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
March 27,2025

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The Karnataka government has announced that Nandini milk will become ₹4 costlier per litre starting April 1, 2025. This is the second price hike this year.

The decision was made during a cabinet meeting led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Karnataka Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna and Animal Husbandry Minister K Venkatesh said the increase is meant to support dairy farmers by covering the rising costs of producing and processing milk.

Officials also said that:

>> The extra money from the price hike will go directly to the milk producers.

>> The earlier ₹2 price hike (announced on June 26, 2024) will be withdrawn.

>> The new price hike of ₹4 will apply to both 500 ml and 1-litre packets.

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News Network
March 28,2025

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A 7.7 magnitude earthquake, and an aftershock of 6.8, hit central Myanmar at 12.50pm (local time) Friday. The epicentre was 16km northwest of the city of Sagaing, and at a depth of 10km, the United States Geological Survey said. 20 deaths have been reported - in Myanmar so far - by local media.

Deaths have also been reported from a mosque in Mandalay city, which collapsed while people were inside, praying and a university building in which a fire broke out. And a 1,000-bed hospital in Myanmar capital Naypyidaw has become a "mass casualty area", news agency AFP said.

The Myanmar junta has declared an 'emergency' and has appealed for international aid.

Tremors were felt as far away as northern Thailand, where some metro and rail services were suspended in Bangkok. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is holding an "urgent meeting" to review the crisis and she too has declared a state of 'emergency' in the capital city.

China's Yunnan province also reported strong tremors; the China Earthquake Networks Center said the magnitude was 7.9. And mild tremors were also reported from Kolkata in Bengal and parts of Manipur, where tremors of 4.4 magnitude were recorded as well as Dhaka and Chattogram in Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India is ready to offer any assistance needed. "Praying for the safety and wellbeing of everyone," he posted on X. "... have asked our authorities to be on standby."

Terrifying videos on X showed buildings shaking in Bangkok and other cities, with people running onto the streets in panic. "I heard it... I was sleeping in the house and then I ran as far as I could in my pyjamas out of the building," Duangjai, a resident of popular tourist city Chiang Mai, told AFP.

One particularly horrifying video showed water from an infinity pool falling over the edge.

And another showed an under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok's Chatuchak neighbourhood collapsing. According to reports, 43 workers have been trapped amid the debris.

"When I arrived to inspect the site, I heard people calling for help, saying help me," Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bang Sue district, told AFP. "We estimate that hundreds of people are injured but we are still determining the number of casualties."

In Myanmar, an old bridge over the Irrawaddy River and some residential buildings having collapsed, with images from Mandalay (around 24km from Sagaing) suggesting more people may be trapped.

Other videos showed extensive damage to the airport in Mandalay and to a monastery near the city of Taunggyi, in Myanmar's Shan State that is on the border to Thailand.

Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, where six strong quakes of 7.0 magnitude or more struck between 1930 and 1956 near the Sagaing Fault, which runs north to south through the country.

A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake, in the ancient capital Bagan in central Myanmar, killed three people in 2016, also toppling spires and crumbling temple walls at the tourist destination.

The impoverished nation has a strained medical system, especially in its rural states.

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News Network
March 28,2025

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Millions of people across Iran and the world took to the streets on International Quds Day, expressing solidarity with Palestinians and condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif, spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and head of the Intifada Committee in Tehran, stated that rallies began at 10:00 a.m. local time (0630 GMT) in over 900 cities across Iran.

Demonstrators from various walks of life carried Iranian and Palestinian flags, as well as banners reading “Free Palestine” and “Al-Quds Must Be Liberated.” Flags of regional resistance groups, including Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (Hashd al-Sha'abi), Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Yemen’s Ansarullah, were also displayed.

Mass rallies were held across West Asia, including in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon, as well as in other parts of the world.

Iranian Leaders Condemn Western Stance

Senior Iranian officials participated in the rally in Tehran, where Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf addressed the gathering.

“Iranians have taken to the streets in a massive show of support for Palestine and the Islamic Ummah,” Qalibaf said. “The Palestinian struggle is not just an issue for the Islamic world but a lesson for all of humanity.”

He criticized the West’s response to Israeli actions in Gaza, calling it a stain on Western civilization. “These crimes will be remembered as a lasting ignominy, exposing the West’s duplicity in human rights advocacy,” he added.

Qalibaf also defended the October 7, 2023, Palestinian attack on Israeli-occupied territories, describing Operation al-Aqsa Flood as a “rightful and legitimate response to 77 years of oppression by Israel, the U.S., and Britain.” He further described Israel as a “spare regime” dependent on U.S. support.

Quds Day: A Global Symbol of Resistance

Al-Quds Day, observed annually on the last Friday of Ramadan, was established in 1979 by the late Imam Khomeini to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians and oppose Israeli occupation. The event has since become a symbol of resistance, with large rallies held worldwide, particularly amid Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

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