Muslim Youth and ISIS

While the disappearance of four Muslim youths from Kalyan, Thane and the subsequent reports of them joining ISIS fighters in Iraq has alarmed the nation, the Muslim community continues to be skeptical about the turn of events. Much of the apprehension emanates from the fact that law enforcement agencies themselves appear clueless as far as the case is concerned. "The disappearance of boys coincides with the emergence of ISIS. So I am doubtful if the youths have indeed gone there for fighting", suggests Sarfaraz Arzoo, editor of Urdu daily Hindustan.

            The murky reports about the happenings in Iraqi and Syrian countries have not really helped. "All of us saw the horrible images from Gaza. One is yet to see such images of Yazidis of Iraq", offers Maulana Mehmood Daryabadi. However, the families have confirmed that calls are being made by these youths from Iraq. One of them is reported to have died last week.

            This incidence appears to be an isolated one as opposed to the representative of a general trend. "Muslims in India are bothered about their own problems and are bound by their daily routine. The idea of joining foreign fighters is not even practical", feels Irfan Engineer, Director of Centre for Study of Secularism and Society. Human rights activist Javed Anand agrees that the case cannot be generalised.

            Neverthless, many people agree that there exists a tiny section of society which has extreme approach. These are youths who have lost faith in democracy and think violence to be the only way ahead. Javed Anand says, "Some Muslim organisations propagating the idea of an Islamic state for countries where Muslims are in majority could be the beginning of problem". However, he adds, "In a democracy, everybody is entitled to his view, so long as he doesn't resort to violence."

            Others believe that chances of somebody actually taking the extreme step, on his own, are highly unlikely. Rather they suspect the handiwork of agents belonging to country's intelligence agencies in it. "These people are termed 'instigators'. They identify and recruit the youths who have a feeling of being wronged and then arrest them", opines Aslam Ghazi of Jamat-e-Islami. Former ACP of Mumbai and leader of Awami Vikas Party Shamsher Khan Pathan says, "The sophistication with which all the possible evidence was wiped off, points out to the involvement of agencies." The sentiments are echoed by Sarfaraz Arzoo, who justifies by asking, "Why is it so that main culprits and alleged masterminds are never caught in these cases?"

            The youths from Kalyan are said to have been influenced by propaganda material available online. Unlike traditional media, it is neither easy nor practical to control the content uploaded on the web. In such a scenario, the responsibility of keeping a check on the propagation of extremist thought lies with community. "One should immediately report to police, should he come across any libelous material online", advises Gulag Zama of Jamiat-e Ulema. According to Irfan Engineer, "While things are much exaggerated online, a lot of it depicts reality... Attack on Gaza did happen, riots in India did occur; situation in Iraq is a reality...  Nothing happens in a vacuum... Web is just a medium".

            The situation in Middle East holds the key to understanding fascination of Muslim youths to the causes such as one espoused by ISIS. A decade after US' invasion of Iraq, the country appears on the brink of a full fledged civil war. Having neglected Sunni population of Iraq for a long time, the puppet government of Noori Al Maliki now faces a brutal insurgency. In the neighbouring Syria, cities have been plundered by Bashar Al Asad regime. Many feel that the US has actually allowed the situation to escalate. It didn't even impose a no-fly zone over Syria. "Given the Islamic history, when such a situation does occur, there are going to be people who would take up the arms", asserts Adv. FN Kazi from Kalyan.

            There is a feeling that Muslims should have been more vocal in their opposition of ISIS. Javed Anand, while acknowledging that current crisis is a fallout of US' misadventures in the region, puts onus on Muslims for being too gullible and tolerant of extremism. "What kind of Jihad is this, where two sections of Muslims are fighting each other?", quips Shamsher Khan. So, could there be a sectarian angle behind boys' joining of ISIS? Scholars are not so sure. Even Shia Cleric Kalbe Jawwad's campaign to recruit Shias for fighting in Iraq has been dismissed as a drama and political posturing.

'LIVING IN GAVTEWADI IS NOT A CURSE, IT'S A SIN'

Gavtevadi is one of the the most backward places in Navi mumbai. The conditions here make it feel like a jail instead of ward, where thousands of people are forced to live in sub-human conditions. It remains a shamefully neglected area of the city.

This place a population of thousands, but there is only one toilet. As a result people have to wait in line for hours. The water pipe lines run through gutters. The mixing of two waters can put people's lives danger. In a population of thousands only one water tab is there but in that also the water comes in such a low force , people have to wait for hours. Debris and garbage is everywhere. 

In today's 21st century, the people of Navi Mumbai city have to walk in the light of mobile phones because there is no electricityin this area. Girls and women fear for their safety. The ward is surrounded by the walls of a company making people feel like they are living in jail. The roads are too small for people for even walk.

It must be noted that, Dhurubai Bijle has worked as corprator in this ward for 5 years, but when I asked people if they have seen their corprators, they gave some shocking replies. They angrily that when elections were their Dhurubai Bijle came to ask for their votes, but after the election she never came here.

The constituents also complain that when somebody dies and we go and ask them to give the death certificate they would always have same answer: Madam has gone to her native place We don’t have any.

The condition and the problems of the people of this area are so severe that the NCP rebel Mukhtaar Ansari compaired Gavtevadi to jail.

It must also be noted that the corprator ward Dhurubai Bijle is the same person who had beaten former corporator Bharat Nakhate with her sandal. After looking at the problems of gavtevadi people are saying, that living here is not a curse it’s a sin.

Congress' Waghmare a failure for Turbhe - Indira Nagar

Turbhe - Indira Nagar is one of the most populated areas of Navi Mumbai. Most of the people living here belong to economically weaker section of the society. Congress’s Ramasheth Waghmare was elected as the counselor for Turbhe – Indira Nagar’s Ward No. 61 in 2010. The constituency is now designated as Ward No. 73.

Talk to residents here and they will give you a long list of grievances: Overflowing open gutters, streetlights not working properly, hard-to-get drinking water, mountains of filth, sorry state of public toilets, poorly maintained community centre, corporation school in urgent need for repair, naked overhead wires posing a threat to people’s lives, lack of dust-bins, gardens converted to plain grounds. Residents are tired of filing complaint after complaint. They all are genuinely disappointed.

Ramasheth Waghmare’s five year tenure in corporation house was completely lackluster. He never was aggressive in house even on the issues of his ward. The constituency largely consists of slum areas of Ambedkar Nagar, Ganesh Nagar and Indira Nagar. Ramasheth got an opportunity to represent this ward when it was reserved for Shedule Castes in 2010. Despite lacking any experience in politics, Waghmare became a candidate, thanks to the local leadership of Congress.

Waghmare struck a chord with slum-dwellers and eventually won the poll. He made huge promises during elections, but now residents fault him for not acting on them.
The biggest problem for the women living in this area is toilets. They complain that there aren’t enough public toilets in the ward.

Lack of cleanliness is another major problem here. Residents complained of overflowing gutters, unhygienic environment and health issues arising out of it.

The most severe problem here is of overhead wires. None of them are insulated. The electric poles are required to be supported by wood and bamboos. All this is a recipe for a great disaster.

The residents are putting the blame of all these issues squarely on Ramasheth Waghmare. They allege that, once elected, he didn’t take any efforts to know the problems of his constituents.

Waghmare has now switched to Shiv Sena from Congress and the ward has been reserved for women. He is planning to make her daughter contest elections. But he doesn’t have anything to show but a survey wall and a flyover bridge at Turbhe Naka. The outlook is discouraging for Ramasheth Waghmare.

UNDER SUN AND SHADOW: In the memory of late Nani

It was a long day yesterday. My mother woke me up a bit earlier with the words, "Nani ka inteqal ho gaya (Grandma passed away)".

Her demise was anything but sudden. She was bed ridden since last year and a half. Before that she had slowly but steadily lost her memory. In the twilight of life, her words stopped making sense and she had to be fed through a tube.

This isn't exactly the image of the woman under whose shade I grew up. I have always known her to be smart, feisty and above all a thoroughly caring lady.

I had spent better part of my childhood at her place. And, being the first of her grandchildren, I was apple of the eye of entire maternal household. There was much to be loved about 'Nani ka ghar': caring folks, a sense of freedom, calm surroundings, food and even TV (We didn't have cable connection at our place) !

As the sunlight turned softer after an unforgivingly hot day, I stood in the family graveyard opposite her home, thinking how quickly I lost it all. How fast the wheel of time has turned. It almost feels like yesterday, that I was haggling with her to watch my favourite show on TV or she was combing my hairs.

"Man is steadily approaching his God" (Qur'an)

I now feel sad, for not returning her love. For neglecting her when she became frail. I hadn't seen her for almost a month, cocooned as I was in my 'busy life. I kept running under the Sun, only to get tired and heavy at the end of the day.

 And it wasn't just me. Everyone who gathered yesterday seemed focussed on their individual worldly lives,  perhaps forgetting that one day we all have to lie on a bed of soil and stand before our lord. There will hardly be any shadow available on that day.

"Hafeez ho gaya aakhir ajal se hum-aagosh / Tamam shab ka sataya hua sahar se ja mila (Hafeez eventually embraced the death / Pestered for the entire night, he has now united with dawn)"

How Right makes a mockery of anti-Valentines effort

As i was walking around platform no 1 of kalyan railway station a peculiar sticker caught my eye. It had a picture of a Muslim family (in a true bolywood sense, complete with pathanis and skull caps) at home. The sticker also had a photo of tainted guru Asaram Bapu asking youngsters to celebrate 14th Feb as 'Ammi Abba Ibadat Din'. I had a hearty laugh!

Let me explain. A few days ago, i read a story in newspaper that right-wing organisations affiliated to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have planned a number of activities to dissuade youngsters from Public Display of Affection (PDA) on Valentines Day. The Valentines Day celebrations are against 'our' culture they say.

Asaram Bapu and his disciples, on the other hand came up with a novel idea to promote 'Indian culture'. They called on youth to celebrate the day as 'matru-pitru pujan divas'. The idea being that more than any 'lover', it's your parents who deserve your 'love'. Hell, they deserve to be bowed before in a true Hindu tradition of worshipping anything/anybody that benifits/harms you.

For a wider appeal, they translated it simplistically as 'Abba Ammi ibadat din'. The name not just lacked any particular resonance with monotheistic Muslims but, when coupled with dressed-for-Eid family, seemed absolutely absurd. And above all, it was a blow to our anti-Valentines effort. I mean, those who indulge in illicit relations don't really deny platonic love to their parents. It's an issue of morality and moral decay, and should be treated as such!

Navi Mumbai civic polls: MIM set to throw its hat in the ring

A new entrant is ready to join political bandwagon in Navi Mumabai. With only a couple of months left for NMMC elections, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen has all but decided to contest civic polls. 

The Hyderabad-based party made its Maharashtra debut in Vidhan sabha elections last year, as two of its candidates got elected to the state legislative assembly. MIM legislator from Byculla Waris Pathan has now been appointed to look after party’s poll prospects in Navi Mumbai. He says that the decision will be made in 3-4 days after consultation with party chief.

MIM’s main poll plank will be the uplifment of large swathes of minority population living in the city. Pathan asserts that minorities have become fed up with the so-called secular parties. He added that Congress, NCP and Samajwadi Party has been using minorities as mere votebanks

Sensing NCP’s loosening grip on power, MIM has reportedly started the ground work in city. Handful of party activists are said to be identifying local issues and evaluating party’s prospects here.

MIM ‘s entry in Navi Mumbai is sure to alter political equations especially in Muslim-dominated areas. Pathan is confident of winning at least 2 to 3 seats in upcoming elections.

Perhaps, it is too early to say if MIM will have any real impact on Navi Mumbai politics. It might even end up dividing Muslim votes and strengthen BJP and Shiv Sena. Nevertheless, minorities of city will have an additional option when they go to polling booth after 2 months.

How Sena, BJP conqured Bhiwandi

Bhiwandi : It may come as surprise to some that Muslim majority Bhiwandi East and Bhiwandi West constituencies in Thane would elect BJP and Shiv Sena candidates to state legislative assembly. But many in the minority community, who were observing the political landscape of the city, saw it coming.

The surprising results can be attributed to the low turnout combined with division of minority votes, growing disillusionment with 'secular' parties and cash-for-vote practice.

In Bhiwandi West constituency, BJP's Mahesh Choughule won with a margin of 3326 votes. His immediate opponent, Congress's Shoeb Khan got 39157 votes, followed by Shiv Sena's Manoj Katekar with 20106 votes. The strong anti-incumbency ensured that two-time MLA Abdul Rashid Momin, who recently migrated from SP to NCP, was relegated to fourth place with mere 16131 votes. New entrant MIM's Jaki Shaikh managed to get 4686 votes.

In the East Shiv Sena's Rupesh Mhatre kept his seat with 33541 votes. BJP's Santosh Shetty trailed by 3393 votes. Abu Farhan Azmi was a distant third with 17541 votes followed by MIM's Akram Khan who got 14572 votes.

The votes are usually polled along communal lines in Bhiwandi. Most of the Hindus voted Shiv Sena and BJP. Muslim votes got divided between Congress, NCP, SP and MIM. Most of these votes too were polled along caste lines. The Momin Julaha vote bank remained with Abdul Rashid Momin whereas most of the SP voters hail from Azamgadh in UP.

But the decisive factor was the facy that, Choughule reportedly recieved around two to three thousand votes from Nizampur, Khajoorpur and Gouri Pada areas populated by Konkani Muslims. According to Editor of 'Bhiwandi Samachar' Farooq Memon, "While many of these votes were polled in exchange of money, it was a quid-pro-quo for others. As the president of a local co-operative credit society, Mahesh Chougle had swiftly approved loans for many of these people."

On the other hand, Rupesh Mhatre, with his clean image, seem to have benifited by the work he did in the constituency. He drew many votes from poor Muslims of Shanti Nagar area.

"The MIM here is the main culprit. They shouldn't have put up their candidates here", said Shaheen Kalokhe, a techie from Bhiwandi. He added that there should be a local pressure group for Muslims to get their act together and to keep communal forces from coming to power.

MIM on its part claimed that they merely responded to Muslim disenchantment with parties like Congress, NCP and SP. "There's no point of us not contesting the elections. I have managed to get around 14000 votes in first attempt. Other parties should heed that", said Akram Khan of MIM.

Many blame the city's Muslim population itself for this scenario. According to Abdul Rashid Momin, "The turnout here was very low. And the fact that many actually sought money in the exchange of their votes is really disturbing".

However, one thing is clear: the 'secular' parties can no longer take minority votes for granted. There were reports of Muslims voting for BJP in Bhiwandi Rural constituency also. With the entry of MIM, there's no way these parties can claim their hold on the minorities now.

BJP dents Sena's Thane Fort, MNS looses foothold

Kalyan: BJP made a dent into Shiv Sena’s Thane bastion, as the later fought hard to hold its fort and MNS lost its foothold in Kalyan.

Meanwhile, former Thane Guardian Minister and NCP’s strongman in the region Ganesh Naik ended up losing his Belapur seat to BJP’s Manda Mhatre by 1,491 votes in a closely fought battle. His son managed to hold onto his Airoli seat.

BJP gained ground at Shiv Sena’s expense, especially in Ambernath, Thane and Kalyan seats. In Thane, BJP’s Mukund Kelkar beat Shiv Sena’s Ravindra Pathak by a margin of 12,588 votes. Shiv Sena’s Balaji Kinikar managed to retain his Ambernath seat, but not without losing most of his voter base to BJP’s Rajesh Wankhede.

MNS incumbents Prakash Bhoir and Ramesh Patil lost their seats to Shiv Sena and BJP in Kalyan West and Kalyan Rural constituencies respectively. The strong anti-incumbency wave is thought to be responsible for that.

Muslim dominated Bhiwandi East and West seats fell into BJP’s lap mainly due to division of Muslim votes, caused by the presence of parties like All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Samajwadi Party.

At 50.61 per cent, Thane district had witnessed one of the lowest voter turnout in the entire state, with constituencies like Ulhasnagar polling as low as 38.22 per cent. The low turnout seems to have benefited the BJP, whose committed voter base of Brahmins, Gujratis and South Indians voted anyway.

Ravindra Chavan of BJP won by a comfortable margin of 46,225 in its Dombivli stronghold. NCP’s Jitendra Awhad also won easily in Mumbra-Kalwa constituency despite a resurgent AIMIM. Shiv Sena’s Thane district chief Eknath Shinde retained his Kopri-Pachpakhdi seat, as he defeated his immediate opponent by 51,869 votes.

Low Voter turnout in Thane district

Kalyan : Increasing disillusion with the electoral process, lack of better candidates and relative prosperity seem to be the reasons behind low voter turnout in Thane district on Wednesday.
The district witnessed an overall turnout of 50.61 per cent, a marginal rise from 49.2 per cent of Lok Sabha Polls, despite a high octane campaign season and money distribution on poll day. The turnout was higher in Rural areas.
"There was no excitement in people on polling day, as they have become disillusioned with all the political parties", observed Farooq Memon, editor of Bhiwandi Samachar. Breaking of decades old political alliances was also a major factor. "Political parties had to bring in weak candidates who lacked mass appeal at eleventh hour", said a businessman from Mumbra.
Candidates ran a very visible campaign. Everybody from Uddhav Thackrey and Raj Thackrey to Nitin Gadkari and Prithviraj Chouhan had addressed rallies in the district. But that proved insufficient in bringing voters to polling station.
Bhiwandi Rural, considered as  Shiv Sena's bastion, saw the highest turnout of 66.24 per cent. Whereas industrial hub Ulhasnagar had the lowest turnout of 38.22 per cent. The fact that large labour population living there didn't have a day off was cited as possible reason for that.
Cities like Kalyan, Dombivli, Bhiwandi and Mira-Bhayander had around 44-45 percent turnout. Here most of the booths in posh areas wore a deserted look. In poorer parts supporters of candidates were seen distributing money in exchange of votes.
The four constituencies of Thane city namely Ovala-Majiwada, Kopri-Pachpakhdi, Thane and Mumbra-Kalwa registered 50.31, 53.1, 56.56 and 47.48 percentage of voting respectively. Residents reportedly preferred spending the holiday shopping with family instead of voting. In Mumbra-Kalwa region, voters' list required updating, as many of the residents had relocated to new addresses.
Airoli and Belapur constituencies in New Mumbai saw 51.47 and 49.61 per cent turnout respectively.

Shiv Sena leader Sabir Shaikh dead

Kon Village, Kalyan : Maharashtra's former labour minister and Shiv Sena's most prominent Muslim Face Sabir Shaikh died today after a prolonged illness.
The 71-year-old leader from Thane breathed his last around 5:30 in the evening at Ved Hospital in Kon Village, near Kalyan, where he lived. He was suffering from Parkinson's disease since last four years.
Sabir Shaikh's nephew and Shiv Sena leader Altaf Shaikh informed that he was suffering from various ailments such as TB and Diabetes and was bed-ridden since a year or so. He is survived by his wife Ayesha and a daughter.
Being a Muslim, Sabir Shaikh was a rarity in Shiv Sena. The loyal Shiv Sainik is said to had been attracted by Bal Thackrey's writings. "We are proud of the fact that he was filled with Shiv Sena founder's ideals... I miss a fatherly figure", Said Altaf Shaikh.
Various Shiv Sena leaders, including Sena chief Uddhav Thackrey, reportedly called in to convey their condolonces. He will buried tomorrow at 11:00 am at Kalyan's Tekri Kabrastan.

What First time voters were thinking

Kalyan : Education, employment, playgrounds and even 'love jihad' were some of the issues in the mind of youngsters who came out to vote for the first time.
Small in number, and not much enthusiastic, these first time voters were however optimistic that their vote will make the neccessary change happen. "It is untrue that all candidates here are corrupt. There are ones who do good work and need to be elected", said a young voter Vishal Kedar.
Education and employment opportunities was the foremost agenda for youngsters. They wanted more colleges and better educational infrastructure. "I want government to ensure that every girl child, every poor in villages gets proper education", said 19-year-old Urvi Anam.
Some of the youths bemoaned lack of open spaces and patronage to sports other than cricket. Ajay Valodar, 19, said he will vote the incumbent as he had taken efforts to beautify local playground.
Although, most of them were worried about the local issues, many of them were voting for a good government at state. A number of them have faith in Modi, whereas quite a few identify themselves with charismatic Raj Thackrey.
Due to the perception that youngsters usually don't care much about societal issues and seldom vote, they didn't find much space in the campaign rhetoric. The young people, on their part, did little to quell that perception.

Students provide aid to Kashmir Victims

Byculla : If you thought the young generation is individualistic, think again. Students of a city college collectively donated a huge sum of money and goods to the victims of Kashmir Floods, after a thorough survey of the affected areas.
Students and several staff members of MH Saboo Siddik College of Engineering in Byculla contributed around Rs. 2 lacs in addition to a couple of tonnes of neccessary goods during a relief campaign termed 'Mission Kashmir', in the last week of September. Subsequently, two of the college students - Saad Azimuddin and Murtaza Khandwawala - made the trip to Kashmir and distributed the relief in Pulwama district with the help of some NGOs and local administration.
"The response of students and staff members was overwhelming. The donated material included a large variety of freshly purchased clothes.We had cooperation of representatives from several college commitees," said Saad Azimuddin, who had initiated the drive alongwith Khandwawala.
For their collegemates to willingly part their money, the duo realised thay they must offer to go to Kashmir themselves instead of simply handing over the aid to some NGO. It would also ensure that relief reaches the deserving, they thought.
The trip turned out to be quite an eye-opener. According to Saad, "Despite the efforts of a number of NGOs, there isn't adequate aid available especially in the interior parts. The flood water is yet to recede in many areas. The complete collapse of State government and lack of any help from centre hasn't helped."
The duo reportedly surveyed Pulwama, one of the worst hit areas, with the help of local SP. And provided relief with items such as blanket, tea, haldi and mirchi powder, candles, soaps, oil, biscuits and some cash to three of its villages.

Eid Prayers in Kalyan

Maharashtra a 'Sick State' : Gadkari

Dombivli : Union Transport and Rural affairs minister Nitin Gadkari yesterday said that Maharashtra has become the sick state of India, despite all its wealth, intellect and manpower.
He alleged that corruption and nepotism of "Congress-NCP Virus" has plundered the state, as he raised the issues of load shedding, privatisation of education and economic slump.
"Today, the state is in the debt of Rs. 3,00,000 Cr. Industries are being closed in; traders are upset over LBT and unemployment is on rise", he said before a middle-class Dombivli crowd, mostly consisting of BJP workers at city's Bhgshala Maidan. Touting the various infrastructural work done during Shiv Sena-BJP government 15 years ago, he ridiculed CM Prithviraj Chouhan for not approving development projects swiftly.
Gadkari also accused Congress-NCP for creating rift between various castes and communities in Maharashtra. "The state has been destroyed by those who swear allegiance to Phule, Shahu and Ambedkar," he said.
He inaugrated a 'Vision Document' on the occassion along with the sitting MLA and BJP candidate from Dombivali Ravindra Chavan. The city is home to a sizeable Marathi Brahmin population and has traditionally been a BJP bastion.

Horror in 'Lifestyle' Home

Badlapur : A 34 year old man hung himself to death after killing his two daughters, apparently because of economic problems.
Pavan Kumar Verma was a resident of Lokmanya Nagar area of Thane. He is said to have poisoned his daughters Komal and Minal - aged 6 and 9 - respectively in his new flat at Poddar Evergreens in Chamtoli area of Badlapur.
"It seems Pavan was unable to make ends meet. He was unemployed since last 8 months. He had to pay EMI of Rs. 15,000 to a bank, in addition to Rs. 14,000 tution fees of the convent school where his daughters studied", said Assisitant Police Inspector Dhananjay Pore of Kulgaon Police station, who is investigating the matter.
The police is said to have found a suicide note written by Pavan which says that he doesn't hold anyone responsible for his death and he's taking his girls along.The autopsy reports of bodies have been sent for furtherchemical analysis.
The wife and the mother of deceased are too distressed to talk.

IITB to hold 'Smart City Challange' at TechFest

Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s ‘100 smart cities’ idea has found
takers at the Indian Institute of
Technology Bombay. The premium
engineering institute has announced a
‘Smart City Challenge’ in partnership
with various government bodies, as part
of its annual ‘TechFest’. A prize of Rs 5
lakh awaits for the best set of the ideas.
Realising that it takes more than
engineers to build smart cities, the
project has been divided into five
domains, viz. Infrastructure, Trade and
Commerce, Healthcare, Design and
Aesthetics and Policy Making. Entries are
being sought from the professionals and
students belonging to different fields of
expertise. A panel of experts will provide
assistance to the participants.
The competition is being conducted in
two phases, according to TechFest
manager Ayush Bandil. In first phase,
preliminary ideas were invited on
various urban issues. Subsequently,
multi-disciplinary teams will be formed
out of the best responses in order to
design 10 smart cities. TechFest has
recieved around 700 entries.
The initiative is said to have been taken
up with the vision of bringing together
technology, government and the student
fraternity to make the cities more
efficient, sustainable and liveable. “PM
Modi has spoken about the need of new
smart cities. ‘Smart City Challenge’ is
such an initiative to engage the youth of
the country in the development of their
city and prosperity of its citizens”, said
Aman Mantri of TechFest.
The project is being implemented in
collaboration with CIDCO, MMRDA and
Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor
Development Corporation. The prize
money is sponsored by National
Campaign for People’s Right to
Information.
as published in Free Press Journal, 21 September 2014

A Newspaper to Thinking Person

I read The Indian Express. The strongest point about it is its integrity. The paper is seldom influenced by special interests or government pressure. It has never modified its mast-head for advertisers or carried advertisements masquerading as news items. It lives by its commitment to the “Journalism of Courage”. In-depth and gutsy coverage of the emergency, killing of IES officer Satyendra Dubey and Gujrat riots bear witness to it.

            Politics remains the mainstay of Express; and that includes politics in sports, local power structures and political economy. In a sense, this is what the fundamental responsibility of newspapers and other media is: to make the common man acquainted with the happenings in corridors of power and make the powerful accountable. This relentless pursuit of relevant political stories often results in the paper reporting important news stories before anyone else.

However, one will be disappointed if he buys newspaper to read local news. City news is one of the weaker sections of Express. It doesn’t help average Joe that there are few reports about local events, weather and traffic. The paper also lacks health stories, event listings, children and women’s space, science and technological updates, social trends and other aspects which have become staple of newspapers nowadays.   

            In general, The Indian Express possesses a sense of proportion and doesn’t get swayed by hype generated by a century of centuries or an Oscar win. The paper leans right, as reflected in its editorials. So there exists some degree of unfair biasness when it comes to selection of news stories and setting of discourse. It would help if it does away with its Tavleen Singhs and Surjit Bhallas.

            There’s a general apathy towards rural affairs when it comes to English language media in our country. Express has never ceased to report grass root news stories. In fact, there are more stories on human rights, women empowerment and activism in Express than any other paper on a given day. Its “From the field” supplementary page of farm reports is unique.

             The ‘International’ page is a weak point of The Indian Express. For a major paper like Express, it has no permanent foreign correspondent, except Yubaraj Ghimire in Nepal. To compensate for that, Syndicated news reports are carried from news agencies. These stories usually reflect the priorities and viewpoints of the West; which is not desirable.

            The Indian Express is antithesis of sensationalism and trivia. It’s a newspaper to thinking person. Unlike many of its contemporaries, it doesn’t use titillating images or misleading headlines to sell its copies. Even its sports and culture pages are full of intelligent reporting, instead of bland noise. E. P. Unny’s daily cartoon is thought provoking, too.

            Express is one of the few papers which still have proper editorial and op-ed pages. It boasts of many excellent writers. Some of the articles remain too academic in nature, though. And often Mr. Shekhar Gupta occupies most of the space. Nevertheless, they remain the most readable pages of the paper.

A societal perspective on article 377

The debate on article 377 must be framed in terms of individual rights v/s societal well being. Take the example of drugs such as cocaine or marijuana. These items have been banned because they not only harm an individual’s health but also because their acceptance in society leads to overall decrease in productivity and efficiency, straining of social relations and surge in crime. In other words an individual may well be within his rights to indulge in drugs but he isn’t allowed to do so, for his action surely sets a trend which is detrimental for the society at large. Similar case can be made for homosexuality. Examples of instances of homosexuality in ancient South Asian literature notwithstanding, it’s the rapid urbanization, modernity and electronic media boom that has lead the spread and acceptance of homosexual relations. Otherwise we still abhor practices such as incest or bestiality (sex with animals), which are thankfully still illegal. For those of us who consider the traditional family system essential for proper uprising of children and a healthy society, legalization of homosexuality spells disaster. It means rise in sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS, denial of balanced fatherly / motherly care for children and rupture of social fabric. In the West rapid sexual freedom has resulted in innumerous social problems such as ever increasing divorce rates, teenage pregnancies, single mothers, adultery, dysfunctional families and subsequent rise in crimes. There are things humanity has always kept sacrosanct. Let’s keep them that way for our own well being.

"Attack that wasn't" - My piece in 'The Companion' magazine

I’m sorry, you don’t have beggar knocking on your door!

Few months back, while distributing invites for a social gathering in my city of Kalyan, an odd feeling struck me as I made my way from one housing society to another gated colony. The compulsory ritual of entering your name in society register and residents feigning ignorance about their immediate neighbours was too much for me. I started feeling privileged to have grown up in a mohalla, or mohallas to be precise, because growing up in a mohalla means not remaining confined to just one. For the benefit of my friends living in big housing societies, modern gated colonies or high rises who have no idea whatsoever of a mohalla or life in a mohalla, I shall give a glimpse.

In our mohallas we are woken up in the morning by rhythmic sounds of pawwalas, machhiwalas, bhangarwalas and beggars. As we step out of our doors we see life full in action: from shopkeepers opening their shops too sweeper doing her job; from labours on their duties to schoolchildren on their way to schools. We find ourselves in the mid of all this churnings. It rejuvenates us and fills us with fresh energy. Now just compare it with the sleepiness of housing complexes… Dreary!

Take the case of neighbours. Mohallas can loosely be translated as neighbourhoods –implicating thatmohallas are perhaps the only place where you find real neighbours. Not the ones who don’t even know the names of the people living adjacent to their houses, as I encountered recently. To us neighbours are more than people living in the immediate vicinity; they are simultaneously our friends, kith and kin and trustful companions. Many of us have a habit of handing over keys of our homes to neighbours when we set out for a journey. Some families are so close to each other that you don’t even need permission to enter each other’s homes. There’s hardly anything about your life and relations that your neighbours don’t know –of course the traditional Indian nosiness also plays a role in it. But you never feel lonely here.

We make our first friends not in school but in mohalla. And they remain fast friends entire our lives. One of the biggest advantages of mohallas is that most of the houses are in chawls or low rises. This physical closeness translates into closeness of hearts. It gives us a better opportunity to socialize. I’ve sweet memories of playing cricket, beyblade, marbles, hide-and-seek and what not in gully-mohallas of Old Kalyan. We even cultivated rivalry of a sort with guys from other mohallas. Today, while those of you in high rises are glued to your computer screens chatting on facebook we gather in front yard of someone’s place or nukkad to indulge in more human form of conversation.

On the other hand the life in high rises is bereft with a kind of isolation. And much of it has to do with the attitude of its inhabitants themselves. Gated colonies are being projected as dream homes. Today residents of these housing complexes feel safer that their houses are well secured and no one can enter their societies without running into the watchman. No beggar, hawker or company salesman to ‘disturb’ them. They don’t need to go to the market outside. Their food requirements are catered by the shops inside their colonies. Residents themselves like to live a cocooned life. They go to work early in the morning and return late in the evening without bothering about their neighbours or neighbourhood. Even on weekends they prefer watching TV in their homes to socializing. This makes me sometimes wonder as to why media and intellectuals call lower middle-class Muslims as ghettoized? I mean I find these people from the upper echelons of society living in these modern gated colonies more ghettoized!

And look at its social cost: Your minimal socializing with the ones who live in your immediate neighbourhood doesn’t help in your evolution as a better human being. The one who doesn’t bother about those living near him can’t really be expected to have concern towards the entire society. Living in a mohalla, we could interact and empathies with people from all strata of society. In housing societies you are simply cut-off from the entire world. You lack ‘a human –humane interaction’ –to borrow Arundhati Roy’s phrase – with the less privileged of the society. You don’t have a beggar knocking on your doors so that you could appreciate poverty. The sounds of political rallies and other social churnings don’t reach you, making it unable for you to participate actively in public life. In ourmohallas it’s the neighbours who are first to respond and extend a helping hand in a situation of crisis. We find none of this sort happening in high rises. What we did find was, neighbours who were ignorant of a murder in their neighbourhood for a long time -until the stench arising from dead body grew too strong.

That’s why when I see high rises and modern housing societies being constructed in our mohallas it fills me with sadness. And I turn towards the virgin parts of city, full of chaos; but humanity too. The familiar sight of women haggling with hawkers and neighbours indulging in animated conversations lifts my spirits and I merrily ride through lanes and bylanes of the mohalla on my bicycle. It’s the air of mymohalla that I love!