29 January - 4 February 2018 - 16-min

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2 29 January - 4 February, 2018 P Editorial NEW DELHI TIMES Pakistan urges Ummah Unity Brands US, Israel and India bonhomie as emerging nexus ◆◆ By NDT Special Bureau @NewDelhiTimes info@newdelhitimes.com akistan Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani visited Iran to address the 13th session of the Parliamentary Union of Islamic Countries (PUIC) being held in Tehran. While addressing the gathering of PUIC, Rabbani sounded the warning to the Muslim world that the emerging nexus between the United States, Israel and India is a major threat to the Ummah. He spoke of Pakistan’s strong opposition to the US attempt to alter the legal and historical status of Al Quds, and castigated the US move as a blatant violation of international law and United Nations Security Council’s resolutions. It is apt to recall here that Pakistan was the co-sponsor of the UN resolution on the Jerusalem Al Quds issue. Rabbani also met Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rabbani said ‘Today it is Pakistan and Iran, tomorrow it can be any other country’ and extolled all to rise above divisive conflicts - sectarian, ideological or communal. He proposed that the way forward lies in enhancement of multi-stratum cooperation in areas such as economy, trade, infrastructure, investment, education, health, science and technology, agriculture, energy and defence. However, Rabbani exhibited a positive approach to extremism and sectarianism. Pakistan, he said, would continue to play a proactive role against this tide of extremism and anarchy to root out the menace of terrorism. The Muslim world must not let a handful of extremists and transnational terrorists to malign Islam for their vested interests, he emphasized. He also stressed the need for promoting the true image and message of Islam as a religion of peace, tolerance and respect for human dignity, rights and freedoms. He viewed the PUIC as a step forward for increased mutually-beneficial integration within the Muslim world for envisaging the “strengthening of contacts, cooperation and coordination between various Muslim countries’ parliamentary, governmental and non-governmental organisations, with the aim of advancing common objectives”. He hoped that as a forceful institutional voice of the Muslim world, the PUIC could play an important role through elected representatives of people. Photo Credit :Shutterstock Most of the Muslim leaders of the world have no clear short term and long term vision for societal welfare. Among the Muslim world, only Gulf countries have prospered due to petroleum while other countries have lacked growth. Islam is projected as the religion of peace whereas torn asunder by religious strife, sectarian violence, extremism and radicalism, Ummah has in reality shunned tolerance, respect for human dignity, rights and freedoms. Rabbani is preaching to the front row probably well trenched in the belief that decades of Pakistani proxies meddling in neighbouring countries internal affairs were good for Ummah! Pakistan’s hypocrisy is now exposed before the world. His utterances could also be a gentle hint to the Iranian leader. As it is Iranians don’t trust Pakistanis. Rabbani’s depiction of India-US-Israel bonhomie as an emerging nexus against Islamic world especially Pakistan, can at best be described as a figment of imagination. All these countries basically focus on trade and economic development. He conveniently forgets that Pakistan’s geopolitical repositioning by its disentanglement from US and gravitating closer to China has driven India towards US. Now there are talks of Russia joining China-Pakistan melee which could further complicate the geopolitical scene. Pakistan’s offer of Gwadar port to China for military base has upset the strategic geopolitical balance of the region to pile up Indian worries. China’s infrastructure building in Spratly Islands in South China Sea threatens to unsettle international trade and troubles US no end. The coming together of US and India should be viewed in that perspective. It is in no way directed against Pakistan. The Hijabi Hoax that fooled Canada ◆◆ By Tarek Fatah Author & Columnist, Canada @TarekFatah tarek.fatah@gmail.com he moment the first pictures appeared T of 11-year-old Khowlah Noman at a press conference, flanked by her mother in niqab and a Muslim activist from Mississauga, I knew there was something not right. Khowlah’s story that an Asian man cut her hijab with scissors was a physical impossibility. To cut the hijab with scissors through the winter jacket was only possible if the jacket was completely removed. This was not the case. There was obviously more to it than met the eye, but not for our bleedingheart, guilt-ridden politicians, hungry for the Muslim vote bank in some pockets of Toronto. Within hours, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared with his Muslim Citizenship Minister Ahmed Hussen to validate the yet unsubstantiated story of a Muslim being attacked because of her religion. Toronto Mayor John Tory and Premier Kathleen Wynne, both facing elections, joined the chorus of condemnation, without waiting for any police confirmation about whether a crime had been committed. Now Toronto Police say the alleged attack on an 11-year-old girl wearing a hijab last week was a hoax. In other words, the hijabi girl and her brother simply made up the story. We still don’t know enough whether this incident was orchestrated to further entrench the sense of victimhood among Canada’s Muslims or if it was a tale made up by the 11-year-old girl to cover up some other incident. Photo Credit : Shutterstock Khawlah Noman isn’t the first Muslim girl to pull off such a hoax, but she surely must be the youngest to do so. In December 2016, the hijabi-wearing Yasmin Seweid, 18, was arrested for filing a false police report. She had claimed three Donald Trump supporters in New York attacked her and that she was called a “terrorist” on a subway train. Sources told London’s Daily Mail, Yasmin Seweid had made up the story to cover up for a late night out drinking with friends. Then there was the incident on Nov. 11, 2016, when a Muslim student made up allegations that a white man told her to remove her hijab else he would set her on fire. The attack near the University of Michigan campus was cited as an example of a spike in hate crimes in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential victory. The police determined her story wasn’t true. Which brings us back to the central question: Why are 11-year-old girls wearing the hijab? We are a society that accommodates all, but not the Swastika or the KKK cone hat, but when it comes to the flag of the fascist Muslim Brotherhood, the hijab, we give it the benefit of the doubt. Writing in these columns, I have stated empathically that the hijab has nothing to do with Islam as a religion. It is not sanctioned anywhere in the Qur’an, the fundamental text of Islam, or even in the dubious Hadith (traditions) attributed to Prophet Muhammad 100 years after his death. Sad, that at a time when Muslim women in Iran are risking their lives to tear off their hijabs, Canada is becoming a place where little girls are being used to carry the burden of Islamism on their heads. Amir Taheri, the Iranian-born author and expert on Islamic issues wrote an extensive piece on the phenomenon of the hijab for the New York Post in 2003. According to Taheri, “This fake Islamic hijab is nothing but a political prop, a weapon of visual terrorism. It is the symbol of a totalitarian ideology inspired more by Nazism and Communism than by Islam. It is as symbolic of Islam as the Mao uniform was of Chinese civilization.” Many Muslim Canadians, both men and women would agree with Taheri that the hijab “is a sign of support for extremists who wish to impose their creed, first on Muslims, and then on the world through psychological pressure, violence, terror, and, ultimately, war.” If Canada’s politicians continue to rely on the advice of Islamists who seem to have a presence in all parties, Mullahs and their secular Muslim nationalist allies will blind them to the reality on the ground, in the madrassahs and the presence of Islamist groups in our school system. As a first step, ban the burka in all of Canada’s public places. That will be the shot across the bow needed to warn those who seek our destruction that we will fight on the proverbial beaches even if our politicians cuddle up to warmth of the hijab and niqab. www.NewDelhiTimes.com India’s only International Newspaper
29 January - 4 February, 2018 3 I T Editorial ◆◆ By Dr. Ankit Srivastava Editor - in - Chief @AnkitNDT ankits@newdelhitimes.com NEW DELHI TIMES Netanyahu’s Historic India tour hails a ‘new era’ in Indo-Israel ties sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu arrived at the Air Force Station in New Delhi on 14th January for the first visit by an Israeli leader to India in 15 years. He is only the second Israeli PM to visit India after Ariel Sharon in 2003. Modi had made history in July 2017 becoming the first Indian leader to visit Israel. Netanyahu’s six-day long visit marks 25 years of Indo-Israel diplomatic relations, extremely important in the backdrop of India’s vote in favour of a United Nations resolution that denounced United States Photo Credit : Shutterstock recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. While Netanyahu was ‘disappointed’, the Israeli ambassador to India played down, describing the relationship as ‘much stronger than one vote at the UN’. India-Israeli relationship is an important all-weather relationship that was strong enough to withstand fissures. Nothing could reverse it as both countries employ statesmanship ◆◆By NDT Bureau @NewDelhiTimes info@newdelhitimes.com to maintain best of relations. Modi viewed Netanyahu’s visit as ‘historic and special’ that will ‘further cement the close friendship between our nations’ while Netanyahu hailed Modi’s greeting as a ‘surprise welcome’ that overrode a scheduled welcome by a Cabinet minister. Cold War had witnessed Indian diplomacy leaning heavily towards the Palestinians at Israel’s cost. Over the past quarter century, both have inched closer. Pragmatic Modi understands real politic to orient all actions towards national interests. UN votes apart, there were other irritants like India cancelling the $500 million deal to buy 8,000 Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel’s state-owned defence contractor Rafael since DRDO offered to manufacture similar missiles at home. India needs Israel technology to further develop its capability. The army and the government are reportedly searching for ways of reviving the order. Israel is already a major weapons supplier to India, exporting an average of $1bn of military equipmentannually. India announced to buy 131 surface-to-air missiles from Israel for its first domestically made aircraft carrier. Seeking to end India’s status as the world’s top defence importer Modi invited Israeli defence companies ‘to take advantage of the liberalised foreign direct investment (FDI) regime to make more in India with our companies’. Technology transfer to local firms could create much-needed jobs. Both countries signed agreements on cyber security, air transport, energy, space cooperation and film production. The progress in implementation of agreements signed during Modi’s visit to Israel on technology, water and agriculture was also reviewed. The visit enhanced cooperation with a global economic, security, technology and tourism power. The largest-ever business delegation of around 130 business people accompanying Netanyahu included executives in technology, agriculture and defence that ‘reflects the enthusiasm in Israel to do more business with India.’ The India-Israel CEO Forum Meeting was a great success. At Mumbai - the seat of majority of India’s estimated 4,500 Jews - Netanyahu visited Jewish centre Chabad House in a symbolic gesture to tiny and shrinking Jewish community. He met 11-year-old Moshe Holtzberg, whose parents were among 166 people killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Meeting with Bollywood luminaries and producers he hosted a party to market Israel as a prime filming location. Israel’s technology on water usage, hydrology, and desalinization, plant cloning GMO and hot house agriculture, electronics and artificial intelligence (AI) is the best in the world. Their per capita income and GDP /GNP are higher than European countries excepting Germany. Indo-Israel bilateral trade skyrocketed from $200 million in 1992-the year of establishing diplomatic ties - to $5billion in 2016-17; mere pittance versus Israel’s $40bn annual trade with Washington and Brussels. Indian delegation will be in Israel in February to hammer out a free trade agreement that is on the anvil since 2006. Searching for common ground and keeping differences aside, the two statesmen have taken diplomacy to new heights. This is a win-win situation for both. Sizeable numbers of Muslims who chose to live in India and Israel live freely enjoying social importance. Their places of worship are often located in centres of the city in prime real estatesuch freedom being a dream for minorities in countries such as Pakistan due to narrow minded and ruthless ethnic cleansing. The friendship soared to new heights as the two bonded while paying homage to Gandhi at Sabarmati Ashram, flying kites and inaugurating the iCREATE (Center for Excellence in Technology and Enterprise) campus near Ahmedabad. Both acknowledge the transformative power of technology and young people and of partnership in the field of technology, agriculture and life sciences. Modi asked innovators to benefit from Israel’s partnerships in areas of India’s necessities like water conservation, agriculture, preservation of agricultural produce, food processing and farming in desert-like regions and areas with little water. The innovations in health and cleanliness can create a new India. “We are ushering today a new era in our relations. We have had diplomatic relations for 25 years, but something different is happening now because of your leadership and our partnership,” Netanyahu said and his “Jai Hind Jai Bharat, Jai Israel” summed it all. India-Israel relationship have entered a new phase and will now only smoothen over time. Repositing ASEAN-India Relations: India hosts leaders of all countries of the block in 2018 Republic parade he year 2017 witnessed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India celebrating 25 years of dialogue, 15 years of summit level meetings, and five years of strategic partnership. India invited heads of all ASEAN countries to participate in Republic day on January 26, 2018 - the first time ever in India’s independent history that all the heads of ASEAN were in New Delhi, together celebrating with India a very important milestone of its journey to freedom. India preferred to stay clear of regional organizations throughout the Cold War period to focus on global organizations instead. The geopolitics of the era also slotted ASEAN and India into opposing ideological blocs. Friendship with USSR made India view the ASEAN as a U.S. ploy to contain Communism. Indian moves like friendship treaty with USSR, stance on the Vietnam War, recognition of Kampuchea regime, acquiescence on Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, criticising American presence in Diego Garcia, Nuclear test and subsequent military (especially naval) modernization in the 1980s created fissures in the already tense ASEAN-India relationship. Of course, ASEAN and India converged on the issue of the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) but the broad atmosphere of tensions, political mistrust and mutual suspicion resulted in missed opportunities. India, however, essayed modest bilateral economic relations with selected ASEAN countries. The fall of Soviet Union, rise of China, globalization, balance of payment crisis and prospects of international isolation reshaped India’s perspectives on regional organizations and New Delhi eased into active engagement with them. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s visit to select South-East Asian countries heralded India’s Look East policy with the ASEAN at the center. India became a limited dialogue partner in ASEAN in 1992, a full dialogue partner in 1995 and a full member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in 1996. It shared the high table with big powers like the United States, China, and Russia, alongside ASEAN, on security issues in the Indo-Pacific region. Modi government’s Act East policy has now made ASEAN the anchor of India’s interests in the region. Currently India has 30 sectoral dialogue mechanisms and seven ministerial level interactions with ASEAN in fields as varied as external affairs, defence, connectivity, telecommunications, energy, commerce, agriculture, environmental issues, and tourism. India shares strong bilateral relations with each of the 10 ASEAN member countries. ASEAN and India celebrated a ‘commemorative summit’ in 2012 and upgraded relations to a strategic partnership. Economics, security, and connectivity have always been at the centre of ASEAN-India relations. ASEAN now accounts for 10.4 percent of India’s exports and 10.6 percent of imports. India signed a free trade agreement (FTA) on goods in 2009 and on services and investments in 2014. India has a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with various countries of the ASEAN region resulting in concessional trade and more investments; ten percent of the total FDI equity inflows to India come from the ASEAN region. On the security issues, inclusion in multilateral forum ARF was a major positive for India. ASEAN and India now see convergence of their interests on the issue of non-traditional security in the IOR like piracy, illegal migration, trafficking of drugs, arms, and humans, as well as maritime terrorism. India succeeded at ARF to isolate Pakistan during Kargil War while maintaining ties after nuclear test of 1998. Other ASEAN forums like ASEAN PMC and ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) also provide India platforms on regional security issues. The signing of a “Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism,” maritime exercises with the navies of ASEAN countries, information-sharing initiatives, and defence agreements with individual ASEAN countries impart security dimensions to ASEAN-India relations. India is working toward better regional connectivity through transit agreements on connectivity infrastructure through land, water, and air. Cooperative endeavours on education, tourism, academic, cultural, social, and scientific collaboration will be on full display during Republic Day. The “ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace, Progress, and Shared Prosperity” in 2004 and the “Plan of Action” in 2012 highlighted the growing confluence in various fields between ASEAN and India. Prime Minister Modi upgraded India’s policy with the ASEAN from the Look East to Act East. Modi has already visited eight out of ten ASEAN countries that reflect the strategic importance of this region to India’s foreign policy. The rise of China compels India to engage with the regional grouping ASEAN whose member countries, for long, have looked to India for strategic balancing against China. That also enhances India’s rising prominence in the region. The geopolitics of the Indo- Pacific region ordains that in this age of multilateral alignment, India must engage and cooperate with ASEAN to check rising China’s unbridled expansive unilateralism in the Indo-Pacific region. On South China Sea issue, India and ASEAN now need each other more than at any time in history. Republic day gathering reflected an apt platform and opportunity to carry on further the shared vision, interests and partnership. India’s only International Newspaper www.NewDelhiTimes.com
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29 January - 4 February 2018 - 16-min

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