[Assam] Policy Researcher, is a �Murtada� ruler is in the making with application of �Jijiya & all� in Assam?

[Rajib Das]

The question I asked earlier is: "Is his funds coming
from internal accruals (meaning his business) or else
where? Also specifically is he getting money into his
business for other activities such as developing a
political party?"

And if so, from where?

The Oracle spoke earlier on this but I could not make
head or tail of it.

--- Bartta Bistar <barttabistar at googlemail.com> wrote:

> LEADER ARTICLE: Minority Report
> <javascript:clippopup(1600666);>
> Sanjib Baruah
> 
>
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1600666.cms
> 
> 
> 
> It is a myth that Muslims vote for the Congress
> because of its secular
> credentials. 'Minority prudence' has always been a
> factor. Muslims have
> often voted strategically for the most likely
> winner.
> 
> The phenomenon hides a dark side of our democracy.
> Security of life and
> property should be a universal public good. It has
> become a private good
> that political parties provide selectively in
> exchange for political
> support.
> 
> Voting to ensure one's physical security erodes the
> meaning of citizenship.
> Security is a major reason why Muslims of East
> Bengali descent have
> traditionally voted for the Congress in Assam.
> 
> The emergence of the Assam United Democratic Front
> (AUDF) signals the desire
> to reject that dependency. Liberal democrats should
> welcome the assertion of
> a confident political voice by a minority.
> 
> It is not surprising that such a party should come
> up in Assam. Nearly 31
> per cent of Assam's population of 26.6 million is
> Muslim, according to the
> 2001 census.
> 
> This is second only to Jammu and Kashmir's and is
> about the same as the
> proportion of Muslims in undivided India. The AUDF,
> however, is not
> conceived as Muslim party.
> 
> It put up a number of non-Muslim candidates. But
> central to the success of
> all AUDF candidates was Badruddin Ajmal's resources
> and support among
> Muslims.
> 
> For instance, Dimasa candidate Aditya Langthasa is a
> doctor at Hojai's
> impressive Ajmal Majid Memorial Charitable Hospital
> funded by Ajmal. It used
> to be said that all politics is local.
> 
> In these times, all politics may also be global.
> Ajmal is a small-town boy
> with a global business empire. He is extremely well
> connected to Islamic
> circles in India and abroad.
> 
> This explains why the imam of Jama Masjid campaigned
> so actively in this
> election. While dissatisfaction with the Congress
> following the court's
> invalidation of the IMDT law may have precipitated
> Ajmal's decision to
> launch AUDF, his political optic and track record
> have never been local.
> 
> The foundation of Ajmal's global business empire is
> the aromatic bark that
> the Assamese call agaru or agar. For much longer
> than oil and tea, demand
> for agar has shaped Assam's economic and political
> fortunes.
> 
> Agarbatti is made from it and oil extracted from
> agar is the base for many
> attars and perfumes. It is said that Mughals invaded
> Assam for the lure of
> agar.
> 
> The Rs 30 crore of his reported wealth that made
> Ajmal the richest candidate
> in Assam is only a small part of his global worth.
> The oil boom in the
> Middle East raised the demand for agar enormously.
> 
> Ajmal's once sleepy little hometown Hojai — the agar
> capital of the world —
> shows the impact of that boom. His Dubai-based Ajmal
> Group of Companies
> boasts of a network of shops and distribution
> outlets in Bahrain, Kuwait,
> Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
> 
> Ajmal Perfumes produces attars and fragrances that
> sell not only in India
> and Middle Eastern countries, it has different lines
> of perfumes for African
> and East European markets as well.
> 
> The House of Ajmal has showrooms and production
> units in Mumbai.
> Businessman-politician Ajmal is also Maulana
> Badruddin Ajmal Al-Qasmi. He is
> a member of the Majlis-e-Shura of his alma mater
> Darul Uloom, Deoband, and a
> major benefactor of the institution.
> 
> He has been on the frontline of the defence of the
> embattled Deobandi
> madrassas in the post-9/11 environment. Deoband has
> now opened a department
> of English language and literature on Ajmal's
> initiative.
> 
> Ajmal is founder-chairman of the Markazul Ma'arif
> (centre for knowledge). It
> has introduced a highly competitive two-year
> training programme in English
> language and computers for top madrassa graduates.
> 
> According to a report by a sympathetic observer,
> "With flowing beards and
> traditional madrassa dress of kurta and pyjama not
> lower than ankles, these
> young people flaunt fluent English and etiquette
> believed to be prerogative
> of only people with a public school background".
> 
> Countering the 'turbaned and bearded hordes' image
> of the madrassa-educated
> men is clearly a goal of this ambitious programme.
> Markazul Ma'arif is also
> a publishing house.
> 
> Among its publications is a short history of
> Deoband. In Ajmal's
> introduction he talks about Islam being "the most
> misunderstood religion"
> and rejects the fashionable distinction between
> fundamentalist and Sufi
> Islam, one being bad and the other good.
> 
> To readers of Barbara Metcalf's classic study
> Islamic Revival in British
> India: Deoband, 1860-1900 this would be a familiar
> theme. The original
> Deobandis, according to Metcalf, offered a composite
> form of religious
> leadership and were simultaneously ulama and Sufis.
> 
> Ajmal heads the Assam unit of the
> Jamait-Ulema-e-Hind — hardly surprising
> considering his ties with Deoband. The organisation
> played a key role in
> protests against the Bush visit to India in March.
> 
> Can one separate Ajmal's political moves in Assam
> from everything else he
> does? His disenchantment with the Congress may be
> deeper than what divides
> him and Tarun Gogoi.
> 
> Organisations in which he is a key player are
> unhappy with the UPA
> government's embrace of the US at a time when
> anti-Americanism is widespread
> among Muslims worldwide.
> 
> Even if Gogoi eventually gives in to pressures from
> New Delhi and accepts
> Ajmal as an ally, it will not bridge the deepening
> gulf between Congress and
> Indian Muslims.
> 
> *The writer is at Centre for Policy Research, New
> Delhi, and Bard College,
> New York.*
> 
> * *
> > _______________________________________________
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> assam at assamnet.org
>
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
> 


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