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The report is good and exhaustive, but the presentation you have made of it is utterly wrong, provocative and misleading.
On reading the report one can conclude that the imam's perspective was a larger one and he wasn't either quoting Musharraf or making a statement on his behalf against the Gujarat government. He was summarising the problem today and it is a fact that Gujarat's incidents are deplorable by one and all.
Nonetheless, the imam also pointed out the ISI's role and Musharraf's inability to control militant outfits. Your headline is more masala than journalistic reporting. You could've said, 'Shahi Imam deplores ISI', which would have been closer to the details you have mentioned in the story itself. Please do serious reporting, or stick to email, astrology and games. Gaurav Mathur
Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 06:05:31 +0100 (BST) Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
I fail to understand why a religious extremist like Bukhari is given so much space by the media! People like him deserve nothing but a blanket ban by the media, so that their hate-filled irrational bakwas is restricted to themselves.
What reports like these do is make sane people believe that most Muslims think like Bukhari. People like Bukhari don't represent anyone but a lopsided, brain-dead, power-hungry bunch of fanatics that are thankfully still a minority in India. But if more and more space is given to such idiots, we sure will have more fanatics around us. Just unplug him, and his counterparts like Ashok Singhal. Amit Phansalkar
Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 21:27:42 -0700 Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
If Muslims have no rights in India, how is it that this imam is able to express his opinion freely? Goda S Shailam
Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:52:55 +0530 Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
Bukhari does not realise that in this democracy, Muslims have been given the right to follow their own law instead of being forced into following a single federal law. He forgets that time and again, Muslims have been honoured for their specific contributions in specific fields, be it sports, the arts or fine arts. He forgets that a majority of Muslims find the concept of family planning uncomfortable and unacceptable -- whew!
One could go on, but so far as there are self-styled supporters of the Muslim cause like Mr Bukhari, the unity and integrity of the country will always be in danger. However, the likes of Mr Bukhari are likely to get rejected by Muslims themselves in the long run, just as most Hindus do not agree with what the militant Bajrang Dal says. T Madhav Raghavan
Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 08:37:26 +0100 Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
He should be hanged for inciting unrest. Muslims were given Pakistan and Bangladesh, they can pack up and go there if they do not like Bharat. Pakis have kicked out Hindus from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Then why should Muslims be allowed to stay in Bharat? Bharat should declare itself a Hindu state, and all the problems will be solved. Bipin Gor
Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 08:44:22 +0200 Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
I think this guy needs to be expelled from India for his anti-national comments. Muslims are and have been enjoying more than their share of freedom and rights and pampering till now. Narender
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 00:15:10 -0500 Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
Imam Bukhari is the biggest terrorist and an anti-national element patronised by the pseudo-secularists of India. People like him should be put behind bars. He should be airlifted and dropped off in Afghanistan or Pakistan to preach mediaeval-era Koranic texts which are based on nothing but bloodshed and hatred... Raj
Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 18:33:56 -0500 Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
I was biased against the imam due to his support for the Taliban. But I agree with him for once for what he said in his Hyderabad address. Indian politicians have done a great disservice to Indian Muslims by making little effort to uplift them through social and educational reforms though apparently providing them equality under the Constitution.
Our leaders in power have throughout followed a policy of appeasement to keep their vote banks safe. They work actively to keep our population poor, uneducated and socially backward with minimal budget funding for primary/female education, health care and population control. Muslim leaders like the imam and Syed Shahabuddin have only helped them by focusing exclusively on the religious rights of Muslims while completely ignoring their social and educational development. Sanjay Agarwal
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 02:47:23 +0530 Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
The statements of Bukhari are quite in keeping with my view that he has never considered himself an Indian, looking solely at the interests of Muslims. Why do we continue to pamper and mollycoddle these people who would deny their nationality to prove their religion? I find people like Bukhari and that irritating Arundhati Roy who, in her 'school-teacherish' admonishings to Indians has probably gained the stature of an 'honorary white', as the Japanese did in the early 20th century, quite despicable.
Somebody in the US, during the Civil War (I think), once said, "My country, right or wrong." But one supposes it would be too much to expect any sort of devotion and dedication to the homeland from these people. Saurabh Joshi
Date: Sun, 02 Jun 2002 12:13:57 -0700 Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
Why do you bring this fundamentalist into the limelight as a spokesperson for Muslims? He has only one goal: his own power by highlighting Muslims as victims. No other country, especially Islamic countries, would allow any minority leader to spew poison on the majority. The media could play a big role by bringing out the views of educated and moderate Muslims who have good understanding of the situation in the country and are nationalistic. The imam is not a nationalistic person. He never will be. He is a Muslim first and last. India is never his concern. Islam is. Plain and simple. Pandya
Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 11:03:24 -0700 Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
Imam Bukhari must be exported to Pakistan. Does he not realise that it is the Muslims who are inflicting the greatest harm on the Muslim populace in Kashmir? He blames Indian soldiers for their "government-sponsored terrorism". I guess India is such a free country that he can say whatever he wants. Let him try this criticism in his paradise (Pakistan) and he will be summarily kicked out.
While he claims that Indian Muslims don't want to divide India and goes on to complain about how Muslims are being treated, how does he explain the "bending over backwards" of India to satisfy all of their demands? They even have separate laws! If they want to be united and become a voice in India (as if they are not), they must join the mainstream and not hide behind separate schools [madrassas] which do nothing but spread ignorance, stop living in segregated areas, and stop supporting Pakistan. India should take a lesson from Singapore and implement uniform laws for everybody. Binoy
Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 21:03:24 +0530 Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
I really do not know what has happened to our government. On the one side it speaks of curbing all kinds of terrorism, but here we have the Jama Masjid imam, who thinks he is the thekedar of Muslims in India, uttering nonsense whenever he opens his mouth.
The government should take note of this terrorist we have under our nose. He should be booked under POTA and sent to jail or given a stern warning that he should stop making statements, which praise President Musharraf. If he is so obsessed with Musharraf, why does he not leave India and go and live in Pakistan? Ashish Maheshwari
Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 19:41:28 +0530 Subject: Musharraf spoke the truth about Gujarat: Bukhari
The imam should be given the Nishan-e-Pakistan for his lip service for Pakistan. Devashis Kuthari
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