Hindu Vivek Kendra
A RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE PROMOTION OF HINDUTVA
   
 
 
«« Back
Ram row raked up in Pak

Ram row raked up in Pak

Author:
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: November 19, 2000

Barely a month after the controversial October 3 visit to India by a three-member delegation of the Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) and earlier statements by the party's supremo, Altaf Hussain, the party secretary general, Dr Imran Farooq, has stoked the flames again by describing "Ram" as a great name in the history of world religions.

The Mohajir leader made his remarks on November 8 while addressing the party's study circle meeting at its international secretariat in London.  The topic of the meeting was "Religions of the World and its Comparative Studies".

To a question as to how one can define the character of "Ram," which appears in the drama serial "Ramayan", currently being televised on India's Zee Television, Dr Imran is reported to have said that "Ram" was a great name in the history of the religions of the world.

The MQM has, in fact, hosted details of Dr Imran's lecture on the party's official website.  Dr.  Imran reportedly said that one could learn more about the qualities, reverence and personality of Ram from the famous Urdu poem by Allama Iqbal, captioned "Ram".  An outcry has, however, begun in Pakistan among the conservatings, condemning Imran.

Quoting an unidentified analyst, Pakistani weekly "The Friday Times" says" "Ram is a great name in the Hindu religion.  That is what Iqbal's poem also celebrates.  However, it is a fact that Ram is a mythical figure.  The name also evokes bitter memories of 1992 when Hindu mobs in Ayodhya razed the Babri Mosque to the ground to build a temple for Ram.  Therefore, one can read meanings into Imran Farooq's mention of Ram.  Why he has chosen to do that and what are his motives behind referring to the figure at this point in time.  But it serves no purpose really.  Therefore, the government would do good to stay away from all this,"

The weekly says those, familiar with the Muttahida's politics view Dr Imran's November 8 lecture in the backdrop of a recent visit to India by a three-member MQM delegation which received genrous attention from the Indian media.  Headed by Muhammad Anwer, the party's chief organiser in the United Kingdom, the delegation members openly accused Pakistan army of sponsoring religious extremists in a desperate attempt to contain the MQM and other regional forces in the country.

During their India visit, the Mutahidda leaders, including the party's deputy convener and former federal minister, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, had cautioned India and other neighbours of Pakistan against the consequences of a probable takeover of the nuclear weapons by religious fundamentalists groups.

"An unstructured Pakistan with its nuclear capability and the nuclear button in the hands of Punjabi extremists (with the fervour of jihad) would not even take a second to push the nuclear button in desperation," Siddiqui had said.  The delegation members had claimed that over 70 per cent of Pakistan army was influenced by religious extremists.

"All over their barracks, you can see jihadi slogans like 'jihad fi sabi lillah' (we shall win the holy war), written on their walls,' Siddiqui had said in one of the addresses in Delhi.

It may be mentioned here that MQM supremo Altaf Hussain had raked up a controversy criticising the two-nation theory in London's Acton Hall as he had departed from his usual Urdu to declare in slow, measured English.  "The division of the Indian subcontinent was the biggest blunder in the history of mankind."
 


Back                          Top

«« Back
 
 
 
  Search Articles
 
  Special Annoucements