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The Raging Guha-Mander Debate Deserves Wider Participation

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The Raging Guha-Mander Debate Deserves Wider Participation

~By Saeed Naqvi

It does not surprise me that the continuing debate on the Op-Ed page of the Indian Express on the Muslim predicament skirts fundamental issues. The debate has been triggered by Ramchandra Guha disagreeing with Harsh Mander on the Muslim question.

Mander’s column, headlined “Sonia, Sadly”, expresses his hurt at Sonia Gandhi’s public expression of fear that the Congress was being perceived as a “Muslim Party”.

In the very first paragraph of his column, Guha plucks out a quote from Mander. “A Dalit leader tells Muslims who come to political meetings: By all means come in large number to our rallies. But don’t come with your skull caps and burkas.”

“Mander is dismayed at this gratuitous attempt to get Muslims to voluntarily withdraw from politics.”  But Guha disagrees with Mander’s interpretation of what the Dalit leader said. Guha is emphatic: “while the words may be harsh and direct, the spirit of the advice was forward looking”, i.e. don’t come in skull caps and burkas.

This, I suspect, is the crux of the matter. Guha is endorsing the new line enunciated by the Congress Party: Keep Muslims at arm’s length just in case the BJP spin doctors pick up this visual to polarize. Rahul Gandhi’s frenetic temple hopping, janeu et al, is in pursuit of this soft saffron.

Apoorvanand, Harbans Mukhia, Mukul Keshavan, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Suhas Palshikar, Irena Akbar, Khalid Ansari, Jawed Naqvi, why, even Mander himself, have all written sensitively, even knowledgably on the subject. But Guha is a class apart: Muslims must give up skull caps and, to balance matters, Hindus their trishuls. His desire to equalize permeates the article. Praveen Togadia and Yogi Adityanath are bad but Guha will have his little orgasm only if Asaduddin Owaisi and Ali Shah Geelani are mentioned in the same breath. Togadia wants Muslims to leave the country. “Occupy their homes” he once famously said in Gujarat. Without batting an eyelid, Yogi heard his cohorts ask for buried Muslim women to be dug out from their graves and raped. Show me a comparable quote from Owaisi or Geelani.

“Yeh ajeeb majra hai ki baroz e Eide qurbaan

Wohi zubah bhi kare hai wohi le sawab ulta”

(Look at the illogical system of the ceremony of sacrifice.

He who slaughters claims the reward for paradise.)

The tragedy is that Guha belongs to the category of people who, because of their celebrity status, imagine that eminence in one field qualifies them to claim proficiency in all the others. His inadequacy on the theme he has rushed into unprepared, derives from a common malaise: he is a creature of uninstitutionalized apartheid which means separate development.

It would be interesting to know if Guha has ever visited Muslim homes or the other way around when he was a child. Did he know Muslims in school or college whose friendship he still values? Even if he is able to blurt out a name or two the undeniable truth will be that he has grown up only with his ilk. He has no experience of Muslims. He is not alone in this category.

A sharp contrast attends my circumstance. I, along with my three brothers grew up only among Hindus. Apartheid therefore didn’t touch us. Since our informal education was continuous since birth, we knew fairly early that Al-Biruni wrote Tarikh al Hind after his extended stay beginning 1017. Moinuddin Chishti, Shahbaz Qalandar and a host of Sufis and Saint poets like Kabir from the 12th to 14th centuries were spreading Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, paving the way for Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana who ended up writing the only Sanskrit verses in praise of Lord Rama. In his brilliant Persian poetry in the 17th century, Chandrabhan Brahman felt secure enough to taunt and tease the Muslim clergy.

Yagana Changezi, a 20th century poet, questions a basic tenet: why must namaz be said in a foreign language? If all of this sounds like nostalgia, let me invite you to Lucknow for an evening of spiritual poetry on Ahl al-Bayt or the Prophet’s family. The poet, Sanjaya Mishra, was a favourite with my mother who died three years ago. She had special vegetarian meals prepared for him.

I have shed light on the tiniest strand in the vast expanse of Muslim liberal traditions. Since the 16th century these have been bound up inextricably with the waxing and waning of Urdu in which Hindus and Muslims equally participated. The first great writer of Urdu prose was Pandit Ratan Nath Sarshar.

How many liberals know that  there is not a single couplet in Urdu which praises the Mullah or endorses orthodoxy of any kind.

Did you know that most of the poetry on Krishna, Rama in the last century has been written by Muslims? I will only confuse the issue if I bring in Kazi Nazrul Islam, Salbeg, Bekal Utsahi or Nida Fazli.

It puzzles me why liberal intellectuals sometimes fall prey to a tendency that the politician has cultivated as a calculated habit: consider the Muslim only as a religious category. Why must Muslim achievements in poetry, music, architecture, systems of governance not be celebrated? Such an exercise would surely cast them in a liberal mould. Guha might then heave a sigh of relief.

A false quest for a liberal Muslim leader almost flows from the above approach. A liberal Muslim leader, I never tire of repeating, is a contradiction in terms. That is an illiberal quest. Are we never going to find a Hindu whom Muslims can trust and the other way around? That must be the only possible way ahead.

India News

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy meets Tollywood actors, filmmakers, says celebrities must control their fans

The Chief Minister held a meeting with Tollywood actors and filmmakers on Thursday amid strained ties between the ruling dispensation and the tinseltown following the arrest of Pushpa 2 actor Allu Arjun

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Telangana CM Revanth Reddy meets Tollywood actors, filmmakers, says celebrities must control their fans

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy has assured Tollywood actors and filmmakers that his government stands with the Telugu film industry and made it clear that there will be no compromise on law and order.

The Chief Minister held a meeting with Tollywood actors and filmmakers on Thursday amid strained ties between the ruling dispensation and the tinseltown following the arrest of Pushpa 2 actor Allu Arjun. CM Revanth Reddy said that celebrities must control their fans and the industry must be responsible.

The meeting took place at Telangana State Police Command and Control Centre at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad. The delegation of influential people from Tollywood was led by Telangana Film Development Corporation (FDC) chairman Dil Raju. Actors such as Nagarjuna, Varun Tej, Sai Dharam Tej, Kalyan Ram, Shiva Balaji, Adavi Sesh, Nithin, and Venkatesh among other attendees.

The meeting also included directors Koratala Siva, Anil Ravipudi, K Raghavendra Rao, Prashanth Varma, Sai Rajesh, and producers Suresh Babu, KL Narayana, Damodhar, Allu Aravind, BVSN Prasad, and Chinna Babu, among others.

Earlier on December 4, when Allu Arjun attended the premiere of Pushpa 2: The Rule at Sandhya Theatre, a massive crowd gathered to catch a glimpse of the actor, and chaos ensued when he waved to fans from the sunroof of his car. This resulted in the tragic death of a 35-year-old woman and injuries to her eight-year-old child.

Furthermore, some ruling Congress leaders have found fault with Allu Arjun’s comments last week, describing the stampede incident as purely accidental and denying the allegations made by CM Revanth Reddy on the roadshow before the film screening.

This incident has also sparked political controversy. Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy blamed Allu Arjun for the tragedy, stating in the Assembly that police had denied permission for any event at Sandhya Theatre due to safety concerns. However, the actor dismissed the allegations, calling them an attempt at character assassination.

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India News

ICAI CA final result 2024: Scores expected soon, check updates and how to access

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The Institute of Charter ed Accountants of India (ICAI) is expected to announce the CA Final Results for November 2024 today, with the results likely to be declared by late evening. Candidates can check their scores on the official ICAI website, icai.nic.in, once the results are out.

Key details about the ICAI CA final result 2024

As per the official notification from the ICAI, the results of the Chartered Accountant Final Examinations, which were held in November 2024, will be available for candidates to access on the ICAI website on Thursday, December 26, 2024, in the late evening. Candidates can view their results by entering their registration number and roll number on the official website, icai.nic.in.

When were the ICAI CA final exams held?

The ICAI CA Final exams took place in November 2024. The Group 1 exams were held on November 3, 5, and 7, while the Group 2 exams took place on November 9, 11, and 13.

Passing criteria for ICAI CA final

To pass in a group, candidates must secure at least 40% in each individual paper of the group and at least 50% in the aggregate of all papers within that group.

How to receive ICAI CA final result by Email

Candidates can also opt to receive their ICAI CA Final results via email by following these steps:

  1. Visit the official ICAI website at icaiexam.icai.org.
  2. Click on the Email Registration link on the homepage.
  3. Enter your registration number and password.
  4. Click on the “Results on Email” option to receive your result directly to the email address you registered.

How to check ICAI CA final result

In addition to checking the result on the website or receiving it via email, candidates can also access their ICAI CA Final result via SMS.

Last year’s top performers

In 2023, Madhur Jain topped the ICAI CA Final exam with an impressive score of 619 out of 800, while Sanskruti Atul Parolia secured the second position with a score of 599 out of 800.

Missed credentials? Here’s what to do

In case candidates have misplaced their credentials, they can contact ICAI’s helpline at the following numbers for assistance:

  • 0120 3054 851, 852, 853, 854, 835, 0120 4953.

As the announcement of the ICAI CA Final results approaches, candidates should be prepared to check their scores through the official channels. The results will reflect the hard work and dedication of those who appeared for the exams in November 2024, with many hopefuls awaiting the outcomes of their efforts.

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India News

Big Airtel outage hits multiple cities, users express frustration on social media

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Airtel services down across India

A widespread outage in Airtel’s mobile and broadband services has affected users across several cities in India, with many reporting connectivity issues this morning. According to Downdetector, a website that tracks service disruptions, numerous complaints have surfaced regarding service failures in cities including Delhi, Jaipur, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru.

Users have flocked to social media platforms, posting SOS messages in an attempt to draw the attention of the telecom provider. The complaints highlight both mobile network and internet connectivity issues, with some users reporting problems lasting up to 24 hours, yet receiving no resolution.

In addition to complaints about service outages in neighborhoods, many users have shared their frustration over the prolonged disruptions, which have left them without reliable mobile and internet access.

Despite the growing number of reports, Airtel has not issued any official statement or response to address the ongoing outage. As the issue persists, users are calling for swift action to restore services and resolve the connectivity problems.

This incident marks another major disruption for the telecom industry, with service outages often leading to customer dissatisfaction and calls for better network reliability. Airtel is yet to comment on the cause of the outage or provide an estimated time for the restoration of services.

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