30th IOS General Assembly Annual Meet Concludes
August 5-6, 2016 at 162, Jogabai, Institute Building, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi
A view of 60th Governing Council meeting
The Institute of Objective Studies’ three-day 30th Annual General Assembly Meeting and the 60th Governing Council meeting attended by delegates from Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir concluded on August 7, 2016. The progress of the decisions taken at the earlier meeting was reviewed. The delegates unanimously endorsed the progress of various projects under review. The delegates discussed the issues in the context of the country and the Muslim community threadbare and took several important decisions by a voice vote. At both the meetings, it was unanimously decided to hold 30th anniversary celebrations of the IOS in coming November in Delhi.
The meeting decided that the different chapters of the IOS in various parts of the country would organise programmes marking 30th anniversary of the IOS. The House also okayed the proposal for release of more than two dozen books on various subjects on the occasion.
Giving the details of the decision taken in the three-day meet, Chairman of the IOS, Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam informed that a short-term course on modern education and shariah laws will be prepared for imparting it to madrasa students through distance mode. For this purpose a committee will be formed to examine the practical aspects and also the feasibility of this course.
With a view to giving a fillip to the Quranic studies, it was decided at the meeting that all such centres where emphasis was more on the teaching of the Quran, would be approached in connection with a national seminar proposed to be organised in 2017. Besides, the meeting decided to review the syllabi taught in the schools run and managed by the Muslims. Dr. Alam disclosed that a lecture series on “Islamophobia” would be organised in various important towns of the country. The meeting recorded, “IOS is fully aware of its responsibility to take a microscopic view of the national and international laws of 2016-17 and the changes taking place in the field of family and education, from the prism of Islamic studies.”
The meeting noted, the IOS is also engaged in examining the various aspects of history and reviewing the attempts being made to undo the established facts, and taking effective steps to counter them. Different aspects of history and law were thoroughly reviewed at the meeting and a report pertaining to it was presented. It was decided to take a follow-up action on the report in the near future.
The meeting debated the scope of cooperation with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in various fields and felt the need to widen it with the identification of more areas for joint strategies. Underlining the need for constantly focusing on the Indian Constitution, the delegates veered round to the view that this was the only way out for the good of the country and for strengthening our social fabric, and for restoring confidence in the Constitution. The meeting also arrived at the decision to spread the message of “Seerah” to non-Muslims by organising a lecture in the light of the books on “Seerat-i-Rasool” (PBUH) published in Kannada and Tamil languages so far.
The meeting expressed the confidence that the project based on the life profile of 1400 prominent Muslims who carved out a name for themselves in furtherance of humanity under the title “Ek Azeem-usshan Wars-i-ki Chaudah Sadian” (14 Centuries of a Glorious Legacy), would be completed by the end of the next year. It was informed at the meeting that the work on 400 of them had been completed so far. Referring to another decision taken at the meeting Dr. Alam said that an international conference on the intellectual legacy of the noted researcher, Dr. Mohammad Hamidullah and its contemporary relevance would be held on February 18 and 19, 2017 in New Delhi.
Dr. Alam informed that a two-day seminar on the constitutional safeguards of minorities’ rights and the role of state would be organised in Kolkata on October 1 and 2 next. He further said that a “Forum for Religious Understanding” had been formed and first event of the forum has been scheduled to take place in Bodh Gaya (Bihar) on September 24 and 25 next in collaboration with department of the Buddhist Studies and the Directorate of Distance Education, Magadh University, Bodh Gaya.
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As we prepare to observe the 150th anniversary of 1857 events we are once again apt to ask ourselves the same old, unanswered questions: Was it a mutiny, first war of independence, or Jihad for the sake of Islam? William Dalrymple's account clearly shows that it had elements from all the three.