Washington is the place to be for enjoying Urdu-Hindi poetry

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URDU-HINDI POETRY AND WASHINGTON | TheGhouseDiary.com 

http://nabsites.net/demo/washington-is-place-to-be-for-enjoying/

I am glad I moved to Washington, besides getting a chance to fulfill my dream of
working towards building a cohesive America, I am enjoying the fellowship and
the literary aspect of my life as well. 
I have a deep passion for the Urdu (Hindi) Poetry and Washington is the
place to be!  I just cannot rave about
the intellectual stimulation with the folks around here.

Dr. Zafar and Nuzaira Iqbal had invited a few friends for dinner, and some of
them are Poets and a joy to hear. The gathering was to honor the visiting poet Sarwat Zahra.  Dr.
Satyapal Anand was a special guest, who is a scholar with mastery in Urdu, Hindi, English and Farsi
Poetry, one must hear him, indeed, and I am encouraged and influenced by his
style of independent prose like poetry.  He
is a legend in the Urdu poetry.

Dr. Moazzam Siddiqi is a treasure of knowledge, I have heard him talk about the
father of Urdu-Hindi language Amir Khusro, and want to hear more, and last
night he spoke about Meera’s devotion to Krishna.  There is an art in telling stories that only
a few have mastered and Dr. Siddiqi has become my favorite person to hear and
learn from.

Dr. Zaheer Parvez recited two poetries – one was about the story of endurance
of African Americans, and the other was his days in UC Berkley, as Dr. Anand
commented on the poetries, I literally saw his poem in pictures, that’s how
powerful his poetry was, and his poem should be a part of the African American
Museum, he knows what integration means and I loved his poems.

Sarwat Zahra was the honored guest poet – Dr. Anand had written a preface to
her first book, and what a fine introduction that was. I wish I had recorded
it.  Sarwat’s poems are visual, a picture
jumps at you with each word in her poem, it is about the daily lives of women
and what they go thru, great expression and accurate depictions of the story of
women in the subcontinent.  What appealed
to me about her poetry was her breadth of references, she shared a poem about
Jesus, and then recited the poem about Meera and Meera’s devotion to Krishna
and how she struggled with it, and Dr. Siddiqi hung the moon by narrating the
story of Meera.  Meera was known for her
devotion and here devotional songs she had composed some 500 years ago, and per
Dr. Anand, only M. Subba Lakshmi had rendered them beautifully to the point
that Pandit Nehru paid a visit to honor her.
 

Sarwat is heading to Dallas and
Houston, she has a program on the 12th and I urge everyone to hear
her out, and I have asked her to recite Meera’s poem for my friends Surendra
Mittal, Kundan Sharma and my buzurg DD Maini, and Jesus’s poem for Javed Gill.  I am sure she may have touched upon the Sikh
life as well, if she has I hope she would recite for Dr. Harbans Lal.
More about : Sarwat Zahra on facebook and her website – http://www.sarwatzehra.com
Thanks to Dr. Amer Shakil of Urdu Ghar for being available to talk with Sarwat,
 and I hope my friend Raja Zahid Khanzada
will write about her and video tape for Geo TV.

I briefly spoke about the
Organization I am working with – The American Muslim Institution, and thanks to
Dr. Moazzam Siddiqi for such a fine and humbling introduction.

Happy Janamashtami – details about it at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/sri-krishna-birthday-celebration-janmashtami_b_1762997.html

….
Mike is a speaker, thinker, writer, pluralist, TV-Radio commentator and a human
rights activist committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic
solutions on issues of the day. His info in 63 links at MikeGhouse.net and writings at TheGhouseDiary.com  

The Fantasy Islam of Mike Ghouse by Front Page Magazine

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Fantasy Islam is an imaginative construct of Dr.
Steve Kirby, and he is no stranger to me.  
I was there in the same boat 15 years ago.

I don’t claim to be a
scholar, nor do I claim to be an authority on Islam, but I do claim that I have
investigated Islam thoroughly and continuously learning. I have invited criticism of Islam, Quran and the prophet, have discussed with many, and have
found answers. I did not have to choose to be a Muslim, there was no need for
me to be one, however, I decided to choose a religion for me and Islam suited
me for two reasons – I knew and had re-learned a lot about it, and it
is an inclusive and pluralistic faith. Let me be clear, had I
studied other religions with the same intensity, I would have found value in
each one of them and would have chosen any one.   

I will be responding to the following article by Dr. Kirby as I have responded before to many such misunderstandings at the site www.Quraantoday.com.
Fantasy Islam is an imaginative construct of Dr.
Steve Kirby, and he is no stranger to me.  
I was there in the same boat 15 years ago and did not like what I read
or heard about parts of Islam and Quran. 
I did not call myself a Muslim and had nothing to do with Islam or Quran.
I did not hate or disliked any religion; I was too pluralistic for that. 
What changed all that? I will have the article ready in a week. If you wish to receive the article, please write in your email address in the email box on the top right hand corner of the site www.TheGhousediary.com  

Meanwhile, review this video Pluralism in Islam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Tyt7raIXM

Mike Ghouse is a motivational speaker committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net
# # # 

THE FANTASY ISLAM OF MIKE MOHAMED GHOUSE

http://www.frontpagemag.com/author/dr-stephen-m-kirby
A moderate Muslim’s personal version of Islam — and its curious non-relationship with Islamic doctrine.

September 3, 2015

 

Dr. Stephen M. Kirby
Fantasy Islam: A game in which an audience of non-Muslims wish with all their hearts that Islam was a “Religion of Peace,” and a Muslim strives to fulfill that wish by presenting a personal version of Islam that has little foundation in Islamic doctrine.
As I pointed out in an earlier article, “Fantasy Islam” is a popular game among many non-Muslims and so-called “moderate” or “reformist” Muslims.  Mike Mohamed Ghouse appears to be such a Muslim.
Ghouse was born Mohamed Ghouse in India (He adopted the name “Mike” later).  He was raised as a Muslim until he became an atheist in the late 1960s; he returned to Islam in the late 1990s and lives in the United States. Ghouse is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated talk radio programs, and he writes for major newspapers. Ghouse also plays Fantasy Islam.
Apostasy
In an article titled “Qur’aan on Apostasy,” Ghouse makes the following claim about the punishment for apostasy:
Unfortunately, it is a common belief that ‘death’ should be the punishment for apostasy. However, the Qur’aan mentions nothing of such punishment, so why should we impose such a cruel and inhumane form of punishment? Are we so insecure about our own religion that if anyone is to leave it we kill them?
But Ghouse is wrong: In 4:89 of the Koran Allah commands Muslims to take hold of those apostates who have left Islam and “kill them wherever you find them.”
And, for the sake of argument, even if it wasn’t in the Koran, death for apostasy is still a part of Islam because that is what Muhammad commanded.  Muhammad said that death was the penalty for a Muslim who left Islam (e.g. Sahih Al-Bukhari, Nos. 6878 and 6923; and Sahih Muslim, No. 1676). Muhammad even specified the nature of that death:
If someone changes his religion – then strike off his head!
Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik ibn Anas, 36.18.15, in a section titled “Judgement on Abandonment of Islam.”
So we see that this “cruel and inhumane form of punishment” for apostasy is well-grounded in Islamic doctrine.
Muslim-Americans ‘Uphold’ the U.S. Constitution
In an article titled “Muslims are an integral part of American Heritage,” Ghouse made the following statement:
As American Muslims we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in the U.S. constitution.
Islamic doctrine, found in the verses of the Koran and the teachings of Muhammad (the Sunnah), is diametrically opposed to the U.S. Constitution.  Consider just these three amendments to our Constitution:
1st Amendment – Freedom of Religion and Speech: The penalty for a Muslim who wants to leave Islam is death (4:89 and Sunnah).  Non-Muslims are given the option of fighting to the death, converting to Islam, or paying the jizyah (9:5, 9:29, and Sunnah).  Once Allah and Muhammad have decided on a matter, Muslims are not allowed to disagree (33:36, 4:115), and criticism of Muhammad is cursed by Allah and punishable by death (33:57, and Sunnah).
8th Amendment – Cruel and Unusual Punishment Is Prohibited: Islam commands the following punishments: Flogging (24:2), Stoning (Sunnah), Amputation for Theft (5:38 and Sunnah), Beheading (8:12, 47:4, and Sunnah), Crucifixion (5:33), and Cutting-off of Hands and Feet from Opposite Sides for waging war against Islam (5:33).
13th Amendment – Prohibition of Slavery: Slavery, and using captured non-Muslim women as sex slaves (“those whom your right hands possess”) is allowed in Islam (e.g. 2:221, 4:3, 4:24, 4:92, 23:6, 24:58, 33:50, and Sunnah).
So just by considering these three amendments, we can see that if Muslim-Americans believe in Islamic doctrine, they cannot “uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined” in the Constitution.
The ‘Best Way to Understand’ the Koran
What is the “best way” to understand the Koran? Ghouse wrote this simple explanation:
The best way to understand Quran [sic] is to remember, “If it is not about justice, mercy and creating harmony”, then the translation is wrong.
The immediate response to Ghouse’s statement is to look at the preceding section involving the three Amendments to our Constitution.  There is little justice, mercy and harmony there.
But Ghouse also said that Marmaduke Pickthall’s translation of the Koran, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, was one of three translations he recommends.  So let’s look for the justice, mercy and harmony in some of the verses from Pickthall’s translation:
  • “Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you.  Allah knoweth, ye know not.” (2:216)
  • “In truth the disbelievers [non-Muslims] are an open enemy to you.” (4:101)
  • “O ye who believe!  Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends.  They are friends one to another.  He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them.  Lo!  Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk.” (5:51)
  • “Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush.  But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free.  Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” (9:5)
  • “O Prophet!  Strive against the disbelievers [non-Muslims] and the hypocrites!  Be harsh with them.  Their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey’s-end.” (9:73)
  • “Lo! those who disbelieve [in Islam], among the People of the Scripture [Jews and Christians] and the idolaters, will abide in fire [sic] of hell.  They are the worst of created beings.” (98:6)
There is not a lot of justice, mercy and harmony in these verses from Pickthall’s translation, so according to Ghouse’s standard, he appears to be recommending a translation of the Koran that is “wrong.”
Allah Loves Everybody
In an article titled “Quran is not for Muslims,” Ghouse wrote that
God [Allah] is not the God of Muslims and no where he claims that in Quran [sic]…God loves us all, and no one is deprived of his love…
In reality we find that in the Koran Allah states that the only religion acceptable to him is Islam (e.g. 3:19 and 3:85).  And Allah states that Islam is to be made superior over all other religions, even if the non-Muslims don’t like it (e.g. 9:33, 48:28, and 61:9).  Allah curses the Jews and Christians (9:30).  He states that non-Muslims are among the worst of creatures who “will abide in the fire of Hell” (98:6), while Muslims are the best of creatures (3:110 and 98:7).  Non-Muslims are “open enemies” to Muslims (4:101) and Jews are among the worst of those enemies (5:82).  And Allah commands Muslims to be harsh toward non-Muslims (e.g., 8:57, 9:73, 9:123, and 48:29) and to kill those non-Muslims (9:5).
In spite of Ghouse’s claim, and as I noted in more detail in a previous article, Allah is only the god of Islam and the Muslims, and Allah has no love for non-Muslims.
The Ubiquitous 2:62
Chapter 2, verse 62 of the Koran is commonly quoted by Muslim-Americans to indicate that Judaism and Christianity are respected in Islam and the adherents of those two faiths will be rewarded by Allah. Ghouse continues with this theme in the article “Quran is not for Muslims“:
[I]f you take care of his creation (neighbor), you need not worry; your rewards are with him. Just to make sure we understand this precisely, he says, whether you are a Jew or a Christian and by corollary other, if you take care of your neighbor, I will take care of you (2:62).
Here is Chapter 2, verse 62
Verily, those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.
In spite of what Ghouse and other Muslim-Americans claim, this verse only means that Jews and Christians would be rewarded for the good deeds they did before the advent of Islam. After the advent of Islam,righteous good deeds would be accepted by Allah only if they are done by Muslims.  And this verse was actually abrogated by 3:85 which stated that Islam is the only acceptable religion to Allah, and non-Muslims will be “losers” in the Hereafter (e.g. Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Al-Qurtubi Vol. 1, and Tafsir Ahsanul-Bayan).
Conclusion
As is common in Fantasy Islam, Ghouse’s personal version of Islam has little, if any, support from Islamic doctrine, and actually often runs counter to that doctrine.  This appears to be of little concern for many in his non-Muslim audience because such personal versions relieve their concerns about Islam and allow them to continue to consider the jihadists as just a fringe group of “radicals” who have “hijacked” and “perverted” the Religion of Peace.  Ignorance, whether willful or not, can be a great anesthesia.  But anesthesia is only temporary and will not alter the world going on around you, and to which you will eventually reawaken.
Dr. Stephen M. Kirby is the author of three books about Islam. His latest is “Islam According to Muhammad, Not Your Neighbor.”

A dead child, a world gone mad

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Aylan Kurdi and the refugee problem | Foundation for pluralism
This article calls on us to look into ourselves and our prejudices. When some of us are loaded with hate for others, we lose our humanity and we do not respect the humanness of others.

Aylan Kurdi’s image has remained on my mind all day long, a similar image had stuck to me when I was a kid and my neighbor had committed a suicide by going under the train.  It reminds us of the magnitude of the refugee problem.  I was at CAIR’s press conference, and Bob Morrow was one of the individuals that spoke, and he choked looking at the image, it invoked similar images of Vietnam to him. His sentiment was contagious, I deeply felt the same. 

I was listening to NPR and they shared the story of a woman who was crossing different borders… with her children. She was laughing and I was thinking about her plight, finally when she was crossing the border, facing the police, she begged the police to save her child, and not her.. how desperate was she for her child’s life. She choked and I could not stop crying either. 

I sincerely hope and pray that all of us at least keep up with the crises, may it open our hearts and minds. There are a great number of good people in the world, who have taken to the street to do something about the plight of humanity, while there are others who have no empathy for human sufferings.

The author questions the South Asian minds when it comes to refugees. A few among us are so hateful to the others that we do not care about others.

The least we can, each one of us can do is to reflect on the refugee problems all across the world, don’t focus on the bad guys, but focus on the plight of the victims

Mike Ghouse
Foundation for Pluralism 

A dead child, a world gone mad

Courtesy Rediff.com


Last updated on: September 04, 2015 15:33 IST
If Aylan Kurdi was a Bangladeshi boy on the border with Assam or West Bengal, would you call him an infiltrator, asks Mango Indian.

I can’t watch those photographs of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi’s body on a Turkish beach. I avoided him, though the links to his story — from Syria, drowned with his mother and five-year-old brother trying to get to Greece — kept appearing on my screens for about two days.
But when I picked up the newspaper from the floor groggy in the morning, those images blew a hole through my heart. Like the feeling I had when I cut a little bead-encrusted band from my daughter’s wrist when she was two months old. Maybe her biological mother — as adoptee parents we don’t know her, we cannot by law — thought it would protect her. It did, but it could have failed too.
The migrant crisis — and debate — raging across Europe is of proportions not seen since World War II. The civil war in Syria, sparked by years of drought and a dictator who didn’t care, and the Islamic State’s brutal and obscene march through an Iraq abandoned by America, have thrown a migrant wave towards Europe. Aylan’s lifeless body might just push the EU into accepting more refugees.
Meanwhile, we in India have been dehumanised to the massive movement of dispossessed people within our country. We are used to children begging at traffic stops, to stories of dead newborns gnawed by rats.

A leader of the far-right UKIP, the largest UK party in the European parliament, said Aylan was fed and clothed, and died because of his parents’ greed for the good life in Europe. Or words to that effect, which echo what we urban ‘middle class’ Indians often feel about roadside dwellers: Why did they have to come from wherever they are from? They wanted the good life in the big city. Why do they have to breed? Isn’t parenthood a privilege meant for those with enough money?
Aylan’s family was fleeing the Islamic State; Turkey, which reportedly treats Syrian refugees badly, would not give them an exit visa; Canada wouldn’t accept them as refugees. An overwhelming majority of the hundreds of thousands of people risking — and often losing to — death to cross the seas into Italy or Greece, and then onwards wherever they can get some dignity, are fleeing Syria. Others are from equally war-ravaged countries: Iraq, Libya, Eritrea, Sudan, even Afghanistan.
Asia is also facing its own migrant crisis. Thousands of people keep setting sail on the Bay of Bengal, mostly from Myanmar and Bangladesh, in rickety human smugglers’ boats that often sink or get lost. More than 100,000 such people have tried to get to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia since 2014, and the UN has warned that fresh batches are expected when the rains get over and the seas calm.
The global migrant crisis is fed by hunger, driven by oppression, and boosted by lack of a future in large swaths of this planet. But as a brilliant post that struck out the word ‘migrant’ from a BBC news report and replaced it with ‘people’ — wherever it occurred in the report — explained, ultimately it’s a humanitarian issue. It’s a global crisis that will keep playing out in varying scales.
If strife is test of character, humanity has failed because faced with a global flood the people on dry land have chosen to close their gates. Throughout history, human beings have risked all to look for a better future for their children. Few with passports, many without. You can rationalise it and, of course, enforce it, but a border is a human construct. Someone drew an imaginary line and called it a country, or state, or town, or city.
And there’s no end to drawing borders, between India and Bangladesh, between South India and North India, between Maharashtra and UP, between your gated community wall and that slum beyond.
Germany has said it will accept 800,000 refugees this year. We have people who are frothing at the mouth about a Muslim takeover of India even though census on census data shows the Muslim growth rate is declining.

If Aylan were a Bangladeshi boy on the border with Assam or West Bengal, would you call him an infiltrator?
Demographers point to an exodus of people from India’s villages to the cities, which are bursting at the seams. The Maharashtra NGO we adopted from told us that many abandoned children are of ‘migrants’ from villages to the towns, from towns to the cities.
Meanwhile, alarm signals from the villages — the reason why millions of people live in subhuman conditions next to first-world luxuries — are lost in the neon and chrome of next big dam India.
We have Kashmiri Pandits, refugees in their own land. We are now even banning and hounding people who try to highlight stories from the Mahan depths of our country. And there are no dead Aylans washing up ashore, only eyes from beyond the car window at the traffic light. Eyes we have long evolved to ignore.
Mango Indian

Aurangzeb the Mogul King, was he a tyrant?

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Bhagvad Gita’s wisdom “Finding the truth is one’s own responsibility” turned my life around, when the awakening came, it was strengthened by what my Mother had said,” You alone are responsible for your actions (peace of mind), and for that, she said you’ve to question everything that is dished out to you. She dared, I am your mother and want the best for you, but when it is about the society you should find the truth on your own, including rejecting what I would say. She then concluded, truth sets you free from anger and ill-will. So her litmus test for truth is removal of hate, anger and prejudices in you. 

So, I am set out to find more about Aurangzeb, I read three different articles and the links are provided below. What I had read in the past was derogatory about Aurangzeb and I had concluded that he was a bigot, which I regret, as I am seeing a different picture of him now.  I want to understand the whole truth about Aurangzeb and remove my ill-will towards him if it were unjust.  I do not want to allow falsity make home in my heart. 

The first time, I have heard positive things about Aurangzeb were from Professor Shakil Samdani of Aligarh Muslim University.  He and I spoke at Asim Siddqui Memorial college in Badaun, and during our drive from Aligarh to Badaun, we had good conversation and was taken back to hear positive things about Aurangzeb, that he did not harass Hindus as was given to understand. 

Unless we question everything, we will be blinded by our hate and politics. Aurangzeb is perceived as a tyrant, even though to be fair to him, many Hindu’s cite his land grants to the Temples, Gurdwaras, the multi-faith Members in his governance, earning a living by writing and selling copies of Quran, and not using the public funds for his own.  However, he was surrounded by his Chamchas who did not dare tell him when he was wrong. 

In June this year, I wrote a piece on pulling down the confederate flag as it represented a sad part of our (American) history, and a few days later it was pulled down. Now, the name of the street in New Delhi meets a similar fate, Aurangzeb Road is changed to Abdul Kalam Road. Wrongfully or rightfully Aurangzeb represented a symbol of cruelty to fellow Indians who are Hindus.

We the Indians have collectively bonded with hate for the tyrants from the past, we had many rulers who were tyrants, but somehow, a few kings are remembered with intense dislike, two of them were Aurangzeb and Ghazni. They have been symbols of friction between Hindus and Muslims and have been invoked in communal riots. Of course, you will find at least two Kings in every religion who were tyrants towards their subjects whether they were Hindus or Buddhists.

A few Muslims and Hindus may disagree with me, and that I welcome it as a part of learning to respect the otherness of others in a democratic set up. I believe Muslims are sick and tired of being blamed for the acts of Aurangzeb; they are blamed as if they committed the crimes!  Even if I were a grandson of Aurangzeb, should I be harassed for his acts? Should your parents be persecuted for your acts? Aurangzeb was for himself, like all other Kings be it Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist or other kings and he does not represent a Muslim in a democracy.

I hope this is a catalytic event to rename the road from Aurangzeb to Abdul Kalam does well for the Hindu and Muslim psyche. I pray that those few Hindus who carried the burden find Mukti from it, and Muslims have nothing to lose from it.  

However, not the moderate majority of Hindus, but the extreme right wing among them needs to question if what has been told to them makes sense. Is there a joy in destroying things that bear Muslim names for them? Does Hinduism teach this? What is next? Is the RSS hell bent on messing up with our history, do they represent the values of Hinduism? Is Hinduism Hijacked? I know the feeling, the moderate Muslims are still fighting the tiny puny group of extremists among us, now the Hindus have that fight on their hands. Do they believe in live and let live or live with hatred for Muslims. Hinduism does not teach anything they are practicing. 

It would be bad for India, if the extremists among Hindus want a pound of flesh, and want to turn our history upside down.   My friend Dr. Zafar Iqbal pointed out in a conversation that Aurangzeb would not give in to the British, so the British resorted to divide and rule and figured out a way to place a wedge between Hindus and Muslims by writing falsities about Aurangzeb. 

I know the pattern well. In my Radio show on the issue of Ayodhya way back in 2003, I quoted a letter of India’s Governor General from the India Gazette in 1853 – he wrote to the bloody King in England that the Muslims and Hindus have built a Ram Chabootra and have started getting along again, if these groups joined, that spells the end of British Raj! (http://mikeghouse.net/Aboutus/Dallas-Observer-on-MikeGhouse.htm )

  
However, together as Indian Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhist and others, we need to preserve our heritage and faithfully guard our history. We must remove the hate for each other and live like equals – that is the right dharma. 

Let this change of name bring relief to our Hindu friends and remove apprehension for Muslims, that they can live freely without being blamed for Aurangzeb and no more griping and no more flipping the world upside down. Let’s get it over and move forward. 

Articles worth reading:


1. Aurangzeb vs Kalam, full article at http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2015/09/aurangzeb-vs-kalam-indian-express.html
2. Was Aurangzeb really a bigot and tormentor of Hindus? A fair assessment by Hindu Scholars : http://caravandaily.com/portal/so-was-aurangzeb-really-a-bigot-and-tormentor-of-hindus-2/

3. Why we should oppose Aurangzebing of Aurangzebhttp://thewire.in/2015/08/30/why-we-should-oppose-the-aurangzebing-of-aurangzeb-9549/

4. Delhi was inspired by history and not bigotry
http://www.firstpost.com/india/renaming-aurangzeb-road-after-apj-abdul-kalam-new-delhi-was-inspired-by-history-not-bigotry-2416606.html
4. Erasing History
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/renaming-aurangzeb-road-after-apj-abdul-kalam/article7604307.ece
5.  RSS to push renaming the roads named after Mughals
http://m.thehindu.com/news/national/rss-to-push-for-renaming-roads-named-after-mughals/article7601138.ece
6.  Why Target Aurangzeb alone Mr. Kejriwal?
http://www.rediff.com/news/column/why-target-aurangzeb-alone-mr-kejriwal/20150901.htm
Mike Ghouse is a motivational speaker committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His information is in 63 links a www.MikeGhouse.netand his exclusive writings are at TheGhousediary.com 

Mike Ghouse speech in Boston at AFMI’s 25th Silver Jubilee Anniversary conference

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My speech in Boston at AFMI’s 25th Silver Jubilee
Celebrations.
Its’ a two part speech, first was pluralistic greetings and the
second was the motivational uplifting talk. 
I appreciate Mr. Frank Islam for making this possible, thank you Frank.

Pluralism Greetings

How many of you agree that you see problems between husband and wife, parents
and kids, families, friends, communities, societies and nations?


What is the single biggest
reason for that?
We don’t know each other!

And whatever we learn about the others are myths, in case of communities, we
paint all Muslims as one person as if all Muslims will do exactly the same….
all Hindus are behaving the same, or Jews should not be trusted… None of this
is factual.   And this myth building is
the singular cause for the problems and distrust we encounter every day.

What do we need to do about changing this?  Let’s take 2 minutes to do the first thing
first – Greetings.

Have you been to a neighborhood, where you felt apprehensive walking there by
yourselves, among those strangers!  Guess what, the other person feels the same way. Have you
experienced saying a simple “Hi” will change the dynamics? Puts you and the other person at ease?

How many of you have experienced that?

Indeed, when you say Namaste to that stranger, what you are saying is hey man
don’t run, we don’t need to be afraid of each other. Namaste in its broadest meaning is let the
good in you connect with the good in me. 
The Abrahimic faiths use the words Shalom, Salaam and peace.

When I say Salaam, Shalom or peace to you, what I am saying is May God shower
peace on you, and when you respond back, you are also saying may you be soaked
in peace. 

The greetings contains three elements;

1. Acknowledging the stranger
2. A desire to connect
3. Possible friendship.

When we are drenched in peace, then when we think, talk and act peace, and it should give
birth to peaceful acts and talks.

I hope we realize the greetings as an ice breaker and a connector. 

Let me greet all of you in at least 9 different religious greetings, you are
welcome to repeat after me quietly, loudly or you simply don’t have to if you
are not ready for it.

American – Aho piva (Cheyenne)

Baha’i – Allah-u-Abha 
Buddhist – Buddha Namo
Christian – Peace to you
Hindu – Namaste
Jain – Jai Jinendra
Jewish – Shalom
Muslim – Salaam
Sikh – Satsri Akaal
Wicca – blessed be…  Hail to Mother Earth 
Zoroastrian – Hamazor Hama Asho bed
 
A day will come, soon, when these phrases will becomes synonyms and used interchangeably. 

Thank you


Uplifting Motivational talk.

Let’s talk for a few minutes about building cohesive societies, that is
societies where no human has to feel tense, alienated, apprehensive or fearful
of others.

God says he has created all of us from one single couple; a metaphor to mean we
all had a common beginning. Then he says he made us in to different tribes, communities and
nations and by extension, different religions. 

Guess what, he created each one of us to be unique beings with our own thumb
print, eye print, DNA and even taste buds. 

Like a mother knows her children well, the creator knows us well.  He also says that he could have created all
of us alike but chose to make us unique individuals.  I am sure the police appreciate that!

You know God could have opened a factory, and specified that all men should be
6’ tall, 2” long noses, 34” long arms… and women to weigh 100 pounds with
standard statistics… and produced 7 billion of us out exactly to the precise
specifications… but he chose to make us different, each one of us is our own model.

That uniqueness gives birth to conflict… like a mother knows her kids, God knows
his creation well and offers the solutions! The best ones among you are those who learn about each
other. The emphasis is knowing each other.

Knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and
appreciation of the otherness of others. If we can learn to respect the
otherness of others, and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us,
then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. Indeed that is the definition of
pluralism.

Imagine if Dr. Suhaib Siddiqi decides to take us on a bus tour to
Martha’s vineyards,  when all of us sit
in the bus with the idea of making the trip, 
one of the things that our driver will make sure is that all the ten
tires have equal air in them to ensure a safe journey. Don’t you all feel
comfortable?

Now imagine each tire to represent a religious, racial or an economic group…
and let’s say three tires have low air in it….and the 7 others are doing well.


Can the 7 tires tell the three tires, “Hey look, you Muslim tire, Black
tire or Dalit tire, seven of us have worked hard to reach this level, we are not going
to give you a hand out, you have to fill up yourselves and act as equal? 

How many of you are familiar with that dialogue?

Can the tires fill themselves up, if they could have, they would have, since
they are handicapped we have to give them a hand to bring them onto a level
playing field, by lifting others,
all of us are lifted and the Bus Journey becomes safe and surer than before.
All of us benefit from it. When all the tires have ample air, is our journey, the journey of India be safe, sound, secure and sure?

How many of you want to be those lifters?

Now let me ask some of such lifters
to stand up as I call their name – Dr. Nakadar – what a great man he is, AFMI
was his concept and his idea, and the group together has uplifted so many
children adding the prosperity to India, adding a new consumer in the middle
class market and giving a boost to the producer of Goods. More employment and more prosperity.

May I ask Frank and Debbie Islam to rise?

Frank is
another blessed rich man, whom God has blessed the ability to make big money
and a bigger heart to uplift more people and add to the prosperity of
India.  Do you remember Muhammad Ali,
Frank is like him in so many ways, he is bold, and takes up the challenge and
meets it.  He is our champion!
Bill Gates is one rich man who led the way in changing the world who donated
bulk of his wealth to uplift the world. Did you know, the more millionaires he
made out of his employees the richer he got. 
He is a great role model.

Dr Suhaib Siddiqi, Akram Syed, Frank Islam, Syed Ali Rizvi, Mitha, Naved Syed, Mike Ghouse, Dr. Nagama

Can I ask
some of the Uplifters to join us in standing up… Dr. Sardar Aziz, Mr. Ali
Quraishi, Dr. Samia and Mustafa Raheem, Dr. Mohamed Ameer Rana, Dr. Iqbal
Ahmed, Dr. Aslam Abdullah, Naved Syed, Akram Syed

What Dr. Nakadar, Frank Islam  and these
men and women, and many of you have done is amazing!  You are blessed to enjoy the fruits of your
charity while you are alive, what a joy it is.

Now, I ask each one of you who has donated a Dollar or more to uplift others to
please stand up.

Let’s give a big round of applause to all these men and women!

When I was president of the North Texas Cricket Association, I
went to a gentleman to host a dinner for our group, he said it would cost
$18/person, and I asked him to do it for $15 and $3 per person would be his
contribution… I did not even complete the sentence, he screamed at me… No
charity, I have worked hard to earn this money, I am not going to give charity
to any one… 

This is true story, three months from then, he was in a road accident and the
fence board went thru his face and died on the spot. When I heard that,  my
instant response was not good… then I held myself and prayed for him.  What happened after that? His partners robbed
his wealth, his kids squandered the money… he did not get a chance to enjoy the
life and his money went to waste.  There
are many stories like that.

Mani Rahman, my friend in Dallas passed away three weeks ago, a day before I
left to Washington; he insisted we have lunch together….  He agreed to join and contribute towards my work
after three years!  However he was a rich
man and had a will and his money will not go to waste.  He donated generously to different events.

The last one Mani donated was $250 to produce a video on Pluralism in Islam, he
got to see the video a month before he passed away in Costa Rica and sent me a
text that,  this is the kind of work he wants to support.  I am glad he saw the fruits of his donation. Here is the video about Pluralism in Islam, if you wish to watch – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Tyt7raIXM

How many of you have lost a friend or family member in the last year?
Did they leave a will?  Please consider
buying a life insurance and donating a big part of it towards uplifting
deserving Children thru AFMI and other foundations.  Insha Allah, I will write an article on this
topic, as I had promised to my late friend Mani Rahman, who was an Insurance
agent. I wrote a tribute to him.  This is
another way of continuing your good work. First you enjoy while you are alive,
and then your soul will be blessed for years to come.

Friends, if you have the money, you are a blessed one, your kids don’t need
your money, they will make a heck of a lot more than you….  Uplift others. Donate the money to your
favorite Charity including AFMI. Look at Dr. Nakadar, Frank Islam, and many of you who are seeing the good your donations are doing.

Tomorrow when you wake up, you will thank God for doing the right thing.

God bless America, God bless India and God bless each one of us

Say Amen!

Added: Congratulations to Frank Islam, he was honored with the Prestige of India award at the convention. Details at: http://muslimobserver.com/afmi-renews-commitment-to-excellence/

Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism, Islam, India, Israel-Palestine, Politics and other
issues of the day. He is a human rights activist, and his book standing up for
others will be out soon for others will be out soon, and has published over 3000
articles on the subjects. He is producing a full feature film ” Sacred” and it
is about changing perceptions about Muslims and Muslims adopting the non-violent
principles in dealing with conflicts. He has appeared over 100 times on Fox News
with Sean Hannity and on syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news
papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is
listed in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at
www.TheGhousediary.com – Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and
offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

Mike Ghouse honored, he is Dr. Mike Ghouse now

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Mike Ghouse honored | TheGhousediary.com 

The Grace International Seminary awarded the Doctor of Divinity to Mike Ghouse – an honorary Doctorate for his work on Pluralism. Thanks to Dr. Karen Hollie-Thibodeuax the Chancellor the Seminary, and Bishop Thibodeuax and Mark Hernandez for facilitating this happening.

Mike is considered an authority on Pluralism. Pluralism
is a brand new discipline in the academic world and is yet to be taught as a
subject. The course material would be unique, as it will focus on its effect on
different aspects of life in building cohesive societies, societies where no one
has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. Mike defines pluralism as simply an attitude respecting the otherness of others, and
accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of his creation. 

Mike
has a dream, a dream that one day in our life time; we all will wake up to a
cohesive world, where no human has to live in tension, apprehension or fear of
the other, nor should one feel alienated. Indeed, that was the dream of all the
spiritual masters of the world, and that is what the creator wants; all pieces
of his creation to function coherently. 
Our
founding fathers believed, “That all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these
are Life,
Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
And that dream was refreshed by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mike is a
Pluralist to the core, and believes that if we can respect the otherness of
others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of  the 7 billion humans on the planet
earth.  Most of the problems in the world
exists because what we learn about others is negative and build myths about the
other.

Mike believes the solutions likes in a simple “knowing each
other”, knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and
appreciation of a different point of view. Mike has a national presence on TV, Radio,Print and the Internet Media. Mike has appeared in over 100 shows with Sean Hannity on Fox News and over 50 times on nationally syndicated radio shows.  Fox News, Syndicated Radio shows, Dallas Morning News,
Huffington Post, and a variety of News Papers here and abroad for giving him a
strong National and local presence. 


He has
 written nearly 3000 articles, and bulk of them are published in Dallas Morning
News, Huffington Post, New Age Islam, Op-ed News , Arab Daily News, Arab News,
Saudi Gazette, and several other News papers and periodicals around the world.
Of the 2800, 1000+ were on Islam, 1000+ on Pluralism and the rest were on
politics, India, Pakistan, Israel-Palestine, Motivational and other
topics.

Currently Mike is working on  making a film based on a compelling
true story of building a cohesive America, and writing a book on human rights –
“Standing up for others”- standing up from Atheists to Zoroastrians and every
one in between.

Please watch the 10 Minutes trailer of the documentary
in making https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXsTo4VYh8

Mike
is appreciated around the world; indeed, he has over 10 Million views of his
profile at Google and 15 Million on his website.  https://plus.google.com/108969690090944956820/about


God
has blessed him with an aptitude for mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill
in everything he does,  that is think, talk and act, and he has been a life time
volunteer, and it is a joy to maintain a healthy balance between earning a
living and serving the public.

As
they say, Pluralism runs in his veins.  The Grace International Seminary awarded the Doctor of Divinity – an honorary Doctorate for my work on Pluralism. Thanks to Dr. Karen Hollie-Thibodeuax the Chancellor the Seminary, and Bishop Thibodeuax and Mark Hernandez my buddy for facilitating this happening.

You can Google – Pluralism Speaker
The old profile – http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp


These pictures were taken from  cell phone, professional pictures will be added later on.

 

Friday Sermon in Cambridge, MA by Dr. Aslam Abdullah

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FRIDAY SERMON IN CAMBRIDGE, MA | www.TheGhouseDiary.com 

What an inspirational sermon! Dr. Aslam Abdullah’s sermon had a universal message, meaning, whether you are Muslim or not, you would appreciate its content. He talked about the principle items Prophet Muhammad talked about in his last sermon –and had asked his followers to hang on to; equality of humankind, respect for women, non discrimination based on race or color of the skin, being just to fellow humans, accountability of one’s actions, and no one will bear others burden,  human rights, taking care of the neighbors and all of that stuffed with mercy and kindness.

He questioned, why none of the 56 Muslim majority nations have not incorporated those principles in their constitution, and yet call themselves Islamic? Then he said the declaration of human rights by the United Nations in 1948 and our constitution have those principles embedded in them.
I will ask him to at least write down the outline of his sermon if not, the whole sermon. It is worth listening to. The audience was in awe!  Rarely do people hear practical sermons that can change their lives in relation to fellow human beings.  The rationality and universality of Islam he talks is appealing.

This is the kind of sermon people want  to hear, it will open up the minds and truly understand the purpose of Islam or any religion for that matter – to create cohesive societies where no one has to live in fear of the other based on justice and mercy. 

We have to take care of our life here on earth and be just to it, life is an Amana ( trust) God has endowed us with, and we cannot sacrifice it for the Akhira (hereafter). Our problem is we fail to live a life for the sake of hereafter that is wrong. We have to be just to both.

The sermon and the discussions following that gave me a lot of hope and strength to my belief that a majority of people are moderates; they want to get along with all and live their lives and let others live theirs.  One of these days, we will do a survey of sermons as to which one’s were most remembered and what appealed to them. I bet with prejudice that sermons that respect all of humanity would be the most valued ones.

Dr. Aslam Abdullah, myself and several others are in Boston for the AFMI (American Federation of Muslims from India) Conference. Dr. Suhaib Siddiqi is our host and drove us to the Cambridge Mosque, one of the oldest Mosques, with us were Dr. Razia Ahmed, Dr. Iqbal Ahmed and Dr. Marryam Ahmed. We had some good discussions while driving back and forth and having the lunch.
I missed much of the sermon as we had parking issues, we had dropped Dr. Abdullah and and our friends at the mosque and went to park the car a mile plus away.  Dr. Suhaib Siddiqi is another enlightened Muslim that faces problems now and then.  After the sermon, he went to talk to the organizer of the mosque about the parking issue we had, the guy at the parking lot was rude, he did not allow us to park the car, even for the sermon giver, and we had only 1o minutes to start the sermon.  While he was sharing it, that rude man came and nearly shouted at him that he was a not a Muslim and is a hypocrite and the organizer should not listen to him… … what?

What a shame, a few Muslims really push God aside and become God for the minute and pass judgments about others, a right only God has, it is time to push the right but new understanding in Islam – that is to declare any one less than a Muslim is a great sin of shirk- associating with God or usurping God’s power. I demand any Muslim who declares other Muslim a Kafir to produce the contract from God that he was appointed as God’s deputy, assistant or associate, if not, they need not talk.  Takfiriyat is wrong and must be rejected, it is an idea whose time has come – more at http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2015/05/shia-sunni-takfiris-not-acceptable.html

Dr. Aslam Abdullah and I think and write alike on most of the issues. It was a joy for me to hear him for the first time.  I follow him on facebook for a number of years but today was he first day I actually met him. I have given similar sermons at the Unitarian Universalist Churches all over Dallas area, by the way, I fit in the mould of UU, as Islam is similar to me to create a world of harmony and peace.

Before I moved to Washington DC, I had planned on delivering Friday Sermons and have written several Sermons (need to find where they are) based on the following write ups:
1. Connecting with the Prophet –

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/how-i-connect-with-prophet-muhammad_b_2547782.html
2. American Muslim Agenda –
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/american-muslim-agenda-a-_b_5528706.html3. Fixing the Muslim Mistakes
http://nabsites.net/demo/fixing-muslim-mistakes/

4. Is Akhira the root of Muslim Problem?http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2014/07/religious-pluralism-versus-intolerance.html


Articles on Quranic verses at www.Quraantoday.com
Civic  Islam at www.WorldMuslimCongress.com
Sharia – www.ShariaLaws.com
Blasphemy   – http://BlasphemyLaws.blogspot.com
Apostasy – http://apostasyandIslam.blogspot.com
Profile – https://plus.google.com/108969690090944956820/about



Mike Ghouse is a motivational speaker, thinker and a writer and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him at www.MikeGhouse.net and most of his writings are at www.TheGhouseDiary.com

President Carter – American Muslims send their best wishes to President Carter

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American Muslims send their best wishes to President Carter | This was released on 8/21 as a press release:

We send our respectful wishes to President Carter and pray for his speedy recovery. We also pray and wish him a longer life, and hope he can witness the fruition of his work that he started for lasting peace in the Middle East. He is a genuine peace maker and a blessing to the world – and the true earner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
http://news.yahoo.com/jimmy-carter-discuss-cancer-diagnosis-publicly-084102065.html
On August 20, 2015 – President Jimmy Carter announced that his cancer has spread to his brain and doctors in Atlanta found four “very small spots” of melanoma. Carter, who turns 91 in October, started receiving radiation yesterday.
Carter is one of the presidents who remained active with the American people building homes for the poor through the Habitat for Humanity. He was instrumental in eradication of debilitating diseases in Africa like the guinea worm. The President traveled around the world monitoring democratic process taking roots, and watching the genuine voting process.
He is the most gracious man; he kept smiling and dedicated his life for humanity. May God bless him a long life, and let the humanity benefit from his good work.
American Muslim Institution, a pro-active voice for American Muslims.www.AmericanMuslimInstitution.org

Added from News:

Crowd packs former President Carter’s Sunday school after his cancer spreads

Reuters | August 23, 2015 http://www.religionnews.com/2015/08/23/crowd-packs-former-president-carters-sunday-school-cancer-spreads/?President Jimmy Carter teaching Sunday School at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga. Photo courtesy of Frank Kavanaugh

ATLANTA  (Reuters) After announcing that cancer had spread to his brain, former President Jimmy Carter had to teach an extra Bible class at his rural Georgia church on Sunday (Aug. 23) to accommodate well wishers.
Carter, 90, a lifelong Baptist and church deacon, has taught Sunday school for decades, and the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, is used to a throng.
The church’s website asks people to line up before 9 a.m., and attend an orientation before the 10 a.m. class.
The theme of the lesson was love, Carter told the 300 people who filled the church’s sanctuary, after briefly alluding to his health.
“We are studying the most important aspect of Christianity,” he said, and read from the Sermon on the Mount in the Book of Matthew: “I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
He mentioned his conflict resolution work, including the Camp David peace agreement and negotiating a nuclear program with North Korea, and said mediation can help resolve any conflict, be it between two countries or two people.
A smiling, comfortable-looking Carter, in a dark jacket and a bolo tie, spoke from the floor at the front of the room.
Carter taught a second Bible class before returning to the church sanctuary to pose for photos with people for more than a half an hour.
Pictures on the Atlanta Journal Constitution and on social media showed dozens of people lining up outside the church in the rural town of Plains, where Carter lives with his wife Rosalynn. One held a fan with Carter’s photograph on it.
The first person lined up at midnight, local television reported.
Due to the security detail for the former president, everyone was searched going into the church.
Carter began radiation treatment for his cancer on Thursday (Aug. 20), a week after announcing he had undergone surgery to remove a tumor from his liver.
Carter served as president from 1977 to 1981 and became active in humanitarian causes and monitoring elections after leaving office. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
(Reporting  by Mike Cooper and Fiona Ortiz.)
———–Mike Ghouse

India’s Thaali on her 69th Anniversary of Freedom.

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Happy Independence day to Indians | MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com

My dear Fellow Indians, 

As we proudly celebrate the 69th anniversary of
our independence, we must have a full Thaali in front of us to know our
motherland sufficiently. It must have every ingredient in it from khatta,
meetha, peekha, teekha, khara, patla, gada, sukha, kuchcha and kadva.

Thaali is a balanced plated meal with every ingredient in it; Sour, Sweet,
saltless, tasteless, hot, liquidy, pasty, dry, wet and bitter respectively as
the words in Hindi-Urdu or Urdu-Hindi translate it.

What does that mean? It simply means we have to live with good,
bad and the ugly in each one of us in different proportions.
First, let’s deal with the good.  Like all of you, I am proud of my motherland
India, and my homeland America, both are God’s own countries, let me tell you
why.
We are a full representation of the
universe. As a nation we are made up of Adivasis, Atheists, Bahais, Bos,
Buddhists, Christians, Dalits, Hindus, Jains, Jewish, Muslim, Sikhs, Tribal’s,
Zoroastrians and every possible grouping.
 
Our Motherland is represented by
every race, nationality, ethnicity, language, culture and religion. We see God
as one, none and many; and in every form; male, female, genderless and
non-existent, being and non-being, nameless and with innumerable names.
We are proud of our nation, it’s a beacon of freedom to the third
world, where people mind their own business and live their own lives with free
will.
We have to be grateful to our founding fathers, each one of them
for going to jail and getting beat up, but worked for creating a better world
for us.

Every day when I open my blog about India, I salute their utterly unselfish
valor. I am not listing their names deliberately, as I don’t want to miss any,
there were so many of them, but I request you to write the names that come to
your mind in the comment section below, by next year, I hope we will have a
complete list to work from. Believe me, I can write the names, I have passed my
IAS and I know my India well. 

After the independence, we were blessed with a visionary leader Pundit
Jawaharlal Nehru for nurturing and delivering a pluralistic India to our
generation (born after independence). Dr. Ambedkar gave us a solid constitution
that will carry us far out into the next millennium; Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
laid a great foundation for education with the IIT’s that India is cherishing
now. Sardar Patel, the iron man kept the nation together.  I shudder at the thought of so many other
nations that have gone haywire. Despite Gandhi being shot by an extremist, we did not run amuck, and did not go the wrong way; thanks to Nehru and Patel for saving the nation and putting it on the right path.  The two legged balanced path of social cohesion and economic prosperity.  I salute all the four and others who have
shaped India.

Please remember this cycle; Nehru sought help from America to
upgrade the steel plants and our infrastructure, at that time, the Americans
thought we were not capable of handling the new technology.  That is when the Soviet Union jumped in and
became a partner in our progress. When the Union broke, America was ready to
accept India as equal partner and here we are today. Prime Ministers Morarji
Desai, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh have delivered a
capitalistic, ready to flourish India to Prime Minister Modi.

Modi gave a lot of hope for change and I hope we realize that, however, his
eerie silence on issues is tearing the social cohesion apart, causing the
nation to be a one legged nation.  We
cannot be blind to it, we must acknowledge it, and all of us must join together
and ask him to restore the social dharma back again. If Modi speaks, people
will listen. He needs to speak tough and take us back to  “live and let live” philosophy of
India.

My request to Modi is to watch for the chumchas, those who assure
him that everything is alright, but everything is not alright, true followers
will tell him like it is and not let him fall in to the abyss.

If you are a genuine supporter of Modi, become his critic, tolerate criticism
from others, and help him fix the problems rather than bulldoze them or remain
silent. Demand the release of Teesta Salvad, a great patriot of India. I would
praise Modi, if he stops his chumchas from shutting a critical voice of the
nation. I will guarantee you this, without the voices of Teesta, democracy will
be the loser and our freedom would be the victim.  Remember Emergency rule?

We must commit ourselves to genuinely free ourselves from
pettiness, free ourselves from our prejudices towards fellow beings, free
ourselves from treating a fellow Indian less than ourselves and we must
certainly shelve the arrogance that God favors us and not others. 

We must also commit to defend the freedom of others, we must cherish the
otherness of others and let everyone freely breath, drink, eat, wear or believe
whatever suits them, and crush the thoughts of forcing others to behave
the way we want them to behave. No one shall be a slave in free India.

An Indian is an Indian is an Indian, period.
For over 5000 years, India has been a
beacon of pluralism – it has embraced Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Baha’i and
Zoroastrianism to include in the array of the indigenous religions; Hinduism,
Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.  
We may want to consciously start
thinking and acting as one people, one people within a nation and a community
and one people globally.

Our combined philosophies believe in one world; Hinduism describes the world as
Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum, the whole world is one family, the idea of Ek Onkar (one)
in Sikhism, and idea of one family that we are all created from the same couple
as Quran puts it and Jesus embraced every one regardless of who any one is…
similar philosophies are grounded in all our religions.  

A few don’t follow their own heritage and resort to thievery, loot, murder,
terrorism, rioting, rapes, infanticide and other evils that destroy the
fabric of the society,  but a majority of every group goes about
their own way, living their life with struggles and ease and don’t even bother
others. We should build upon the 99% of population and not on the less than 1%
that does not follow any principles.

On this day, and every day from here
forward, make a pledge to yourselves to talk about in terms of us Indians – and
not Malyalee, Gujarati, Bengali…. or Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isaee. Don’t expect
others to jump and say the same, give them the time and if you are
consistent for at least a year, you will see others emulating you.

Indian democracy is a shining example
to the world, where the people have peacefully transferred the powers.
 
Through the years we have expressed the highest degree of maturity on handling
extreme situations; the more divergent opinions we hear, the larger our heart
grows, the bigger our embrace would be and we can cushion more differences.
Let’s continue to honor the concept that there is always another side to the
story, as finding the truth is our own responsibility. I am proud of my
heritage and am proud to be an Indian-American.

Click and enjoy:

 

Jai Hind

Mike Ghouse

http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/

Mike is a speaker, thinker, writer,
pluralist,  TV-Radio commentator and a human rights activist committed to
building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the
day. His info in 63 links at MikeGhouse.net and writings at TheGhouseDiary.com

Happy birthday to Pakistan | Happy Independence day

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Happy Independence day to all the Pakistanis | TheGhousediary.com
67 Years ago today, Pakistan was born. Indeed it was created out of the
British India on August 14, 1947 and then on the next day, August 15, 1947, India celebrated her independence.   



As a Muslim
Pluralist, I have always worked on the concept that we all belong to the same
family born from Adam and Eve, and that God has chosen for each one of us to be
born in a different communities, nations, religions and races.   

Back in 1993 (to 2000), I started a Newspaper called Asian News, with a page
dedicated to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

In 1996, I started Asian News Radio, the first commercial radio in Dallas which
continues today as Fun Asia Radio.  After 2000, I did different programs,
and one of them was during the month of August, every morning 7-8 AM from the 1st through
the 15th of the month.    


Each day my team shared a different aspect of the subcontinent from the
cultural, geographic, ethnic, cuisine, clothing, cultural, singing to politics to
national heroes of all the three nations, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh with
identical history. I had a great team to do the full hour of program with
Sandhya doing shehar ka chakkar, Tamim doing one thing, Gayathri focusing on
literature and Najma playing the songs.

What remains nostalgic to me was August 14th and 15th –
on those two days, I took live calls asking Indians to sing the Pakistani
national songs on Pakistan Day, and it was amazing so many Indians had learned
the songs, and vice versa happened on the 15th, our Pakistani
friends sang Indian national songs. What a joy it was to hear the goodwill
sprouting from the lips of fellow Subcontinentians. 

The Partition was difficult
and intense – with people moving from one land to the other and vice versa,
perhaps it was the greatest human migration in a single month ever. Of course
it came with massive suffering – people killing and butchering each other on
both sides. Unless we both learn to acknowledge that the suffering and
infliction of misery was mutual, we will continue to harbor ill-will and die with it.

I urge my fellow Subcontinentians, whether they are Pakistani-Americans, Indian
Americans, or Bangladeshi Americans to acknowledge the suffering but never
reduce or discount other’s suffering, and please do not inject ill-will in the
hearts of your children towards the other. Some of our kids may buy our baggage
and continue to hold ill-will even here in America, but most kids reject our
hatred for the other. I had to work hard with my Son when was mistreated by the
Pakistan kids in the mall, I am glad he does not hold any bias towards Pakistani
people despite the treatment he got. Some people will live with hate and
ill-will until they die and never receive the true freedom.  Its time we
do the right thing. 

On
my part, I am blessed to have so many friends in all spheres of life including Pakistanis, I am a life member of the Pakistani Society of North Texas, and almost joined the
Pakistan American Association of Texas before I moved to
Washington. I also run the Dallas Pakistanis yahoogroups for the last 14 years,
with nearly 1000 members, it has been the only reliable source of information
for the community. Now, there are other groups and glad to see them all thrive.  

Thank God for blessing with a firm belief that we are all from Adam and Eve, and that I
have no barrier between me and another human. No barrier at all. Indeed, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) asserted that no human is superior to the other in his last sermon, and I believe in it whole heartedly. 

The most important thing is
listening – I have listened to the tragic stories from several of my Pakistani
friends the torture and butchery they withstood during the partition, and have heard first hand from
many of my Indian friends how their sisters and mothers were raped in front of
them… The story is same on both sides, man becomes animal in distress, religions does not matter to the beast in those moments of insecurity. 
On this independence day, may
I ask you to acknowledge the atrocities Indians have committed
on you, and forgive them. You will find Mukti, Nijaat, Nirvana and salvation in
it. When our hearts are filled with goodwill, everything is possible.

May I also ask you to stand up for every Pakistani, no matter what faith, race
or class he or she belongs to.  If you have friends from Christian, Hindu, Sikh,
Parsee, Jewish, Shia, Ahmadi, Ismaili, Bohra and other communities, call them
and wish them Azaadi Mubarak, and let them know that you care about them, as well as willing to defend their God given right to be who they are.
Don’t worry if others don’t do it, its your own conscience you have to honor.
Just do it and if you have the time, please write to me the goodness you felt
in you.

Please see the movie “Bajrang Bhaijan” -it is a beautiful movie about a Pakistan girl lost in India and how she was brought back to Pakistan by an Indian who had nothing to do with Muslims. Here is my review http://nabsites.net/demo/bajrangi-bhaijan-oscar-contending-movie/ 
I wish a very happy
independence day to both the Pakistani and Indian friends. As an Indian, I will
write and if possible speak some where about India. 
Jinnah’s speech on August 14, 1947:http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/legislation/constituent_address_11aug1947.html
Pakistan Paindabad !


Please check about what I am doing in Washington now.  – http://nabsites.net/demo/a-personal-note-about-my-work-in/

Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. All about him is listed in several links atwww.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.comand 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.