Letters To The Editor

Look within8226; SYEDA HAMEED8217;S article, 8216;Trapped in a blind alley8217; IE, October 24 describing the plight of the Muslim com...

Look within

8226; SYEDA HAMEED8217;S article, 8216;Trapped in a blind alley8217; IE, October 24 describing the plight of the Muslim community, made painful reading. But several questions also assailed me. To begin with, she talks of initial post-Partition years as a 8220;euphoric era for Muslims who were proud of wearing Khadi8230;8221; Was this really so? Being an older person, I saw no such upsurge of love for Khadi or communal bonhomie. It was saddening to read her complaint that 8220;today afterfive decades, even as a member of the Planning Commission, I suddenly feel my Muslim identity thrust into my face8221;. And then she goes on to underline her 8220;Muslim identity8221; by singling out Muslim misery. If Muslims are lagging behind in education, who is responsible? Has Hameed cared to examine the tyranny of Muslim clergy and the role of orthodox Muslim parents in keeping their daughters at home?

8212; M. Ratan, New Delhi

8226; SYEDA HAMEED has pointed out that the terrible socio-economic plight of our 150 million Muslims cannot be relieved by state plans and platitudes alone; it can be done only by the Muslim community itself. The challenges are as enormous as those confronting socio-economic reform in caste-ridden Hindu society. Today, a needy Hindu child8217;s welfare depends entirely on whether that child 8216;qualifies8217; for aid under some OBC or some other backward category; any attempt to replace this hideous logic with a system that will bring welfare to all is bitterly opposed by self-appointed political guardians of the Hindu 8216;backwards8217;. Similarly, any attempts to bring about reform in the Muslim community are branded as attempts to interfere with minority affairs or to supersede God-given laws as interpreted by self-appointed 8216;defenders of the faith8217;.

8212; R.P. Subramanian, Delhi

Straw bogey

8226; BY expressing his baseless views in a local newspaper, the senior British politician, Jack Straw, has built higher the walls of ignorance and division 8216;Warning: Veil row can spark riots,8217; IE, October 23. A Muslim community that has been on the defensive for years is now finding itself under a volley of criticism about the way it chooses to express its faith. Straw8217;s opinions are politically motivated and have created a climate of intolerance. The objections of a bunch of noisy commentators, who joined the fray, are also unfounded. Most women who wear veils in UK are British-born and from the younger generation who have used their freedom to think in adopting the veil voluntarily. The real issues that affect community relations are the ghettoisation of minorities, second-rate education and inadequate job opportunities. These problems are endemic in Straw8217;s constituency.

8212; Safiya Sameena, Vijayawada

Truth, please

8226; Even as the ATS goes to town claiming 8220;success8221; in cracking they 7/11 blast case, its seems to have ignored the immediate fallout of the event seen in the Malegaon tragedy. Even the media, which is the supposed conscience keeper of the common man, has willingly underplayed this grave issue. The perpetrators of this gruesome act should be brought to book lest one8217;s faith in the system is irreparably damaged. 8220;The truth you speak has no past and no future. It is and that8217;s all it needs to be.8221;

8212; Hemant Morajkar, Mumbai