Newsletter of All India Secular Forum
Volume. 9 No.9 September 2014
C O N T E N T S
Editorial
1. Forum News
- AISF Convention Jaipur
- Meeting in Ahmedabad
2. CSSS Activities
- Minority women workshop in
Ahmedabad
- 3rd Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer
Memorial Lecture
- Press Meeting and Panel
Discussion on Kandhamal day
3. Propaganda Wars
4. Interview
- with Inter-faith Couples
- with JNU Prof. Ajay
Gudavarthy by Mishab Irikkur
and Abhay Kumar
5. Press Release
6. Statement
7. Article on Kandhamal
8. Obituaries
9. Syncretic Traditions
10. Indian Muslims
11. Campaign
12. News
13. Poem
14. Mechanism for Human Rights
15.Aman ka Paigam Yatra 2014
16. Resources
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From the Editor’s Desk
The victory of Modi-BJP-RSS in the previous General elections has vitiated the communal atmosphere in various regions of the country. In Uttar Pradesh the propaganda of Love Jihad,that Muslim youth are being given money and training to lure the Hindu girls, marry them and convert them is catching up very fast. The communal elements are doing this divisive activity to achieve their goals of dividing the society along religious lines. Many a social media debates are also veering around selectively picking out cases where Muslim men are involved in crimes against women. This ignores the fact that these crimes are perpetrated by people of various religious identities. We give some useful material for understanding this phenomenon and also the reports of various events which took place to give the truth of Love Jihad and role of communal elements in inflaming the situation.
The acts of ISIS, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, which was created by US using the Wahabi version of Islam to pursue the goal of controlling oil wells are also being used by media and others to further demonize Islam and Muslims. We carry the reports of meetings where prominent Muslim activists have condemned such acts in unequivocal terms and have distanced Muslims in general and Islam in particular from such ghastly violent acts. The Muslims participating in such violence are bringing a bad name to Islam and Muslims as such.
This 25th August number of meetings were organized under the aegis of Kandhamal Day. The programs were organized in Bhubaneshwar, Kandhamal, Trivandrum, Delhi, Mumbai, Thane and various other places. We also contemplate that one single day should be remembered as ‘Anti Communal Violence day’, activists-scholars need to put in their ideas on this.
This month saw the passing away of three major personalities who have contributed immensely to the cause of secular, plural values. We lost Prof. Bipan Chandra, the doyen of Historians, Balraj Puri the writer –activist from Kashmir and Shubhradeep Chakravarty, the film maker. This is a major loss to our struggles for a better, more humane society. Our heartfelt condolences!
Ram Puniyani
(Editor
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