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[1] From: lakshmeekanth Vrindavan <lakshmeekanth@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Sep 22, 2005 Subject: Re: [indiathinkersnet] What the waters have revealed You all thinkers out there, please giv the source of the items you forward' Regi P George <george_regi@...> wrote: What the waters have revealed by Jim Wallis In what may be the most catastrophic natural disaster in American history, the waters of Hurricane Katrina are washing ------------------------- [2] From: yogi sikand <ysikand@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Sep 22, 2005 Subject: Muslims as Peace-Makers in War-Torn Burundi, Africa Managing Ethnic Conflict ?? The Case of the Burundi Muslims Paul Grohma The Muslim Reader / 2-2005 / Singapore [www.darul-arqam.org.sg] Abdul Kabeya received me in a formal way but with a warm welcome when I entered the office of the Emir of Burundi, Sheikh Yusuf Kihete ?? a poorly furnished room in the basement of a haulage contractor in Quartier Asiatique, Bujumbura??s residential area for the Muslim community. My aim was to arrange an interview with the Emir in order to find out about the constraints and expectations of Burundi??s Muslim community in the eve of the upcoming elections; the first elections after a ten years?? period of dreadful civil war which caused more than 300,000 deaths, an incomprehensible number of refugees and internally displaced persons and which left the country distorted and impoverished with little perspective for a better future. In the course of several informative meetings with the Emir, Monsieur Kabeya, who I believed to be the Emir??s personal secretary, turned out to cover a more traditional, particular African role of a spokesperson who can literally speak on behalf of the Emir, who ?? as a sign of high rank and dignity ?? does not address his interlocutors directly but only through his assistant. In fact, this distinctive role of the spokesperson caught my interest and helped me establish a personal relationship with Abdul Kabeya, who after a while came up with his personal story of embracing Islam and becoming actively involved in the Muslim community, which spurred me to write this article. It was in late 1993, after the assassination of Burundi??s latest legally elected president, Melchior Ndadaye, that the capital Bujumbura once again saw its population get embroiled in the ethnically motivated upheaval of Hutus chasing Tutsis (and vice versa, and this conflict involved the national army and several other armed groups), killing each other in most brutal ways using machetes or wooden clubs. Abdul Kabeya, being Tutsi from origin and a Christian Protestant, found himself right in the middle of this riot, like many others unwilling to join the slaughter but not knowing how to escape the violence and how to save his life. When the mob looted his Tutsi dominated neighbourhood, he decided to flee to the Quartier Asiatique, where the population is not split into either Hutu or Tutsi but consists of a variety of different nationalities including Indian traders, Pakistani and Swahili speakers of different origins all sharing the same religion, that is, Islam. It turned out to be the right decision for many, when the Islamic Centre and several private houses opened their doors to shelter those who were running for their lives. Later on, Abdul reported, a fundamental change of perspective occurred to his mind; he compared the bearing of his own religious community during the massacre with the attitude of his Muslim compatriots. From his point of view, he notes that ???Islam, more than other religions in my country, emphasises the importance of being human and favours the concept of altruism before ethnic identity or nationality.??? This change of mind finally encouraged Abdul to embrace the faith and many others in Burundi followed his example, bestowing a growing number of new Muslims in this small African country. The concept of religion seems to have transcended the hard-fought concept of ethnicity. Muslim identity became a new horizon for many who were exhausted of being persecuted due to their Hutu or Tutsi origin. In this article, I will try to trace the history and recent characteristics of Burundi??s Muslim community and to analyse their particular conduct during this last conflict. My information is primarily based on interviews with Sheikh Yusuf Gihete and on the few literary sources that can be found in the libraries of the University of Bujumbura. The poor documentation of Muslim culture and population constitutes revealing evidence of this communities?? marginalisation and their limited acknowledgement within Burundi??s society. Depending on who you ask, demographic figures today differ from 2 to twelve percent Muslims nationwide, which comes up to about 700,000 persons out of a total population of 6.3 million. Traces of Muslims in Burundi go back to the early nineteenth century, when slave traders of Arab origin coming from the island of Zanzibar entered the remote and inaccessible country which lies largely isolated and unaffected from international politics until the beginning of German colonisation as late as 1899. This first phase of Muslim immigration stood primarily under the influence of trade. Armed with their knowledge of shipping, the ???Arabs??? established a system of trade and transportation along Lake Tanganyika connecting the large population of the Great Lake Region. Through this system, they introduced a number of commercial agricultural goods like the date palm, coconut, lemon, orange and guava and they spread the Swahili language in the region which until today discerns the Muslim people from the Kirundi speaking majority . The second phase was closely connected to the colonial system of the Germans, who employed Muslims from Africa??s East Coast as construction workers for the railway, soldiers or civil servants. During that time, Rwanda and Burundi were opened to the international market and Muslims from different nationalities settled along Lake Tanganyika, and later on, inland. Most originated from India and Pakistan and could develop successful business relations. However, this group held on to their Asian culture and chose to remain ethnically communal rather than join the local (black) Muslim population, which ?? partly because of their former collaboration with the Germans ?? was never fully integrated into Burundi??s society. After the First World War, when the Belgians took over colonial power, they enforced Christianisation and favoured members of the Tutsi tribes over the Hutus to work in public administration, so that the Muslim community increasingly lost their importance. Because of their formerly good relations with the Germans, the Belgians expelled all Muslims from the capital Bujumbura and from their plantations in 1919. They were classified as foreign nationals and allowed to return only after paying a high amount of money and proving their knowledge of a European language. This status of foreigners remained valid after the independence in 1962, when the ruling UPRONA party refused citizenship to the ???Swahilis???. Eventually, the Muslims of Burundi decided to openly withdraw from participating in the social and political sphere by setting up their own educational system of Qu??ranic schools, which subsequently excluded them from higher education and, thus, from public offices. This, says Sheikh Yusuf Gihete, constitutes one of the major problems of today??s community. Likewise, on an economic and residential level, the Burundian Muslims tended to seclude themselves from public life, working and living in separate residential areas. Practically without exertion of influence in the political and administrative sphere, the community leaders shifted their activities to the civil society sector, and became active in HIV education, democratisation (voters education) and in transnational organisations like the ACRL (African Council of Religious Leaders) which promotes programmes for conflict transformation and the dialogue between the numerous African religious groups. According to the Emir, it is a major responsibility for the Muslim community in Burundi to send out ???a message of peace??? and to prepare their members for democracy in order to prosper in the future, when finally Burundi will be ready for participation from all citizens. About the Writer Paul Grohma was born and raised in Vienna, Austria, where he studied social anthropology, history and oriental studies. Working as a researcher and free-lance journalist / film maker he travelled extensively in Muslim countries like Egypt, India, Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey in order to deepen his understanding of Muslim culture. Since 2003 he engaged in volunteer work and election observer missions in post conflict regions and newly developing democracies ?? such as Burundi where he was appointed from July to November 2004. -------------------------- [3] From: "P. Joseph Raju" <aa5756@wayne.edu> Date: Thu Sep 22, 2005 Subject: The democratic deficit in the Muslim world Daily Times, Lahore - Site Edition Tuesday, September 20, 2005 COMMENT: The democratic deficit in the Muslim world ??Ishtiaq Ahmed http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-9-2005_pg3_2 As the state-bourgeois regimes were ideologically radical, they could not reject the idea of universal adult franchise but ensured that more than 90 per cent of the voters cast their vote for the government candidate. The monarchies described the right to vote as subversive of Islam -------------------------- [4] From: "Arif N. Khan" <ank2000pk@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Sep 22, 2005 Subject: Power Rates to GO UP Electricity rates in Pakistan are already too high. Further due to imposition of taxes as well as monthly charge for TV license fee people are facing financial hardship. Any further increase in the rates as indicated in the following news itsm would add to the miseries of common man and push the inflation graph to new heights. If at all it is necessary to increase rates the taxes should be cut down in such a way that the overall impact results in ZERO increase for the people. Arif N. Khan http://www.dawn.com/2005/09/21/top6.htm Tariff raise offered to 12 private power firms By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, Sept 20: The federal government decided on Tuesday to offer an enhanced tariff of 4.7 cents per unit to about 12 hydel power projects in the private sector instead of 3.1 cents signed by some of them. Sources said that a meeting of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) decided to seek a formal approval from the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet to this effect. The sources said that Wapda Chairman Tariq Hamid, fearing public criticism, had refused to reopen at his own the agreed tariffs and increase it to 4.7 cents per unit but agreed that he would have no objection if the ECC took the decision. Presided over by Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi, the meeting was informed that a permission by the cabinet committee on investment (CCOI), few years ago, to former Wapda chairman Zulfiqar Ali Khan to reduce tariff for the projects had resulted in shying away sponsors of at least 12 projects. The sources said that the 1995 Power Policy had offered a tariff for hydel projects at 4.7 cents per unit. However, the CCOI had allowed the former Wapda chairman to bring down the tariff through negotiations with investors. As a result, two of the investor groups had signed agreements to set up power projects at a levellized tariff of 3.1 cents per unit, but later failed to achieve financial close because major lenders ?? Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank ?? found the tariffs economically unviable. In the meanwhile, the other investors put off their investment plans saying they could not reduce their tariffs. ???The PPIB has decided to recommend to the ECC, the restoration of the tariff which was announced by the government under 1995 Hydel Policy,??? an official statement said. The decision would bring a change by implementation of the first ever private sector hydel project in the country and 84-MW New Bong Escape Hydropower Project would be able to achieve financial closing and start construction after approval by the ECC, it said. In addition, the decision would accelerate the implementation of four power projects with the total capacity of 900-MW and estimated investment of $1.1 billion, the statement said. The sources said that the government would soon approach foreign sponsors of four hydel power projects of total generation capacity of 1010-MW and a total estimated investment of about $2 billion to return with their investment at 4.7 cents per unit. Majority of those independent power producers (IPPs) had given up their investment plans following Wapda??s refusal to increase the tariff for hydel projects. The projects include 740-MW Kohala Power Project, 84-MW Matiltan Hydropower Project, 86-MW Rajdhani Hydropower project and New Bong Power project. Official sources said that due to such a low benchmark tariff, the government and the Wapda failed to develop even a single hydropower project in the private sector during the last 15 years but kept on promoting costly thermal projects. The sources said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf had expressed concern last month and reprimanded Wapda and the power ministry officials for shying away foreign investors in the hydel sector that he himself had been persuading from all over the world to invest in Pakistan. Arif N. Khan -------------------------------- [5] From: Parvez Jamasji <parvez1942@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Sep 22, 2005 Subject: Re: [indiathinkersnet] What the waters have revealed Coincidence ? Red Herring ? or What ? Hopefully, American administration advised by their compliant scientists have realised that no matter what they chatter, there is the '''' power ''' that vanquishes falsehood & myths spewed out against the WARNINGS of Global Warming. Has Cash-Centric america realised how much they have spent on rehabilitation & reconstruction & compared that with how much they could spend to prevent disasters due to Global Warming ? ? ? Nature is The Great Leveller ! ! ! Thanks for your time. Best Wishes. Parvez Jamasji Regi P George <george_regi@...> wrote: What the waters have revealed by Jim Wallis ------------------------------------------------------------- Take the Katrina Pledge! The poverty we have witnessed on the rooftops of New Orleans and the devastated communities of the Gulf Coast is morally unacceptable. It's time to take action - starting with a renewed personal commitment to overcoming poverty in America. If you care about building a new America, read and sign the Katrina Pledge today! |
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| << September22, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]Book Review: On Pakistani Dalits |
September26, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]India,China,US :analyzing the triangle (Sukla Sen) >> |
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