Pluralism News, April 8, 2018

Originally Published at: http://centerforpluralism.com/good-news-from-the-center-for-pluralism-april-8-2018/

Pluralism is an attitude of “Respecting the otherness of others” and “accepting the God-given the uniqueness of each one of us.” You are who you are and I am who I am, neither one of us has to compromise the uniqueness of our faith, race, culture, nationality, and language.  Our purpose is to acknowledge the differences and live with least conflicts.

We are a non-profit organization and your donations are appreciated. http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR | QAWWALI KI RAAT

The Center for Pluralism appreciates the community for their support in working its goals of integration, where each one of us feels included and safe. We appreciate the community for their support in working its goals of integration, where each one of us feels included and safe.

• Saturday, June 16, 2018, Washington DC
• Saturday, June 23, 2018, Dallas, TX

Most of you have enjoyed the Qawwalis, a South Asian tradition of group singing with audience participation.  This unique program will start out with the most popular Qawwalis, followed by QawwalIs to reflect Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Christian, Muslim, and Secular traditions. We are finding the Qawwalis for other traditions as well.

Date and time is set, please RSVP https://www.eventbrite.com/e/appreciation-dinner-with-qawwali-entertainment-tickets-44958694666

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INDIA: ELECTIONS AND CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRACY – OPEN DISCUSSION

Speaker:      Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, The 17th Chief Election Commissioner of the Union of India
Where:         (XXX) The Capitol,
When:          Wednesday, May 2, 2018, 11:00 to 11:30 Remarks. 11:30-12:30 Q&A

The foundation of a democracy rests squarely on voting, the basis to ensure free choice, and if this can be handled all other things of democracy fall in place.  Managing the elections is one of the biggest responsibilities in a Democracy.

India has the largest electorate in the world. In the 2014 general elections, a whopping 814 million people were eligible to vote.  A total of 8,251 candidates contested for the 543 Lok Sabha seats. The average election turnout overall in nine phases was around 66.38%, the highest ever in the history of Indian general elections.  The counting exercise was held at 989 counting centers.

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/election-challenges-to-indian-democracy-tickets-44958465982

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HATE A MUSLIM DAY

April 2, 2018, Washington, DC – A handful of misguided individuals are expressing their hate for Muslims by organizing a day with multiple names like Punish a Muslim, Hate a Muslim, Hurt a Muslim. They said, wherever you see a Muslim, be it a child, senior citizen or a woman, hurt them including ripping the head scarf off a woman. That is their plan for Tuesday, April 3, 2018.

I believe in positive engagements and wore a sign that said, “ I am a Muslim, can I get a hug?” and walked around on Pennsylvania Ave, Constitution Ave, Independence and in front of the Supreme Court – it restored my faith in humanity. Lots of hugs, and lots of kisses on the sign – lipstick marks on the sign –  thank God, I don’t have a wife.  It was a great experience, I went nuts with it and will do it again if need be.

Full Press Release: http://centerforpluralism.com/hate-a-muslim-day-april-3-2018/
Full Video Message: https://www.facebook.com/MikeGhouse/videos/1866050610081467/?t=1

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POLITICAL PLURALISM

Securing Safe Zones for Refugees, a new Paradigm

Washington, DC, April 3, 2018 – Mike Ghouse with the Center for Pluralism presented a summary on “Securing Safe Zones for Refugees, a new paradigm.” Ambassador for religious freedom, Sam Brownback presided the meeting at Dirksen Senate Office building on Capitol Hill and about 100 individuals representing various organizations supporting religious freedom attended.

We need a drastic change in our policies; if we keep absorbing refugees elsewhere in different lands as they are forced out of their homes, we are essentially legitimizing the oppressors to throw anyone out without consequences.

What we need to do is create safe zones for the affected people and then work with the affected parties to restore sanity and harmony and build cohesive societies. It is not only cost-effective and preserves the social equilibrium of each nation but upholds the most cherished values of humanity, their dignity.
God willing, we will be working with Republican and Democratic congressmen to introduce the bill. It will be a bi-partisan bill. We hope to take this forward to bring about a positive change in the world. Someday in the future, no human will be evicted from his land.

If your group wants to hear the full story, I will be happy to discuss it.

http://centerforpluralism.com/securing-safe-zones-for-refugees-a-new-paradigm/

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FESTIVALS OF THE WORLD

This week: Cherry Blossom Festival

On Thursday, I was driving in a joyous mood towards home, the Doctor said, everything is stable! As I was passing passed thru Tidal basin in Washington thousands of people were walking around with happiness written all over their faces enjoying the bloom of cherry Blossom... damn, it was so uplifting!  You feel like singing and jumping unnecessarily… if you have not seen cherry blossoms in DC, you were not born at all.  

Here are two videos, they are ok. Next time, I’ll take them myself capturing the mood, smell, fragrance, the essence and the joy of being there. It’s a euphoric experience one should not miss

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGHS2SDTvTk
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq0BRilAqqY

04/08/18 – Passover Seder

This major Jewish festival lasts eight days and commemorates the liberation of the Children of Israel and their Exodus from slavery in Egypt. The highlight is the Seder meal, held in each family’s home at the beginning of the festival, when the story of their deliverance is recounted, as narrated in the Haggadah (the Telling, or the Story). Matzah, (unleavened bread) is eaten throughout the festival, as are other foods that contain no leaven (yeast). There is a significant spring cleaning in the home shortly before the festival to ensure that no trace of leaven is left in the house during Pesach. Coconut pyramids and matza balls (which are put in soups) are foods that might be eaten at this time. http://centerforpluralism.com/a-passover-seder-haggadah-supplement/

04/12/18 – Yom-HaShoah
A day of remembrance when Jewish people remember the six million Jews, including one and a half million children, who were victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Memorial candles are lit and special services are held. The date is chosen as the closest date (in the Jewish calendar) to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_HolocaustDay/HMD2006_ProgramReport.asp

04/12/18 – Baisakhi 

In 1699, on Vaisakhi, Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Order of the Khalsa. Five men, who later came to be known as the Panj Piare (Five Beloved Ones), offered their lives when the Guru asked for volunteers. The ‘Five Ks’, the outward signs of Sikhism, were made obligatory and Sikh men took the name ‘Singh’ (lion) and women ‘Kaur’ (princess). The Order of the Khalsa was founded and the initiation ceremony, amrit, was introduced. http://centerforpluralism.com/happy-baisakhi/

04/13/18 – The Night of Meraj

This festival celebrates the journey of the Prophet Muhammad, in the tenth year of his Prophethood, from Makkah to Jerusalem, and through the heavens to the presence of God, all in one night.  Thank God, Muslims have accepted two versions of the story – one is literal and another one is the essence of the journey.

Festivals of the world

When we live as neighbors, we might as well learn about each other. The best way to build cohesive societies is for its members to understand each other’s sorrows and joys, and festivities and commemorations. Wouldn’t it be nice if you know a little bit about your neighbor’s festival and perhaps invite them to your celebrations to start safe neighborhoods by understanding each other? Every human and every religious group celebrates something or the other in their way, each one is different, but the essence is same; celebrations and commemorations. A simple language is used for most people to get a gist of it. Details are in the links.

A list of April Festivals, each week you will find a summary of the festivals of the week – http://centerforpluralism.com/festivals-of-the-world-april-2018/

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WHAT DO WE DO AT CENTER FOR PLURALISM?

It is all in a Summary form at http://centerforpluralism.com/what-do-we-do-at-center-for-pluralism/

Pluralism is an attitude of “Respecting the otherness of others” and “accepting the God-given the uniqueness of each one of us.” You are who you are and I am who I am, neither one of us has to compromise the uniqueness of our faith, race, culture, nationality, and language.  Our purpose is to acknowledge the differences and live with least conflicts.  Pluralism News is the weekly publication of the Center for Pluralism.  You can access this anytime through www.PluralismNews.com.  We will be happy to speak to your congregation, students, friends. We can conduct a workshop in building a cohesive community, workplace or a society.  Pluralism does not mean compromise or appeasement; it is simply a development of an attitude for living with others with least conflicts.  Please email to Mike@CenterforPluralism.com

We are a non-profit organization and your donations are appreciated. http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/

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RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

Hate a Muslim/ Hurt a Muslim Day

April 2, 2018, Washington, DC – A handful of misguided individuals are expressing their hate for Muslims by organizing a day with multiple names like Punish a Muslim, Hate a Muslim, Hurt a Muslim. They said, wherever you see a Muslim, be it a child, senior citizen or a woman, hurt them including ripping the head scarf off a woman. That is their plan for Tuesday, April 3, 2018.
Our Video Response: https://www.facebook.com/MikeGhouse/videos/1866050610081467/?t=1
Press Release: http://centerforpluralism.com/hate-a-muslim-day-april-3-2018/

Atheism – Number of Americans with no religious affiliations is rising

Exclusion is one of the items that break the societies. Once, I was denied membership in a multi-faith organization; they did not have a pigeon hole for me, an Atheist, in 1996. That’s when we formed the Pluralism organization to include every human except Cannibals; we would add them if they don’t us before we bring them aboard.  http://centerforpluralism.com/atheism-number-of-americans-with-no-religious-affiliation-is-rising/

Adivasi Religion, Government Body Cans Philosophy Meet

The right-leaning groups among Hindus have tried to impose their stamp of Hinduism on to those who do not consider themselves Hindus. One reason could be the RSS view that Adivasis are essentially forest-dwelling Hindus, or ‘Vanvasis’ and that their belief systems should not be treated as something independent of Hinduism. Indeed, to the extent to which Adivasi religious practices – especially in central India – do not conform to the Sangh’s idea of Hinduism, the organization has been using its network of schools and other organisations to ‘Hinduise’ them. https://thewire.in/education/objecting-to-papers-on-adivasi-religion-government-body-cans-philosophy-meet
Queen Elizabeth is related to Prophet Muhammad, so what?
So what if Queen Elizabeth is related to Prophet Muhammad, how does it matter?  Neither one gets elevated. In Islamic tradition, all are born equal, no one is superior to the other.  Even the notion of Royal blood is anathema to Islam, there is no such thing as Royal Blood or any blood to claim superiority of one over the other. http://worldmuslimcongress.org/queen-elizabeth-is-related-to-the-prophet-muhammad/

CULTURAL PLURALISM

Cultural Pluralism and Persistence in the Colonial Sierra Sur of Oaxaca, Mexico: Three Case. Studies. Stacie King … Sierra Sur, people in Nejapa and Tavela were already accustomed to making strategic choices about how to engage. … States, the islands of the Caribbean, and the continent of South America.  http://www.saa.org/Portals/0/SAA/Meetings/esymposium/Stacie_2018.pdf

Interfaith Marriages

Marriage is indeed an expression of a commitment to s relationship between two individuals.  The men and women who take the bold step to become one regardless of their origins, faiths, races, and ethnicities must be applauded. They are setting an example of how to live in harmony despite their differences.  Interfaith marriages are becoming the new norm of the society. In a few years, one out of two marriages would be of interfaith. Yes, this is across the board, whether you are a Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Baha’i, Atheist or the other. According to the Pew survey, 40% of people of faiths will be marrying a person of another faith; it is higher among Jews, it is 50%. Details at – www.InterfaithMarriages.org

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DONATE
We are a non-profit organization and your donations are appreciated. All that work takes time and we have to pay for the same. Please donate http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/ 

Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism
Washington, DC

India's Muslims - Will Muslim Dominated Parties empower Muslims?

The following article by Irfan Engineer, "Will Muslim Dominated Parties empower Muslims? " is posted at http://foundationforpluralism.blogspot.com andhttp://mikeghouseforIndia.blogspot.com and shared on India based forums. 

Irfan Engineer has put “bare bones facts” and politics of survival together in the following analysis of the current political situation in India.  

As a pluralist, I admire the language used in the article, and I hope you you’ll see how the Indian politics is degenerating into “self-interest groups “chopping India" into blocks, this trend has to be reversed. 

 In the interests of a strong India, where every Indian is empowered with equal access to justice, education, employment, entrepreneurship and housing and has the ability to realize his or her self potential,  we have to consolidate ourselves into a two party system for stability in governance and a well-functioning cohesive society.   

If the “sons of the soil” parties are mushrooming in every state excluding bulk of the “sons in law of the soil” it is guaranteed to create friction and lasting conflicts. It is not good for India. For every exclusive Hindu party, there will be a competing party of Dalits, Sikhs, Christians and Muslims. 

Instead of strengthening our morchas we all need to come togegther in to one big tent, at least on principle. 

All the big talk about saving Mother India is meaningless if we don’t match it with actions. I urge Prime Minister Modi and Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi to encourage inclusiveness in their party.  Congress is not known for communal politics, but BJP was established on that basis. If that is no more the case, it is time for BJP to junk that image and recreate a new image of a National inclusive party, and its motto should be a party for every Indian, and no Indian will be treated any less than the other.  That means Narendra Modi to become Sardar Patel and encourage the good Indians to come together for India without compromising the freedom of speech available to the extremist Hindu, Muslim, Christian or other parties. Let them do their divisive work, and the let the majority do the inclusive work. Ram has to prevail over Ravan at the end. 

The MP’s should be elected based on what they can do for their constituency, and not what they can do for Hindus, Dalits, Christians, Muslims or Sikhs.  We need to consider “our interests” instead of “my interests” for all of us to prosper. No Indian should "feel" that he  or she was denied access to education, employment, housing and entrepreneurship because of his or her faith, caste, ethnicity or language. Is that the India you want?

The rhetoric of a handful of rightwing Hindus and Muslims need to be catapulted by moderates Hindus and Muslims. Neither Hinduism is threatened nor Islam they have been around for centuries and will not disappear.  The threats are emanating from formation of and nurturance of exclusive parties and the exclusive rhetoric. 

If you are biased towards one group of people or the other, you’ll find yourselves trapped in your own bias in this in this article.  If you don’t like the mushrooming political parties among Muslims, then you’ll find out that the right wing Hindu politics gives birth to them. 

We need to consciously merge all the parties into two to have a well-coordinated and cohesive India that functions like one unit. 

Mike Ghouse,  President

Center for Studies in Pluralism in societies, politics, religion and culture. Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer and an activist of pluralism in More about him at www.MikeGhouse.net 

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Will Muslim Dominated Parties empower Muslims?
Irfan Engineer

Quite a few Muslim dominated and Muslim led political parties have emerged in India in about last decade or so. In 2005, AIUDF led by Maulana Badruddin Ajmal was founded in Assam, in 2007, Mufti Ismail formed a Muslim led front in Malegaon and got substantial number of MLAs elected.  Peace Party was formed in 2008 by a surgeon Mohammed Ayub in UP. In 2009, The Popular Front of India launched its political front – Social Democratic Party of India under the presidentship of A. Saeed. In his presidential address, Abubacker said SDPI wanted to unite Muslims to make them a force to reckon with. In April 2011, Welfare Party of India was launched by Jamat-e-Islami about seven decades after its mentor Maulana Abu Ala Maududi adviced Muslims to be apolitical and passively accept India as Hindu Rashtra. The founding president of Welfare Party was Mujtaba Farooq and the present president is SQR Ilyas. This is besides the recent forays of MIM into Maharashtra where it won 2 in Assembly constituencies.

In a democracy, specific interest groups have the liberty to participate in democratic processes to struggle for their fair share, to influence government’s policies and to defend and advocate their interests, provided they are within the Constitutional framework. There have been quite a few parties that represent interests of specific community or caste for all practical purposes and there hasn’t been a hue and cry about such parties, e.g., the parties that specifically represent the interests of the dalits – the Lok Jan Shakti Party led by Ram Vilas Paswan, Republican Party of India in Maharashtra, the Justice Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (initially at least); caste based parties like the Apna Dal representing the kurmies, regional parties representing the interests of the son of soil - the Dravidian Parties in the South, the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, and even parties that represent the interests of one religious community – the Akali Dal e.g. However, media in particular and people from non-Muslim communities in general get alarmed if Muslim led and dominated parties are formed or succeed in mobilizing electoral support. 

The Hindu nationalist have constantly dinned into our consciousness that Muslims are separatists, terrorists and communal. There is a suspicion that any political party led and dominated by Muslims would ultimately lead to a second partition of the country, and in any case, it is communal to advance the interest of Muslim community.

Identity politics can be oppressive, hegemonic and exclusionary to strengthen hierarchies and hierarchical structures, to defend the privileges of the social, political and economic elite. On the other hand, the excluded and the oppressed minority communities demanding equality and equity, socio-economic and political justice, mobilizing for inclusion, also respond by mobilizing on the basis of identity of the excluded. Identity politics can therefore be either hegemonic or
democratic. 

The hegemonic identity politics often resorts to the language of nationalism, natural rights of a superior race or community, son of the soil, rights of original inhabitants vis-a-vis
the migrants and demand/defend disproportionately large share in the national, social, educational and economic resources and structures of power, institutions, state apparatus and authorities. The Hindu nationalists in India use the discourse of younger brother (minorities) being obliged to serve the elder brother (majority community posing as nationalists). Democratic identity politics on the other hand seeks inclusion, demands due share in resources and structures of power and authorities and secure religio-cultural space. 


Democratic identity politics struggles to transform the state and make it responsive and accommodative to the demands of a multicultural society without essentializing the group identity, giving space to individuals within the identity groups to dissent, question, evolve, transgress and transform identities. For example the dalit and adivasi identity politics that questions oppressive socio-cultural, political and economic structures and instruments of discrimination not only for self or one’s caste and communities but in order to create just political order for all sections, including dalit women and the most vulnerable and marginalized sections of the working people.

MIM’s identity politics

MIM’s, and SDPI’s political programme would belong to the former category of identity politics – hegemonic. Though MIM’s media discourse appears to be resisting identity politics of the dominant majority community and therefore positions itself as democratic, it in fact is hegemonic as it essentializes Muslim identity. MIM’s objective is to infuse communal consciousness among the Muslim community and convert a religious community into a political community and be its political representative. It propounds political unity of the community in the basis of express differences and even feeling of superiority over “others”. MIM’s proposition is to unite Muslims and to flex community’s muscles. In order to unite this culturally, linguistically, ethnically diverse community divided on sectarian lines, MIM invokes the glorious past of the Muslim community and constantly construct revered symbols which can emotionally appeal, and mobilize the community around it. Sharia’h, the Holy Quran, the Prophet of Islam, Urdu language are a few symbols exploited by MIM in the past.

Babri Masjid was one such symbol profitably exploited by it in the late 1980s and early 1990s. MIM goons even attacked a meeting being addressed by Taslima Nasreen in Hyderabad. It has always demanded that visas to Taslima Nasreen and Salman Rushdie be denied and their books be banned. A case has also been filed on Akbaruddin Owaisi for a hate speech delivered targeting non-Muslim communities where they are in a non-dominant position.

MIM has done pretty little to defend the human rights of Muslim youth incarcerated under patently false accusations of being terrorists, including those arrested for bomb blast in Mecca Masjid. The civil society groups for human rights fought doggedly and forced the AP Govt. to admit on the floor of the Assembly that there was no evidence of involvement of incarcerated youth in Mecca Masjid bomb blasts. After the hard advocacy for the youth, MIM was ready to reap political mileage by arranging for bail petitions for the incarcerated youth.

MIM’s growth and expansion is both – a response to and pretext for rise of Hindu nationalists. MIM positions before the Muslim community that it and it alone would be able to meet the challenge posed by the Hindu nationalists, however, in reality it ends up fueling to their growth. The Hindu nationalists are overwhelmed with the entry of MIM in the elections to be held for Delhi Legislative Assembly. Even if MIM polls a few Muslim votes of the alienated and aspiring youth, it would contribute to the defeat of AAP party candidates. Therefore there is speculation in the air that MIM has entered the electoral battlefield on BJP’s bidding.

Votes casted by a significant section of Muslims in favour MIM in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections was a response to the communal polarization along with rise of BJP and the campaign against the so called “love jihad” by Yogi Adityanath - the campaign manager of the BJP during the bye-elections in 11 assembly constituencies in 2014; demonization of the madrasas by another BJP MP – Sakshi Maharaj – to be dens of terrorism and even by BJP Minister Maneka Gandhi who during election campaign for bye-elections in Rajasthan stated that profits earned from cow slaughter were being utilized for terrorism.

A campaign was also taken up against loudspeakers on mosques and deliberate playing of music during namaz in front of the mosques in Kanth, near Moradabad are other examples of incessant demonization of the community after the victory of the BJP in the 16th Lok Sabha elections. Attempt was also made to celebrate birth anniversary of Raja Mahendra Pratap on the Aligarh University Campus to pander to the Jat sentiments and intensify tensions. Demonization of the community is also coupled with show of political muscles by the Hindu nationalists and punctuated by violence in Trilokpuri (Delhi), Ahmedabad, Vadodra, Somnath (all in Gujarat). During the entire demonization campaign, none of the “secular” parties effectively countered it. The community did not have too had little reassurance from any credible source.

In the context of marginalization, heightened threat perception and feeling of vulnerability, MIM’s proposition of uniting the Muslims and to flex community’s muscles was received sympathetically by a section of the community. The MIM’s political strategy has been to unite Muslim voters and make them vote en block while the non-Muslim voters are politically divided. In order to unite the Muslim voters, the MIM has to convince the voters that only a Muslim could truly represent their interests and political aspiration and secondly, they are the representatives of Muslims. It reminds us of Jinnah’s claim of being the sole spokesperson of the community.

During the MIM’s election campaign for Maharashtra Assembly in Aurangabad and other places, the Owaisi brothers positioned themselves as being “fearless” and not afraid of any consequences and any force. They projected the injustice being done on the community and also invoked the past when they were the rulers, impressed upon their audience that they could rise to the occasion if they united and voted for MIM. However the strategy is basically flawed, except that it would help MIM win a seat or two outside Telangana and that is the limited aim of MIM. Posturing to be militant, MIM aims to occupy the political space by marginalizing other Muslim dominated and led parties. However, they can do so only in constituencies where Muslims constitute not less than 35% of the population. Only in such constituencies can a Muslim dominated and led party have a reasonable chance of winning.

To overcome the fact that there are only 19 districts with more than 50% Muslim population, the MIM has been strategizing to forge a social alliance with dalits. However, that is an old and failed social alliance first propounded by Haji Mastan – a gangster turned politician when he formed Dalit Muslim Suraksha Mahasangh in 1985. He could not win a single election and forfeited deposits. MIM always rouses Muslim sentiments but has not been known to take publicly cause
of discrimination and oppression of dalits inside or outside the Parliament. Naturally, dalits would not subscribe to such an alliance when they have their leaders addressing their issues in a far better manner.

According to 2001 census, there are 25 districts with more than one million Muslims. The largest was Murshidabad (3.7 million) followed by Malappuram and South and North Twenty-Four Paraganas. All the three most Muslim populated districts are outside the cow-belt. Only 9 out of 593 districts of India could be considered as predominantly Muslim with over 75% population. These include Lakshadweep and 8 districts of J & K. In 11 disctricts, Muslims are between 50% to 75% of the population – six of these are in Assam, two from J & K and one each from Kerala, Bihar and West Bengal. There are 38 districts with Muslim population proportion ranging from 25% to 50% - 12 districts in UP, 5 in WB and Kerala each, 4 in Assam, 3 in Bihar, 2 in Jharkhand, two in Delhi and one each in AP, Haryana, J & K, Uttaranchal and Pondicherry. In 182 districts, proportion of Muslim population was between 10% and 25%. Muslim population in these 182 districts accounts for 47% of total Muslim population and 65% of Muslims live in districts where their population is less than 25%.

In the districts with Muslims between 10% and 25%, they can influence (not determine) the electoral outcome on their own strength only if degree of communal consciousness is high, which rarely is the case, and if non-Muslims are hopelessly divided along caste, cultural and political party lines.  That means, for the 47% of Muslim votes to be casted with communal consciousness, they would have to align with a section of non-Muslims and vote tactically en block.  Muslims are more likely to vote en block and tactically when they are 10% to 25% of the voters and when they perceive challenges to their security.

In the constituencies where they are more than 50%, the reverse may happen, i.e., Muslim votes get divided as more than one political party seriously contending for Muslim votes tend to nominate Muslim candidates from the constituency and, non-Muslims may vote en block and tactically to assert themselves. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, for example, BJP’s Nepal Singh won from Rampur constituency with 51% Muslim population according to 2011 census. While the degree of polarisation along religious lines was high due to recent communal riots in Muzaffarnagar, the BJP could mobilize votes from across castes. Muslims were divided between Samajwadi Party candidate Naseer Ahmad Khan, INC’s candidate Nawab Kazim Ali Khan and BSP’s candidate Akbar Husain.

Congress candidate from Sahranpur Imran Masood tried polarizing the electorate by proclaiming, “There are only 4% Muslims in Gujarat. There are 42% Muslims here. If he (BJP’s Prime  Ministerial Candidate – Narendra Modi) tries to convert this into Gujarat, then we will chop him.” (of course his claims to population figures are questionable). Partly this seems to the reason for the lowest representation of Muslims in Parliament.

Take e.g. Aligarh. With 40% Muslim population, Muslims voting en block and division of Hindu votes should have ensured victory of a Muslim candidate. However, Muslim candidate of Samajwadi Party – Zafar Alam – came third after BSP’s Dr. Arvind Kumar Singh (with 2,27,886 votes and BJP’s Satish Kumar Goutam (with 5,14,622 votes). It is the Muslim votes that got divided while BJP’s strategy of communally polarizing and making Hindus vote en block succeeded with rumours being spread on the day of polling that all Muslims were queuing up to elect Zafar Alam.

In Moradabad with 45.5% Muslim population, BJP’s Kunwar Sarvesh Singh won polling 4,85,224 votes with Dr. S T Hasan of SP polling 3,97,720 votes. In Bhiwandi with more than 35% Muslim population, Kapil Moreshwar Patil of BJP won polling 4,11,070 votes followed by runner up Vishwanath Ramchandra Patil of Congress polling 3,01,620 votes and Ansari Mumtaz Abdul Sattar polling highest number of votes among Muslims -14,068. Subramaiam Swamy admitted in his interview that BJP’s strategy was to split Muslim votes on sectarian lines and consolidate Hindu votes.

Muslims do not need polarization, they want democratic representation of their interests and contribute to nation building without essentializing their community based identity. Polarization and any efforts to construct Muslim vote banks in fact reduces their representation as is evident from both Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Legislative elections. What we need is politics to be based on social justice where the marginalized come together to transform the state to make it more accountable and human rights compliant. We do not need communal consciousness, we need cultural ethos of equality, liberty and justice which is need of all the marginalized – religious minorities, linguistic minorities, dalits, adivasis, women and working people.

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Irfan Engineer

Director, 
Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
603, New Silver Star, Near Railway Bridge, Prabhat Colony Road,, Santacruz (E), Mumbai, India. PIN: 400055.
Call:  +91-22-26149668  | M: +91-9869462833, +919820553173 | Fax: +91-22-6100712
e-mail: forirf@gmail.com; irfanengi@gmail.com; csss@mtnl.net.in
skype: irfanen |  Website | Blog

Political Pluralism: How Government Can Support Conflicting Religious Beliefs

Dr. Stronks, "answer is "political pluralism," a theory and practice that respects the rights of people with different worldviews to live together without coercion. In addition to protecting freedom of the soul, political pluralism sees the role of government as providing laws that treat everyone equally and without discrimination." Indeed, we at the Foundation for Pluralism have been defining it as "respecting the otherness of others."

Mike Ghouse
Courtesy: Huffington Post
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When World Vision USA announced three weeks ago that it would begin hiring Christians in same-sex marriages, the conservative reaction was strong and swift. Individual donors jammed the call center's phone lines, and within two days, 10,000 poor children had lost their sponsors. The right-wing Family Research Council blasted the organization's decision, as did evangelist Franklin Graham, Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention and others.

Just 48 hours after the announcement, World Vision reversed its decision. Its president, Richard Stearns, acknowledged the uproar the new policy had caused and asked forgiveness for the "mistake." Over the next several days, criticism of World Vision's reversal began sprouting. The online advocacy group Faithful America organized a petition calling for the two Google executives on World Vision's board of directors to resign. After 17,000 signatures and a spate of publicity, one of them did.

And then a professor at Whitworth University, a Presbyterian school in Spokane, Washington, located near World Vision's headquarters, wrote a public letter decrying its change of heart. "We rejoiced in the initial announcement and we grieve the reversal," the letter says. It continues:

Christians have worked together across their differences on a wide variety of issues, and they should continue to do so when a mission transcending narrow doctrinal matters is at stake. ... we call on Christian institutions to employ LGBT brothers and sisters in Christ who help further the mission of their institutions.

Julia Stronks is the professor who wrote the letter. She was thrilled when World Vision made its initial decision. "Here was a faith-based institution showing leadership on how to treat gay people with justice," she said in an interview for this column. "I was brokenhearted when they reversed their decision." Stronks wrote down her reflections, shared them with some friends who sent her words to their friends -- and thus the public letter was born, gathering more than 350 signatures in less than a week.

In addition to having a Ph.D. in political science, Stronks has a law degree and is keenly interested in how government should accommodate the conflicting religious and moral beliefs of its citizens, as well as how Christians should live in a complicated world. Her answer is "political pluralism," a theory and practice that respects the rights of people with different worldviews to live together without coercion. In addition to protecting freedom of the soul, political pluralism sees the role of government as providing laws that treat everyone equally and without discrimination.

Political pluralism is very different from the credo of many Christian conservatives who are certain that their particular religious beliefs reflect God's truth and that the role of government is to pass laws that support these beliefs.

Not so, say political pluralists, who point out that the job of government is not to elevate one religious belief system over another. Rather, it is to protect a diversity of beliefs and worldviews -- including those of agnostics, atheists, secular humanists and others -- so that everyone has the freedom to follow his or her conscience and determine how to live.

Anything less is coercion, not to mention unconstitutional. According to scholars such as Stronks, it is unbiblical too. "Jesus never used government as a tool forcing people how to live," she said. "He used stories, persuasion, and encouragement."

During the interview, Stronks described the steps that led her to support marriage equality. "What moved me was education," she said. "Learning more about biology and sexuality and knowing gay Christians." She also decided to read the Bible from cover to cover and came across a slew of texts that are understood far differently today than when they were written. As for marriage as a sacrament between a man and a woman, by the time Stronks finished Genesis -- the first book in the Bible -- she had read about concubines, incest, rape and more. She said:

It's important to understand texts in their historical context. Many of the biblical passages that seem to condemn homosexuality are actually about abuse and coercion, rather than equal, loving relationships.

The impact of World Vision's decision is far from over. For one thing, its public refusal to hire people in same-sex marriages opens it up to discrimination lawsuits. The decision also puts the organization at odds with denominational partners, a number of whom are increasingly voicing support for marriage equality. Beyond that, the decision reflects a broader debate on religious liberty, which includes whether an employer's religious beliefs should trump the human rights of others.

From contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act to whether business owners can turn away lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender or LGBT, customers, the public debate is usually framed as liberals versus conservatives, or secular people versus religious ones. But such framing is limiting because it ignores the philosophical and religious principles that lead Orthodox Christians such as Stronks to support LGBT equality.

Christians who practice political pluralism -- what Stronks calls a "theology of citizenship for a complicated world" -- have something to contribute to the debate of what is appropriate religious expression in a diverse society. Their commitment to their own faith and to the rights of others to believe differently can help find political and legal solutions that support deeply authentic religious expression, as well as the freedom not to be pressured into beliefs that are not one's own.

Follow Sally Steenland on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ssteenland

Undo

Religious Cleansing in Iran

It is a shame that the Iranian government is bullying it's minorities. We have got to find solutions to bring civility in governance.

As Muslims we condemn this act of ugliness, it does not corrospond with the Islamic values of Justice, fainess and treating others as you would wanted to be treated.

Shame on the supreme leader to have his pictures plastered on every wall in Iran, Prophet Muhammad, the founder of the religion did exactly the opposite of it; and advised against plastering one's pictures or erecting busts in every street corner. Prophet Muhammad was a humble man, can we say the same about the supreme leader? There is something wrong here and yet he claims to represent the Islamic faith?

However, finding the truth is our own responsibility, the National review is at times questionable and biased.

The best option I see is to pull back from the corner we are pushing Iran into, and bring them into the community of Nations as an active civil partner. It is in the best interest of the United States and Israel to make friends with the Muslim majority states. The propaganda, particularly the violent Neocon propaganda has not yielded any goodness thus far, and most certinaly will harm every one in the process, we need to work with the policy of inclusion to bring about a lasting change for every one.

Mike Ghouse
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Iran treats non-Muslims as harshly as political dissidents. Why doesn’t the West notice?

By J. K. Choksy & Nina Shea

‘Every aspect of a non-Muslim is unclean,” proclaimed Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. He explained that non-Muslims rank between “feces” and “the sweat of a camel that has consumed impure food.” Other prominent ayatollahs, including Ahmad Jannati, the current chairman of the Guardian Council, have made similar utterances.

Thus Iran’s Zoroastrians, Jews, Mandeans, Christians, and Bahais are subordinated and indeed treated as a fifth column by the revolutionary Islamic Republic. No matter that most of these religious groups were established in Iran before Islam arrived there; none are accepted by Iran’s Shiite rulers as fully Iranian. With the recent controversial presidential election, the scapegoating of non-Muslims as agents of the United States, Israel, Britain, and the deposed monarchy reached new heights. Seven Bahai leaders and two Christian converts are in prison and will soon be put on trial for their lives, while other non-Muslims are suffering intensified government repression.

Non-Muslim communities collectively have diminished to no more than 2 percent of Iran’s 71 million people. Forty years ago, under the Shah, a visitor would have seen a relatively tolerant society. Iran now appears to be in the final stages of religious cleansing. Pervasive discrimination, intimidation, and harassment have prompted non-Muslims to flee in disproportionately high numbers.

Like political dissidents, these religious minorities are a moderating force against Iranian Shiite extremism. Also, their mere presence ensures a modicum of ideological diversity and pluralism in the face of the regime’s brutal insistence on conformity. But unlike the dissidents, the religious minorities have attracted little international concern, and their plight is poorly understood.

Iran’s constitution requires that laws and regulations be based on Islamic criteria, which mandate inferior status for three non-Muslim faiths, while withholding all rights and protections from all other faiths. Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian (specifically, Assyrian and Armenian) live in a modern version of dhimmi status — the protected though subjugated condition of “people of the Book” dating back to medieval times. While these three groups are allotted seats in the legislative assembly (a total of five out of 290 seats), they are barred from seeking high public office in any of the three branches of government.

Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, and evangelical churches are not regarded as heritage communities and are afforded few rights. Christian worship must be in the Assyrian or Armenian languages, not in Farsi. Several Protestant and evangelical leaders have been murdered by government agents in recent years, and last year reports surfaced of a renewed crackdown against churches operating in people’s homes, with reportedly 50 or more arrests. Mandeans have sought in vain for official recognition based on their historic ties to John the Baptist.

Members of the Bahai faith, an independent religion that originated in 19th-century Iran, are treated far worse: as heretics to be persecuted outright. According to Iranian law, Bahai blood is considered mobah — that is, it can be spilled with impunity. Over two hundred Bahais have been executed since 1979. “An enemy of Islam” was written on some of their corpses. In 1979 the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards) demolished the house of the Bab, a sacred Bahai site in the southwestern city of Shiraz, and the place where it stood has since been paved over for an Islamic center. The burial shrine of Quddus, a prominent follower of the Bab, was destroyed at Babol in 2004. Bahais can gather only underground — at private homes or in surreptitiously rented halls.

Converts from Islam to any other faith are regarded by the state as apostates who can be put to death. Iran bans non-Muslims not only from proselytizing but from most public religious expression in the presence of Muslims. The Intelligence Ministry closely monitors Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian religious communities. These groups are routinely denied permission for formal contacts with foreign co-religionists.

Among these religious groups, initiation ceremonies, weddings, and funerals must be discreet affairs. Even so, they run the risk of raids by the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance to ensure adherence to “Islamic standards.” A 2004 raid of one gathering resulted in the arrest of 80 Christians for following their own mores in women’s dress and in allowing men and women to mingle.

In Shiraz, a synagogue, a church, and a fire temple are located in close proximity to one another. Anti-Pahlavi graffiti there are refreshed regularly to remind Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians that their loyalty remains suspect. Jews often are accused of aiding Israel. In 2000, eleven prominent Iranian Jews were convicted of spying for Israel.

The tomb of Daniel, from the Old Testament, is exploited by the regime to promote its relentless anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli propaganda. One mural features an imaginary scene of Iranian forces joining Palestinian fighters in seizing Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Nearby slogans denounce Jews, Zionism, and Israel. Jews have stopped visiting the site altogether.

Though the constitution permits Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians to “act according to their own canon in matters of personal affairs and religious education,” Iran’s Education Ministry administers minority schools and imposes a state-approved religious textbook. Many minority secondary schools have been nationalized. The surviving private schools typically have Muslim directors. All university applicants must pass an examination in Islamic theology. Bahais have been essentially barred from higher education.

Zoroastrian schools must display towering portraits of Iran’s supreme leaders. Quranic quotations and revolutionary slogans are painted on their interior walls with the forced participation of the schoolchildren, while mullahs and revolutionary guards chant Shia praises.

The same displays are forced on churches, especially those not within Armenian or Assyrian neighborhoods. Churchgoers are taunted as infidels by Pasdaran and by Basij militiamen.

Religious minorities experience high unemployment and economic impoverishment, since so much of the economy, including the oil industry, is controlled by the state. Minority storeowners must display prominent signs indicating they are najasa (ritually unclean). Bahais have no property rights, and their homes and business are vulnerable to confiscation.

Non-Muslims are not excluded from the compulsory military service, however, and they report being deployed for especially hazardous assignments. During the Iran-Iraq war, they were routinely transferred to suicide brigades. Non-Muslim communities maintain small “martyrs’ walls” as memorials to their war dead.

Any non-Muslim responsible for a Muslim’s death faces capital punishment, in accordance with medieval Islamic jurisprudence. Conversely, Muslims do not face capital punishment or even long prison sentences for murdering a non-Muslim, though they are fined. Exceptions are in the murder of a Bahai or a Muslim apostate — no compensation whatsoever is required. In a court proceeding, a non-Muslim’s testimony is valued at half that of a Muslim’s. A non-Muslim who converts to Islam becomes the sole inheritor of his or her family’s assets.

President Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust, threatens Israel, and promotes the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as genuine. He has reportedly vowed the end of Christianity’s development in Iran. Under his presidency, life has only become more difficult for religious minorities. Their social organizations have been subject to intrusive investigations and threatened with criminal charges on such grounds as rejecting “cultural conformity” and weakening “the centrality of the Islamic regime.” A new committee in Qom has been empowered to “combat activities of members of religious minorities.” The five minority parliamentarians, like 175 of their colleagues, left Tehran to avoid having to congratulate the president upon his reelection, prompting a new round of raids on synagogues, churches, and fire temples.

Iran’s non-Muslims cannot defend their own rights. In 2005, the Zoroastrian parliamentarian Kourosh Niknam tried to do so, by giving a speech protesting a slur against non-Muslims by the head of the Guardian Council. He was prosecuted for failing to show respect for Iran’s leaders but released with a stern admonishment in response to domestic and international pressure.

Iran’s political dissidents are defended by the West. Its diverse non-Muslim minorities ask why they’ve been forgotten.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjU2MzQ5NjE4YWMzZjViN2NiNmU1NDY3N2FkZTM1MDg=&w=MA==

— Jamsheed K. Choksy is a professor of Iranian studies and former director of the Middle Eastern Studies Program at Indiana University and serves as a Member of the National Council on the Humanities. Nina Shea directs the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and serves on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The views expressed herein are their own.
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