Marginalia, Nida-e Haq

Action on Climate Change Needed Asad Mirza On September 20, 2019, the world stood up and took notice of the millions of people across the world taking to the streets for the Global Climate Strike . Millions of people took part in an unprecedented global demonstration on Friday, 20 Sept., demanding urgent action to tackle global heating, joining a movement started by Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg. The strike was timed to put pressure on the leaders gathering for the climate summit, which is being held ahead of the annual UN general assembly. Extinction Rebellion, a climate change group, and Thunberg’s Fridays for Future are striking across the world between September 20 and 27, asking governments to declare a climate change emergency and take definitive action. UN Secretary General Guterres asked leaders to come to the UN summit with new commitments to put the globe closer to meeting the Paris agreement goals of limiting global heating to at least 2 o...

Indo-US Relations, a new thrust Asad Mirza Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in the US today, on his first visit to the US after becoming the country’s prime minister for the second time in may, this year and fourth since he became the prime minister for the first time in 2014. As per the White House and Indian MEA’s sources, PM Modi will address a joint rally with President Trump in Houston, today (22 Sept.). This is for the first time in recent history that the leaders of the two largest democracies would be addressing a joint rally anywhere in the world Ending speculation around whether he will make a joint appearance with Prime Minister Modi, U.S. President Donald Trump’s participation in the September 22   ‘Howdy, Modi!’ diaspora event in Houston has been confirmed. The U.S. President will also address the gathering – expected to be in the “tens of thousands” as per the White House Press Secretary. “ It will be a great opportunity to empha...

Nerve wrecking Brexit saga continues Asad Mirza The unprecedented drama and blames of unconstitutional steps in the mother of all parliaments i.e. in the UK, came to an end around 2 am at the night of 10 Sept. The Parliament was suspended until 14 October after a day and night of high drama. The day (9September) started with chaotic scenes as the prorogation formalities began in the early hours of Tuesday. Speaker of the House, John Bercow, expressed his anger at the suspension of proceedings, saying it was “not a normal prorogation. It is not typical. It is not standard. It’s one of the longest for decades and it represents... an act of executive fiat”. A group of opposition MPs, carrying signs saying “silenced” tried to prevent the Speaker John Bercow from exiting his chair to go to the House of Lords to complete prorogation proceedings. Earlier in the day, Boris Johnson once again failed in his attempt to force an early general election after opposition...

Jamiat-RSS meeting, a positive step Asad Mirza The recent meeting on 30 August between RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Jamiat Ulema-I Hind president Maulana Arshad Madani, has created quite a stir and took the social media by storm, with people voicing both appreciation and criticism for the maulana. The meeting, which took place at the Keshav Kunj office of the RSS in New Delhi, preceded hectic parleys between the two outfits during the last one-and-a-half years. The leading role for arranging the meeting was played by Sunil Pandey, the chief of the RSS Training Centre. He and colleagues had even visited Darul Uloom at Deoband about a year back and had met Maulana Arshad at Masjid-e Rashidia in Deoband. What transpired at the meeting was not immediately known, as the details started emerging after some days only and that too from Jamiat’s side, the RSS on its part kept completely quite about the confabulations, further the Jamiat leaders were at pains to point out th...