I know religious profiling works both ways: Emraan Hashmi Submitted by admin4 on 10 August 2009 - 1:55pm. By Subhash K. Jha, IANS, Mumbai : As he awaits the verdict of State Minorities Commission (SMC) on his complaint against a south Mumbai housing society, Bollywood star Emraan Hashmi says he know religious profiling is practised by people in more than one community. Emraan has complained he was not allowed to buy a house in the society because he is a Muslim. The problem of being denied property on grounds of religion is prevalent all over the country. Now so many Muslims have come forward claiming the same. And mind you, I know religious profiling works both ways. I know of Muslim colonies where Hindus are not allowed to stay. I spoke out as a segregated citizen, not a Muslim.I want all discrimination in property allotment to go. Otherwise why do we call ourselves a democracy? Emraan told IANS. The actor alleged he was denied permission to buy a house in the upmarket Pali Hill area of Mumbai because he was Muslim. Pali Hill's Nibbana Cooperative Society, he said, refused to give him a 'no- _object_ion certificate'. He filed a complaint with the SMC, demanding action against the society members. The society reportedly has mostly Hindus and a couple of Catholic families. There were more developments in the case Sunday, when a Mumbai resident accused Emraan and film director Mahesh Bhatt of fomenting communal tensions to gain cheap publicity . The two had held a press conference to highlight the complaint. Emraan has been forced to beef up his security. He moves around with a lot of securitymen. It's a precautionary measure. His house is looking like a fortress, said a source close to the actor. The complaint doesn't deter Emraan at all. It's an age-old ploy to silence you. No one can accuse Emraan of inciting communal disharmony. Religious discrimination in buying and renting property has been going on a very long time. No one talked about it openly. It's a sensitive issue. Office-bearers of the housing society have been changing their statements repeatedly. They said he was kept out because he was serial kisser, the source said. For some reason they also made up an absurd allegation that Emraan's parents barged into the office of the property dealers. Emraan's parents had taken a proper appointment and gone and they were treated badly. They were told the housing society people were busy. Emraan was enraged because his parents were badly treated. Emraan had earlier bought an apartment in 2007 in Pali Hill. But there was no such problem. This was his first real encounter with discrimination. Now the man from whom Emraan wanted to buy the house has backed out. The prospective property seller now says he doesn't want to sell. But for Emraan it is no longer about personal hurt. He's standing up for an issue. People have accused him of doing this to gain publicity. Let them say what they like. Emraan doesn't care what the cynics say, said a friend of the actor. Asked why the actor had received so little support from the film fraternity, the friend said: He wasn't expecting any real support. Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi have spoken on it. Also, Saif Ali Khan. Emraan is prepared to take the issue to its logical conclusion. He hopes people will no longer keep quiet about being denied property in spite of being law-abiding citizens and paying taxes. The actor is currently busy shooting for Ekta Kapoor's Once Upon A Time . ...and I am Sid Harth

'Miscommunication by agent led to actor housing dispute' Bharati Dubey, TNN 11 August 2009, 03:07am IST MUMBAI: The Maharashtra State Minorities' Commission has resolved the Emraan Hashmi case by making a scapegoat of his realty agent. The commission concluded that a miscommunication created by the estate agent gave rise to the dispute. The panel heard both parties-Hashmi and housing society-though the person found guilty'' was not called for the hearing. On July 30, Hashmi had complained that members of Nibbana, a housing society in Pali Hill, had refused to give him an NOC even after he paid Rs 1 lakh for a flat. Commission vice-chairman Abraham Mathai said, Both parties resolved their problems. The society secretary, J P Chatri, assured us that they would welcome Hashmi if D N Suvarna or anyone else sold him a flat.'' The agent, Jagjit Arora, said he was happy that the row was over but added he was not told about the hearing''. Hashmi told TOI that he stood by what he had said earlier. That's exactly what I told the panel,'' he said. Now, if it wants to resolve the issue peacefully, peace is what I want.'' ...and I am Sid Harth

http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1048 ...and I am Sid Harth

I've had it with the Arabs and Muslims and Islamic militancy. Forgive me but I am throwing in the towel. I couldn't write back to her. She grew up in Mumbai and is upset. She went on to say: The Muslims and Islam have a problem and only they can solve it.  If they do not, the whole world will turn against them. If this is how our most loyal friends feel, imagine the sentiments and reactions of the rest of the world. Can you blame the world if it's turning against Muslims? What do you expect when not a day passes without the name of our faith being dragged through the mud by fellow believers around the world? I know that Muslim leaders, including those in the highest echelons of power, have lately started speaking out against the extremists. The Darul Uloom Deoband in India, one of the oldest and most respected centres of learning in the Muslim world, issued a fatwa against terrorism at a large gathering of Islamic scholars in June. Last month, nearly 5,000 scholars backed the edict at a huge congregation in Hyderabad. The Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), and Saudi Arabia have, of late, been  vehement in condemning these repulsive acts of violence targeting innocents. But clearly, we need to do more to be heard. The great irony of the Mumbai attacks is the killing of ATS chief Hemant Karkare, a brave officer trying to establish the _link_ between Hindu extremists and the Malegaon blasts. He was killed outside the Cama hospital on Wednesday night. Obviously, some Muslims do not know their friends from their enemies. It's all very well for us to say Islam has nothing to do with extremism and terrorism. We can go on deluding ourselves that these psychopaths do not represent us. However, the world finds it hard to accept this line of argument as it sees the extremists increasingly assert themselves and take the centre-stage while mainstream Islam turns into a moderate fringe. Aijaz Syed is Opinion Editor, Khaleej Times Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=ca0ddccc-f7...

Hashmi's U-turn, blames miscommunication for controversy Posted: Monday , Aug 10, 2009 at 1610 hrs Mumbai: In a U-turn, actor Emraan Hashmi, who had alleged that he was denied a flat by a housing society because he was Muslim, claimed there was no discrimination against him and the controversy arose because of a miscommunication . The dispute between me and the members of Nibbana housing society has been resolved. The society had not discriminated against me. There had been a miscommunication, Hashmi, who had sparked a furore with his allegation of religious profiling, told reporters after a hearing on his complaint at the State Minorities Commission. Hashmi's lawyer Majeed Memon said that a broker Jagjit Arora had told the actor that the society had refused to sell the flat as Hashmi was a Muslim. The secretary of the society today told Emraan that they had not discriminated against the actor and that if anyone in the building wants to sell their flat then Emraan can buy it, Memon said. Secretary J P Chatri told the Commission that they would not refuse the actor on religious grounds as there are several other Muslims residing in the building, the lawyer said. The owner of the flat D U Suvarna, who was also present during the hearing, said he would be more than happy to sell the flat to the actor who is like a son to him. I have not decided on what I will do with my flat. But if I decide to sell the flat then my first choice would be Hashmi, Suvarna said. On July 31, the actor approached the Minorities Commission accusing the housing society in posh Pali Hill of religious profiling by refusing a No _object_ion Certificate (NOC) to him to purchase a flat in the society. The society houses film and television actors including well known villain Prem Chopra. The issue has been blown out of proportion by the media. It was a miscommunication and has been resolved after all the parties sat across the table, Naseem Siddiqui, Chairman of the Minorities Commission said. ...and I am Sid Harth

Rethinking Islam Monday, August 10, 2009 Destroy Lashkar Camps: Why Indian Muslims are an existential threat to Pakistan? Islam,Terrorism and Jihad 04 Dec 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com We have no way of knowing precisely what message US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is carrying from India to Pakistan. Like millions of Indians, I hope, the government has made it clear that now that we have incontrovertible evidence against Lashkar-e-Tayyaba's involvement in the recent terrorist attack on India, we will ourselves take steps to destroy the terrorist camps in POK as well as Islamist Markaz Ad- Dawa-wal-Irshad brainwashing camps at Muridke and elsewhere unless Pakistan takes concrete action against these criminals and destroys their camps for good. There are suggestions that the response be internationalised. But let not such suggestions merely confuse, obfuscate and delay the response. If there is one phrase the world has heard from Indians of all hues repeated again and again and again, throughout last week, it is: Enough is Enough! We, the Muslims of India, have particular reason to demand that these dens of evil be closed down and destroyed. There is not the slightest reason to doubt the known fact now that these Pakistani terrorist organisations are particularly after the destruction of the Muslim community in India. [See the article below.] The very idea of Indian Muslims living peacefully and marching towards prosperity strikes at the very root of Pakistan's existential philosophy. The very existence of a prosperous Muslim community in India destroys the Two-Nation Theory on which the state of Pakistan is _base_d. The very fact that Muslims in India not only live peacefully among themselves but also in harmony with a variety of other religious, linguistic, ethnic communities while Muslims in Pakistan are deeply divided among themselves and constantly at each others' throats is a profoundly destabilising factor for the very existence of Pakistan. That Pakistan's Muslim Sindhis, Baluchis, Pathans, Saraikis, and indeed Mohajirs would love to join the Indian mainstream, given half a chance, cannot possibly be lost on the Pakistani establishment that has spawned these terrorist organisations to further its dubious strategic imperatives. We the Muslims of India, by our very existence, more so on account of our peaceful and prosperous existence, are an existential threat to Pakistan. And not just to its terrorists, which are in any case a part of the establishment. We can't help it. There is nothing we can do about it. That is why it is in our particular interest, in the interest of Muslims of India, that these terrorist camps are destroyed and the criminals who have wreaked so much havoc on our land are brought to justice. For more concrete evidence and background information on Lashkar-e- Tayyaba, read on…. Sultan Shahin, editor, NewAgeIslam.com ************** Lies of the Lashkar By Yoginder Sikand Not possessing a television set myself, it was only just now that was I able to listen to the recording, hosted on the Internet, of a conversation which took place some days ago between a terrorist holed up at Nariman House in Mumbai and calling himself 'Imran Babar' and reporters of the India TV channel. (<http://uk.youtube.com/watch? v=QhO6rynb1C8) It is plainly evident from the conversation that the terrorist was a Pakistani, most likely a Punjabi. This obvious from his accent and the sort of Urdu he speaks. One can easily make out that he had been carefully tutored by his mentors who masterminded the deadly terror assault on Mumbai to intersperse his hate-driven harangue with some Hindi words (shanti, parivar etc.) and to use Urdu words in the typical Hindi way (jabardasti, instead of zabardasti, etc.) so as to give the misleading impression that he and the other terrorists with him were Indian Muslims, not Pakistanis. The terrorists claimed to belong to the 'Deccan', in India, but it is obvious that this was not at all the case. There can be no doubt that these Pakistani terrorists were trained to lie that they were Indian Muslims who were allegedly resorting to terror in revenge for the atrocities committed on Muslims in India. Why the Pakistan-_base_d terror outfit behind the attacks would do this needs no explanation. The aim of the attacks was probably to destabilise India, fuel Hindu-Muslim violence, instigate Muslims to take to terror in response to attacks by Hindus and then drown India in flames. This, indeed, is precisely what several Pakistan-_base_d self- _style_d Islamist groups have been consistently plotting to do for decades, although, mercifully, by and large, the Indian Muslims have refused to fall into their trap. It is to the credit of the Indian Muslims that, barring some stray exceptions, they have consistently opposed all forms of terror, including that committed in the name of Islam, despite the growing menace of Hindutva-driven fascist terror across India, sometimes abetted by the state, of which they are the principal and worst-hit victims. The Lashkar-e-Tayyaba has never made any bones about its dastardly plans of destabilising and destroying India. It has gone to the ridiculous extent of claiming that it will not rest till the 'Islamic' flag is hoisted atop the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi and till India is absorbed into what it calls in its lunacy 'Greater Pakistan'. In order to gain theological legitimacy for its deadly project it even claims that the Prophet Muhammad is said to have declared that Muslims who participate in a war with India would be saved from the fires of hell. There can be no doubt that this sort of horrendous misuse and deliberate distortion of Islam by the Lashkar has played a major role in attracting vast numbers of would-be terrorists in Pakistan to its fold who are fed with the poisonous propaganda that by participating in what it calls a holy war against India they would win a ticket to heaven. The Pakistani state, it must be noted, has taken no action whatsoever against this heinous propaganda, and elements of the ISI are said to be in cahoots with the Lashkar and other such hate-driven self-_style_d Islamist groups in the country. In the wake of the Mumbai attacks, and when asked what action Pakistan had taken against the Lashkar, the Pakistani President hurriedly shrugged off the question by claiming that the Lashkar had been 'banned'. If that is indeed the case—which it is obviously not—then how does Mr. Zardari explain the fact that, as the Lashkar's official Urdu website itself announces, on the 29th of November the Lashkar's supremo Hafiz Muhammad Saeed addressed what it termed a 'mammoth' convention at 'New Saeedabad' (a locality named after him?), organized by the Sindh unit of the Markaz Dawat ul-Irshad (the 'religious' and political wing of the Lashkar). It was held, of all places, in the premises of the local Government Degree College. The Lashkar's website is replete with news about the whirlwind tours of Saeed and his cronies across the country, delivering rabble-rousing speeches, thundering against India and non-Muslims in general. And the outfit, Mr. Zardari wants us to believe, is 'banned'. Having been writing on Indian Muslim issues for years now, I can say with some confidence that the general Indian Muslim is completely fed up and fiercely opposed to the gross misuse of Islam by the Pakistani state and Pakistan-_base_d self-_style_d Islamist outfits. Deep down inside, most of them lament the very creation of Pakistan, _base_d on the discredited 'two nation' theory, for it has left them permanently helpless in the face of Hindutva aggression. They know full well that, despite its bombastic claims, Pakistan is far being from the 'Islamic state' it claims to be—with its problems of poverty, illiteracy, mounting inequalities, endemic violence, and lawlessness, its corrupt American puppet politicians who have reduced Islam to a plaything to be employed for their own purposes, and so on. They face the brunt of mounting Islamophobia stirred up by Hindutva fascist forces that play upon Pakistan's dubious Kashmir policy and the heinous crimes of Pakistan-_base_d self-_style_d Islamist radicals to whip up violently anti- Muslim sentiments in India. The general Indian Muslim's undisguised disgust of the terror in the name of Islam that groups like the Lashkar are seeking to spearhead is amply evident in the news that is pouring in of Muslims across the country roundly denouncing the Mumbai attacks and even insisting that the dreaded terrorists not be allowed to be buried on Indian soil. India's Muslims need to be seen as a potential asset, rather than a liability, in the struggle against terrorism. Scores of Indian ulema or Islamic clerics are now openly castigating all forms of terror, organizing mass rallies and even issuing fatwas to get the message across. The Indian state and civil society urgently needs to realize that hounding the Indian Muslims, instead of seeking to listen to their voices and concerns and genuinely dialoguing with them, can only play into the hands of outfits of groups like the Lashkar. The fact that Hindutva terror and Islamist terror only feed on each other must also be urgently acknowledged. Our very future as a country crucially depends on all communities, particularly Hindus and Muslims, presenting a joint front to work together for peace and security. That would be a fitting reply to both Hindutva and radical Islamist forces, whose very existence is _base_d on the frighteningly Manichaean notion of perpetual antagonism between Hindus and Muslims. Backgrounders: LeT emerging as Qaida's successor 6 Jul 2005, 0156 hrs IST, Indrani Bagchi & M Saleem Pandit, TNN NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: Tuesday's Ayodhya attack is a deadly reminder of Lashkar-e-Taiba's core ideology — it goes well beyond opposing India's sovereignty in J&K. According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, the Lashkar's agenda, as outlined in a
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