Don't spy on Muslims, says Achuthanandan

Don't spy on Muslims, says Achuthanandan

Thiruvananthapuram, January 17 : Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan Tuesday blasted the Kerala government for allegedly spying the email accounts of Muslim leaders.

 

The Marxist leader accused Chief Minister Oommen Chandy of "following in the footsteps of Narendra Modi". 

"We wish to know if P.V. Abdul Wahab and Abdul Samad Samadhani, both belonging to the Indian Union Muslim League, have terrorist connections?" asked Achuthanandan. 

On Monday, news surfaced that the intelligence department here was allegedly spying on the email accounts of 189 Muslim leaders, including journalists and politicians.

Chandy has asked Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) T.P. Senkumar to probe the allegation.

State IUML general secretary K.P.A. Majeed said: "Let the report come out, and then we will react to it."

The Kerala Union of Working Journalists condemned the tracking of emails and tapping of telephones of journalists.

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The Shadows of Modernity

New Delhi, December : WHAT IS the big deal about modernity in India? In everyday conceptions, modernity is considered as the condition of being modern that originated in the West and then transferred to the ‘ rest’. We become modern in simple terms as the West remains a nagging, essential presence in our post- colonial predicaments.

The question of being modern can be answered as simply and seductively we can imagine.

But living as we do in such different ways, is it that simple? There are innumerable conditions, insurmountable limitations and unforeseen possibilities of modernity.

The idea of modern remains at once simple, yet elusive.

Saurabh Dube’s Modern Makeovers meanders into the abyss of modernity in South Asia. Not a conventional book that seeks to question modernity, this work recognises modernity as a concept and entity, and maps the divergent spaces where modernity enacts its uncanny dark script and powers.

The volume’s main intent is to establish that there’s no monolithic condition of being modern, and that the contradictory histories of modernity lie at the cusp of the universal claims of discourses of modernity.

The grand saga of its progress is frequently interrupted by its social subjects through textures of beliefs, structures of sentiments and the multilayered experience.

In an intriguing introduction, Dube goes down many rabbit holes to arrive at various articulations of modernity. With a diverse range of interesting, exciting essays, Modern Makeovers unfolds the multiple ways modernity follows a contested and contradictory trajectory in modern times.

The contributors cover a galaxy of themes, probing an interplay of the individual and collective, the popular and political, the global and particular, the public and private, the impersonal and personal.

Mrinalini Sinha works around the non- linear histories of anti- colonial nationalism and imperial subjecthood.

Bodhisattva Kar evocatively unravels the complex interface of empire and nation through a focus on the province of Assam and its claims to a national identity. Rohan Deb Roy probes the crooked paths by which the imperial order, medicine and malaria intertwined to shape colonial modernity. Atig Ghosh’s essay goes beyond the idea of ‘ colonial modern’ in his sensitive unfolding of ‘ Kangal’ Hatinath Majumdar’s life.

A set of interesting articles focus on political modernity. Anupama Rao engages with the figure of the Dalit and the political predicament Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar in liberal politics. Ajay Skaria explores M. K. Gandhi’s religion. For Gandhi, says Skaria imaginatively, faith not opposed to reason.

F aisal Devji reads the Satanic Verses ( 1989) and the Jyllands- Posten ( 2005) affairs to underscore the limits of liberal democracy in the context of globalisation of Islam.

Ian Bedford discusses how a rigid, conservative Pakistani state identity was put in place under General Zia.

In the section on ‘ Critical Cultures’, Anand Pandian draws on historical and ethnographic materials from the Cumbum Val- ley and examines the issue of ‘ maturation’ in relation to Tamil pakkuvam or ‘ ripening’ in the agrarian and environmental contexts of his fieldwork. Veronique Benei enters the worlds of citizens and subjects, education and nation, and the school and state in western India. 

   

Kalpana Ram’s lively engagement with ‘ activist modernity’, via the woman’s body, explores the coercion of the state through oppressive policies of family planning. Townsend Middleton delves behind the rhetoric of affirmative action to reveal the complicated status of a ‘ Scheduled Tribe’ and the centrality of ethnological knowledge in the modern world.

Lastly, Dube takes us to the farrago of art and culture. Arvind Rajagopal looks at the development of advertising in the 20th century. The last two pieces are bold and irreverent. Jaideep Chatterjee moves from the scientifically rational world of design to jugaad and its expressions. Sanjukta Sunderason recreates an imaginative narrative of the modern and modernism in Indian art, especially in the works of Somnath Hore and Tyeb Mehta.

In the afterword, Prathama Banerjee raises provocative questions, and considers the volume as post- national in its intent. In her flights of creative imagination, Banerjee implicitly asks: What’s the big deal about modernity? This is a volume that excites you but leaves you asking for more. A surfeit of Foucault. Time to look inwards? Acritical collection.

To wrest different histories away from their encasement within national narratives. 

A chapter on sexuality would have been welcome. The last word to Ian Bedford: “ Modernity is easier to pursue than define.” Is that the big deal? — The writer teaches History at Miranda House, University of Delhi.

Take By: Siasat News :  http://www.siasat.com/english/news/shadows-modernity

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'Makkah becoming one of world’s most modern cities'

Makkah, December 18: Makkah is being transformed into one of the world’s most modern cities as a result of the many multi-billion riyal projects underway, said Dr. Osama Al-Bar, Mayor of Makkah.

Al-Bar said that a number of projects are close to completion, including the additions to the Grand Mosque and two tunnels for pedestrians from Al-Hujun to the Grand Mosque.

The Jabal Omar Project is expected to be completed in the near future and would provide accommodation for pilgrims close to the Grand Mosque.

Many pilgrims have to rent accommodation far away from the Grand Mosque at present, making it difficult for them to attend the five daily prayers, said Al-Bar. Other mega projects underway are the SR23 billion Makkah metro that will provide public train transport for the entire city.

There are also extensions being made to Ring Roads two, three and four, costing SR200 million. A total of SR800 million is being spent on building 4,000 houses for citizens in the Umm Al-Jood area.

In addition, SR100 billion will be spent on upgrading various residential neighborhoods. A total of SR12 billion of this amount will come from the private sector.

The Bawwaba mega project, west of Makkah, will see 34 districts set up over an area of 80 million square meters. Tenders will be issued for this project.

Projects already completed include the two new floors of the Masa’a – where pilgrims perform the ritual of moving between the mounts of Al-Safa and Al-Marwa. In addition, the train service for pilgrims at the Holy Sites has been operational for the past two years, said Al-Bar.

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UK Experts Eye Islamic Finance Solution

Cairo, December 17: A decision by the UK government to put on hold earlier plans for the first Islamic sovereign bond from a western country was criticized as a setback for the initiative that could have provided more security to a shaking economy.

“It would certainly help the UK market if the government decided to go ahead with a benchmark sukuk,” Farmida Bi, partner at Norton Rose, the law firm, told the Financial Times.

“It could galvanize the market and would lead to more interest in Islamic finance in London and [continental] Europe.”

Affected by a financial crisis, the UK put the plans to issue the Islamic instrument on hold which would have been the first Islamic bond to be issued by a western government.

The government cited fears that a new instrument might struggle to attract demand in difficult market conditions that have been made worse by the troubles in the eurozone.

Yet, London still remains the main arena outside the Muslim world for Islamic finance.

In 2006, Britain's fifth-biggest bank, Lloyds TSB, began to roll-out its Islamic financial services across the country.

The UK is the only country in the European Union to have Islamic banks. It is also developing its takaful market for Islamic insurance.

The UK also has a strong foothold in developing products such as commodity murabaha – Islam’s version of interbank short-term lending and syndicated loans.

Moreover, London has established the first secondary market in sukuk outside the Islamic world to help Islamic investors who seek to buy property and assets in the UK in a way that fits in with their religion, which bans earning interest, speculating or risk-taking.

London is also advanced in Islamic retail services, with institutions offering a range of Islamic banking products, such as mortgages and car loans.

The Islamic Bank of Britain, granted a license in August 2004, became the first Islamic bank in the UK and has continued to attract customers for mortgages.

Enhance Market

Admitting that the government made huge efforts to facilitate Islamic finance in the UK, there is a feeling among many bankers that the government must launch a sovereign sukuk to help the market move to the next stage.

“I think it has been a mistake by this government not to revive the idea of an Islamic government bond,” a banker at a big City institution told Financial Times.

“They worry about price and demand, but the UK gilts market is a haven.

“We are confident there would be strong demand for this product, as it is Islamic and would be denominated in sterling, which is what investors want, as there are so many problems in the eurozone.”

Despite the recent decision to hold the new instrument, the Islamic finance was gaining popularity in UK better than other European countries.

For example, though France has around 7 million Muslims, compared with UK 2 million Muslims, progress in Islamic finance in France was stalled due to problems over banning the face veil and burka in public places which put off investors.

Starting almost three decades ago, the Islamic banking industry has made substantial growth and attracted the attention of investors and bankers across the world.

A long list of international institutions, including Citigroup, HSBC and Deutsche Bank, are going into the Islamic banking business.

Currently, there are nearly 300 Islamic banks and financial institutions worldwide whose assets are predicted to grow to $1 trillion by 2013.

Islam forbids Muslims from usury, receiving or paying interest on loans.

Islamic banks and finance institutions cannot receive or provide funds for anything involving alcohol, gambling, pornography, tobacco, weapons or pork.

Shari`ah-compliant financing deals resemble lease-to-own arrangements, layaway plans, joint purchase and sale agreements, or partnerships.

Investors have a right to know how their funds are being used, and the sector is overseen by dedicated supervisory boards as well as the usual national regulatory authorities.

The Shari`ah-compliant system is now being practiced in 50 countries worldwide, making it one of the fastest growing sectors in the global financial industry.

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