Truth about blasts

Jamaat-e-Islami8217;s biweekly Daawat May 19 says that 8220;the truth cannot be out without changing the formula for the probe into the bomb blasts. Instead of going through the formality of a probe and connecting the links kariyan aur taar jornein ki koshish we will have to see which group of people gets political benefit out of such incidents8221;.

Hamara Samaj, published from Delhi, in its editorial on May 16, says that this is not the time for allegations made by the Rajasthan Chief Minister against the Centre, 8220;This is the moment for standing shoulder to shoulder with each other8221;.

Delhi-based daily Jadeed Khabar May 16 lauds the communal amity following the Jaipur blasts. 8220;The Hindu and Muslim volunteers coming to the aid of the injured victims crying and shrieking in Jaipur hospitals are the real strengths of India who have been marginalised by communalists8221;.

Symbol, substance

The recent announcement by highly respected Shia cleric and vice-president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Maulana Kalb-e-Sadiq, that he would offer his next Eid prayer in a Sunni mosque and request for similar gestures from others for improving Shia-Sunni ties has been welcomed, according to Kolkata and Delhi-based Akhbar-e-Mashriq May 11. But this has also created a controversy. A Shia cleric has questioned, 8216;Namaaz behind which Imam: Deobandi, Barelvi, Qadiani or Ahl-e-Hadees?8217; Leader of the Barelvi group, Maulana Tauqir Raza Khan has described Maulana Kalb-e-Sadiq8217;s statement as a 8216;political gimmick8217; siyasi dhong. 8220;A section of Deobandis is also raising questions about this proposal8221;, the paper says.

A perceptive columnist in Sahafat May 8 writes that common Muslims have welcomed the proposal, 8220;It is the ulema who are keeping the controversy alive8221;, says the paper. He writes that in 1978, Ayatollah Khomeini urged Shias and Sunnis in Iran to offer prayers in each other8217;s mosques 8220;in their own ways.8221;

The proposal of the All-India Muslim Women8217;s Personal Board for separate mosques for women 8212; with women Imams 8212; has also generated debate. A front page report from Deoband in Hyderabad8217;s daily Munsif May 9 said that a fatwa from Daar-ul-Uloom has rejected the proposal, and described it as a 8216;stunt of the West8217; maghrib ka shosha. According to the fatwa, 8220;Women in Islam have not been given the permission to act as Imams.8221; A front-page report from Hyderabad in Akhbar-e-Mashriq May 13 quoted two noted Muslim women members of AIMPLB as saying that Ms Amber8217;s proposal is 8220;mischievous fitna angez, ineffective and worthless.8221; They said that according to Islamic tenets, women can join a prayer congregation in a mosque but 8220;the Imam has to be a man, the front rows are to be of men, the middle rows of children and the last rows of women.8221;