and Muslims around the world. The national intelligence community, many other experts and more than 70 percent of the U.S. public believe that the risk of future terrorist acts is high, and that our current strategy is not reducing widespread Muslim hostility toward the U.S. In response, the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project is producing a new strategy that better meets the long-term national security interests of the U.S., by addressing the sources of tension between the U.S. and Muslims in key countries and regions. The project’s goals are to:
create a coherent, broad-based and bipartisan strategy and set of recommendations to improve relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world; and
communicate and advocate this strategy in ways that shift U.S. public opinion and contribute to changes in U.S. policies, and public and private action.
An eminent Leadership Group on U.S.-Muslim Engagement has been working since January 2007 to reach consensus on comprehensive recommendations. In September 2008, the project will issue a report and launch an intensive education campaign to influence the views and actions of national officeholders, candidates for office, the new administration elected in November 2008, private institutions and the public at large.
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN Published: September 23, 2008
After 18 months spent examining the deteriorating relations between the United States and the Muslim world during the Bush administration, a diverse group of American leaders will release a report in Washington on Wednesday calling for an overhaul of American strategy to reverse the spread of terrorism and extremism.
The report recommends more diplomatic engagement, even with Iran and other adversaries, and a major investment in economic development in Muslim countries to create jobs for alienated youth. It calls on the next president to use his Inaugural Address to signal a shift in approach, to immediately renounce the use of torture, and to appoint a special envoy within the first three months to jump-start negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The report, “Changing Course: A New Direction for U.S. Relations with the Muslim World,”; was produced by 34 leaders drawn from religious, business, military, foreign policy, academic, foundation and nonprofit circles. The group included Democrats like Madeleine K. Albright, who was secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, and two former Republican congressmen, Vin Weber and Steve Bartlett.
It also included Thomas Dine, a former executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America. One-third of the group were Muslim Americans. The members were selected by the sponsoring organizations, Search for Common Ground and the Consensus Building Institute, which both promote nonviolent conflict resolution.
“I came into it somewhat skeptical we could come to agreement,” Mr. Weber, who is now chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, said in an interview. “I supported the invasion of Iraq, and that has clearly been a very negative thing for the perceptions of America in the Muslim world.”
As the group pored over polls of people in various Muslim countries, they concluded that the negative perceptions were generated more by American policies than by Muslim religious or cultural beliefs. If policies shift, perceptions are likely to change, too, the report says.
Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, said polls showed that people in Muslim countries feel “disrespected” by the United States, a sentiment that intensified with the invasion of Iraq and the photographs from Abu Ghraib prison showing detainees tortured and humiliated.
Ms. Mogahed said, “People have told us they admire our democratic values, but there’s this gap between the values people admire and the perceived treatment of Muslims.”
Ms. Albright said in an interview: “We’re not involved in a clash of civilizations or conflicting religious beliefs. There are policies and actions that are at the root of it, and in some cases they are our policies and in some cases theirs.”
The group’s four basic recommendations are to rely on diplomacy as the “primary tool,” promote better governance in authoritarian Muslim countries that are American allies like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, help create jobs and economic development in Muslim countries, and foster exchange programs to educate people in the Muslim world about the United States, and vice versa.
“The urgency is quite great,” Mr. Weber said. “The Bush administration is held in low regard in the Muslim world, and unfortunately that’s led to America being held in low regard.”
The McCain and Obama campaigns have been briefed on the report’s recommendations, and both were receptive, said Mr. Weber and other members of the group. There is a briefing on Wednesday for the House Foreign Affairs Committee and members of Congress, and a public release at the National Press Club in Washington.
Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the Republican leader of the Foreign Relations Committee, has sent the report to his colleagues with a letter saying it contains “constructive recommendations on how we can approach this pressing concern in a bipartisan framework.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/wa...ss&oref=slogin
Madeleine Albright Principal, The Albright Group; former U.S. Secretary of State
Richard Armitage President, Armitage International; former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State
Ziad Asali President and Founder, American Task Force on Palestine
Steve Bartlett President and CEO, Financial Services Roundtable; former U.S. Representative; former Mayor of Dallas, Texas
Paul Brest President, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Red Cavaney President and Chief Executive Officer, American Petroleum Institute
Daniel Christman Lt. General (ret.), U.S. Army; Senior Vice President for International Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Stephen Covey Co-Founder and Vice Chairman, FranklinCovey; writer, speaker, and academic
Thomas Dine Principal, The Dine Group; former Executive Director, American Israel Public Affairs Committee
Marc Gopin James H. Laue Professor of World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution; Director, Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University
Stephen Heintz President, Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Shamil Idriss Chairman of the Board, Soliya
Daisy Khan Executive Director, American Society for Muslim Advancement
Derek Kirkland Advisory Director, Investment Banking Division, Morgan Stanley
Richard Land President, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention; Member, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
Robert Jay Lifton Lecturer on Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; author of Superpower Syndrome
Denis J. Madden Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore; former Associate Secretary General, Catholic Near East Welfare Association
John Marks President and Founder, Search for Common Ground
Susan Collin Marks Senior Vice President, Search for Common Ground; author of Watching the Wind: Conflict Resolution during South Africa's Transition to Democracy
Ingrid Mattson President, The Islamic Society of North America; Professor of Islamic Studies and Director of Islamic Chaplaincy and Director, Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Hartford Seminary
Sayyeda Mirza-Jafri Strategic Philanthropy Consultant
Dalia Mogahed Executive Director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; coauthor with John Esposito of Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think
Vali Nasr Professor of International Politics, The Fletcher School, Tufts University; Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
Feisal Abdul Rauf Imam, Masjid al-Farah in New York City; Founder and Chairman, Cordoba Initiative; author of What’s Right with Islam Is What’s Right with America
Rob Rehg President, Washington D.C. office, Edelman
Dennis Ross Consultant, Washington Institute for Near East Policy; former U.S. Special Middle East Envoy and Negotiator
S. Abdallah Schleifer Distinguished Professor of Journalism, American University in Cairo; former Washington Bureau Chief, Al-Arabiya news channel; former NBC News Cairo bureau chief
Jessica Stern Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Mustapha Tlili Director, Center for Dialogues: Islamic World-U.S.-The West, New York University
William Ury Cofounder, Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School; coauthor of Getting to Yes
Vin Weber Managing Partner, Clark and Weinstock; Chairman, National Endowment for Democracy; former U.S. Representative
Daniel Yankelovich Founder and Chairman, Public Agenda; author
Ahmed Younis Senior Analyst, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; former National Director, Muslim Public Affairs Committee
Dov S. Zakheim Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton; former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
*Organizational affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
India discriminates against Muslims-genocide
پاکستاان لیجر | PAKISTAN LEDGER | پاکستاني کھاتا |Sept. 23rd, 08 | Moin Ansari | معین آنصآرّی |
The Indian Muslims are between a rock and a hard place. They face constant threats of "Pakistan ya Qabristan", discrimination in jobs and in society, incarceration in Kashmir, deportation in Bihar and Genocidal rape and burning in Gujarat.
Muslims being targeted in name of fight against terrorism’
NEW DELHI: Muslim organisations in India said on Monday that their community in general and Muslim youth in particular were being targeted in the name of the fight against terrorism. Eight Muslim groups representing the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Milli Council, the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) and others on Monday formed a ‘Co-ordination Committee of Indian Muslims’ to form a united front against the highhandedness of police and intelligence agencies.
Addressing a press conference, AIMMM President Dr Zafrul Islam Khan demanded a high-level judicial inquiry into last Friday's encounter in Delhi's Jamia Nagar Muslim locality, in which two alleged terrorists were killed. He wondered why the so-called terrorists had not been caught alive. "People believe the two were killed in a fake encounter," he said. The leaders said, "We want to contribute to establishing a terror-free India. Muslims are fundamentally opposed to terrorism, as Islam forbids killing anyone unjustly and by unjust means."
They said the committee had been set up as it was felt necessary to deal with "the current terrorism scare among the Muslim community in India". iftikhar gilani
The Indian Muslims are between a rock and a hard place. They face constant threats of "Pakistan ya Qabristan", discrimination in jobs and in society, incarceration in Kashmir, deportation in Bihar and Genocidal rape and burning in Gujarat.
Muslims being targeted in name of fight against terrorism’
NEW DELHI: Muslim organisations in India said on Monday that their community in general and Muslim youth in particular were being targeted in the name of the fight against terrorism. Eight Muslim groups representing the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Milli Council, the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) and others on Monday formed a ‘Co-ordination Committee of Indian Muslims’ to form a united front against the highhandedness of police and intelligence agencies.
Addressing a press conference, AIMMM President Dr Zafrul Islam Khan demanded a high-level judicial inquiry into last Friday's encounter in Delhi's Jamia Nagar Muslim locality, in which two alleged terrorists were killed. He wondered why the so-called terrorists had not been caught alive. "People believe the two were killed in a fake encounter," he said. The leaders said, "We want to contribute to establishing a terror-free India. Muslims are fundamentally opposed to terrorism, as Islam forbids killing anyone unjustly and by unjust means."
They said the committee had been set up as it was felt necessary to deal with "the current terrorism scare among the Muslim community in India". iftikhar gilani
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