Javed Anand

Apr 07, 2011
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Fiction and fact

In his article in these columns (Friendly Advice, May 16), senior Supreme Court advocate and former additional solicitor-general of India, K.N.

Decoding Islam

On the face of it, the ulema’s advice to the ummah (community) sounds eminently reasonable: For building a house, you go to an architect; when ill, you go to a doctor; to look good, you go to a beautician. In short, in secular affairs, you turn to experts. So where would you go to gain knowledge about Islam? The religious experts (ulema) of course. Right? Perhaps you should think again.

Crime and forgiveness

Satyameva Jayate, it seems, must wait if it’s not forgotten altogether. We are all Jains now and the chant is “Michhami dukkadam”: I ask forgiveness for any hurt I may have caused you by thoughts, words or actions, knowingly or unknowingly. Readers of The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle (refer to BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman’s article “Modi-baiters and the ghost of 2002” on September 19) have also been told that embedded in these two words are layers upon layers of meaning: seeking forgiveness, forgiving others, forgiving self, hoping that forgiveness gets extended to all beings around us.

The Jamaatis’ new robes

Indian Muslims just got luckier. Already spoilt for choice, the Spring of 2011 has brought two fresh bonanzas for the country’s “second largest majority”. One comes gift-wrapped as a brand new political party; the other is a forum of Muslim advocates of Maharashtra. Many compliments of the season, Badhai ho badhai!

Politics of the burqa

Could this be the mother of all ironies, a delightful one at that? Whatever your view on the subject, one thing is beyond dispute: de-sexualising the female body, rendering a Muslim woman invisible in the public space is what the burqa (niqab, a head-to-toe veil) is all about. Yet, this very garment continues to draw global attention

Politics of the burqa

Could this be the mother of all ironies, a delightful one at that? Whatever your view on the subject, one thing is beyond dispute: de-sexualising the female body, rendering a Muslim woman invisible in the public space is what the burqa (niqab, a head-to-toe veil) is all about. Yet, this very garment continues to draw global attention to the

Gandhi, Modi and Jinnah

Sceptics and critics yet to be convinced that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is the tallest Gandhian of our day at last have to contend with compelling proof of the man’s love and devotion for the apostle of ahimsa. Mr Modi may well boast in the days to come that he was the first politician to rise to the defence of nation’s honour by ordering a ban on Joseph Lelyveld’s book on Mahatma Gandhi, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India.

As a self-confessed hardliner, I must admit that being a part of the team engaged in Indo-Pak Track 2 dialogue has been very interesting.

In June 2012, world leaders along with thousands of participants from governments, NGOs and environmental groups as well as the private sector will come together in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for Rio+20

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