Monthly Archives: September 2018

The vinyl man of Kitab Mahal

Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

From Marathi to Tamil, and classical to rock, Razzak has it all.
From Marathi to Tamil, and classical to rock, Razzak has it all.

A little corner of analog music on a Mumbai pavement

As I walk down the cobbled pavement under the famous blue-and-white arches of Kitab Mahal, I almost walk past ‘Royal Music Collection’ without noticing it. But Lata Mangeshkar crooning ‘Chhod De Saari Duniya Kisi Ke Liye’ lures me to the shop tucked away between others selling helmets and mobile phone covers. I am immediately struck by the hundreds and hundreds of vinyls and cassettes that are immaculately organised in the tiny space.

The shop’s owner is Abdul Razzak, a man of few words. It is difficult to tease answers out of him; he prefers to reply in lists: genres, artists, languages, types, sizes, speeds of vinyl. He has facts about his collection of LPs and EPs and LDs at his fingertips.

“There’s Hindi, English, Gujarati,” he intones, “Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, Indian classical, Western classical, pop, rock jazz, blues, hard rock, soft rock, soft instrumental,” barely pausing to take a breath. If I slip in a word edgeways, he chides me gently, like a parent frustrated their child isn’t solving a math problem right.

A special bond

He pulls out stacks of vinyls, neatly arranged by genre in plastic bags, from a small, almost hidden, cupboard that holds his more expensive collections. He then lists out artiste names in another rapid-fire burst: “Boney M., ABBA, The Beatles, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Who.” “I don’t really relate to them or understand them,” he says, but he clearly knows what to stock.

As the conversation progresses, the 54-year-old slowly begins to warm up. He tells me why vinyls are special to him. “When you play it, it feels like someone is sitting in front of you and singing,” he says. Razzak’s father worked at a printing press, and no one in his family was particularly interested in music. As one of five siblings growing up in Mumbai,  Razzak would inevitably watch as many films as he could in theatres and religiously listen to their songs on cassette tapes. That is how his love for music began.

“I listened to old Hindi songs,” he reminisces. “I loved Rafi saab’s music. I’d listen to mix collections of Mangeshkar and Talat Mahmood.” Then, as a teenager, Razzak discovered a friend’s collection of vinyl records. There was no turning back. “Once I realised the quality of records, I would only listen to them. The sound is so sweet to the ear.”

One day, the friend gave Razzak his entire collection of 300 records. This was the impetus that kick-started Razzak’s vinyl business in 1980. The collection had songs and dialogues from classics like Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat (1949) and Shree 420 (1955), and Sholay (1975). With these classics, Razzak began to expand his collection and also his network of collectors.

Razzak had gone into business with his uncle, who sold old stamps and coins at the same spot in Kitab Mahal where Razzak now sells vinyl. Uncle and nephew still work together and, in fact, the shopfront abutting the pavement sells coins and stamps during the day, and in the evening after his uncle closes shop, Razzak moves in from the alley at the back where he sits during the day.

Gandhi on 78 rpm

The oldest record in Razzak’s possession is Ashok Kumar’s Jhoola (1941). He also has Mahatma Gandhi’s voice on a 78 rpm. Kanan Devi, Suraiya, Noor Jehan, they all feature strongly in the mix.

The shop has changed little in the 37 years of its existence. A store in Chor Bazaar is offering competition, but that doesn’t appear to worry Razzak. “A lot of the stuff in Chor Bazaar is from scrap dealers, from posters to antique furniture,” he explains, “but they sell at high prices.” Why doesn’t he do the same, I ask. “I don’t want to. I want to run this place as it has always been run,” making enough to cover his family’s expenses.

Kala Ghoda’s famous Rhythm House shut down last year because music downloads proved too big a competition. But online streaming doesn’t affect Razzak whose customers seek him out for a different era, a different sound, for an experience that digital cannot give.

The demand for his wares has slowly grown, as vintage becomes hip and electronic vinyl players buttressed the market. From DJs to interior designers to Bollywood stars, Razzak attracts a tony crowd. He proudly shows me a picture of director Madhur Bhandarkar visiting his shop. Nobody in his family has shown any interest in continuing the shop, but Razzak is unfazed. “I’ll sell them for as long as I can. I can definitely run the shop for another 10 years.”

Anahita Panicker is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist who is as obsessed with cinema as she is with gender rights.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by Anahita Panicker / September 30th, 2017

When women ran police stations with elan

Kozhikode, KERALA :

Circle Inspector and station house officer Shanty Cyriac giving instructions to her team members at the Kasaba police station in the city on Thursday. | Photo Credit: K-RAGESH
Circle Inspector and station house officer Shanty Cyriac giving instructions to her team members at the Kasaba police station in the city on Thursday. | Photo Credit: K-RAGESH

They handle services efficiently at 5 stations in city on International Women’s Day

Scripting a new chapter in women-friendly policing, khaki-clad women on Thursday handled the entire administrative and law and order responsibilities at five police stations within the Kozhikode city limits as part of the International Women’s Day observance.

The five stations — Kasaba, Panniyankara, Elathur, Mavoor, and Chemmangad — functioned under the control of woman station house officers (SHO) who were deputed by the District Police Chief (Kozhikode city).

Celebrating the occasion, the officers hosted special events including a reception to women who had made outstanding contributions to various fields. The Mavoor police station honoured eight such women who were short-listed from various fields. A.K. Jameela, who was given the charge of SHO for the day, coordinated the event and felicitated the women.

T.P. Banisha, a civil police officer (CPO) attached to the Mavoor police station, said it was for the first time that women personnel had got an opportunity as a group in charge of the entire responsibilities of a station, including the General Diary responsibility. They recorded all major incidents that happened within the station limits on Thursday. “We had the support of five women to handle the job, and the rush was moderate,” she said.

At the Kasaba station, there were seven women personnel to handle administrative affairs and law and order issues. To mark the day, CPOs accorded a warm reception to Circle Inspector Shanty Cyriac who assumed charge as SHO. The CPOs said that many of them had prior experience in handling duties, but doing everything on their own created some joyful moments.“It was a wonderful experience, and we shared the delight among ourselves by greeting the SHO with a bouquet,” said C. Sajitha, a CPO at Kasaba station.

“All our team members performed well in their assigned duties such as reception counter management, case registration, and counselling service,” she pointed out.

At the Elathoor station, Sub Inspector Raziya Bengalath led five women personnel in discharging duties. Most of them were busy with the routine administrative duties as the number of complaints was minimal. The SHO said that she had received only one complaint till Thursday evening, and that it was temporarily settled through mediation. The complained pertained to a property dispute between two bus owners from Elathur, she added.

Assistant Commissioner K.P. Abdul Razak said that the purpose of the novel observance was to highlight the need for women empowerment. There had been no such celebrations in the past covering the five major stations within the city limits, he pointed out.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kozhikode / by Staff Reporter / March 09th, 2018

NRI becomes first Muslim Lord Mayor of UK town

KENYA / Leicester, UNITED KINGDOM:

Leicester previously had Hindu and Sikh Lord Mayors,but Abdul Osman is first Muslim to hold the office.

Indian-origin councillor Abdul Razak Osman has become the first Lord Mayor of the Islamic faith to hold the high office in the multi-cultural town of Leicester,which has a large minority of Indian origin people.

Osman was born in Kenya and arrived in the UK in 1971.

His late father Yousuf Razak worked on the East African Railway,and worked for a local engineering firm after moving to Leicester.

The Lord Mayor is Leicester’s first Citizen and has a high profile role maintaining and promoting the interests of the city and its citizens, by attending a variety of civic engagements during the year.

Leicester previously had Hindu and Sikh Lord Mayors,but Osman is the first Muslim to hold the high office.

Incidentally,the office of the Deputy Lord Mayor of Leicester is also held by an Indian-origin councillor,Mustafa Kamal,who hails from Ferozepur,Punjab.

Osman has worked with several charity organisations and was instrumental in fundraising to build two villages and a school in Kutch,Gujarat for orphaned children,following an earthquake in 2011.

Osman,who joined the city council in 1996,takes over from Councillor Rob Wann.

Osman said after being sworn in at the Town Hall last night: “It’s an important year,with the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics,so it’s a privilege for me to hold office with everything that’s going on”.

He added: “I want to focus on visiting the communities and raising the profile of the office of Lord Mayor.

I’m proud to be the first Muslim councillor to hold the position – we’ve had Christian,Hindu,Sikh and now I’m able to bring the Islamic faith to the office which is a great honour”.

Osman,who previously held the office of High Bailiff and Deputy Lord Mayor,is married to Shaina,who will serve as the Lady Mayoress.

The couple have two children.

The term of Leicester’s Lord Mayor is one year,and runs from May to May. Each year the longest serving City Councillor is offered the role. Leicester has had a Mayor since the year 1209. From 1928,the Mayor became a Lord Mayor.

The town also has a separately elected Mayor,currently Peter Soulsby (Labour).

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> News Archive> Print / by Agencies, London / May 18th, 2012

Yay and Nay: Dulquer Salman in Osman Abdul Razak

Chennai, TAMIL NADU / KERALA :

Dulquer Salman slays in a bandh gala as he was spotted at an event.

DulquerMPOs29sept2018

The super dapper Dulquer Salman was recently spotted at an event looking all debonair.

The popular Malayalam actor wore a black bandh gala with statement golden buttons pairing it up with off-white tapered pants and a grey printed pocket square.

We love how he has kept it simple and formal yet adding a bit of his own style with that pocket square.

We are totally crushing on this look let us know your comments too.

source: http://www.regionalpinkvilla.com / PinkVilla / Home> Tamil> Fashion / by Avantika Gupta / November 18th, 2017

Rahman Abbas: ‘English writers enjoy more freedom than us’

Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

Urdu writer Rahman Abbas on the challenges of being defiant

RahmanAbbasBookMPOs28sept2018

A few paragraphs were all it took for the trouble to start. Thirteen years ago, Urdu writer Rahman Abbas was booked for obscenity for his debut novel Nakhlistan ki Talash, a love story set in Bombay following the 1992-93 riots. The offending two or three paragraphs dealt with love and sex.

It’s been more than 10 years since that particular combination of words got him arrested and two since the case of obscenity was closed. But aside from polishing the rawness of a first novel, he probably wouldn’t change the words.

“I may [take] care about a few words; I will use those words but will try to use them more creatively,” he says, when asked what he would have done in hindsight. “But I don’t think there is any word we should hide. I, for one, cannot.” He continues, “As Manto said, you say ‘breast’ for ‘breast’, you can’t use another word. Or for a ‘chair’ you have to say ‘chair’, you cannot say ‘donkey’.”

RahmanAbbasMPOs28sept2018

A medium-height man with a soul patch and a disarming frankness, Abbas, 46, is currently translating Nakhlistan into English, and expects it to be published next year. He has just come back from a tour of Germany with the German translation of his fourth and latest novel Rohzin—the first time any of his novels has been translated. Next month, Rohzin’s English translation, by Sabika Abbas Naqvi, is slated for release. Set in Mumbai, the love story opens with the flood of July 2005 and won a state Sahitya Akademi award in 2017.

But to a general audience Abbas, a former teacher, is still perhaps best known as the writer who found himself in the crosshairs of an outdated legal provision: Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code that punishes obscenity in writing and art.

“I don’t regret what happened,” he says. “These are the challenges you have to face as a writer or creative person. If your society is orthodox, it is your duty to challenge the orthodoxy.”

And that is precisely what he plans to do. Since the police case that changed his life, Abbas has left the teaching profession, won and returned a Sahitya Akademi award, won and retained a Sahitya Akademi award, and is in the incipient stages of launching a broader campaign against Section 292. That section, among others, has for years been a part of the restrictive free speech architecture that bedevils Indian writers and artists.

“There is freedom for people to protest against a book, to dislike a book. I respect that freedom. If I have the freedom to write, people have the freedom to criticise,” says Abbas, who won his first state Sahitya Akademi award for his third novel, Ek Mamnua Mohabbat ki Kahani . “But a [legal] provision that gives people an opportunity to send a writer to jail, that should be stopped.” He adds, “For a democracy, this is crucial.”

The first step, Abbas believes, is to galvanise public opinion through writing and advocacy against Section 292 in particular. A public interest litigation (PIL) opposing the use of this provision against writers and artists is already in the works.

Abbas is also busy working on a fresh piece of Urdu fiction, his first literary effort since the case against him was closed in 2016, liberating him in several ways. “For my next novel, I will try to explore the things I couldn’t explore in my previous three novels,” he says. “Since the case has ended, I feel I am free to write.”

Abbas denies the impact that fame— or infamy—can have on the reception of a work. “I think if you aren’t a good writer, it will not help,” he says. “Nothing can help.” He names Sadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai as illustrious Urdu predecessors who were prosecuted (though ultimately unsuccessfully) under the same law he was. Then he chuckles: “There is no single example of bad writers having any problem.”

Good or bad, Indian filmmakers and artists have consistently faced oppressive free speech laws, whether through criminal prosecution, government bans or threats from conservative factions.

In 2016, various groups protested against Tamil writer Perumal Murugan’s One Part Woman and sought a ban on it. In 2015, Jharkhand-based writer Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s The Adivasi Will Not Dance was banned by the state government on allegations of having violated Section 292, among others. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking a ban on the Malayalam novel Meesha. To Abbas, this is part of a wider pattern. “English writers enjoy more freedom than us. I don’t know why. Alice Walker’s novel was in our syllabus and used those same words that I did and went to jail for,” he says. “On the one hand, the Government makes you read a book; on the other hand, if you use the same word in your text, you are a criminal.”

Though he was let off without a trial—the complainant told the court she had misunderstood the offending passages and the case was closed—Abbas spent one night under arrest in Arthur Road jail until his lawyer was able to complete the bail formalities. “It was quite a humiliating process,” he says, its memory still fresh more than a decade later. “When you go to jail, you feel your whole freedom is gone, that you will never get out of there.”

The experience was both debilitating and transformative. “I remembered Manto and wrote about how I felt the pain of Manto,” says Abbas, a touch dramatically. “If you are a writer or journalist and you experience jail, you understand the importance of freedom. I had it when I was writing; when it is stopped, you realise the importance of maintaining it. It’s not only your struggle, but a struggle of humanity.”

Though he lost his job, was pilloried at the time by the Urdu media, and still faces the censure of conservative Muslims, he now has more enthusiastic readers, he believes. “Now my writing has been accepted in a big way. Urdu readers are not that narrow minded,” he says. “They are openly reading and I am happy when young people appreciate the work which the previous generation had condemned.”

Abbas taught at a Muslim institution for several years and was also the principal of one. He later decided to leave academia and joined a think-tank fulltime in 2012. “If you are liberal Hindu, you won’t work in an RSS shakha,” he says of leaving that minority institution. “It is very conservative. Through education, they want to promote their religious ideas. I believe education should be 100 per cent secular; there shouldn’t be any discussion on religion. But now both communities are insisting on preaching religion and morality, and that is antieducation, anti-scientific temper.”

In 2015, Abbas joined the awards return protests initiated by authors disturbed by the silence of institutions and the apathy of the Government to violence against free thinkers. Like many writers and intellectuals, he too is concerned about what he perceives as the shrinking space for dissent in the country and the rise of divisive politics. “The right-wing is gaining. And only because it is doing the same ugly, dirty propaganda and dividing people in the name of religion,” he says. “There is a feeling that Dalits, Muslims, Christians, Adivasis can be targeted. Yes, there is a fear. And people should speak up.”

source: http://www.openthemagazine.com / Open / Home> Salon > Web Exclusive: Books / by Bhavya Dore / September 21st, 2018

Anantnag youth creates website to check fake news

Bijbehara Town, Anantnag District, JAMMU & KASHMIR :

Amir Ali Shah (23) from Bijbehara town of the district has spent more than two years to come up with the website ‘Stop Fake in Kashmir’, reported The Tribune.

Amir Ali Shah
Amir Ali Shah

A youth from south Kashmir’s Anantnag district has created a website to tackle the menace of fake news.

Amir Ali Shah (23) from Bijbehara town of the district has spent more than two years to come up with the website ‘Stop Fake in Kashmir’, reported The Tribune.

The website is the first of its kind developed in the Kashmir valley, said the report.

The website is already up on the Internet though it is waiting for formal launch which will take place in coming weeks.

Shah claimed that the website will act as a watchdog to keep tabs on unverified and fake news circulated on the social media where users can upload a link or screenshot of the news they want to verify.

“The website will give a feedback on whether the news is true or fake based on web searches,” Shah was quoted as saying by the report.

He said that the back-end team of the website will also run the information through its sources on the ground and check the veracity of the news.

Shah said he conceived the idea of developing such a platform in January 2016 after the entire Kashmir valley went into mass hysteria following fake news that suggested that the polio vaccine administered to children was expired and had caused some deaths.

source: http://www.greaterkashmir.com / Greater Kashmir / Home> Kashmir / by GK WebDesk, Srinagar / September 24th, 2018

Mangaluru: C M Mustafa elected president of Meenu Marata & Commission Agentara Sangha

Mangaluru, KARNATAKA :

Mangaluru :

The general meeting of Meenu Marata & Commission Agentara Sangha was held at the office of the sangha here recently.

C M Mustafa was elected president, Bharath Bhooshan elected honorary president, K Ashraf as executive president, K E Rashid as vice president, K Abdul Azeez P P A as treasurer, K M Ibrahim as chief secretary, J B Shiva as joint secretary and C B Azharuddin, K M Bava and S A Saleem were elected executive committee members on the occasion.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / DaijiWorld.com / Home> Karnataka / by Spoorthy Ullah, Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru(EP) / September 21st, 2018

Cheil WW India makes two senior appointments

Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA / NEW DELHI :

The agency hopes in Moosa Khan and Nitin Pradhan

MoosaKhanMPOs27sept2018

Cheil India has appointed Moosa Khan and Nitin Pradhan in their senior creative leadership. The duo will report to Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar.

Khan joins as head of digital (creative) and Pradhan takes on the role of senior executive creative director.

Speaking on the appointment, Atika Malik, chief operating officer, Cheil WW India, said, “We are the Agency of Now where creativity is inspired by technology. I am extremely happy that Moosa and Nitin will add their digital capability, creativity and energy to Cheil. I look forward to working closely with them to inspire new ideas and solutions for our progressive brands. For 15 years Cheil in India has provided brand solutions across retail, experiential, digital and communication to transform our client’s businesses. They will be a great asset to our creative strength and we welcome them warmly into the Cheil family.”

“I am delighted to welcome Moosa and Nitin to our team. Both of them are exceptional creative talents to have on board. While Moosa has immense understanding of new age digital media, Nitin is a fantastic creative talent with great ability of storytelling. Most importantly, we all have a shared passion for creative excellence and digital innovation. With these beliefs firmly at the heart, Moosa and Nitin will be a tremendous asset to our bold creative ambitions. Wait and watch as magic happens!” added, Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, chief creative officer, Cheil WW India.

Khan brings with him over 10 years of experience in digital as well as traditional advertising. He has worked across agencies such as Dentsu Webchutney, Madison, TBWA and Jack in the Box Worldwide.

Pradhan, a known name among the advertising fraternity, has 17 years of experience working with– Ogilvy, JWT, McCann, Leo Burnett and the likes.

source: http://www.brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com / ET Brand Equity / Home> The People Report / June 02nd, 2018

South African Indian cinema mogul Moosa Moosa passes away

Johanessburg, SOUTH AFRICA :

South African Indian cinema doyen Moosa Moosa has passed away. He was 75. Moosa succumbed to a heart attack on Sunday after undergoing surgery.

He was buried in Johannesburg on Monday according to Muslim rites.

Moosa had earned the title of being the longest-serving cinema group executive in the world, adding to the company’s reputation of having the longest relationship with Hollywood production house 20th Century Fox for almost eight decades now.

In 2007, Moosa received the South African Film and Television Industry Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tributes from all across the world continued to pour in for Moosa as the news of his demise spread.

Family and friends recalled how Moosa had taken over the family cinema business of the Avalon Group, started by his father 79 years ago as the first and still only Indian-owned cinema group in South Africa, after most of the 18 cinemas in the group were shut down by the draconian apartheid-era laws restricting property ownership in city centres to the minority white community.

Undeterred by this as the Avalon Group continued with just one cinema in an area designated for Indians in Durban, Moosa took on the seemingly impossible task of challenging the monopolies of white-owned major national cinema chains and won legal battles in the new democratic South Africa headed by President Nelson Mandela.

Moosa then started rebuilding the business as his son Aboobaker, popularly known as AB, also joined the business as the chief executive officer.

Currently they have cinemas in three major South African cities where new Bollywood releases play alongside Hollywood titles every week.

“My father showed tenacity and strength in keeping alive the Avalon dream through the tough times,” AB Moosa said in paying tribute to his father.

“When many had already begun to write the company’s obituary, my father’s resolve never wavered,” he added.

Many community leaders also paid tribute to Moosa for his support of community initiatives.

“He was always willing to support a variety of important social justice issues and always availed Avalon cinema venues for such events at no charge,” said Lubna Nadvi, from the University of KwaZulu Natal’s School of Social Science.

“Moosa will be justly remembered as a courageous and articulate businessman who was determined in his challenge of white monopolies in the 1980’s,” businessman Nirode Bramdaw recalled.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> International / by PTI / June 26th, 2018

Winning Muslim candidates say Shiv Sena ‘our true well-wisher’

Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

Shiv Sena candidate Haji Mohammed Halim Khan (centre), who won from ward no. 96 in Behrampada in Bandra (East), alleged that the projection that the party was ‘anti-Muslim’ was the “handiwork of certain sections of people.” He also accused the Congress of treating the community as a mere vote-bank. | Photo Credit: Vijay Bate
Shiv Sena candidate Haji Mohammed Halim Khan (centre), who won from ward no. 96 in Behrampada in Bandra (East), alleged that the projection that the party was ‘anti-Muslim’ was the “handiwork of certain sections of people.” He also accused the Congress of treating the community as a mere vote-bank. | Photo Credit: Vijay Bate

Saying that Sena is anti-Muslim is nothing but crap: Haji Halim Khan

Shiv Sena, which is identified with the ‘Hindutva’ ideology, has managed to make inroads into Mumbai’s two Muslim pockets with the winning candidates calling the saffron party as their “true well-wisher.”

The party put up a decent show by winning on 84 seats in the fiercely contested Mumbai civic body polls. The party had fielded five Muslim candidates, out of which two have won from Behrampada in Bandra locality and a ward representing suburban Amboli and Jogeshwari.

Sena candidate Haji Mohammed Halim Khan (35), who won from ward no. 96 in Behrampada in Bandra (East), alleged that the projection that the party was ‘anti-Muslim’ was the “handiwork of certain sections of people.”

‘Sena has always been helpful’

“Saying that Sena is anti-Muslim is nothing but crap and Sena’s projection of Muslims in a bad light is a handiwork of certain sections of the society. Rather, Sena has always been helpful in sorting out our problems. They are our true well-wisher,” he said.

“I can recollect that one of our prominent mosques came up only when Balasaheb Thackerayji helped,” he said.

A tour operator by profession, Mr. Khan’s win has facilitated the Shiv Sena register its first victory in the Muslim-dominated ward, which has been a Congress bastion. He charged the Congress with treating the community as vote-bank.

“The Congress considers Muslim as merely a vote-bank and nothing more than that, while Shiv Sena encourages every Muslim to be faithful towards the country. Balasaheb always praised ‘sachche musalman’ [true Muslims],” added Mr. Khan.

‘Nothing wrong with Hindutva’

Shahida Khan (52), who has won from ward no. 64 to represent suburban Amboli and Jogeshwari, also echoed the views of Mr. Khan and said the Sena has always helped people from the community whosoever has approached with a genuine problem.

“Hindutva a shadow, no one can deny and we need to live under it. There is nothing wrong when our party head says so. Most importantly, my party has always helped always been helpful to those from the community who have approached with a genuine problem,” Ms. Shahida said.

Ms. Shahida, who was a homemaker until now, is confident to address the issues of her locality with the help of her husband Haroon Khan, who is the party ‘shakha pramukh’ of the locality for the last 16 years.

Reaching out to Muslims

According to political analysts, Sena’s effort to reach out to Muslims is not an overnight stand, but it was a decision taken after due deliberation, which has yielded positive results.

Anil Tiwari, resident editor of Dopahar Ka Saamna, party’s mouthpiece, said, “We never used our paper to create a divide in the society on the basis of caste and religion. However, lately we tried to connect with the Muslims and highlighted issues concerning them through our editorial pieces and I think it worked well.”

The Sena, well-known for anti-Muslim tirades, was pulled up by the Srikrishna Commission probing the 1992-93 communal riots, proved its soft stand towards Muslims when it gave wide advertisements in the Urdu dailies few day before polling and sought their votes.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Other States / by PTI / Mumbai – February 26th, 2017