A prayer for the Holy month of Ramzan

Our Lord! pour out on us
Patience and constancy, and take
Our souls unto Thee
As people who bow to thy will.

(Quran: 7:126)

Tamil magazine apologizes for carrying visual purportedly representing Prophet Muhammed

Chennai, April 4: After Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaat (TNTJ), a Muslim outfit, protested publication of a drawing purportedly depicting Prophet Muhammed in a Tamil weekly, the magazine's publisher apologized profusely. The magazine Mutharam from Kungumam group of publications was reportedly taken off newsstand shelves immediately. The publisher apologized in the next issue for hurting religious sentiments.

Hundreds of volunteers of TNTJ thronged the weekly’s office in Mylapore here last fortnight after the magazine carried what is purportedly a drawing of Prophet Muhammad along with a three-page life story of him written by one Athanur Chozhan. The publication of the drawing had created furore among sections of Muslims across the state.

“We immediately contacted the magazine office and expressed displeasure over publishing such an image along with distorted information on the Prophet who is revered by Muslims across the globe as God’s messenger,” said Mr Ansari, headquarters secretary, TNTJ told this journalist.

As hundreds of volunteers gathered in front of the magazine office, the representatives of the magazine has assured them that the distribution of the magazine in the market was already stopped.

“Realising our mistake, we immediately stopped the distribution of the magazine in the market. We have assured the protestors that an apology would be carried in the next issue of the magazine,” said one of the editorial committee members of the magazine.

In an apology letter given to the TNTJ, the magazine editor has said that it was an inadvertent mistake and would be rectified by carrying an apology in the forthcoming issue.

Some Muslim outfits in Thanjavur and other parts of the state agitated against the magzine. As the magazine is more subscription-based, the outfits have insisted on carrying an apology in the next issue.

The magazine lived up to its promise and carried a profound apology in its next issue on the edit page.

Chennai in 2009

Chennai, Jan. 1: Chennai cityscape has undergone tremendous changes in the year gone by. The landmark Central Jail is razed to make way for the annexe of government general hospital. The landmark Kalaivanar Arangam is razed to make way for a modern auditorium. Padi flyover, Pallikaranai flyover at two different ends of the city and other new flyovers have made commuting easier for Chennaiites. Nearly 230 parks have been renovated, expanding the city’s lung space.
People were allowed to visit the 172-year-old Central Jail before it was demolished in July to accommodate extension of government general hospital. The 35-year-old Kalaivanar Arangam was demolished in December and a new auditorium is coming up at the place as part of the upcoming new Secretariat complex.
Marina beach got a make-over just at the end of the year, redefining the experience of the visitors to the second longest beach in the world. The city’s bus stops sported a cosy look and the process is yet to be completed.
Three platforms at the Central railway station in the city got expanded to accommodate 24-coach trains. New subways near Saidapet, Thillai Ganga Nagar and airport and new flyovers in Padi, Pallikaranai, M.K.N. Road, Cenotaph road made traveling easier.
The city’s waters got its first private leisure boating service. The works for connecting port with national highways started. The process of cleaning up Cooum river started with the setting up of Chennai River water authority.
The city’s traffic islands are decked up with fiberglass sculptures of traditional Tamil images such as Poikkal Kuthirai, Puliyattam, Therukkoothu. 42 more such sculptures at traffic islands will alter the cityscape and A vestige of British era, King George V’s statue was removed from public space, and landed in the government museum at Egmore.
Just one year into the project, the restoration of Adyar Poonga in 58 acres near Adyar estuary is progressing well ahead of its target. It is already looking green and inviting migratory birds to the heart of the city.
The city is looking forward to have a world-class Secretariat, Asia’s second biggest library and a world-class airport in 2010 and many more flyovers. Despite continuance of garbage burning at different parts of the city, efforts are on to make the city cleaner and more livable.

Ganesha procession at Muthupettai violated court order

Chennai, Sept. 4: A fact-finding committee of human rights activists have faulted the Tiruvarur district administration for not adhering to the verdict of the Madras High Court in the conduct of Vinayakar Chathurthi processions.
Madras High Court’s first bench on August 26 ordered the Tiruvarur district administration to advise the organizers of the Vinayakar Chathurthi procession to take out procession in an alternative route to avoid violence in the communally sensitive Muthupettai town.
A fact-finding team comprising of Prof.A.Marx of PUHR, G.Sugumaran of federation for people’s rights and others which visited Muthupettai on the day of the procession (Sept. 2) has found gross violation of the Madras High Court order.
“The administration allowing the procession along the Muslim-dominant Pattukottai road is against the spirit of the Madras High Court order. The administration allowing the procession through Muslim streets till 8 pm disturbed peace in the communally sensitive town,” said the team in its fact-finding report.
The team praised the district administration for having mobilized nearly 400 policemen during the procession unlike the previous years. “However, the 400 police could not ensure that the mob of processionists did not damage the property of Muslims along the route,” observed the team.
District BJP president Karuppu (a) Muruganandam, a known offender with several cases pending against him, was behind provoking the mob against the Muslims. “The police have allowed Muruganandam to make announcements from a police jeep during the procession,” the team was quoted as saying.
The team had Thai.Kandasamy, poet and lawyer, M.Sivagurunathan, activist and M.Ilango of Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) as its members apart from Prof.A.Marx and G.Sugumaran.
This obvious case of violation of a court ruling by the district collectorate and the police would be brought to the attention of the Madras High Court, said the activists.

First documentary film on the history of Tamil Muslims

Chennai, Aug 30: The film opens with the excavation by Kerala Council of Historical Research at Pattanam near Kodungallur, erstwhile capital of the Chera kingdom. The Mesopotamian shreds found there predate south India’s Roman contacts. Such lesser known facts about south India’s connections with West Asia and Islam form part of the narrative in historical researcher S.Anvar’s documentary film on the history of Tamil Muslim community which would be out in a month’s time.
Titled ‘In search of my roots’, the film is the first visual document on the history of Tamil-speaking Muslims. “Islam came to south India through trade contacts with Arabs which is more than 2,000 years old as proved by inscriptions, edicts and copper plates,” Mr Anvar told this newspaper. His film is a result of nearly five years of research and travel across Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
It all began when Anvar found that his Muslim identity posed several challenges post- 9/11. Born near Theni, he always knew Islam as practiced in Tamil Nadu is distinctly different from the way it is practiced elsewhere in the country. “The fact that Muslims here are very much integrated into the Tamil society has a historical legacy as I found during the course of my research,” he said.
Muslims were part of the local rulers’ military such as the army of the Pandyas and the navy of Calicut Zamorins. Amir Khusrau’s chronicle on Muslim presence in the Pandyas’ army and the edict on the Muslim presence in the Zamorins’ navy are filmed to tell the story of how Muslims integrated into the mainstream society in the then south India.
The work of the Sufi saints such as Nathar Vali of Tiruchi and Shahul Hameed of Nagoor in the spread of Islam is another relatively unknown factor in the film. The kinship pattern between Muslims and other communities in the state is depicted in detail.
The film also tells how Islam adapted to the Dravidian milieu, filming many of the hundreds of mosques in the state which were built in Dravidian architectural style of stone masonry.

Jaya's boycott of bypolls is a costly mistake

Chennai, Aug 27: Tamil Nadu is a typical example of thriving electoral democracy. Managing elections is a virtue here. People think voting is not just a necessity, but a duty which cannot be shirked. The popular image of an old lady being carried to the booth by her grandson in the recent byelections is proof for the culture of voting in the state. AIADMK supremo Ms Jayalalithaa’s call for boycott of bypolls is misplaced for several reasons.
Elections are like annual festivals in the temple of local deity. Exercise of franchise is meant for celebrations in rural Tamil Nadu. It gives people a sense of self-importance. The only reason for anyone to stay away from polls is extreme illness. “Voting is proof that I am still alive and kicking,” said 78-year-old Alamelu in Srivaikuntam who voted in the August 18 byelections.
AIADMK cadre were in a dilemma and had problems while distributing nearly two lakh handbills across five constituencies, asking the people to stay away from elections. Lack of faith in the state and central governments could not be sold as an idea when the independent election commission is conducting the elections, reasoned an AIADMK worker at the grassroots level.
“People of Tamil Nadu are used to participation in elections. The elections of 1967 when the people said a resounding no to successive Congress regimes is one such instance,” he said.
According to analysts, AIADMK chief’s call for boycott of re-polling for Chennai Corporation in February 2007 was the first mistake. The then boycott call drastically reduced the number of the AIADMK councilors in the strategically important Chennai corporation. The second boycott of August 18 byelections also has cost dearly for the largest Opposition in the state. MDMK and PMK have played second fiddle to the AIADMK and the people proved them wrong by actively participating in the poll process.

Eternal Bondage: The story of Kashmir in Tamil

The best ever book written on Kashmir in Tamil is out now. The author is A.Marx, veteran human rights activist and liberal thinker. He says there is one Indian Army jawan posted for every five Kashmiris citing the huge deployment of armed forces in the Valley. The militarisation of Kashmir is against the will of the people, he observes.
The book is the result of a fact-finding mission in which A.Marx and G.Sugumaran (Puducherry) were members. Mr Sugumaran is the publisher of the book. Their visit to Kashmir was under scrutiny when they were kept under house arrest for two days citing curfew.
The book talks about the historical mistake of Jawaharlal Nehru who did not keep the promise of conducting a plebiscite. The systematic plan by the Hindutva forces to alienate Muslims in the valley are detailed by the author.
The possibility of armed militants playing into the hands of Pakistan and the worries of the ordinary Army jawan posted in Kashmir are narrated realistically. The objectivity of the author could be seen in portions when he records the viewpoints of the Sikhs and Pandits in Kashmir.
While Mr Marx proclaims the need for autonomy and demilitarization of Kashmir, he tells the readers how people of Kashmir desperately need peace after over two decades of violence, extra-judicial killings, illegal abductions and unaccounted disappearances.
He lauds the hospitality of Kashmiris and understands their aspirations. The people long for freedom from being a playground for two neighbouring countries. They are neither loyal to India nor to Pakistan. They want freedom and peace, he observes in no uncertain terms.
He feels that the acceptance of elections conducted by Indian election commission by the Kashmiris is with a hope that someone would bring them peace. They are open to trying out options which could improve their conditions, he says.
The book tells how the renegades from militant movements run their own goonda raj with the blessings of armed forces and the tacit support of the Indian agencies. Despite some typos, the breezy style of narration helps even a beginner understand how the Indian and Pakistani establishments continue to keep the people of Kashmir in eternal bondage just to show off their military might.