Ramadan, Muslims and 'Ramadan Muslims'?

The month of blessing Ramadan is here, among us. It is the third day of Ramadan in Turkey, second day in Middle east, Europe and Americas & it is the first day of Ramadan here, in the Indian sub-continent. But, most importantly it is now Ramadan throughout the world notwithstanding the one or two day difference. And it is a blessing from Allah that we are witnessing yet another Ramadan in our life!

It is a blessed month and we can see that people who are otherwise not so keen about attending the local mosque for the 5 daily prayers step out towards the mosque even before the regular mosque goers do. And it is a fact which i witness in my own neighbourhood, MashaaAllah! There is an overall feeling of piety, righteousness and sobriety. It feels as if we can say Imaan is in the air!

But, one thing, i have seen some people indulging in is the belittling of the efforts of those Muslims who could not participate in the acts of worship in the previous 11 months but are more than keen to do them in this blessed month. So much so that these people call the less-practising ones as 'Ramadan Muslims'. I am talking about the efforts of those Muslims who observe Hijab in this month, attend the mosque regularly, may grow a stubble on their faces, may even don a skull-cap or do whatever they deem to be 'Islamic' in this month. This very title 'Ramadan Muslims', i feel, is pretty derogatory and can have a negative effect on those who try to act upon Islam to the fullest in this month. This may even lead them to forsake the Ibaadah in this month as well.

It is very much possible that Allah accepts these very acts of worship from the 'Ramadan Muslims' and gets pleased with them and accepts them completely bringing about a complete change in their lives. And it is very much possible that the acts of those people who are steadfast throughout the year may not have their deeds even accepted by Allah owing to their cynicism and looking down upon others. It is important to see here that there are two things which contribute towards the evil deeds of a person - Satan and the Nafs (the inner self). And since Satan is not able to intervene in this month, it is clearly evident that these very 'Ramadan Muslims' are more in control of their Nafs than those who criticize them, despise them or look down upon them with cynicism. This is because the qualities of undue criticism, despising and looking down upon others are acts which smack of  a grave spiritual illness!

My whole point of writing these lines is that even if you are the one who attends the mosque regularly everyday at the accorded times, even if you keep the beard, wear the skull-cap, even if you do the Hijab throughout the year, do not look down upon those who try to do the same in this month having let go of these acts in the past year. This because, as they say, "well begun is half done"! What better beginning for righteousness, piety and sobriety than in Ramadan itself!

Wish you a Ramadan full of blessings!

Ambassador Speaketh!

“Every life lost is a tragedy for all. Respects to those killed on Sunday and Monday and condolences to the families.”

“Salaamu alaykum!”

This was the German Ambassador to India Mr. Michael Steiner who was in Kashmir University early today. This is not an official press note or a news report (that you’ll find in tomorrow’s newspapers) but just a collection of few observations from his speech.  I am not even remotely touching any things relevant to the topic of the discussion.

While we was entering (I managed to enter without an Entry Pass even without an Identity Card, Alhamdulillah!), Aarif remarked, “Why are these Angrez always smiling in their potraits?” referring to the photograph of the ambassador on the wall hanging! I replied, “Because we do the opposite”!

I was expecting that he would start with Namaste (as foreign dignitaries do in India) or Salaam (a special case for Kashmir) and he did. But that condolence to the families of those killed on ‘Sunday and Monday’ was particularly surprising to me at least. In the convocation complex of the institute which is remote controlled from Delhi (I guess or from Raj Bhavan) such a politically inconvenient utterance (for the State) from the highest ranking official of a foreign country was pretty much surprising to me.

Before his speech, it was the Vice Chancellor of KU Talat Ahmad who introduced the German Ambassador to the jam-packed audience. While he was mentioning the various achievements and previous postings of the Ambassador, once he mentioned that Mr. Steiner has been a special envoy to Afghanistan-Pakistan region in the past, this particular mention was met with a thunderous applause from the 3000 strong convocation hall. It was as if this was happening in Pakistan, not in India! Nevertheless, the love for other-than-India in the cream of the Kashmiri youth was visible and manifest!

So, after he was done with the initial introductory notes, Mr.Steiner again surprised by saying, “Khush aamdeed, saeni tarf’e”.  He is a good fellow and we saw that. He even greeted the toughest questions with a smile!

But one thing which was heartening to hear throughout his speech was that he always talked about, “Germany, India and Kashmir”. This was what made me happy.

“Dil ke khush rakhne ko, ye khayaal achchaa hai!”

Amarnath: How the state manufactures fear!

Pahalgam and Sonamarg areas of the Kashmir valley have been declared out of bounds for school excursions “In view of the ensuing Amarnath Yatra”. The timing of the ban imposed by school education department of Kashmir on school picnics to Pahalgam and Sonamarg is quite interesting. The ban comes in the backdrop of the warning of the Indian army about a possible militant attack on the yatra. While as the warning runs contrary to the tall claims of the security establishment in Kashmir that militancy has been, more or less eliminated, but it does serve the purpose of the state to manufacture fear and impose a sense of uncertainity among the people.

One of the important visible aims is to create fear psychosis among the natives as well as the yatris. This manufactured fear is aimed to give legitimacy to the presence of security forces across the length and breadth of Kashmir.  And as a result, all the debates regarding the repeal or partial withdrawal of draconian laws like AFSPA, Disturbed Area Act and Public Safety Act are stealthily laid to rest without much opposition. And the laws continue to be there. The yatra also means that Kashmiri policemen are coerced to be at the disposal of the pilgrims for two months. That their posting is coercive was evidenced by the recent hunger strike and protest by new recruits of the JKP undergoing training at the Ganderbal police training centre. The manufacture of threat is not a new thing in Kashmir. Back in 2012, a cooking gas cylinder blast in a vehicle carrying some tourists, in Islamabad, was initially reported as an grenade attack on yatris in the Indian national media. Similarly, when militants attacked a CRPF camp early this year in Bemina, one of the Indian TV channels went to the extent of falsely reporting it as an attack on a school run by the JK Police and further declared that 5 students died in the attack while as in reality the school was closed on that day and there were no civilian casualties.

One more aspect of this perceived threat is that it reaffirms the Islamic Extremism rhetoric which is often used to downplay the struggle of Kashmiris. It has been a convenient way all along to malign the Kashmiri struggle as being communal and this particular Hindu pilgrimage provides an opportunity for the state to turn the tide in favour of its own narrative. And we know, branding it as Islamic Extremism is the easiest way to turn any struggle of Muslims in any part of the world illegitimate. And Islamic Extremism having with its different shades and different definitions in different parts of the world, when linked with Kashmir, makes it easy for the world to forget the various human rights violations being meted out to Kashmiris on one pretext or the other.

Keeping in view the fact that this threat perception was well received by the central government notwithstanding the clear rejection at the state government level, a political angle cannot be avoided with general elections due next year. Congress may want to turn the tide completely in its favour eyeing the religious Hindu vote base, as if acting as the saviour of the beliefs of majority Hindu community given that Army has already invoked ‘Operation Shiva’ to ‘sanitize the hills around the route’! Furthermore, this decision as well points to the incompetence and irrelevance of the state government and that fact that the it is just an extension of the central government of India. It is just an instrument or interface between the decision maker (central government) and the executing body that is the army. The fact that there was no mention of any militant attack threat in the recent meeting of the Unified Headquarters headed by J&K Chief Minister makes it amply clear that this threat perception has been conceived at the centre only.

It is interesting to note here that even during the peak of the 2008 popular uprising which was sparked off by an issue related to the same Amarnath yatra, the yatra went off peacefully without any harm done to a single pilgrim. This leads to the conclusion that the only visible threat to peace is the state itself.

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This write-up first appeared on PKKH.