Every event once begun will have its logical conclusion. That's the law of nature. Having said that, it goes without saying that negative actions will have a backlash. It's, therefore, essential that steps must be initiated, without fear or favour, to contain a negative event and right it at the earliest. Populism or half-hearted corrective actions with the thought of not offending the people cannot help and will have disastrous fall out in future.
(a) Yet another Salafi preacher.
Shamsudheen Palath recently changed his name to Shamsudheen Fareed, as he thought his
father's name was more Islamic than Palath, the name of his native village in Kozhikode. To
quote news reports about him, "he's an erstwhile worker of Kerala Nadavthul Mujahideen
(KNM) who refuses to be photographed, believes that watching movies is 'haram', never trims
his beard and asks Muslims not to participate in festivals of non-Muslims like Onam and
Christmas because they have the elements of 'shirk' or polytheism!"
A school teacher in Malappuram, he represents the transformation that has happened to the
Salafi movement in Kerala, once the driving force of reformation in the Muslim community in
the state. He's the unofficial spokesman for the 'extreme Salafis' which came into existence after
numerous splits in the KNM and is suspected to be a prime mover in radicalising the Muslim
youth in Kerala. The sad part is that many Muslim organisations are scared from presenting the
correct Islam fearing repercussions from such hardcore elements!
And the biggest paradox is that for these people it's the 'after-life' that's important!! He needs to
be checked here and now.
(b) Turkey - Post Failed Coup Attempt.
From news that's filtering out of Turkey about 6,000 people consisting of judges, military
officers and others from the society have been rounded off, put in jail/killed etc. It would be
tempting for Thayyip Erdogan, the President, to round up his political opponents and silence
their criticism. Such high handedness is a natural fallout of the perceived feeling that he's been
stabbed in the back and would not invite a public criticism and objectivity since the people
seem to be with him, as of now.
Hope that the power of reasoning, a level of magnanimity and forgiveness come about. The fear
of the country slipping to being Islamic from a secular state - built up by its statesman, Kemal
Ataturk - would be like the proverbial putting back of the clock! Sad!!
(c) Unrest in Kashmir.
Ever since the militant, Burhan Wani, had been killed by the security forces, Kashmir has
seen demonstrations where the stone pelters have been seen in action. With the Pakistani
government's decision to celebrate 20 Jul as his martyrdom day and the Pakistani-sponsored
separatists playing along, it's high time that the Indian government took some tough action.
For starters, India gave it nice and proper, at the United nations, to Pakistan calling it as a
nation that has terrorism as its state policy and that it covets other's territory. The foreign
ministry had issued a tough message thereafter.
One wonders as to why the Mehbooba Mufti government had released the stone pelters
as part of an amnesty on the eve of Eid, last month.
Tailpiece.
From the way things seem to be going, the Rio Olympics will not have many of the stars thanks to the fear of the Zika virus. The authorities need to convince the fence-sitters that effective steps have been taken or further exodus can be expected.
(a) Yet another Salafi preacher.
Shamsudheen Palath recently changed his name to Shamsudheen Fareed, as he thought his
father's name was more Islamic than Palath, the name of his native village in Kozhikode. To
quote news reports about him, "he's an erstwhile worker of Kerala Nadavthul Mujahideen
(KNM) who refuses to be photographed, believes that watching movies is 'haram', never trims
his beard and asks Muslims not to participate in festivals of non-Muslims like Onam and
Christmas because they have the elements of 'shirk' or polytheism!"
A school teacher in Malappuram, he represents the transformation that has happened to the
Salafi movement in Kerala, once the driving force of reformation in the Muslim community in
the state. He's the unofficial spokesman for the 'extreme Salafis' which came into existence after
numerous splits in the KNM and is suspected to be a prime mover in radicalising the Muslim
youth in Kerala. The sad part is that many Muslim organisations are scared from presenting the
correct Islam fearing repercussions from such hardcore elements!
And the biggest paradox is that for these people it's the 'after-life' that's important!! He needs to
be checked here and now.
(b) Turkey - Post Failed Coup Attempt.
From news that's filtering out of Turkey about 6,000 people consisting of judges, military
officers and others from the society have been rounded off, put in jail/killed etc. It would be
tempting for Thayyip Erdogan, the President, to round up his political opponents and silence
their criticism. Such high handedness is a natural fallout of the perceived feeling that he's been
stabbed in the back and would not invite a public criticism and objectivity since the people
seem to be with him, as of now.
Hope that the power of reasoning, a level of magnanimity and forgiveness come about. The fear
of the country slipping to being Islamic from a secular state - built up by its statesman, Kemal
Ataturk - would be like the proverbial putting back of the clock! Sad!!
(c) Unrest in Kashmir.
Ever since the militant, Burhan Wani, had been killed by the security forces, Kashmir has
seen demonstrations where the stone pelters have been seen in action. With the Pakistani
government's decision to celebrate 20 Jul as his martyrdom day and the Pakistani-sponsored
separatists playing along, it's high time that the Indian government took some tough action.
For starters, India gave it nice and proper, at the United nations, to Pakistan calling it as a
nation that has terrorism as its state policy and that it covets other's territory. The foreign
ministry had issued a tough message thereafter.
One wonders as to why the Mehbooba Mufti government had released the stone pelters
as part of an amnesty on the eve of Eid, last month.
Tailpiece.
From the way things seem to be going, the Rio Olympics will not have many of the stars thanks to the fear of the Zika virus. The authorities need to convince the fence-sitters that effective steps have been taken or further exodus can be expected.
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