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CAIRO: Terming the use of networking sites such as 'Facebook' as anti-Islamic, a top Egyptian cleric has issued a fatwa against it saying Muslims using such cyber platforms must be considered "sinners".
And the cleric went to extent of blaming such sites for growing incidents of marital discords in the country.
Noted Sunni scholar Sheikh Abdel Hamid al-Atras, former head of the fatwa commission at prestigious Al-Azhar University here, issued the fatwa saying such sites have resulted in rise of the marital infidelity.
"It's an instrument that destroys the family because it encourages spouses to have relations with other people which break Islamic Sharia law," he said in the fatwa.
"While one or other of the spouses is at work, the other is chatting online with someone else, wasting their time and flouting the Sharia. This endangers the Muslim family," said al-Atrash.
The fatwa came after a study earlier this week claimed that one in every five cases of divorces in Egypt had been caused after one of the partners started using social networking sites such as Facebook.
Last month, Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Jumah condemned the practice of using Quranic verses as the mobile ringtones terming it as "improper" as it compromises the sacredness of the religious scriptures.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has
highlighted weaknesses of full-body scanners in terms of privacy.
The invasive scanners, which allow security to detect non-metallic
devices, objects and weapons on a person’s body but also reveal organs
and genitals in the process, are set to be rolled out across Australia's
airports.
While talking to BBC talk show host Jonathan Ross, the ‘Badshah of
Bollywood’ revealed that he autographed printed scans of his body for
female security officers, reports News.com.au.
"I was a little scared. I came out of the scanner and then I saw these
girls and they had these printouts," Khan said.
"So I looked at them, I thought maybe it's a form you're supposed to
sign and you could see everything inside. And then I've autographed them
for them,” he added.
Khan said the incident which occurred at London airport embarrassed him.
NEW DELHI Unfazed by the political bashing on AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, the young Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Azamgarh, the ‘terror hotbed,’ having sizeable population of minority community, confident that he would win over the youth with his charms, as was the case in Patna and Mumbai recently.
Rahul is likely to interact with students of the Shibli National College in Azamgarh, the largest Muslim educational institution after Aligarh Muslim University.
Undaunted by the criticism from all quarters, Digvijay Singh on Tuesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, along with a delegation of UP Congress leaders, including UPCC Chief Rita Bahuguna, Pervez Hashmi, Rashid Alvi and Imran Kidwai and requested her to send Rahul Gandhi to Azamgarh for an interaction with the college students.
Enthused by the warm response in Patna and Mumbai, the Congress leadership has now set its sights on UP, and particularly on Azamgarh, where the students from the minority community are facing the brunt of the security agencies.
Around 25-26 boys from the area are facing around 55-60 cases for the last 20 years, with no hope of speedy trial. Having received the invite from the prestigious college, which is known to be the symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity, the party is confident that Rahul will enthrall the students.
The Shibli National College was visited in the past by Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Motilal Nehru and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The choice of Azamgarh, the minority-dominated area, has been made with an eye on killing two birds with one stone.
First, Rahul’s visit will send a political message to the minorities all over the country, including Bihar and UP, that the party is keen to redress their grievances and secondly, it will put the Congress on a higher pedestal than the Samajwadi Party in UP and the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar, which are desperately trying to win over the minority votes.
Since the SP is slowly losing its ground in the Hindi-heartland, owing to its rampant factionalism, with Amar Singh playing the spoil-sport and in Bihar, where the party led by Rahul Gandhi is going it alone in the upcoming State Assembly elections, the Congress is keen to wean away Muslims from other secular parties.
The 10 percent quota in government jobs for backward Muslims in West Bengal is being welcomed by leaders of the community who say it's not really enough but add that something is better than nothing.
Maulana Abdul Hamid Nomani of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind described the move as a 'step in the right direction' for the welfare of backward Muslims in West Bengal.
'But it is not enough considering the pathetic socio-economic situation of Muslims (in the state). Nonetheless something is better than nothing,' Nomani, the Jamiat spokesperson, told IANS.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind is one of the leading Islamic organisations in India founded in 1919 with its organisational network spread all over India.
The Communist government in West Bengal Monday announced 10 percent reservation in government jobs for other backward classes among Muslims.
The move comes years after a government appointed committee observed that in West Bengal where 25 percent population is Muslim, their share in government jobs was a paltry 4.2 percent.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on expected lines, has criticised the announcement, saying it was unconstitutional to give reservations on religion lines.
But Nomani differs. He said backward classes among Muslims can be granted the quota on their socio-economic status as it was legally possible.
'We need to invoke article 341 of the Indian constitution,' he said referring to the act that gives the president of India an authority after taking the advice of the governor of any state or union territory, to demarcate tribes, races or castes or a part of any group as Scheduled Castes, in accordance with the law of the constitution.
Some of the Sachar committee observations on Bengal
•
25.25 per cent (2.02 crore) of Bengal’s population Muslim but their
share in government jobs just 4.2 per cent
• Only 5 per cent Muslim presence in key judiciary positions
• No Muslims in senior positions in state PSUs
• Bengal ranks third after Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in school dropout
rates among Muslims
New Delhi, Feb. 8: The Sachar committee’s report revealed that Muslims in
Left-ruled Bengal were worse off on every count than their counterparts in most
other states.
The report, released in December 2006, put Bengal in the “worst-performer
category,” despite the communists’ much professed commitment for the welfare of
minorities. The state where 25.25 per cent (2.02 crore) of the population is
Muslim, their share in government jobs is just 4.2 per cent and expenditure for
the community is less than that for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes.
The fraction of Muslims in “key positions” in the judiciary was only 5 per cent.
The Sachar report also pointed out that there were no Muslims in senior
positions in state public sector units in Bengal.
The state came third on Muslim dropout rates as well as cases of children not
going to school. The top two on this list were Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
In their defence, the Left parties had said the Rajinder Sachar panel had given
a miss to the comprehensive steps taken by the Bengal government to improve the
condition of the community. To this, Sachar said: “People who do the least shout
the most. I hope the communist parties pay more attention to West Bengal.”
The Muslim community did not take the report lightly.
“The Sachar committee report has been an eye-opener for the Muslims who had
steadfastly stood with the Left Front government (in Bengal). This, along with
the cynical role of state government in Singur and Nandigram as well as the
Rizwanur Rahman murderer case, made us rethink about continuing our support to
the Left Front,’’ said Anwar Ubaidulla Chowdhury of the Jamiat Ulema, a Muslim
organisation.
Kerala, another state where the Left is powerful, was also found wanting on some
counts.
The most glaring cases of deprivation in government jobs were found in Bengal
and Kerala where, according to common perception, egalitarianism is the
cherished norm in all walks of life.
However, Bengal had been one of the first states that had initiated the Prime
Minister’s 15-point welfare plan for minorities.
It had announced that it would spend 15 per cent of the funds provided in the
financial plans of eight departments on schemes and projects meant for
minorities.
The departments included panchayats, urban development, municipal affairs, women
and child development, school and technical education, disaster management and
finance.
It had also constituted a state-level committee to monitor the programme.
The Rajinder Sachar
committee, which studied their social, economic and educational status,
found the community “exhibits deficits and deprivation in practically
all dimensions of development”
New Delhi: A court
verdict quashing 4% reservation in government jobs and educational
institutions for underprivileged Muslims in Andhra Pradesh has come as a
setback for the ruling Congress party, its senior leaders say.
The
Andhra Pradesh high court’s Monday ruling throws a spanner in the
Congress plan to introduce quotas for the minority community nationwide,
a move to consolidate Muslim support in poll-bound states, they say.
But analysts argue the Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre can still override
the ruling and implement the quota if it is sincere about the
initiative.
Muslims constitute 14% of India’s 1.2 billion
population. The Rajinder Sachar committee, which studied their social,
economic and educational status, found the community “exhibits deficits
and deprivation in practically all dimensions of development.”
“It
(Andhra Pradesh ruling) is a setback to the party’s attempts to create
goodwill among Muslims, especially at a time when we are focusing on
states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” said a Congress general secretary
who did not want to be identified.
The party’s manifesto for
the 2009 general election had promised extending reservations offered to
minorities in Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh countrywide.
Minority
affairs minister Salman Khursheed had said the UPA had been awaiting
the Andhra Pradesh high court verdict before implementing the
recommendations of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic
Minorities (NCRLM).
The report of the panel, headed by former
chief justice Ranganath Mishra, had suggested a 10% quota for Muslims in
jobs and education.
The state government said it will appeal
the ruling in the Supreme Court. Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha
member from Andhra Pradesh, V. Kishorechandra Deo said the party would
study “the grounds” on which the court had quashed the act.
But
Zoya Hasan, a professor of social sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU), Delhi, said linking the NCRLM report with the Andhra
Pradesh verdict showed the Congress was not serious about implementing
it. “If...(quota is implemented), it will help them get goodwill among
the community and thus help them politically,” she said.
Firoz
Bakht Ahmed, an expert on social and educational issues, also said the
Muslim community should realize the promised sops would never
materialize. “It’s all just an eyewash,” Ahmed said.
The main
opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said the court’s decision exposed the
Congress “game plan” of fooling minorities. “(The) Congress knew it well
while announcing this before the elections that it will not stand the
test of the law,” a party leader said.
But Imtiaz Ahmad,
author and former professor of sociology at JNU, is still optimistic. “I
don't think it’s a setback for the Congress because Parliament can
overwrite the judiciary. It is for the party to build a consensus on
that,” he said.
