by admin | May 25, 2021 | Books, News, Politics
New Delhi : The Urdu version of the book “Exam Warriors”, penned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be launched at an event here on Saturday.
The programme is being organised by India Islamic Cultural Centre. Several cultural programmes will also be presented during the event.
The Urdu version of the book will be very helpful for a large section of Urdu language students.
In “Exam Warriors”, Prime Minister Modi has given 25 mantras to parents and students for dealing with stress during examinations.
He has advised the students to celebrate exams as festivals, face the exams with fervour and become a ‘warrior’ and not a ‘worrier’.
Modi has also talked about yoga exercises and the importance of quality sleep for students to beat stress.
The Urdu version of the book will be launched in the presence of Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, actor Rishi Kapoor, filmmaker Muzaffar Ali, actor Annu Kapoor, and India Islamic Cultural Centre President Sirajuddin Qureshi.
Written in a fun and interactive style, with illustrations, activities and yoga exercises, the Hindi and English versions of the book have been well received by students and parents alike.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
Guwahati : At least six people were injured in a communal flare-up in Assam’s Tinsukia district, forcing police to use lathis and fire tear gas on Friday to bring the situation under control.
The group clash took place at Borhapjan after a Hindu group’s call for a ‘bandh’ was opposed by another group.
The Hindu Yuva Chatra Parishad and others called the shutdown and blockade protesting against the police failure to arrest an Ajij Khan, who they alleged posted a provocative post on Facebook that hurt their religious sentiments, Tinsukia Superintendent of Police M.J. Mahanta said.
“As the youths were trying to enforce the bandh, some friends of the accused stoned the agitators. We had to resort to lathi charge and fire tear gas to disperse the groups,” Mahanta said.
He said the police were looking for Ajij Khan and that at least six people were injured in the communal clash.
Meanwhile, in another similar incident, two groups of people clashed at Doomdooma in the district on Thursday night over Ganesh Puja and Moharram.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By Frank F. Islam,
“Recent events in India have damaged the country’s image as a vibrant, plural and successful democracy.” That is the opening line of former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran’s recent article in which he expresses his “growing concern over the rising polarisation and communalism of our social and political discourse”. Saran pointed out: “We pride ourselves in being the most tolerant of people, celebrating our diversity of faith, culture and tradition, ways of life and language. Diversity thrives on sharing; it becomes poison when it becomes an instrument for separating ‘us’ from ‘them’. One cannot construct an over-arching Hindu identity on the basis of creating a binary Hindu-Muslim divide.”
Indeed, we do not need a divide. We need instead to find our spiritual common ground. We cannot find that common ground by accident. It must be a consequence created through strong beliefs and a concerted and sustained effort over time. It must be an outcome that overcomes religious, regional and racial boundaries.
How do we reach that ideal state? We begin with where we are, find our shared values, leverage our strengths and then chart a path to where we want to be.
As an example of discovering our shared values, let me draw upon the teachings of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, founder of Aligarh Muslim University, and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, founder of Banaras Hindu University.
These men were visionaries who saw the world not though religious blinders but through an expansive view of what strong and inclusive faiths can do to unite rather than divide us.
Pandit Malviya instructed us: “India is not a country of the Hindus only. It is a country of the Muslims, the Christians and the Parsees too. The country can gain strength and develop itself only when the people of India live in mutual good will and harmony.”
Sir Syed expressed a similar philosophy, stating that the graduates of Aligarh “…shall go forth through the length and breadth of the land to preach the gospel of free inquiry, of large hearted toleration, and of pure morality.”
While there was not a religious bond between Malviya and Sir Syed, there was undoubtedly a spiritual one. It might be said they were soulmates.
They understood that spirituality is transcendent. They knew that spirit is the invisible force that brings us together regardless of our particular predispositions. They recognised that India would be best as one nation under God.
One nation under God. What would create such a nation? That God would not be a Hindu God, a Muslim God, or a Christian God. That God would be ecumenical and non-denominational. That God would be welcoming to all. That God would not discriminate nor encourage discrimination.
We can do that not by looking to the heavens and to the gods whom we worship. But by looking at the earth and the people and the family that we are. We all have a role to play in that pursuit. Some people have special contributions to make.
Religious leaders can promote interfaith dialogue. They can bring together followers of different persuasions for meaningful conversations. They can promote a dialogue of understanding and a shared sense of community with other faiths. They can call attention to the fact that an attack on one religion is an attack on all religions.
Political leaders can promote a framework of unity and civility. They can ensure that all laws are fair and fairly enforced. They can take affirmative actions to promote an atmosphere of communal peace and harmony. They can promote hope not fear.
Citizen leaders can promote collaboration. They can toil together transcending their creeds to plant the seeds for doing good deeds. They can invest in programmes that cut across and eliminate racial, religious and socio-economic divides. They can help shape a stronger and fairer India.
As the United States diminishes its role as a world leader for democracy under President Donald Trump’s leadership, there is a vacuum to be filled. By finding its spiritual common ground and becoming one nation under God, India can achieve its full potential as a country and become a world leader to fill that vacuum.
(Frank F. Islam is an entrepreneur, civic and thought leader based in Washington, D.C. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at ffislam@verizon.net)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Economy, Entrepreneurship, Interviews, Large Enterprise, Markets, News, Success Stories
Abdulla Ajmal
By Durga Chakravarty,
Dubai : Dubai-based Indian perfumer Abdulla Ajmal, who is the consulting perfumer to Ajmal India, says the label is ready for its “ghar wapsi” to offer the best in the country.
Ajmal Perfumes, a homegrown brand in India, was founded by Abdulla’s grandfather Haji Ajmal Ali in 1951. The brand serves over three hundred beautiful smells, with the most precious being the “Oudh”, which Abdulla describes as “liquid gold”.
In a tete-a-tete with IANS here, Abdulla, who is the first of the third generation in the family business, said: “We are focusing on India. Being proud Indians, we want to bring the best to our own country… It (the perfume) has always been a part of Indian culture, otherwise Kannauj (a decades-old perfume manufacturing industry) couldn’t have happened… People wouldn’t have indulged.”
Abdulla said fragrance has always been integral to Indians.
“In the southern part, Indian women wear “gajras”. It is not only because of the beauty, it’s also for the smell… People offer flowers to idols because it’s a sign of purity… That is there in the largest religion in India.
“It has been a part of our culture… It just got lost for a while, but it’s coming back and I’ve termed it ‘ghar wapsi’,” he added.
Born in Mumbai, Abdulla moved with his family to the UAE in 1988. He later travelled to the UK where he completed his Bachelors in Marketing and subsequently an MBA with specialisation in International Relations from Huron University.
Abdulla finds “great potential” in the India market, which is currently their biggest target audience.
“But like any brand, we need to start and as we are growing, the culture has to come into play over a period of time. The first name (that comes to people’s mind) when they think of fragrances should be Ajmal… That’s the whole idea,” he said.
Often, people only think of “attars” — fragrance oils — when talking about fragrances from the Middle-East. Abdulla dismissed it as a “mental block”.
“People have not been involved in this category, so everything they think is the most basic. (It is also) because they never took interest in knowing what all are there in fragrances.”
He is adamant about breaking that perception with Ajmal Perfumes. With the best of international labels cementing their space in India, how does Ajmal Perfumes plan to compete?
Abdulla said: “We are available in many areas where we compete with them directly, like the duty frees, modern trade, multi-branded outlets… What is special about Ajmal Perfumes is that we are creating for the market, and those guys, because of their size, don’t have the ability to target certain regions.”
His brand targets even regions by their taste. “The first thing is that the product is created bearing in mind the Indian palette…. Ours is more segmented and targeted. We are very clear that our brand is not just targeted at the wealthy 10 per cent.
“It has been created for the middle and upper middle class who can afford to buy perfumes frequently and re-purchase without it really hitting the pocket.”
While Abdulla knows the journey won’t be easy, he says “we will try to achieve that by getting closer to the customer”.
(The writer’s visit is at the invitation of Ajmal Perfumes. Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews, News, Politics
Ramachandra Guha
By Saket Suman,
New Delhi : Historian Ramachandra Guha, who has penned a monumental 1,100-page biography of Mahatma Gandhi, says that he finds double standards in the respect that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), accord to the Father of the Nation nowadays.
“The RSS particularly is very ambivalent about Gandhi. When Gandhi was alive, the RSS actively disliked him. They were absolutely opposed to equal rights for Muslims. In their list of heroes, Gandhi ranks very low… Through the 50s and 60s, they paid very less attention to him and his teachings. From the late 60s onwards, his name started appearing in their programmes,” Guha told IANS in an interview here.
His book, “Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World” (Penguin/Rs 999/ 1,129 pages), charts Gandhi’s story from the time he left South Africa to his dramatic assassination in 1948. While the vast majority of the book is dedicated to chronicling Gandhi’s life, times and controversies, Guha spends 30-odd pages in tracing the presence of “Gandhi in Our Time”, the book’s epilogue.
“There are clearly some aspects of Gandhi’s philosophies that are unacceptable to the RSS. And Mr (Narendra) Modi may have picked them up as an RSS worker. Today, he invokes Gandhi from time to time but it is not clear whether it is instrumental, tactical, or a clear departure from how the Sangh Parivar views Gandhi. At best, I would say that the Sangh Parivar views Gandhi with ambivalence, and when he was alive they did just the same,” said the 60-year-old historian, known for highly acclaimed books such as “India after Gandhi” and “Gandhi Before India”.
In the last section of his book, Guha notes that the RSS and the BJP profess respect for Gandhi in public in the context of his formal standing as the Father of the Nation. “At the same time, they seek to diminish his stature by elevating their own heroes,” he points out, before sharing examples such as the installation of V.D Savarkar’s portrait in the Central Hall of Parliament in 2003 during the BJP’s first spell in power at the Centre.
He noted that most of the attacks on Gandhi on social media today come from the Hindu-right. Guha said that Gandhi would particularly be “disappointed by polarisation of religious sentiments” and “the victimisation of minorities”.
“I think Gandhi would disown even the Congress party of today because he clearly did not believe in dynastic politics,” Guha quipped.
The St. Stephens graduate, however, noted that Gandhi’s philosophies and values are alive in many social, environmental and feminist movements.
“His philosophies are alive in many citizen-action programmes but certainly not in politics,” he maintained.
Guha said that there was no particular pull for the historian in chronicling Gandhi’s life in such detail, and with extensive research that demanded sourcing archival materials from museums and libraries in several countries, apart from the fact that “for any historian of modern India, Gandhi is certainly the most influential and most controversial figure”.
He shared that even in his earlier works on the environmental movement and India’s democracy, Gandhi’s influence was visible.
“I thought I must settle my account and write a full-fledged biography of him. It is about Gandhi’s life, times and controversies and I think may be after a few years I may write a book on what Gandhi means today to different kinds of people and why does he still evoke so much opposition, not only from the Right but also from the Left.
“Essentially, it is a detailed account of Gandhi’s life, based on some rare archival records. I learnt a lot myself about Gandhi, his times and our country during the course of researching and writing this book and I hope younger readers will also learn something from it,” Guha said.
The book is due to be released on September 11 in the Capital.
(Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)
—IANS
