This has reference to Hand-Choppers of Kerala (Dec 25, 2017). It has been published with mis-quotation in the disguise of my name and defamatory news about my organisation, the Popular Front of India.
Your reporter came to my home on December 1, 2017 for an interview about the National Register of Citizens in Assam. In the report subsequently published in the magazine, your reporter falsely scribed in the disguise of my name as follows:
“This is not Islam,” says Baseer, speaking on madrasas—lines that would go down well with most people suspicious of radical Islam. “Our internal agenda is to shut down madrassas because they are un-Islamic, very orthodox. It’s difficult and I might even lose my head for saying so. But for now, one of our foremost activities is the ‘school chalo’ programme to ensure that all attend school.”
I never told the above-mentioned words about Madrasas. We don’t have any such agenda to shut down madrassas. First of all, my organisation never has any “internal” agenda, as you published. We are working in the limelight within the periphery of the Constitution, not behind any curtain. So, we don’t need to have different types of agenda. Our agenda is very open that is to strive for the empowerment of marginalised sections of society with the special focus on the backward minority Muslim community in India. We believe that you have published wrong information with the mis-quotation in my name with ill intention to create an internal clash among the Muslim community.
Also, you have introduced my organisation with wrong information and mis-quotation as follows: “….With its roots in Kerala, the 2006-formed PFI’s antecedents go back to the strident qrhetoric of the Islamic Sevak Sangh and NDF of Abdul Nasar Madani, the one-time cult hero of radical-Islamist politics. With links to the proscribed SIMI, and after mergers with similar outfits in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Bengal and elsewhere, the PFI has become the chief mainstream voice of a fundamentalist stream…” Also, “…though the Talibanesque violence on a professor called T.J. Joseph in Kerala….”
The very heading shows the depth of prejudice your article carried against our organisation, which strives for people’s rights and justice through democratic, constitutional and legal means. It is undoubtedly a clear case of defamation. We are not a fundamentalist organisation, whatever you mean by calling PFI so. NDF, the first predecessor organisation of Popular Front, was not connected to Abdul Nasar Madani and to his organisation Islamic Sevak Sangh. NDF started in Kerala many years before the ban of SIMI.
I would like to make it clear that I am not linked to any extremist or terrorist organisation. Your wrong references, along with misquotations in my name, have damaged my image in society. All your allegations against Popular Front also are false and defamatory. Such activity is nothing but misuse of public space and damaging our image among fellow citizens. It is against journalistic standards. I never expected such unethical and malicious lines to be published in a magazine like Outlook.
Hence, I request you to withdraw the allegations and publish the full text of my rejoinder in the next immediate issue, both in your magazine and website.
Basir Ahmed, Goalpara
This is about the cover story, Sorting the Ethnic Mess (Dec 25). The government of Assam acted too late in updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC). It might be replete with errors, omissions, irregularities and inconsistencies, and affect those who might have been living in Assam through two or three generations. The governments of the past have to be blamed for not periodically updating the NRC. The government failed to update the citizenship status even in 1978, when the electorate had spiked by about 40,000 voters within a single year, when by-elections were held. March 25, 1971 is the cut-off date for derecognising illegal immigrants. The illegal immigrants have to be necessarily deported back to Bangladesh, which will be hard-pressed to accept them. The country is facing a huge influx of refugees from Myanmar. The government needs to tread cautiously and impartially in identifying genuine settlers from illegal immigrants and should not deprive those who are genuinely citizens of Assam by the yardsticks prescribed to prove their identity.
M.Y. Shariff, Chennai
The Supreme Court-monitored updating process of National Citizen Registry (NRC) in Assam is a gigantic exercise. It is cumbersome, strenuous, time-consuming and expensive. But it will be fruitful, as the whole confusion around citizenship in Assam will get resolved. If it is not possible to ‘deport’ non-citizens, India should appeal to neighbouring countries (namely Bangladesh) to help rehabilitate these people, as the burden of populations in that part of the sub-continent is a shared one.
Mani Sankar Bardoloi, Calcutta
Same languages, same looks and similar cultures; how can artificial borders keep a check?
Ramesh Jain, On E-Mail
Apropos In a migratory state, I would like to say that Outlook has brought out a most relevant issue on the development of the Malda district of West Bengal. In fact, most of the Indo-Bangladesh border areas in Bengal face similar developmental problems. Murshidabad is an example. These areas lack industrial development and subsist mostly on agriculture. Though these areas produce huge amounts of jute, they don’t have a single jute processing mill. Other factors for the underdevelopment of these districts are activities like smuggling and human trafficking. Frequent community clashes have also given them a bad reputation. As a result there is lack of industrial growth which results in unemployment and eventually, the emigration of people to other states. Even in far-off states like J&K and Punjab, you can find people from West Bengal engaged in various jobs.
Lt Col Ranjit Sinha (Retd), Calcutta
This is with reference to your chart of comments made by the warring politicians of India (Hot Poll Head Snubs, Dec 25). The hot heads floating around on your magazine-spread also float around in the collective conscience of the people of this country. It is thanks to these politicians that we get such an insight into the glorious legacy of India—Aurangzeb is the most talked about emperor of Hindustan and there’s no chance that Babar can be forgotten. The Congress ‘heads’ are unrelenting too. They have an issue with the prime minister’s tea-soaked past. Perhaps coffee is the preferred beverage in INC karyalayas, or maybe it’s just class...or better yet—caste, since now Rahul Gandhi is a “Janeudhaari” Brahmin. Whatever the Congress’s preferences might be, Narendra Modi always manages to get the last word by dropping the ‘P’ bomb, a rhetorical weapon of mass destruction in its own right. Pakistan is the go-to troubleshooter in the BJP system, it’s effect visible within days of the launch. These gems, whether uttered over a microphone in a rally, on twitter or in a press conference, travel in lightning speed and soon loom over the political landscape of India, capturing and defining it. Thanks, of course, to our over-efficient, ‘4G’ media houses.
Anil S., Pune
This is about Talmiz Ahmed’s long article on Jerusalem in the light of President Trump’s declaration (Jerusalem: the Judeo-Christian Project, Dec 25). Racism is satanic and whoever thinks their race is the chosen one and that others should be subservient to them are dwelling in a dangerous delusion. Israelites were chosen at a point when they were humiliated and enslaved in pharaonic Egypt. God sent Moses to rescue them and bring them to Palestine. These descendants of prophets Abraham and Isaac look like Arabs. But the majority of Jews on occupied Palestine are not the same Israelites; they are people from Europe and had their own cultural specificities before coming to Israel. The ‘promised land’ concept in a time when modern-day nation-states were being formed, during the time the Balfour declaration was signed, was severely anachronistic. Nevertheless, the population of Jews persecuted in Europe started flowing into Israel and soon took over that land from the Palestinians.
Lamaluddin Rawther, On E-Mail
India has taken the right stand for the cause of Palestine. Practically the whole world with all its wisdom has rejected Trump’s call to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in the UN General Assembly vote on December 22. Trump should know that wealth and power can’t buy out a compromise on the just cause for peace in the Middle East.
S.R. Devaprakash, Tumakuru
(Lighting A Fire) America’s unwise decision of recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel can have tragic consequences though President Trump claims that he is simply acknowledging the reality. Every couple of years, the conflict, which has the Palestinians cornered, blows up violently and results in lost lives, mostly of the innocent. Trump, in his characteristically insensitive way, has attempted to add fuel to fire. If he wants to shake things up, he should open not one but two embassies in Jerusalem, one for managing ties with Israel and the other to deal with the Palestinian State.
L.J. Singh, Amritsar
This refers to the article by B.R.P. Bhaskar, about how the Congress needs the dynasty more than vice versa (From Cradle To Saddle, Dec 25). I fully agree. The dynasty is essential not only for Congress’s survival, but also for the sake of India’s secular values. As the 2019 polls draw nearer, there aren’t other competitive leaders to challenge Modi. The Congress has capable leaders, but only Rahul seems to be acceptable to the rank and file.
P.A. Jacob, Muscat
Well, the reluctant prince may be brimming over with confidence after getting elected unopposed as Congress president. But whether his elevation will change the fortunes of the party is still unclear. There are glimpses of promise in the new Rahul—notably, his taking into account views of old Congressmen, unlike in the past, when he seemed to heed the advice of only his young team. To work towards ensuring a BJP-mukt Bharat, it is imperative that Rahul Gandhi lives up to his promise and weeds out corrupt and criminal elements from the Congress.
K.R. Srinivasan, Secunderabad
Rahul Gandhi has matured rapidly. The way he handled the Congress campaign in Gujarat was impressive. For the first time, Rahul’s sharp rhetoric had some in the BJP running for cover. One expects Rahul to play a major role in unifying the opposition to stop the Modi juggernaut in forthcoming polls.
Shailendra Dasari, Bellary
The recently concluded Gujarat polls have envisaged a high pitched political drama between the BJP and the Congress. Mani Shankar Iyer’s tweet, which described Narendra Modi as a “neech (lowly)” man was scurrilous. And the Congress had to pay the price for the derogatory remark. Then came the spitfire from the other side, with the PM himself using rhetoric of the lowest kind to get back at the Congress—he accused former PM Manmohan Singh of conspiring with Pakistan to sabotage the poll process in Gujarat. But Rahul continued to emphasise Gujarat’s development. To his credit, he put up a good show in Gujarat, a heartening change from his earlier image of a flakey dynast.
Ashim Chakraborty, Guwahati
The excerpt from Nadia Murad’s autobiography was a disturbing, gripping read (Fearless Nadia, The Yazidi, Dec 25). There are milllions of lost girls all over the world, including in India. Every civilisation is patriarchal and thrives on misogynistic notions that keep women manacled behind the bars of medieval, sub-human customs. It takes grit and determination from bravehearts like Nadia to break these shackles.
Rakesh Agrawal, Dehradun
Your comment (Two Elections, Dec 25) concluded with a nice punch to former PM Manmohan Singh when you said, “nobody was sure which state he represented, Punjab or Assam or just 10 Janpath.” It is gravely funny that a person who ruled world’s largest democracy for two consecutive terms never won an election.
B.D. Trivedi, Ahmedabad
Ramesh Sharma’s was one of the best obituaries I read on Shashi Kapoor (Bollywood’s Own Shakespeare Wallah, Dec 18). The media largely said Shashi and Jennifer Kendal established the Prithvi Theatre, when the couple revived what Prithviraj Kapoor had established in 1944 but closed down after 16 years. I recently went to meet my friend in Suddar Street, Calcutta and crossed the Fair Lawn Hotel, which Shashi regularly visited as a guest. I thought of him then. Shashi was born in Calcutta and the City of Joy had a special place in his heart.
Bidyut K. Chatterjee, Faridabad
Since you article, The Master’s String (Dec 18), quotes many entitlements as a ‘janeudhaari’, let’s not forget Jawaharlal Nehru. The late PM flaunted secularism, but practised communal politics. He accepted Partition against the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi, and encouraged being called, of all names, Panditji.
J.N. Bhartiya, Hyderabad
Gujarat polls 2017 will be remembered more for the canards than results (Deep Throat, Dec 25). The Congress won by putting its opponent on the backfoot. Modi is not just a BJP leader, but PM too, and those Congress-Pakistan-Muslim insinuations might have won votes, but also undermined the PM’s office.
L.J.S. Panesar, On E-Mail
Yes, it will be nonsensical to apply the doctrine of rationalism to matters about faith (Ramayanam As Tragedy, Dec 11). According to rationalism, god is but a fictional character.
Niti Paul Mehta, New Delhi
