By Cafe Dissensus
I could see that Shyam was deeply moved. I could well understand what was passing through his mind. When we left, I said to him: ‘I am a Muslim. Don’t you want to kill me?’ ‘Not now,’ he replied gravely, ‘but while I was listening to them and learning of the atrocities committed by the Muslims, I could have killed you.’
By Mosarrap H. Khan
Dutt’s use of the word ‘compassionate’ is interesting. As Krishnan points out, it’s certainly offensive for Muslims. One doesn’t expect compassion from the man, who many Muslims hold responsible for the carnage in Gujarat. However, what intrigues one about the term, ‘compassionate’, is its underlying suggestions of theocracy.
The incumbent JNUSU has called upon the students to join a campaign against BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Varanasi, although it has not specified which candidate would it support. The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad – student wing of the RSS – brought out a vicious pamphlet attacking the JNUSU’s call for campaign against Modi.
By Abu Saleh
The book points out that from the very beginning of the investigation process, the Gujarat Government didn’t follow the standard forensic procedures that are the basic requirements in any criminal case. Mr. Nag corroborates this when he says that the burnt train was kept open and accessible to the public for many days and the forensic experts investigated it only after two months. Also, improper and inadequate record-keeping show a systematic effort to divert the investigation process.
By Abu Saleh
Mr. Modi, may I humbly remind you that you have appeased Muslims in other ways, when you felt the need. Sometimes, quite overtly. Earlier, you have been seen hobnobbing with many maulanas. You have sought out the services of the Pathan Brothers (cricketers) to ‘impress’ Muslims. Most recently, you had Salman and Salim Khan endorse you.
By Safia Begum
Noorani delves into Patel’s daughter, Maniben Patel’s diary for a revealing observation. Maniben writes, “On 21st August, Patel threatened ‘to resign if army was not sent to Hyderabad’”. He also said, “I am very clear in my mind – if we have to fight – Nizam is finished. We cannot keep this ulcer in the heart of the unions.”
By Mosarrap H. Khan
However, engagement with the secular world does not imply abandonment of faith. Rather, Seabrook and Siddiqui’s study illustrates that faith is the most important pivot that makes the dream of transformation feasible. Among the poor Muslims in Calcutta, faith thwarts the seductions of extremism and violence.
By Soumya Sundar Chowdhury
The main flaw of the left-wing ideology lies in the fact that it considers every agitating class an oppressed class.
The left-wing ideology views the unruly behavior of the agitating class as the direct result of their feeling that they have been repressed. It is also said that the peace-loving majority section of the society is not bothered about the oppressed class because they themselves are the oppressor.
By Riti Das Dhankar
Since I was a philosophy student, I was forced to read about Buddhism, about Charvak, and about various other theories of human existence. Slowly, I started enjoying them; I particularly enjoyed and loved reading the philosophy of Charvak. He made the age old superstitious practices look ridiculously silly. Without giving offense, his arguments stated meaningful and obvious facts logically.
By Mosarrap H. Khan
Then Mohanji and Indresh, both said: Yeh bahut achcha hain. Zaroori hain. Sangh se nahi jodna. Sangh nahin karenge. [unclear] Hindutva ke liye bhi aisa koi hain. Sangh ka yeh vichar nahi hain. (This is great. It’s very important that it be done. But don’t link it to the Sangh. The Sangh will not do this. [unclear]. Now Hindutva has someone like this on its side. But this is not the ideology of the Sangh.)
By An Independent Inquiry into Muzaffarnagar Riots
Fighting communalism is not merely an electoral issue. The communal forces can be defeated only by ground struggles built by an alliance of the minorities, the working masses, the dalits, the tribals, other oppressed castes and progressive sections of the intelligentsia. In this regard the example held out by the people of Hussainpur, Kheda Gani, Garhi Novabad, Garhi Jaitpur, Kurawa and other such villages is a ray of hope.
By Mosarrap H. Khan
Nizam’s Hyderabad metamorphosed into a shiny, new city with wide roads, modern steel-and-glass structures, swanky cars, and multinational eateries. Ten days into my stay, I was on my way to the Old City, originally founded by the Nizams. Once on the periphery of the Nizam’s city, the landscape was perceptible different.
Cafe Dissensus Everyday 