MUSLIM WORLD

Government Statements on US Attack on Iraq, 3 September, 1996

We are gravely concerned at reports of US cruise missile attacks today on targets near Baghdad, and the adverse effect that this is likely to have on peace and security in the area. We believe that enforcement actions under UN Security Council resolutions can only be undertaken by the Council itself. Details of the US action, and the material damage and loss of lives caused by the bombing are not available. We are concerned at the possible loss of civilian lives and we are monitoring the situation closely.

On US Attack on Iraq, 6 September, 1996

 Members have expressed their strong feelings on the US cruise missiles attacks against Iraq on September 3 and 4, 1996. Their sentiments are in large measure shared by Government. We had issued an official statement immediately after we received the initial information regarding the US attacks on September 3, 1996, we had expressed our great concern at these attacks and their adverse effects on peace and security in the area. We also expressed our firm conviction that enforcement action under UN Security Council resolutions can only be undertaken by the Council itself.

There has been widespread international opposition to the US action, which is not in consonance with accepted norms of conduct in international relations.

Despite this widespread international sentiment, the US again undertook cruise missiles attacks on Iraq on September 4, 1996. We do not know if more attacks are planned. This is highly regrettable. The Government of India is unable to accept that the justification put forward for the bombing, on the grounds of alleged Iraqi contravention of UN Security Council resolutions, or the protection of the interests of the US and its allies in the Gulf, has any basis. We call upon the United States to refrain from any further attacks on Iraq.

We are particularly distressed that the Security Council's relaxation of the embargo on Iraqi oil export to enable it to purchase medicines and food for the Iraqi people has been frozen.

These developments have also had a direct impact on India. The price of oil has gone up. The adverse effect of the atmosphere of uncertainty in countries of the region, where we have important interests, including those flowing from the presence of large number of Indians living and working there, is naturally a worrying factor. There is also the possibility of the events leading to an upsurge of tension in the area.

We are watching the situation closely and are in touch with friendly countries on this matter.

CPI-CPI(M) Statement on US Attack on Iraq

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India strongly condemn the unprovoked massive US missile attacks against Iraq launched on 3 September, 1996. Using the pretext of Iraq's operations in the northern part of its country, the US has launched a deadly cruise missile attack around the capital Baghdad.

The attack is a clear expression of the USA's desire to establish its hegemony over the oil rich Gulf region and reaffirm its desire to impose a new world order according to its own interests. This attack must be seen by the international community as a renewed aggression on the part of US imperialism to impose its hegemony - both military and political.

The progressive and anti-imperialist forces the world over will join together in condemning this attack and asserting the rights of sovereign nations to deal with their internal problems without interference from any outside force.

The CPI(M) and CPI call upon the United Nations to openly condemns this unprovoked US attack on Iraq and exercise pressure for the immediate cessation of this one- sided aggression.

The CPI(M) and CPI call upon the government of India to outrightly condemn this attack and thereby uphold the long-standing tradition of India's commitment to world peace, democracy and non-alignment.

Muslim Population to Reach 2.5 billion in 2020

India has Third Largest Muslim Population after Indonesia and Pakistan

World Muslim population is expected to reach 2.5 billion by the year 2020... Muslims constitute 23.1 per cent of the world population. One out of five persons is a Muslim. About 70% of Muslims live in Asia, 28% in Africa and the rest in Europe, America and other countries. Half of the Muslim population lives in seven Muslim countries: Indonesia (170m), Pakistan (121m), Bangladesh (102m), Nigeria (68m), Turkey (59m), Iran (57m) and Egypt (52m). There are 106 million in India, 70m in China and 54m in the Central Asian republics. The majority of Muslim population is youth and children. Children below five years represent 43%, which is much higher than 22% in the developed countries.

(Source: Al Azhar University, Cairo, International Centre for Population Studies, Courtesy: The Radiance, New Delhi)

D. Shridhar on Shia-Sunni Conflict in Pakistan

The eruption of sectarian violence i the Parachinar area of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has brought back the scourge of sectarianism onto Pakistan's political centerstage. Clashes between Shia and Sunni groups have led to more than 200 people losing their lives, forcing the army to be called out. The abject failure of the Benazir Bhutto government to detect the brewing sectarian storm saw virtually no attempt to curb the fighting, which is generally believed to be a follow on to sectarian clashes happening elsewhere in the country. After a brief period of lull, tensions and violence have gripped the entire country.

Parachinar, which is dominated by a Shia population, has always been a sensitive area that has been prone to sectarian violence primarily as a reaction to this phenomenon occurring elsewhere. In the present case as well, the immediate provocation for the violence was the recurrence of sectarian violence in Karachi on August 14, 1996, when worshippers belonging to one community were allegedly gunned down by supporters of the other. This in turn led to a flare up of sectarian violence in the Jhang-Faisalabad sector, culminating in the assassination of Allama Murid Abbas Yazdani, supreme commander of the Shiite group Sipah-i-Mohammad a few weeks earlier. Since then, several areas in Pakistan, including Parachinar, have remained tense.

The intensity of hate between the two communities in Pakistan has been further compounded by the fact that Parachinar, which borders Afghanistan has been awash with weapons. The second major factor rise in tensions and its eruption into violence has been the mushrooming of religious schools in the area belonging to both communities, which are beyond the purview of law enforcement authorities. These religious madrasas have reportedly stock all kinds of weapons and ammunition. The pre-dominantly Sunni Taliban fighters... could well enter the sectarian struggle and enlarge the battle lines. The violence also buries the peace accord that the two communities had agreed to in 1995 under the auspices of the Milli Yakjehti Council, a fundamentalist grouping which played peace maker amongst the two communities and which was able to bring peace to large parts of rural Punjab for nearly a year.

But the root cause for the persistence of sectarian tensions, lies in the type of politics that was and is being practiced in Pakistan, especially during and after the Zia years. In the post-Zia era, these religious parties, which were propped up by the martial law regime found themselves without finances and were forced to underworld linkages to protect their respective turf. This veering towards militancy was exacerbated by the easy availability of weapons. This militancy led to formation of separate organizations that undertook militant activities on behalf of their umbrella bodies. The SSP is generally considered the militant outfit of the Anjuman-e-Sipah Sahaba (ASS), a Sunni body that openly calls for the creation of an Islamic system which would ex-communicate the Shia community. The SSP (Force of the Lions of Pakistan) is a militant organization that represents the puritanical Wahabi sect in Pakistan.

The second factor... has been the policy of Islamization. A recent micro-study of the sectarian problem in Punjab showed that much of the mushrooming of deeni madrasas came between 1976 and 1986 and specially during the period of the martial law, when General Zia used the fundamentalist parties to counter traditional political opposition to his seizure of power. The study also showed that between 1947 and 1975, only 868 deeni madrasas had been set up. In 1995, the Federal Interior Ministry found that there were 2,512 functioning deeni madrasas, representing all schools of sectarian thought in Punjab alone, with an estimated student enrollment of 2,18,939,

In the NWFP too, the deeni madrasas have created a major administrative problem, albeit differently. Radicalization of Pathan youth and the corresponding weakening of the tribal code of honor saw a burst of violence when clerics led the rebellion in Malakand, Swat and Bajaur in August 1994, demanding the imposition of the Shariah in their areas. There were subsequent clashes in Bara on the same issue. This radicalization amongst the youth has seeped into the sectarian sphere as well. With most deeni madrasas relying on foreign donations, the ability of the state to introduce non-radical instruction in these schools is virtually absent. The revival of the sectarian spiral of violence, almost two months old, shows no sign of remission.

(Source: The Hindustan Times, 23 September, 1996)

Ali Sardar Jafri on Urdu and Urdu Script

Khushwant Singh, during an interview asked me why Urdu should not be written in Devnagri script. Instead of going into a long explanation and argument I narrated an incident to him. Sometime back a friend of mine who happens to be the Governor of a State (I did tell him that the Hindiwalas have dropped the Bindi and not mention any name) asked me the same question, and I cannot write GHALIB, GHAZAL and JAFAR. Let them restore the Bindi and start teaching Ghalib and Mir in Hindi schools and I will accept their proposal. While we were talking, a Hindi-speaking Member of Parliament arrived and joined the discussion. He was opposed to the idea of restoring the Bindi and teaching Urdu literature in Hindi schools and colleges.

I have had many experiences of this kind. Firaq Gorakhpuri used to say that the Hindi world is afraid of the beauty of Urdu language and its vigour.

It is too late now to go back to Gandhiji's Hindustani in two scripts. No political party will accept it. So far as I am concerned, I accept both Hindi and Urdu as two highly evolved languages from one and the same root The question of giving up the Urdu script does not arise, but it would be profitable for the Urdu language and writers to publish their books in two scripts in India. The process has already started and thousands of Hindi reading people are buying these books.

(Letter to & Shahabuddin, 10 April, 1996)