The Challenges faced by Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish democracy has gone through various phases, some good, some really bad. It has been characterized by military coups, political infighting, instability, weak coalition governments, corruption, mismanagement and economic crises. Strong unity governments have generally worked better for democratic reforms, political stability and economic development in Turkey as in elsewhere. The AK Party governments under Erdoğan over the last decade have made Turkey a better and stronger country.

But no democracy is viable through party politics only. Society at large needs to take ownership. Erdoğan’s strong leadership has built new confidence among political elites as well as ordinary citizens about the nature of the political system in Turkey: no more military coups, no more corrupt politicians, no more unlawful state practices, and no more mismanagement. A democratic, stable and prosperous Turkey is a good thing also for regional peace and stability.

The AK Party’s challenges over the next few years will come not from the top down, but from the bottom up. Opposition parties are too weak to challenge the AK Party. Even the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) new-found activism under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is not enough to shake up Erdoğan and his government. The CHP, while struggling hard, is yet to overcome decades of statism, politics of tutelage and ideological elitism.

The challenge will come from two fronts. The first is from within the party. With Erdoğan no longer the chairman of the party, the AK Party will have to make important adjustments to maintain intra-party peace and stability. This is not impossible as there are many experienced figures in the party, all of whom are loyal to the party’s mission. It is clear that Erdoğan himself will manage the next 2-3 years carefully to leave behind a strong party that will stand on its own.

The second challenge will come from within the support base of AK Party. With no real competitor on the horizon, the AK Party has only itself to compete with. This means performing better in politics in the widest sense of the term: providing better services, expanding the economy, completing multi-billion dollar projects such as fast train and nuclear energy, managing the trade deficit, writing a new constitution, solving the Kurdish issue, overhauling the education system, investing more in research and development, etc.

Will the presidential system make these goals easier to reach? This is what Erdoğan has in mind. It would be simplistic to treat this as Erdoğan’s personal ambition. He has enjoyed so much political success and status and has already left his mark on history that he does not need another title for himself.

The key here is the growing maturity of society as a whole in regards to the basic principles of political governance, participation and sharing. Erdoğan may have the courage and the means to solve the Kurdish issue, but he cannot do it alone without the support of the major political actors and society at large. A new constitution can be written when all segments of the Turkish public embrace it as a sine qua non for a new and better Turkey. The Turkish economy will continue to grow when everyone from the boss to the worker internalizes a strong work ethic.

Ibrahim Kalin in Today's Zaman. Here

Pregnant nun ice cream advert banned for 'mockery'

An ice cream company banned from using an advert displaying a pregnant nun has vowed to position similar posters in London in time for the Pope's visit.

Antonio Federici's advert showed a pregnant nun eating ice cream in a church, together with the strap line "immaculately conceived".

The Advertising Standards Authority has ordered it to be discontinued, saying it mocked Roman Catholic beliefs.

Antonio Federici says it will now put up new posters near Westminster Abbey.
Pope Benedict XVI will visit Westminster Abbey on Friday, before holding Mass at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday.

Antonio Federici, a UK-based company, has yet to reveal what image will be portrayed in the new advert, saying only that it would be "a continuation of the theme".
A spokeswoman for the company said the new image intended to "defy" the ban from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

She added: "We are in the process of securing a series of billboards close to and along the planned route of the Pope's cavalcade around Westminster Cathedral".
A spokesman for the ASA said its rulings "must be followed and we are taking steps to ensure Antonio Federici do so".

He added: "We do not comment on the likely compliance of ads that have not yet appeared.
"However, we are continuing to conduct work behind the scenes, including with the advertiser, to ensure they comply with the rules."

Defending the banned nun advert, Antonio Federici said the idea of "conception" represented the development of their ice cream.

It added that the use of religious imagery represented its strong feeling towards its product.
The firm said it also wished to "comment on and question, using satire and gentle humour, the relevance and hypocrisy of religion and the attitudes of the church to social issues".
The banned advert was featured in editions of The Lady and Grazia magazines.

The ASA said in its ruling: "We considered the use of a nun pregnant through immaculate conception was likely to be seen as a distortion and mockery of the beliefs of Roman Catholics.
"We concluded that to use such an image in a lighthearted way to advertise ice cream was likely to cause serious offence to readers, particularly those who practised the Roman Catholic faith."
The publishers of The Lady said it had received eight complaints and that it had been a "misjudgement" to have published .

The ASA banned another advert for Antonio Federici in July 2009 that showed a priest and a nun appearing as if they were about to kiss.

A BBC report Here

A fitting reply to Anders Breivik. Is it?

In what can be described as a fitting response to Anders Breivik’s brutal assault on Norwegian multiculturalism, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg appointed a 29-year-old Muslim woman of Pakistani origin the new Culture Minister. Hadia Tajik is the first Muslim and youngest Minister ever in Norwegian political history. Ms. Tajik, who has degrees in law and journalism and has been a career politician in Norway’s Labour Party, was appointed in a Cabinet reshuffle.

‘Courageous move’

“This is a very courageous move on the part of the Prime Minister. She is an extremely intelligent person and has been an activist all her life. I would describe this as an important decision for Norway that will go a long way to prove that we are a truly multicultural society,” Dag Herbjornsrud, editor of the influential paper Ny Tid told The Hindu in a telephone conversation. “It was important that Norway proved this to the world, but it’s even more important that we proved this to ourselves.”

Six steps to respond to "Innocence of Muslims"

In the light of the recent movie that was spread, insulting the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Islam, and after some Muslims added to the insult and proved their opponents' accusations, I tend to ask myself a simple yet fundamental question:

What would he have done in a similar situation?

Did he face a similar situation, to begin with?

Of course he did, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) faced a lot of difficulties and hardships during his life, and defamation and insults. After a quick review of these incidents, we can come up with an action plan of six steps:

Step 1: Take it easy! "They are talking about someone else"

Read Also: The Prophet’s Patience Al-Azhar Scholars on Prophet Film and Muslims' Reaction IUMS Calls for Positive Reactions to Prophet Film Why Prophet Muhammad Is My Role Model Muhammad: A Mercy for All

Umm Jameel bint Harb, the wife of Abu Lahab, who is mentioned in the Qur'an (Al-Masad 111:4-5), made up some verses of poetry to defame the Prophet by changing his name to "Mothammam" (i.e. the insulted one) as opposed to "Muhammad" (i.e. the praised one). She said verses like:

We disobey "Mothammam",

And refuse his matter,

And reject his religion.

Poetry at that time was THE media, these verses were spread everywhere, repeated by kids and by travelers in the deserts, so it had a huge effect. Umm Jameel's short poem made some companions sad, angry, and helpless, especially in the early days of Islam when they were weak. Here comes the great attitude of the praised one, peace and blessings on him, whom I sacrifice my family and my soul for. He told the companions:

Isn't it amazing how Allah is protecting me from the Quraish's insults? They are cursing and swearing at "Mothammam", and I am "Muhammad"! (Al-Bukhari) 

The first step in answering or reacting to any insult against our Prophet, to any act of burning the Qur'an by a bigot, to any tweet or to any YouTube comment is to take it easy, rationalize the situation, don't let your anger lead your steps. In a beautiful hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) redefines strength:

The strong is not the one who overcomes people by use of his physical strength; rather he is the one who controls himself while in anger. (Al-Bukhari)

Step 2: Find the "Oprah Winfrey" of your time

I envy Hassaan for his role in supporting Islam through his media and art work.

After you take it easy, rationalize your steps and prepare a counter attack, using the same resources of the bigots, the same media outlet. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)  used poetry in his long campaign of spreading Islam and answering these insults. Hassan ibn Thabet was one of those poets (media figures) who can be considered the Oprah Winfrey of his time. He was wealthy, his words were heard, and his verses reached many places and knocked many doors in the Arab community that adored poetry. His style was unique in defending Islam and the Prophet, while attacking Quraish (the main tribe in Makkah that was opposing the Muslims and leading the pagans) in their ego; Instead of attacking their beliefs in being idol worshippers (which is something they were proud of), he used to remind them about their lost battles, their weak points in terms of lineage, and other known sources of dishonor. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had many statements and ahadith that showed gratitude to Hassaan and his poetry:

Oh Allah, give him (Hassan ) the support of the holy spirit (Angel Gabriel) (Muslim)

Reply on their defamation, because it is tougher on them than arrows (Muslim) 

(Got the hint from the Prophet? Your poetry is more effective than missiles, arrows, and bombing embassies!!)
Whenever I read these ahadith, I envy Hassaan for his role in supporting Islam through his media and art work. I ask myself: where is the Hassaan ibn Thabet of our time? Who is the lucky person who will receive a copy of Hassan's supplication, through a video, an article, or a well-presented argument?

Libyans rescued US ambassador Christopher Stevens

An amateur video appears to show Libyans trying to rescue US ambassador Christopher Stevens from a room filled with smoke at the US mission where he was found unconscious after last week's attack by a mob protesting against a film that denigrates the Prophet Mohammad. 

The video, which appeared on the internet and a copy of which was obtained by Reuters in Benghazi, confirms reports that suggested the US envoy died of asphyxiation after the building caught fire.

The footage also sheds new light on the circumstances of the ambassador's death, apparently showing for the first time that some of the people who forced their way into the US compound later tried to rescue Stevens after they found him lying alone, with no security detail, in one of the rooms in the building. 

The video shows a group of young men who had earlier stormed the compound telling other protesters by the light of torches and mobile phones that they had found someone who appeared to be a foreigner lying on the floor.

"There is someone inside ... He is a foreigner, he is a foreigner. Take him out," said one man, shouting for help.

"Bring him out, man! Bring him out," another said.

"The man is alive. Bring him out, man. Bring him out," said a third.

"Alive, Alive! God is Greatest," the crowd cried. Someone called for a car.

"Make space, is there someone who is a medic around? Anyone who can get a car quickly?" another man can be heard saying.

Stevens and three other embassy staff died when gunmen attacked the US consulate and a safe house in the eastern Libyan city on Tuesday night. The attackers were part of a crowd blaming America for a film they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.

Security personnel abandoned Stevens during the attack, US officials said, in the chaos of smoke and gunfire that ensued.

The footage shows Stevens lying on the floor in a smoke-filled room after protesters had stormed the compound and set fire to its buildings.

Minutes later he was pulled out of the room through a window, and then placed on the courtyard's stone tile floor. A young man is seen putting his hand on his neck to check if he was breathing.

A protester wearing a white T-shirt who had carried Stevens out of the room was hugged by a fellow protestor in a traditional expression of gratitude.

Seconds after the protesters found Stevens was alive, a young man in the background can be heard shouting: "Take him to my car, bring him to my car."

A doctor on duty in the emergency room at the Benghazi Medical Centre that night has said local civilians brought in the ambassador at around 1 a.m. While the doctor performed CPR for 45 minutes, Stevens died of asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation. His body was later returned to US custody.

"On his own"

Fahd Al-Bakoush, a young activist who took the video, said he saw the ambassador "moving his lips and his eyes moving and his body darkened by smoke."

Bakoush told Reuters the storming of the embassy happened shortly after several armed Libyan guards at the entrance refused protesters' demands to enter the compound and take down the US flag.

He said the violence began after shots fired from the compound to scare demonstrators provoked angry protesters outside, prompting hardline elements within the protesters to throw home made grenades and fire RPGs.


Bakoush said he only realised the next day that it was the ambassador who had been found and was surprised that he was left on his own in the villa with none of his aides.

"I did not expect the ambassador to be on his own and I had thought the ambassador had been the first to escape," he said.

A spokesman for President Barack Obama said last week that officials had no evidence the attack was pre-planned, an assertion which has added to confusion over the incident. Immediately after the attack, US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, were widely quoted as saying they believed the attack was well-planned and organised.

A report in IBN-Live Here  and Here

Reaction to "Innocence of Muslims" movie : DVDs on Prophet Muhammad in 30 languages

Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo has launched a campaign to introduce Prophet Mohammed to the world by distributing DVD’s in 30 languages, explaining the message of Islam and the life of the Prophet.


At the same time, Dr. Abdul-Rahman Al-Barr, member of the Brotherhood’s Guidance Bureau, has appealed on Muslim producers to use their artistic talents to create productions of the highest standards of quality, in all languages, to highlight aspects of greatness in the Messenger of God, to introduce him to the peoples of the whole world, and to use those productions to compete at international art festivals of all kinds.


"We must introduce the Prophet in an appropriately positive manner. When defending the Prophet, we must begin by understanding his life and his personality. Those who do not quite appreciate Prophet Mohammed must learn about him first, before talking about him. We should inform people about the Prophet, instead of pushing them away from him, from Islam."

Here

Tips to counter "Innocence of Muslims" movie

The dirty film by name "Innocence of Muslims" has enraged the Muslims all over the world. The following is a useful discussion on this issue.
Hats off to the youth behind this initiative.

Freedom of Expression or Freedom to Blaspheme?

FREEDOM of expression must not be confused with freedom from the consequences of expression. Exercising freedom and abusing it are not the same. The latter forfeits the former. Just because we are free to express ourselves, it doesn’t free us from the responsibility for what we express. We are responsible for what we say and do and for the consequences thereof and so must consider carefully what we want to express. This is the basis of what we call civilized socially responsible behavior. 

Useful tips to counter cyber war against Islam

முஸ்லிம்கள் என்ன செய்ய வேண்டும்?

புதிதாக தொடங்கியுள்ள இந்த சைபர் யுத்தத்தை முஸ்லிம்கள் கவனமா கவே கையாள வேண்டும். இது ஒரு வகை அறிவு யுத்தம். இதில் ஆயுதங் கள் உபயோகப்படுத்தப்படுவதில்லை. ஆதலால் இதில் வேகப்படுவது புத்தி சாலித்தனம் அல்ல.. விவேகமே இதில் வெற்றியைத் தரும்.

 

இதற்கான தீர்வுகள்

1 இதை வெளியிடும் இணையதள நிறுவனர்களிடம் நேரடியாக பேசி உண்மையை விளக்கி இதை அப்புறப்படுத்த வேண்டும்.

4138 - أَخْبَرَنَا إِسْحَقُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ عَنْ سُفْيَانَ عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنِ مَرْثَدٍ عَنْ طَارِقِ بْنِ شِهَابٍ

أَنَّ رَجُلًا سَأَلَ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَقَدْ وَضَعَ رِجْلَهُ فِي الْغَرْزِ أَيُّ الْجِهَادِ أَفْضَلُ قَالَ كَلِمَةُ حَقٍّ عِنْدَ سُلْطَانٍ جَائِرٍ

رواه النسائي

1988 ஆண்டு சல்மான் ருஷ்டி சாத்தானின் கவிதைகள் The satanic verses எனும் நாவலை வெளியிட்டான்.

அச்சமயத்தில் இந்தியாவின் மாமேதை பேரறிஞர் அபுல் ஹஸன் அலி நத்வி (ரஹ்) அவர்கள் தாமே நேரடியாக இந்நூலை வெளியிட்ட கேம்ப்பிரிட்ஜ் பல்கலை.க்கு சென்று அந்நாவலின் கருத்துகள் பொய்யானது என்பதை ஆதாரங்களை சமர்ப்பித்து நிரூபித்தார்கள்.

கேம்ப்பிரிட்ஜ் நிர்வாகம் வெளியிட்டதற்கு மன்னிப்பு கேட்டது. தமது நூலகத்தில் இருந்து அதை அகற்ற ஒப்புக் கொண்டது. அகற்றவும் செய்தது. இவ்வழியை முஸ்லிம்கள் கையாள வேண்டும்.

 

2. இதை இஸ்லாத்திற்கு சாதகமாக மாற்ற வேண்டும்.

இதன் மூலம் எதிரிகள் இஸ்லாத்திற்கு கெட்ட இமேஜை ஏற்படுத்த முயற்சிப்பதைப் போன்று இதன் மூலமே நாமும் இஸ்லாத்தை வளர்க்க வேண்டும். தீமையையும் நன்மையாக மாற்றும் வலிமை நிச்சயம் முஸ்லிம்களுக்கு உண்டு.

5034 - حَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ وَإِسْحَقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ قَالَ إِسْحَقُ أَخْبَرَنَا و قَالَ عُثْمَانُ حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ عَنْ مَنْصُورٍ عَنْ سَالِمِ بْنِ أَبِي الْجَعْدِ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا وَقَدْ وُكِّلَ بِهِ قَرِينُهُ مِنْ الْجِنِّ قَالُوا وَإِيَّاكَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ وَإِيَّايَ إِلَّا أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَعَانَنِي عَلَيْهِ فَأَسْلَمَ فَلَا يَأْمُرُنِي إِلَّا بِخَيْرٍ

حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ الْمُثَنَّى وَابْنُ بَشَّارٍ قَالَا حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ يَعْنِيَانِ ابْنَ مَهْدِيٍّ عَنْ سُفْيَانَ ح و حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ آدَمَ عَنْ عَمَّارِ بْنِ رُزَيْقٍ كِلَاهُمَا عَنْ مَنْصُورٍ بِإِسْنَادِ جَرِيرٍ مِثْلَ حَدِيثِهِ غَيْرَ أَنَّ فِي حَدِيثِ سُفْيَانَ وَقَدْ وُكِّلَ بِهِ قَرِينُهُ مِنْ الْجِنِّ وَقَرِينُهُ مِنْ الْمَلَائِكَةِ

رواه مسلم

நவீன உலகில் பேஸ்புக் சமூக வலைத்தளத்தை முஸ்லிமல்லா தவர்கள் தவறான செய்கைகளுக்கே பயன்படுத்தி வந்தனர். பேஸ் புக் என்றாலே ‘தீமையின் பிறப்பிடம்’ என்றே பார்க்கப்பட்டது. தீமைக்கு பயன்பட்ட அதனை நன்மைக்கு பயன்படுத்த முடியும் என்று முஸ்லிம்கள் நிரூபித்தார்கள்.

எகிப்து, துனிஷியா புரட்சியில் ‘பேஸ்புக்’ முக்கிய பங்கு வகித் தது.

சில ஃபித்னாக்கள் மூலம் இஸ்லாமிய வரலாற்றில் முஸ்லிம் களுக்கு நன்மை ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.

உதாரணமாக அன்னை ஆயிஷா (ரழி) மீதான இட்டுக்கட்டு. அதற்காக நபி (ஸல்) அவர்கள் ஒரு மாதம் கவலைப்பட்டார்கள். என்றாலும் அதில் இந்த உம்மத்திற்கு பெரும் நன்மையை அல்லாஹ் நாடியிருந்தான்.

قال الله تعالي: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَاءُوا بِالْإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِنْكُمْ لَا تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرًّا لَكُمْ بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِنْهُمْ مَا اكْتَسَبَ مِنَ الْإِثْمِ وَالَّذِي تَوَلَّى كِبْرَهُ مِنْهُمْ لَهُ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ 24:11

 

ஆதலால் முன்னெப்போதும் இல்லாத அளவுக்கு நபி(ஸல்) குறித்த நூல்களை உலமாக்கள் அதிகம் வெளியிட வேண்டும்.

சி.டி.வடிவில் உரைகளை வெளியிட வேண்டும். நபி(ஸல்) அவர் களின்  பன்முகத்தன்மையை ஊடகங்கள், இணைய தளங்கள், தொலைக்காட்சி நேர்காணல்கள், பத்திரிகைகள், வழியாக நேரடி பிரச்சாரங்கள் மேற்கொள்ள வேண்டும். 
யூ ட்யூப் (youtube)  போன்ற வீடியோ தளத்துக்கு நிகரான தளங் களை உருவாக்க வேண்டும்.

கடந்த காலங்களி்ல் அறிவியல் துறையில் நாம் கவனம் செலுத் தாததால் தான் இணையதளங்கள் அமெரிக்காவில் அடைபட்டு விட்டன. இணையதள இயக்குனரகங்கள் இஸ்லாமிய உலகில் இருந்தால் இதுவெல்லாம் நடக்குமா?

2611 - حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْوَلِيدِ الْكِنْدِيُّ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ نُمَيْرٍ عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ الْفَضْلِ عَنْ سَعِيدٍ الْمَقْبُرِيِّ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْكَلِمَةُ الْحِكْمَةُ ضَالَّةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ فَحَيْثُ وَجَدَهَا فَهُوَ أَحَقُّ بِهَا رواه الترمذي وابن ماجه

 

3.உணர்ச்சிவசப்பட்டு, மூர்க்கமான வகையில் கோபத்தை வெளிப்படுத்தக் கூடாது.

قال الله تعالي: وَإِنْ عَاقَبْتُمْ فَعَاقِبُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا عُوقِبْتُمْ بِهِ وَلَئِنْ صَبَرْتُمْ لَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لِلصَّابِرِينَ 16:126

4. இதனை பரப்பக்கூடாது.

இதனை அலட்சியப்படுத்தி விட்டு. இனிமேல் அவ்வாறு யாரும் செய்தா லும் அது எடுபடாத நிலையை ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டும். தீமை பரவுவதற்கு நாமே காரணமாக ஆகக் கூடாது.

قال الله تعالي : إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ أَنْ تَشِيعَ الْفَاحِشَةُ فِي الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآَخِرَةِ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ 24:19

அதிகமான நபர்கள் இக்காட்சியை பார்த்தால் வர்த்தக ரீதியில் வெளியிட்டவன் இலாபமடைவான்.இதற்காகவே இவ்வாறு அற்பர்கள் வெளியிடுகின்றனர் என்பது கவனத்தில் கொள்ளத்தக்கது.

 

ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் தீர்வா?

ஆதலால் ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் நடத்துவது இலகுவான, அதிக உழைப்பு இல்லாத, அறிவுக்கு வேலையி்ல்லாத, ஒரு நாளில் முடிந்து விடக்கூடிய எதிர்ப்பாகும். அது மட்டுமல்ல. இது ‘முஸ்லிம்கள் சகிப்புத்தன்மையற்றவர்கள்’ என்ற இமேஜையும் ஏற்படுத்தும். இதில் வன்முறை வெடித்தால் இதை பயன்படுத்தி இஸ்லாமிய விரோதிகள் தங்களின் காரியத்தை சாதித்துக் கொள்ளவும் வாய்ப்புகள் அதிகம்

மௌலவி.அபுல் ஹஸன் ஃபாஸி Here

Obama, Manmohan Singh and the innocence of Muslims

Of all the comments made on the dirty film, the comment made by Vaiko stands tall. He has said உலகெங்கும் வாழும் அனைத்து மக்களின் நெஞ்சிலும் நெருப்பை கொட்டிவிட்ட சி‌னிமா (A film which has showered fire in the hearts of all throughout the world). He is right. Even Hillary Clinton has expressed her anguish and has condemned the film. Who is Hillary? She is not a Muslim. She is just a politician. One can imagine the toxicity of the film by her anguish.

The film reminds me of another mischievious, outrageous book written by Salman Rushdie. When The Satanic Verses was released in late eighties, similar reactions were seen throughout the world. The Indian Government acted swiftly then and promptly banned the book. But now it is not the case. It has not yet banned the movie. It has not yet blocked the URLs from the web.

How to vent our feelings? How to condemn this ugly, dirty and vulgar film? How to condemn this wretched movie?

Should we target the US embassies worldwide? Should we demonstrate in front of the embassies of USA? Is it the only way? I think we Indians are blessed with another option too. We could go in procession to the Raj Bhavans in the State capitals and submit a memorundum to the Governors there. We live in an age when there is not an iota of a difference between the Indian Government and Obama's government. What is the big deal there. The Manmohan Goverment has opened up the retail trade to American companies in the name of economic reforms. This move clearly demonstrates the slavery attitude of the UPA government.


உலகெங்கும் வாழும் அனைத்து மக்களின் நெஞ்சிலும் நெருப்பை கொட்டிவிட்ட சி‌னிமா என்று வைகோ சொல்லியிருப்பது மிக்க பொருத்தம்.
எண்பதுகளில் சல்மான் ருஷ்டியின் சாத்தானியக் கவிதைகளை விடவும் அதிகமான பாதிப்பை அமெரிக்கப் படம் செய்துவிட்டுள்ளதகத் தோன்றுகிறது. இந்திய அரசாங்கம் அந்தப் புத்தகத்தை  உடனடியாக தடைச் செய்துவிட்டது. ஆனால் அமெரிக்கப் படம் இன்று வரை தடை செய்யப்படவில்லை.

இந்த அழுக்குப் படத்துக்கு எதிரான நம்முடைய உணர்வுகளை எப்படி வெளிப்படுத்துவது? இந்த கேடுகெட்ட படத்தை எப்படி தான் கண்டிப்பது?

அமெரிக்கத் தூதரங்களுக்கு முன் ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் செய்வதுதான் ஒரே வழியா? ராஜ் பவன் வரை ஊர்வலமாகச் சென்று ஆளுநரிடம் கோரிக்கை மனு தரலாமே? இன்றையக் காலத்தில் இந்திய அரசுக்கும் ஒபாமாவின் அரசுக்கும் என்ன பெரிய வித்தியாசம் இருக்கிறது? சில்லறை வணிகத்திலும் அந்நிய முதலீட்டை FDI  அனுமதித்துள்ள மன்மோகன் அரசு ஒபாமாவின் கூலியாளாகத் தானேச் செயல்பட்டுக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது? 

Egypt: Where prisoners become Presidents

Of late, it is not uncommon for political leaders the world over to flaunt their superb educational pedigrees or prestigious qualifications as evidence of their eligibility to govern. We are often reminded that Barack Obama is a graduate of the renowned Law School at Harvard; Britain’s David Cameron lists Eton College – described as the most famous independent school in the world, as his alma mater; whilst Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is distinguished as the holder of no less than 7 professional degrees from a myriad of noteworthy institutions.

Judged on those criteria, the credentials of the world’s newest Head of State are no less impressive. Egypt’s President-elect Mohammed Morsi is a qualified engineer, who pursued his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Cairo before receiving his PhD in engineering from the University of Southern California. He even served as an Assistant Professor for 3 years in the US, before his return to Egypt in 1985.

However, as it turns out, Morsi’s main title to leadership may not lie in any of these respected seats of higher learning, but rather in a far more obscure institution commonly associated with wrongdoing and correctional behavior. The great Turkish Reviver, Said Nursi once called it Medrese-i Yusufiye(The School of Yusuf), after the Prophet Yusuf(PBUH) who spent years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. In the very land of Egypt he served his sentence, setting in motion a tradition that has destined the ordeals of prison to become a common, almost universal, ‘subject’ in the syllabus of Muslim thinkers and activists across the ages. For many of them, it has meant not only suffering, but also the opportunity to reflect on past struggles, review strategies, enhance spirituality, sharpen insights and reorganise their mission. For the Prophet Yusuf, the ordeal culminated in him being exonerated and appointed to an influential position of leadership in the land.

In contemporary history this tradition is no better illustrated, than by the chronicles of the Ikhwan al Muslimoon(Muslim Brotherhood). Born in 1928, by the untiring efforts of an Aalim and schoolteacher, the son of a watch repairer, it grew from a base of six members with no formalities to become one of the most influential Islamic Movements of the last century. It was the lifelong dream of founder, Imam Hasan al Banna to guide people to the truth of Islam in concept and practice. Despite setbacks and betrayals, he laboured on, delivering lectures and Khutbahs widely and engaging in discussions with people of all persuasions. The selfless reviver worked day and night and never knew what it was like to relax or go on vacation. His efforts soon paid off. By 1948, the Brotherhood base grew to some 500 000 and hundreds of branches mushroomed across Egypt. Concerned about the movement’s increasing assertiveness and popularity, Prime Minister Mahmoud al Nukrashi Pasha disbanded it in the same year. Assets were impounded and scores were imprisoned.

Ebrahim Moosa in CIIbroadcasting. Here

Discussing the motives of the Afghan shooter

Here’s a summary of the Western media discussion of what motivated U.S. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales to allegedly kill 16 Afghans, including 9 children: he was drunk, he was experiencing financial stress, he was passed over for apromotion, he had a traumatic brain injury, he had marital problems, he suffered from the stresses of four tours of duty, he “saw his buddy’s leg blown off the day before the massacre,” etc.

Here’s a summary of the Western media discussion of what motivates Muslims to kill Americans: they are primitive, fanatically religious, hateful Terrorists.

Even when Muslims who engage in such acts toward Americans clearlyand repeatedly explain that they did it in response to American acts of domination, aggression, violence and civilian-killing in their countries, and even when the violence is confined to soldiers who are part of a foreign army that has invaded and occupied their country, the only cognizable motive is one of primitive, hateful evil. It is an act of Evil Terrorism, and that is all there is to say about it.

Note, too, that in the case of Sgt. Bales (or any other cases of American violence against Muslims), people have little difficulty understanding the distinction between (a) discussing and trying to understand the underlying motives of the act (causation) and (b) defending the act (justification). But that same distinction completely evaporates when it comes to Muslim violence against Americans. Those who attempt to understand or explain the act — they’re responding to American violence in their country; they are traumatized and angry at the continuous deaths of Muslim children and innocent adults; they’ve calculated that striking at Americans is the ony way to deter further American aggression in their part of the world — are immediately accused of mitigating, justifying or even defending Terrorism.

There is, quite obviously, a desperate need to believe that when an American engages in acts of violence of this type (meaning: as a deviation from formal American policy), there must be some underlying mental or emotional cause that makes it sensible, something other than an act of pure hatred or Evil. When a Muslim engages in acts of violence against Americans, there is an equally desperate need to believe the opposite: that this is yet another manifestation of inscrutable hatred and Evil, and any discussion of any other causes must be prohibited and ignored.

Glenn Greenwald in Readexpress. Here

US loses AH-64 Apache Helicopter in Afghanistan

America is at war with Afghanistan. It continues to bomb, kill, maim and massacre the innocents Afghanis - men and women, brothers and sisters, young and old - everyday. Afghan brothers and sisters continue to defy the American aggression with all their might. 

As a result America loses its soldiers, sophisticated vehicles, helicopters etc. As media is at the hands of Americans we don't get enough negative news about woundings, crashes and other negative news in the US military in Afghanistan. And the civilised world do not know or care that the US is at war in Afghanistan. 

Here is an video of a APACHE helicopter being crashed in Afghanistan. Here and  Here

America's shame

America now has

• the highest poverty rate, both generally and for children;
• the greatest inequality of incomes;
• the lowest social mobility;
• the lowest score on the UN’s index of “material well-being of children”;
• the worst score on the UN’s Gender Inequality Index;
• the highest expenditure on health care as a percentage of GDP, yet all this money accompanied by the highest infant mortality rate, the highest prevalence of mental health problems, the highest obesity rate, the highest percentage of people going without health care due to cost, the highest consumption of antidepressants per capita, and the shortest life expectancy at birth;
• the next-to-lowest score for student performance in math and middling performance in science and reading;
• the highest homicide rate;
• the largest prison population in absolute terms and per capita;
• the highest carbon dioxide emissions and the highest water consumption per capita;
• the lowest score on Yale’s Environmental Performance Index (except for Belgium) and the largest ecological footprint per capita (except for Denmark);
• the lowest spending on international development and humanitarian assistance as a percentage of national income (except for Japan and Italy);
• the highest military spending both in total and as a percentage of GDP; and
• the largest international arms sales.

Our politicians are constantly invoking America’s superiority and exceptionalism. True, the data is piling up to confirm that we’re Number One, but in exactly the way we don’t want to be—at the bottom.

*****

The American political system is in deep trouble for another reason—it is moving from democracy to plutocracy and corporatocracy, supported by the ascendancy of market fundamentalism and a strident antiregulation, antigovernment, antitax ideology. The hard truth is that our political system today is simply incapable of meeting the great challenges described here. What we have is third-rate governance at a time when the challenges we face require first-rate governance.

America thus confronts a daunting array of challenges in the maintenance of our people’s well-being, in the conduct of our international affairs, in the management of our planet’s natural assets, and in the workings of our politics. Taken together, these challenges place in grave peril much that we hold dear.

The America we must seek for our children and grandchildren is not the America we have today. If we are going to change things for the better, we must first understand the forces that led us to this sea of troubles. When big problems emerge across the entire spectrum of national life, it cannot be due to small reasons. We have encompassing problems because of fundamental flaws in our economic and political system. By understanding these flaws, we can end them and move forward in a very different direction.

*****

Economic growth may be the world’s secular religion, but for much of the world it is a god that is failing—underperforming for most of the world’s people and, for those in affluent societies, now creating more problems than it is solving. The never-ending drive to grow the overall U.S. economy undermines families and communities; it is leading us to environmental calamity; it fuels a ruthless international search for energy and other resources; it fails at generating the needed jobs; and it rests on a manufactured consumerism that is not meeting our deepest human needs.

Americans are substituting growth and consumption for dealing with the real issues—for doing the things that would make us, and the country, better off. Psychologists have pointed out, for example, that while economic output per person in the United States has risen sharply in recent decades, there has been no increase in life satisfaction, and levels of distrust and depression have increased substantially. We have entered the realm of what ecological economist Herman Daly calls “uneconomic growth.” Environmentally, we see a world in which growth has brought us to a situation where more of the same will quite literally ruin the planet. Politically, the growth imperative is a big part of how we the people are controlled: the necessity for growth gives the real power to those who have the finance and technology to deliver it. 

*****

The following transformations hold the key to moving to a new political economy. Consider each as a transition from today to tomorrow.

• Economic growth: from growth fetish to post-growth society, from mere GDP growth to growth in human welfare and democratically determined priorities.
• The market: from near laissez-faire to powerful market governance in the public interest.
• The corporation: from shareholder primacy to stakeholder primacy, from one ownership and motivation model to new business models and the democratization of capital.
• Money and finance: from Wall Street to Main Street, from money created through bank debt to money created by government.
• Social conditions: from economic insecurity to security, from vast inequities to fundamental fairness.
• Indicators: from GDP (“grossly distorted picture”) to accurate measures of social and environmental health and quality of life.
• Consumerism: from consumerism and affluenza to sufficiency and mindful consumption, from more to enough.
• Communities: from runaway enterprise and throwaway communities to vital local economies, from social rootlessness to rootedness and solidarity.
• Dominant cultural values: from having to being, from getting to giving, from richer to better, from separate to connected, from apart from nature to part of nature, from transcendent to interdependent, from today to tomorrow.
• Politics: from weak democracy to strong, from creeping corporatocracy and plutocracy to true popular sovereignty.
• Foreign policy and the military: from American exceptionalism to America as a normal nation, from hard power to soft, from military prowess to real security.

 James Gustave Speth in Orion. Here

A chilling footage of a gruesome murder of a child

It is a chilling piece of footage that represents yet another blow for the beleaguered Sri Lankan government in its attempts to head off a critical resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva this week.

The short clip dates from the final hours of the bloody 26-year civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the secessionist rebels of the Tamil Tigers, the LTTE.

A 12-year-old boy lies on the ground. He is stripped to the waist and has five neat bullet holes in his chest. His name is Balachandran Prabakaran and he is the son of the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran. He has been executed in cold blood. Beside him lie the bodies of five men, believed to be his bodyguards. There are strips of cloth on the ground indicating that they were tied and blindfolded before they were shot – further evidence suggesting that the Sri Lankan government forces had a systematic policy of executing many surrendering or captured LTTE fighters and leading figures, even if they were children.

The footage – dating from 18 May 2009 and which seems to have been shot as a grotesque "trophy video" by Sri Lankan forces – will be broadcast for the first time on Wednesday night in a Channel 4 film, Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished – a sequel to the controversial investigation broadcast last year which accused both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Callum Macrae in The Independent. Here

Nuclear power plants of Japan closed forever

THE LIGHTS ARE not going off all over Japan, but the nuclear power plants are. Of the 54 reactors in those plants, with a combined capacity of 47.5 gigawatts (GW, a thousand megawatts), only two are operating today. A good dozen are unlikely ever to reopen: six at Fukushima Dai-ichi, which suffered a calamitous triple meltdown after an earthquake and tsunami on March 11th 2011 (pictured above), and others either too close to those reactors or now considered to be at risk of similar disaster. The rest, bar two, have shut down for maintenance or “stress tests” since the Fukushima accident and not yet been cleared to start up again. It is quite possible that none of them will get that permission before the two still running shut for scheduled maintenance by the end of April.

Japan has been using nuclear power since the 1960s. In 2010 it got 30% of its electricity from nuclear plants. This spring it may well join the ranks of the 150 nations currently muddling through with all their atoms unsplit. If the shutdown happens, it will not be permanent; a good number of the reactors now closed are likely to be reopened. But it could still have symbolic importance. To do without something hitherto seen as a necessity opens the mind to new possibilities. Japan had previously expected its use of nuclear energy to increase somewhat. Now the share of nuclear power in Japan’s energy mix is more likely to shrink, and it could just vanish altogether.

In most places any foretaste of that newly plausible future will barely be noticed. Bullet trains will flash on; flat panels will continue to shine; toilet seats will still warm up; factories will hum as they hummed before. Almost everywhere, when people reach for the light switches in their homes, the lights will come on. But not quite everywhere. In Futaba, Namie and Naraha the lights will stay off, and no factories will hum: not for want of power but for want of people. The 100,000 or so people that once lived in those and other towns close to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant have been evacuated. Some 30,000 may never return. The triple meltdown at Fukushima a year ago was the world’s worst nuclear accident since the disaster at Chernobyl in the Ukraine in 1986. The damage extends far beyond a lost power station.

Oliver Morton in The Economist. Here

Iran would never make atom bomb: Ayatullah Khamenei

“The Iranian nation has never pursued and will never pursue nuclear weapons and will never seek nuclear weapons as it has the capacity to challenge the nuclear-backed influence such powers rely on,” said Ayatollah Khamenei, leader of the Islamic Revolution in a Wednesday meeting in Tehran with the director and officials of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and nuclear scientists the Leader described the country’s nuclear and technological achievements further in line with national interests and beneficial for the future of the country.

“There is no doubt that the decision makers in the countries opposing us know well that Iran is not after nuclear weapons because the Islamic Republic, logically, religiously and theoretically, considers the possession of nuclear weapons a grave sin and believes the proliferation of such weapons is senseless, destructive and dangerous.”

“If nations are allowed to independently make progress in the fields of nuclear energy, aerospace, science, technology and industry, there will be no room left for the tyrannical dominance of world powers,” said the Leader.

“Sanctions have been in place since the victory of the Islamic Revolution while the nuclear issue is a matter of the past few years; therefore their (the West) real problem is with a nation that has decided to be independent.”

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei addressed a meeting with head and officials of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and nuclear scientists in Tehran on February 22, 2011.  Here

America is the problem: Mani Shanker

The problem is neither Riyadh nor Tehran. The problem is Washington. I think Washington is right in worrying about Iranian nuclear weapons but why aren’t the Americans also worrying about Israeli nuclear weapons? Israeli nuclear weapons exist. The Iranian nuclear weapon, if anybody is making it, lies in the future.

Mani Shankar Aiyer in Arab News. Here

Nuclear weapons in American Highways

Big rigs with bombs are secretly cruising America's interstates. But how safe are they from terrorists or accidents?

"Is that it?" My wife leans forward in the passenger seat of our sensible hatchback and points ahead to an 18-wheeler that's hauling ass toward us on a low-country stretch of South Carolina's Highway 125. We've been heading west from I-95 toward the Savannah River Site nuclear facility on the Georgia-South Carolina border, in search of nuke truckers. At first the mysterious big rig resembles a commercial gas tanker, but the cab is pristine-looking and there's a simple blue-on-white license plate: US GOVERNMENT. It blows by too quickly to determine whether it's part of the little-known US fleet tasked with transporting some of the most sensitive cargo in existence.

As you weave through interstate traffic, you're unlikely to notice another plain-looking Peterbilt tractor-trailer rolling along in the right-hand lane. The government plates and array of antennas jutting from the cab's roof would hardly register. You'd have no idea that inside the cab an armed federal agent operates a host of electronic countermeasures to keep outsiders from accessing his heavily armored cargo: a nuclear warhead with enough destructive power to level downtown San Francisco.

That's the way the Office of Secure Transportation (OST) wants it. At a cost of $250 million a year, nearly 600 couriers employed by this secretive agency within the US Department of Energy use some of the nation's busiest roads to move America's radioactive material wherever it needs to go—from a variety of labs, reactors and military bases, to the nation's Pantex bomb-assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas, to the Savannah River facility. Most of the shipments are bombs or weapon components; some are radioactive metals for research or fuel for Navy ships and submarines. The shipments are on the move about once a week.

The OST's operations are an open secret, and much about them can be gleaned from unclassified sources in the public domain. Yet hiding nukes in plain sight, and rolling them through major metropolises like Atlanta, Denver, and LA, raises a slew of security and environmental concerns, from theft to terrorist attack to radioactive spills. "Any time you put nuclear weapons and materials on the highway, you create security risks," says Tom Clements, a nuclear security watchdog for the nonprofit environmental group Friends of the Earth. "The shipments are part of the threat to all of us by the nuclear complex." To highlight those risks, his and another group, the Georgia-based Nuclear Watch South, have made a pastime of pursuing and photographing OST convoys.

Adam Weinstein in Mother Jones. Here

Iran, India and the persian puzzle

This is perhaps what the expression ‘setting the cat among the pigeons’ means. Just when Israel was putting up that little show, going around the world crying about the way Iran was targeting its peaceful diplomats around the world, the ayatollahs come up with their own little performance taking everyone’s breath away.

Not that Ahmadinejad didn’t warn us. As always, everyone was sufficiently intimated of the glad tidings on the nuclear front were on their way. Yet it was a master stroke. Give the Iranians their due. If the Israelis are known for their cunning and craft of obfuscation and manipulation, it’s not easy beating the Persians at mind games either. After all, they invented the game of chess.

Defying years of Western sanctions and the endless talk of war by Israel, the Iranians seem to have gotten another decisive step closer to their goal. And they have all the players and pawns where they want them to be. And for all their bluff and bluster, Israel and its guardian angels can’t do much about it.

As a former Indian envoy to Iran put it, this is like the classic Persian puzzle. Iran takes one step forward and waits and watches for the reaction of adversaries before taking the next cautious step. Call it the Persian incrementalism or whatever but it seems to have worked so far.

Aijaz Zaka Syed in Foreign Policy Journal. Here