Sunday, January 13, 2013

Muslim freedom martyrs of India




Submitted by on 2 October 2009 - 10:49am

By Shafee Ahmed Ko, TwoCircles.net,

The Muslim names like “Ahmadulla” may be strange but are so sublime and solemn are resting in peace now but they neither knew any discrimination between Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or Christians nor relaxed their incorrigible battle against to liberate India from the British Imperialism. Several young Muslim boys of tender age, graduates or any ordinary unskilled worker, they were all precursors in the fight to win the freedom for India.
It is very obvious that the Muslims too had a lion’s share in fighting to free our nation along with Hindu brethren and   other faith holders, not yearning for a nation like Pakistan, but only to form an Independent India.

But strangely enough, the mindset of present cohort particularly of few Hindu’s is regrettably different, for they think that it was only Hindus who achieved the Independence along with Mahatma Gandhi and negligibly a handful of Muslims like Ali Brothers, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Shaik Abdullah, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr. Zakir Hussain are the few who stood on freedom fight.

The book,” WHO IS WHO OF INDIAN MARTYRS” is so important one that it contains all the details of martyrs who laid their lives for the sake our India. There are several Muslims names, the age being tender from eight  and beyond who sacrificed lives in bullet shots, death sentences, and life sentence, sent to Andaman Island prison to die there unattended and uncared for. Following are few excerpts from the book:

“Ahmadullah: b.1808 Patna, Bihar; Son of Shri Elahi Bux; Prominent public man of Patna; served as Deputy Collector and as a member of Income Tax Board of Assessors for some time; Took active part in Wahabi Movement, was  Arrested in 1857. Released after  three months. He was arrested again in November 1864, was stripped off  from all public offices. He was tried on charging plot against the Government. Sentenced to death on February 27, 1865.The death sentence was later commuted to transportation for life and forfeiture of all property. Deported to the Andaman Islands in June 1865 and imprisoned. He died in the cellular jail in Andaman Island as an isolated prisoner on November 21, 1881. He was all alone and unattended. His younger brother, Yahya Ali, was also convicted of high treason at Ambala and deported Andaman Islands. Yahya Ali also died in Andaman.”

Another reference is worthy of mention here how Muslim youths, school children along with brothers and sisters of different communities became victims all unarmed gathering at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on April 13,1919. The cruel act of the British Raj, under Brigadier -General Reginald Dyer who opened fire indiscriminately. The fire which lasted for 10 to 15 mts killed hundreds and wounding more 1500, including Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians.
A short and precise account of one more Ahmad Ullah who was born on 1884 at Amritsar Punjab, son of Shri Karim Baksh; Took part in Nationalist activities against British rules. He was seriously wounded in firing by British troops on people attending a public meeting at the Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar on April 13, and 1919 and died on May 25, 1919.

Alauddin Sheikh, who was born on 1912 at a village in Mohammad Distt,  Midnapur, West Bengal took part in the Quit India Movement (1942). Led a procession to the Nandi gram Police Station on September 30, 1942 received bullet wounds in firing by the police and died the same day.

The similar accounts are many but all remain oblivious. The reiteration here is that the common notion that prevails in the minds of the young and old is that India belongs to only to Hindus and it is badly   misconceived. The genuine love and patriotism to our country lies not in only saying, “Vandematram”, but not showing hatred, taking faiths as agenda for political purpose and eyed with vote banking and ill treat privileged people. Present day politicians barring few are divided in factions spewing poison on each other in communal intolerance.

Since younger generation is the future leaders of our Nation, focus on text books but should not remain controversial and prejudiced;   rulers of the country should bring real history of Muslim folks who lived for India, who fought for India and died for India.

The students especially in the rural areas are not well informed on healthy politics. Most students are vulnerable to petty politics and remain enigmatic since they are not able to reach the patriotic assignments in the text books.

Names like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Zakir Hussain, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, Mira Bhen, Anne Besant, Allan Octavian Hume, William Digby, and Henry Cotton (who are friends of India) are less known to young students.

There is a book to be cherished in which one can find the names of young Muslims who fought for India, and died for the cause of India’s independence. Every school, colleges and libraries should have the following book to understand the names of the Muslim martyrs.

Title: Who's Who of Indian Martyrs.
Author Name: Dr P.N. Chopra (Chief Editor)
Binding: Hard Cover
Publisher: Ministry of Education and Social Welfare, Government of India 1972
Printed Pages: 357

Indian gang rape spoke of her ordeal as she lay dying




Sunday, Jan 13 2013 6AM 
PUBLISHED:| UPDATED:

I thrashed and kicked... but they were boiling in anger and murmuring 'kill': Ordeal of Indian gang rape victim in her own words as she lay dying

Student told brother she tried to fight off her attackers and bit and hit them

Brother said sister always 'fought against atrocities' and was 'very strong'

Also paid tribute to sister's friend who tried to defend her during attack

Said her life could have been saved if she was moved to Singapore sooner

Gang-rape victim's family say they won't rest until those guilty are hanged

Rapper Honey Singh's gig cancelled over misogynistic lyrics outrage

Indian Congress now proposes chemical castration for all rapists

Protests break out over India calling for end to violence against women

16-year-old claims she was raped on bus same day gang-rape victim died

The Indian woman who died after a horrific rape by a gang of men told her family as she lay dying in hospital that she tried as hard as she could to fight off her attackers.
The 23-year-old told her younger brother she bit and kicked the men as they raped her on a bus in Delhi. As they assaulted the student the men said they would kill her.

The woman died on Saturday despite treatment at a Singapore hospital.
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A woman displays a placard during a protest at the death of the 23-year-old gang rape victim, stating that Delhi is still unsafe


Protesters express anger at the fact that rape is one of India's most common crimes against women. Marital rape is now illegal in India but it is still widespread


Protesters express anger at the fact that rape is one of India's most common crimes against women. Marital rape is now illegal in India but it is still widespread

Following her death her brother paid tribute to the strength and courage she showed following her ordeal.

He said: 'She was very strong. She always said one should never bear atrocities but fight against it.

'While she was admitted in hospital, she told me that she fought back as hard as she could. She was defending herself by beating and biting them.

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'She thrashed them and kicked them too. They were boiling in anger by her defence so they decided to kill her. She told me that they were murmuring 'maar do ise' (kill her). They threw her considering she was dead.'
He also paid tribute to the woman's friend, who was also attacked on the bus as they were returning home from a cinema trip.

Neighbours said the couple were planning to marry in February.
Her brother said: 'The boy was equally courageous like my sister. She told me that he guarded her until he became unconscious.'

He added that he hadn't slept since the incident occurred.

'I’m missing her voice. She was my best friend. Whenever I had a problem, I talked to her over the phone for hours. She used to give me the best advice,' he said.
Tense: The body of a young woman who was gang-raped and brutally beaten on a bus in India's capital was cremated but her family say she could have survived

 In an interview with The Indian Express today, the brother said he and her family believe she could have survived if she had been taken to Singapore for life-saving treatment sooner.

He said his sister caught a series of preventable infections in Delhi.
The trainee physiotherapist was flown to the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore four days ago - almost two weeks after she was raped by a gang of six men on a bus in Delhi.

'She could have been saved perhaps, but the decision came late,' her brother said, adding: 'Mount Elizabeth Hospital had very high standards of hygiene. They could have prevented the infection.'

It comes as a second victim, a 16-year-old girl claims she was raped by a conductor on a Delhi bus the same day as the gang-rape victim died.
The family of the 23-year-old student said they will 'fight' for the death penalty to be handed down to the perpetrators.

He said: 'The fight has just begun. We want all the accused hanged, and we will fight for that, till the end.'

Children pictured at a protest in Bangalore as a 16-year old claims she was raped in similar circumstances to that of a 23-year-old student who died after being gang-raped on a bus in Delhi

The woman's body was cremated yesterday after being brought back to Delhi by an aircraft chartered by the Indian government.

Her horrific ordeal has galvanised Indians to demand greater protection for women from sexual violence with mass demonstrations, candle-lit vigils and street protests with placards, chants and road blocks.

The Indian Army has cancelled New Year's parties across its airforce, navy and army in a show of solidarity with the family.

A hotel in Gurgaon has cancelled rapper Honey Singh's performance tonight after online outrage over his lyrics which boast about the different ways he will sexually assault a woman.
The Indian Congress has put forward plans for chemical castration and 30-year jail terms for all rapists following the attack.

A draft Bill has been put together and will be finalised and handed to India's chief justice by the end of January.

Meanwhile the victim's father who worked at the IGI airport has described his final conversation with his daughter in the Intensive Care Unit in Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi.

'She said, "aap so jao, main bhi ab soungi" (you go to sleep, I will also sleep). Then she embraced my hand and slept as a tear dropped from the corner of her eye. Those were her last words to me. Thereafter, she never gained consciousness and didn't talk to any of us,' he said.

He said his daughter was different from her peers in that she was sensible and responsible.

'She always wanted to support her family. She knew that worked hard to earn money and my sons are too young to earn,' he said.
                    Aware: The body was cremated amid tight security, police said

'She worked in a call centre in Dehradun after her college hours earn. She gave her fees for two consecutive years in her college earning from the call centre. She bought us many gifts and things for the household.'
He said that she used to sleep for four to five hours a day only, the rest of the time she dedicated to work and study and was top of her class.
'She was very stubborn about books no matter how costly those were. I always fulfilled her demands because they were always genuine,' he added.
Her mother was taken to hospital yesterday after collapsing while her daughter was being cremated.

It has also emerged that she planned to marry her boyfriend, who was injured in the same attack, according to her neighbours.

Poignant: White lilies could be seen in the back of the ambulance as the body was transported through the city

 The victim and her boyfriend had spent the evening watching The Life of Pi at a multiplex in the Saket district of Delhi when they were attacked on the bus home on December 16.

It is thought he defended his girlfriend after she was initially verbally abused by a group of six men.

They were then imprisoned on the bus by a gang for around an hour as it was driven around Delhi.

Their brutal assaults were hidden from view by the closed curtains on the bus.

She was also abused with a rod, which left her with horrific internal injuries. The pair were eventually hurled naked from the vehicle as it was still moving.
 Rituals: After the body arrived at the airport, it was taken to the woman's New Delhi home, where police stood guard outside, for religious rituals before being escorted by police to the crematorium

They had made all the wedding preparations and had planned a wedding party in Delhi,' a neighbour told NDTV.

'We know that she was going to get married in February,' she said. 'The whole neighbourhood was excited about it.'

Yesterday's private ceremony took place with Indian riot policemen standing guard outside the cremation centre in New Delhi.

Fearing the unrest amidst the public anger, the location and timing of the cremation was not disclosed, but it was held soon after the arrival of her body from Singapore on a special Air-India flight.

Her distraught mother collapsed and was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital after her daughter's body was taken away.

Premier Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party, were at the airport to receive the body and meet family members of the victim who had also arrived on the flight.
Tragic: The body of the young woman is moved into the funeral home by workers where she was embalmed before being flown home

 Tragic: The body of the young woman is moved into the funeral home by workers where she was embalmed before being flown home

Coffin: The casket at a funeral home in Singapore which carried the body of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim
After the body arrived at the airport, it was taken to the woman's home in New Delhi for religious rituals before being escorted by police to the crematorium.

Security was tight, with no access to the public or media at the crematorium.

Sheila Dikshit, the senior elected leader of New Delhi, and junior home minister R.P.N. Singh placed wreaths beside the body before it was cremated.

Details about the girl's identity have not been released to protect the family.
But The Hindustan Times newspaper described her as a dedicated student who tutored neighbours’ children to boost her family’s income
The parents had sold a plot of land nearby as well as land in their village in Ballia district of eastern Uttar Pradesh to fund their daughter's education.
'Now her elder brother, who is preparing for his engineering entrance exams, has no hope to continue his studies. The family had depended on her future career to see them out of their poverty,' a neighbour called Vimla told IANS.

Solace: An Indian activist prays as she takes part in a candlelight vigil in Kolkata for the gang-rape victim

Candles: Indian people light candles to pay tributes to the 23-year-old in Bhopal, India
Indian police have charged six men with murder in the December 16 attack, which shocked the country and triggered protests for greater protection for women from sexual violence.

The six suspects face the death penalty if convicted, in a case that has triggered protests across India and raised questions about lax attitudes by police toward sexual crimes.

After 10 days at a hospital in New Delhi, the victim, who has not been identified, was taken on Thursday to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth hospital, which specialises in multi-organ transplants
 Sad: Undertakers and hospital staff carry the body of the Indian rape victim into a van as they leave Mount Elizabeth Hospital

Final journey: A police morgue vehicle is parked in front of the Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore to retrieve the body


Riot gear: Indian policewomen stand guard at a checkpoint following the death of the gang-rape victim



Staff at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital said she had died peacefully of multiple organ failure after suffering a heart attack.

‘Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate,’ Dr Kelvin Loh, the hospital’s chief executive officer added.
‘She had suffered from severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain. She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome.’

Indian High Commissioner, to Singapore T.C.A. Raghanvan told reporters that the scale of the injuries she suffered was 'very grave' and in the end it 'proved too much.'
Doctors initially expected the woman to die quickly. She developed gangrene in her intestines and had to have most of them removed.
Galvanised: Indians watch a girl paint a message during a protest against her attack death
Indian protesters hold candles during a rally in New Delhi. Leaders appealed for calm and security forces headed off fresh unrest by turning the city into a fortress

A group of men lie on the floor as part of the anti rape protests in New Dellhi. Police threw a ring of steel around the centre of the Indian capital after news of the 23-year-old medical student's death

 
 But the medical student defied their expectations. She had three surgeries and was attempting to walk.

Unable to speak she scribbled notes to her family and those who were caring for her.

‘I want to live’ she wrote. As she fought for life, public fury grew.
Following her death, thousands of Indians lit candles, held prayer meetings and marched through various cities and towns, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata, to express their grief and demand stronger protection for women and the death penalty for rape, which is now punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment.

The Times of India have given the woman the name Nirbhaya – meaning fearless one.

After mass demonstrations,officers in Delhi had sealed off all roads which lead to the central India Gate, closed ten metro stations and deployed thousands of officers.  One officer died in the protests.
The capital has been rocked by protests for days with calls for the government to crack down on crimes against women.

Some demonstrators called for the woman’s attackers to be hanged.
Gatherings of more than five people have been banned in the city centre.
During the days of protests, reports reveal more than 100 people and about 70 officers have been hurt.

Police have used batons, teargas and water cannon to try and disperse the demonstrators after the authorities attempted to limit the public gatherings.

Women face daily harassment across India, ranging from catcalls on the streets, groping and touching in public transport, to rape.

The incident has forced India to confront the reality that sexually-assaulted women are often blamed for the crime, forcing them to keep quiet and discouraging them from reporting it to authorities for fear of exposing their families to ridicule.
Police often refuse to accept complaints from those who are courageous enough to report the rapes, and the rare prosecutions that reach courts drag on for years.
The tragic events has lead the woman chief minister of India's West Bengal state Mamata Banerjee, unveiled plans today for 65 all-female police stations.
Prime minister Mr Singh said yesterday that he was aware of the emotions the attack has stirred, adding that it was up to all Indians to ensure that the young woman's death will not have been in vain.
The outcry over the attack caught the government off-guard and it was slow to react. It took a week for Singh to make a statement, infuriating many protesters who saw it as a sign of a government insensitive to the plight of women.
Ms Gandhi, the ruling party chief, assured the protesters in a statement that the rape victim's death 'deepens our determination to battle the pervasive, the shameful social attitudes and mindset that allow men to rape and molest women and girls with such an impunity'.
Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said the woman's death was a sobering reminder of the widespread sexual violence in India.

'The outrage now should lead to law reform that criminalises all forms of sexual assault, strengthens mechanisms for implementation and accountability, so that the victims are not blamed and humiliated,' Ganguly said.

Mr Singh said he understood the angry reaction to the attack and he hoped all Indians would work together to make appropriate changes.
'It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channel these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action,' he said.
Attitudes by Indians toward rape are so entrenched that even politicians and opinion-makers have often suggested that women should not go out at night or wear clothes that might be seen as provocative.

A statement issued by United Nations spokesman Martin Nesirky said UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon 'offers his sincerest condolences' to the victim's family and 'utterly condemns this brutal crime'.
'Violence against women must never be accepted, never excused, never tolerated,' the statement said. 'Every girl and woman has the right to be respected, valued and protected.'

Mr Ban urged the Indian government to take steps to deter such crimes and bring perpetrators to justice, and to 'strengthen critical services for rape victims', the statement said.

New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to police figures.
Government data show the number of reported rape cases in the country rose by nearly 17 percent between 2007 and 2011.

Rape victims rarely press charges because of social stigma and fear they will be accused of inviting the attack. Many women say they structure their lives around protecting themselves and their daughters from attack.

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