Excerpts from IOS Chairman’s remarks at select gathering of Muslim NRIs
May 10, 2017 at Riyadh KSA
 "One must not despair of Allah's mercy. I am confident that in India, as in the rest of world, things will change for the better. Allah is the best disposer of affairs. The recent incidents in Saharanpur are a pointer".
"There are four things that we learn from the Seerah: 1. Keep yourself united, 2. Scuttle your adversaries, 3. Guard your secrets, 4. Strive to unravel the secrets of the enemy."
"In the recent UP elections every opposition party focussed on non-issues like foreign trips undertaken by Prime Minister Modi, the suits he wears, and the likes, whereas, the BJP spoke of more substantive issues, though divisive in nature."
"All major Muslim organisations had decided prior to the UP elections that no organisation would make any statement favouring any political party. But, unfortunately, a few insignificant Muslim leaders, broke rank and announced their support for a specific political dispensation. This, as expected, led to the media using these statements to polarise the majority."
"The BJP took advantage not only of division among Muslim voters; the division among secular forces was also leveraged by them."
"The main aim of the extreme right-wing is to reduce the Muslims to a state of penury by disrupting their means of livelihood. First, it was the weavers; now those in the meat business. A group that is economically brought to its knees can soon be forced to forsake its beliefs for a better life."
"A good majority of young Muslims in India, between the ages 12-20, are ignorant of the basics of their religion. It is imperative that we reach out to them with small booklets introducing Islam in regional languages."
"It is important to build relations with the religious seers amongst Hindus. Respected scholars amongst Muslims having a track record of rising above sectarian and group affiliations must initiate meetings with Hindu seers and jointly work towards reducing hatred between the communities. Many leading Hindu religious heads are against the rising tide of hatred."
"Regarding the meeting of a section of the Jamiat ul Ulema with the PM, Maulana Arshad Madani's statement is apt. He said, If Modi as PM had invited us, it was appropriate to respond. But asking for a personal meeting with a person like Modi is a different thing."
"The choice of Yogi as CM of UP, was not Modi's. It was the RSS which wanted him as CM. Just in case they need to replace their own man at the Centre if he goes against their wishes".
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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.