South Asia Citizens Web

A pamphlet by Ghulam Hyder on the Politics of Jamaat-e-Islami-e-Hind was published by the Communist Party of India in 1974. This document has long been out of print and has been digitised by sacw.net for non commercial and educational use.

Sadness gripped me when I heard of Prof Bipan Chandra’s passing on August 30, 2014. Before it could settle in, however, images took over, memories from the 1970s when I was a student and Bipan saheb a teacher at the Centre for Historical Studies (CHS), JNU.

We seem headed for government and governance by innuendo. The PM is silent when he should speak and speaks when he should remain silent. These straws in the wind have not gone unnoticed. The Modi mystique is unravelling even before the 100-day “celebrations” of his regime. The nation’s 5.7 per cent growth rate in the quarter ended June is welcome but derives from decisions, emerging trends and impulses that essentially belong to the earlier UPA era, whatever the government might claim.

While elsewhere the ISIS factor is trying to gain legitimacy by the Prophet, in India, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has begun pedaling the theory that Maulana Abul Kalam Azad stood for an Islamic Caliphate. This is a dishonest and devious attempt not only to defend a pernicious ideology but also to paint a man, known for his Indian nationalistic credentials, his role in Indian freedom struggle, his support for social democracy and his staunch opposition to even Islamic Khilafat.

Civil society groups in Pakistan appealed for an end to confrontation and called for dialogue to protect democracy. Posted are media reports about this and also specific proposals for electoral reforms