Aligarh Muslim University’s ex Vice-chancellor Tariq Mansoor is BJP’s new Vice President

News Network
July 29, 2023

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New Delhi, July 29: In an attempt to strengthen its ongoing outreach among Muslim Pasmanda communities, the BJP on Sunday appointed former Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor Tariq Mansoor as one of its vice presidents.

Mr Mansoor was instrumental in steering the AMU, one of the hotbeds of anti-NRC and CAA protests, on a "middle path", and later closely working with the RSS on its project to promote the teachings of Mughal prince Dara Shikoh on peaceful Hindu-Muslim coexistence that was in contradiction to his brother Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's way of working.

The appointment came on a day when Home Minister Amit Shah was in Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu to launch a book on former president APJ Abdul Kalam, also one of the icons of the party's Pasmanda outreach.

BJP has been continuously reaching out to a section of the Muslim population through Minority Morcha meetings, mostly focused on Pasmanda Muslims, who are from Dalit and other backward class communities. Mr Mansoor was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, the fourth Muslim picked by the BJP for the post in the last few years.

Tariq Mansoor is from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, where Muslims constitute roughly 19% of the state's electorate, and have a sizeable presence in at least 30 Lok Sabha seats, out of which they play a major role in deciding the outcome in 15 to 20 constituencies. 

According to an RSS functionary, Mr Mansoor had impressed the sangh's leadership by his work on the Dara Shikoh project, by effectively using the AMU's Persian department to translate much of Shikoh's work on inter-faith dialogue and project him as an ideal for the Muslim community. He organised seminars and conferences on the same.

Mr Mansoor, a surgeon, has been associated with AMU since the 1970s when he completed his MBBS degree in surgery from the university's JN Medical College. He then went on to do his Master of Surgery (MS) degree in 1982 from the same college. Apart from the BJP's focus on the Pasmanda Muslims, which is important in terms of influence, the RSS has been specifically reaching out to Muslim academics, and people of the community from professions such as medicine, law, and bureaucracy, to make a difference in the minority discourse.

Jamal Siddiqui, head of the BJP's Minority Morcha said Mr Mansoor was a "nationalist Muslim" who has always promoted the ideal of "nation first." "His understanding of the fault lines in the Muslim community is as deep as his knowledge about the country and its history. He has led the students of AMU on the right path and prevented them from being misled. His appointment will help the party to expand better."

He was the fourth person from the Muslim community to be promoted to the Legislative Council by the party in UP since 2017, after Bukkal Nawab, Mohsin Raza, and Danish Azad Ansari.

Mr Mansoor was the AMU Vice Chancellor when it witnessed protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) in 2020. He was then criticised for "not standing up for students" when policemen allegedly barged into the university, as opposed to the VC of Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, who stood by the students. Mr Mansoor has, however, always said he did his best, and talked about the importance of welfare and socio-economic justice over identity issues.

"Mansoor belongs to Aligarh, the hub of Muslim politics, and comes from an educated, middle class family. His family has doctors and lawyers. This is the kind of Muslims we want to work with to take the nation forward," a BJP functionary from UP said.

Khalid Anis Ansari, associate professor from Azim Premji University, who has been actively raising issues pertaining to the community for many years, has often pointed out that Indian Muslims too are victims of caste-based stratification, and are divided into three main classes, and hundreds of biradaris.

The 'Ashraf' Muslims, or native upper caste converts, for instance Syed, Sheikh, Mughal, Pathan, etc are at the top, and the Syed biradari is highly revered. The movements against the Ashraf dominance have been led by the 'lower' ones - Ajlaf (backward Muslims) and Arzal (Dalit Muslims), and these are known as Pasmandas, the community the BJP has been trying to woo. Only 15 percent of the community come from these upper caste communities, while the rest are largely Pasmanda Muslims. The BJP has planned a massive Sneh Yatra to reach out to these Pasmanda Muslims in the coming days.

Muslim intellectuals and opposition parties have, however, said this was an attempt by the BJP to create a divide among the Muslim community, and that often the Muslim victims of hate crimes or economic boycott were Pasmanda themselves.

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News Network
November 17,2024

Mangaluru: District-in-Charge Minister and Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dinesh Gundu Rao, announced that a day-care chemotherapy centre will soon be established at District Wenlock Hospital. Speaking to mediapersons after reviewing the activities at Wenlock and Government Lady Goschen Hospital, he shared the government’s plans to enhance healthcare services in the region.

Key Initiatives Announced

•    Day-Care Chemotherapy Centre:

  • Ten beds will be reserved for cancer patients.
  • The government will collaborate with Yenepoya Hospital to provide chemotherapy treatments.
  • All required facilities for the centre are already in place, awaiting inauguration by the Chief Minister.

•    Wenlock Hospital Facelift:

  • Critical Care Block: To be built at a cost of ₹24 crore.
  • Integrated Public Health (IPH) Lab: Planned with a budget of ₹1 crore.
  • New OPD Block: As per a 2017 agreement, KMC Hospital will take up construction. Discussions with KMC management are underway.

•    Additional Requirements:

  • A new mortuary and post-mortem building.
  • Paramedical college building.
  • Modern kitchen.
  • Bridge connecting two buildings within the hospital.

•    Total facelift cost: ₹6 crore to ₹10 crore, utilizing funds from the Department of Health and Family Welfare and CSR contributions.

•    Timeline:
By December or January, priority works will be finalized. The superintendents of Wenlock and Lady Goschen Hospitals are scheduled to visit Bengaluru next week to discuss these projects.

•    MRI Fee Allegations:
The minister assured that allegations of patients being charged for MRI scans at Wenlock Hospital will be resolved at the earliest.
These measures aim to improve healthcare accessibility and infrastructure, positioning Wenlock Hospital as a state-of-the-art facility in the region.

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News Network
November 14,2024

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The UN special rapporteur for Palestine has slammed Israel’s parliament for passing a law authorizing the detention of Palestinian children, who are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” in Israeli custody.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in a Thursday post on X, characterized the experiences of Palestinian minors in Israeli detention as extreme and often inhumane.

The UN expert highlighted the grave impact of this policy, noting that up to 700 Palestinian minors are taken into custody each year, a practice she described as part of an unlawful occupation that views these children as potential threats.

Albanese said Palestinian minors in Israeli custody are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” and that “generations of Palestinians will carry the scars and trauma from the Israeli mass incarceration system.”

She further criticized the international community for its inaction, suggesting that ongoing diplomatic efforts, which often rely on the idea of resuming negotiations for peace, have contributed to normalizing such human rights violations against Palestinian children and the broader population.

The comments by Albanese came in response to Israel’s parliament (Knesset) passing a law on November 7 that authorizes the detention of Palestinian children under the age of 14 for “terrorism or terrorist activities.”

Under the legislation, a temporary five-year measure, once the individuals turn 14, they will be transferred to adult prison to continue serving their sentences.

Additionally, the law allows for a three-year clause that enables courts to incarcerate minors in adult prisons for up to 10 days if they are considered dangerous. Courts have the authority to extend this duration if necessary, according to the Knesset.

The legislation underscores a shift in the treatment of minors and raises alarms among human rights advocates regarding the legal and ethical ramifications of detaining children and the conditions under which they may be held.

Thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, are currently in Israeli jails—around one-third without charge or trial. Also, an unknown number are arbitrarily held following a wave of arrests in the wake of the regime's genocidal war on Gaza.

Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Israeli regime, under the supervision of extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has turned prisons and detention centers into “death chambers,” the ministry of detainees and ex-detainees’ affairs in Gaza says.

Violence, extreme hunger, humiliation, and other forms of abuse of Palestinian prisoners have been normalized across Israel’s jail system, reports indicate.

Over 270 Palestinian minors are being detained by Israeli authorities, in violation of UN resolutions and international treaties that forbid the incarceration of children, as reported by Palestinian rights organizations.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Union minister Amit Shah on Friday, November 15, said PM Narendra Modi will amend the Waqf Act despite opposition from leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

"Modi ji wants to change the Waqf Board law, but Uddhav ji, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule are opposing it," Shah said, addressing a rally at Umarkhed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district.

"Uddhav ji, listen carefully, you all can protest as much as you want, but Modi ji will amend the Waqf Act," he said. Shah said there are two camps in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, one of 'Pandavas' represented by the BJP-led Mahayuti and the other of 'Kauravas' represented by Maha Vikas Aghadi.

"Uddhav Thackeray claims that his Shiv Sena is the real one. Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar? Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar? The real Shiv Sena stands with the BJP," Shah said.

"Rahul Baba used to say that his government would credit money in the accounts of the people instantly. You were unable to fulfil your promises in Himachal, Karnataka, and Telangana," he said.

Shah said the Mahayuti alliance has promised that women will get Rs 2,100 per month under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. "Kashmir is an integral part of India and no power in the world can snatch it away from us," Shah said.

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