Imam Sahib, Khateeb, Orator, Writer and Blogger all in one!

When you think of a Pesh imam, you imagine a person who spends most of his time in mosque and giving religious sermon. You don't expect him to be tech savy. But moulavi A Abdul Azeez Fazil Baqavi is a cut above the rest. A double MA in history and an M.Phil student Baqavi is focused on creating awareness about computer literacy among moulavis. 

To his credit he has developed many Islamic Tamil websites besides blogs."I wish to educate imams so that they can use internet to update their knowledge and to have better understanding about the happenings across the globe. One of my first blogs was exclusively for Vellore AlBaqiyathus Salihath Arabic College alumni," he said about libas07.blogspot.com.His vellimedai.blogspot.com was an extension of his religious duties. Its content was aimed at helping imams to give information packed sermons on Jumu'ah (Friday) prayers instead of the stereotype lectures. 

To create awareness about the benefits of internet use, Baqavi has already conducted six seminars across the State. He is currently pursuing M.Phil and his thesis is on Modern Arabic specifically on Prophet Yousuf's life. For his thesis he is being guided by Dr P Nisar Ahmed of Arabic, Persian and Urdu department at Madras University. Baqavi plans to take doctorate as well.

His web portals include www.darulquran.net (first Tamil website for Holy Koran), www.rahamath.net (first Tamil Hadis website) besides his azeezbaqavi.blogspot.com.

From a report of M Rafee Ahmed 'Coimbatore Pesh imam turns Internet evangelist'

in Express Buzz. More here.

Read Madrasas in Tamil Nadu 

Who is Pramod Mutalik?

 Pramod Mutalik may have become a Muslim household name with his provocative statement, “Malegaon is a Jhalak. More is possible if every woman picks up bombs”, but he was in the news much before Sadhvi Pragya. In the second half of 2008, the same Mutalik, a vendor of anarchy, had said in a press conference held in Bangalore press club that Hindu suicide squads are ready “to take on Islamic terrorists.”

This news item remained on the fringe and nobody bothered to pick it up since Mutalik posed a threat only to the Indian Muslims. He became a despicable object only when his men attacked ‘Hindu’ women in a pub in Mangalore.

Sadhvi Rithambara, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Pramod Mutalik once belonged to BJP whose unofficial doctrine is based on the hate culture. It is altogether a different matter that when the hate crosses the permissible limit, BJP tries to distance itself from its ardent supporters.

From Mubasshir Mushtaq's article in Inquilab

To read the full article, click here.

What does it take to stoke a riot in Bangalore? Not a lot, for if you are willing to spend then Pramod Muthalik’s Sri Ram Sene will do the job.

This was the essence of the six-weeks long joint investigation by the news channel, Headlines Today, and Tehelka magazine, which was aired on Thursday.

Muthalik — whose claim to notoriety is the Mangalore pub attack of 2009 — has been caught on a hidden camera saying that a communal riot can be ‘organised’ in Bangalore or Mangalore. “Mangalore main kar sakte hain...Bangalore.” 

The sting’s script was simple: A reporter posed as an artist hungry for fame and wanted a communal riot sparked off by his exhibition so that he could be ‘famous like M F Hussain’; Muthalik said it could be organised and directed the artist to meet his deputies.

What followed was a series of meetings, primarily, with Prasad Attavur, national vicepresident, Sri Ram Sene and Vasantkumar Bhavani, Bangalore head of the Sene.Three out of four conversations with Attavur were held inside a jail. Muthalik is also shown accepting a donation of Rs 10,000 from a painter for “the cause of Hindutva”.
From Express News Service's report in Expressbuzz
To read the full report click here