Azizul Hind will show what journalism is and what Muslims are! Aziz Burney Daily Azizul Hind is neither a national newspaper nor can be put in the category of regional newspapers. Though it is read in 104 countries today, it cannot also be called a newspaper of international level. Indeed, to some people, it is a narrow minded newspaper belonging to a particular section and I accept their allegation. Rather they are right. It is a newspaper of people associated with madrasas and mosques whom the media and governments exhausted all their resources and power to malign. Daily Azizul Hind has come up as their voice. That’s why many news that have importance for others does not get a place in it. Recently, the five year old case of Arushi-Hemraj murder came to its conclusion. I had written about it soon after the accident during my editorial stint at the Rashtriya Sahara. The result of the CBI inquiry and the court verdict in its light was nothing different from it. I published it as a small news item in the inner pages. Today, all the print and electronic media is swamped by news about Tarun Tejpal. We don’t give much importance to this news either. We had the same approach about Asaram’s case. News about rape, theft etc. do not get space in Azizul Hind. We do not also include the news about the election campaign of the candidates to show which candidate has better prospects and which one does not. We neither criticize a candidate nor praise the other though they are important news at the moment. We want to leave it to the voters. We have also decided not to publish the news about election sent by our correspondents till the elections are over so that any candidate should not contact any correspondent for the newspaper or for himself. Some candidates were supported as we thought they offered some hope regarding the solution of Muslim issues and problems. We supported some other candidates and did not oppose them so that they can do justice to Muslims. We give prominence to the issues and news that have some bearing on Muslims from page one to the last page, irrespective of whether the news is about any country in the world or a small village in India. Admittedly, our correspondents might be facing problems as we sometimes do not publish news that is related to their area. The reason for this is only that in our view, only those whom the newspaper reaches are not our readers, but those who are reading our newspaper on the net are also our readers. Till this morning, the number of readers of our e-paper was 6 lakh 18 thousand 990 spread across 104 countries 691 cities in the world. Notwithstanding I am not satisfied with this shape of the newspaper because it is not the shape I want to present to our readers. There are many constraints and hurdles at present. The newspaper is not self-sufficient and it has to be run at any cost. I am presenting different option for association with this newspaper every day. Readers are with Azizul Hind and it enjoys the support of the common Indians, whether this support is in the form of readership or advertisement. I take it as a positive message, though it is a matter of concern that it is still deprived of the blessings of the top rung of Muslim personalities so much so that I am also not sure if it is even reaching them and what opinion they hold about the newspaper. We are unaware of their views though they are the ones who are the life blood of this newspaper and will remain so in future too. I believe that if this newspaper become self-sufficient only with the support of its readers who do not have any social, economic and political interests in it, believe me it will survive as a sincere and honest voice of the community for a long time. When we are indebted to anyone, we are submissive to him and we find more virtues in him and less flaws. We repeatedly say that we should be united. If we get united we can be a big power. By directly interacting with and addressing the Muslims of India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari during my journalistic career spanning over 25 years, I have to come to the conclusion that Muslims are indeed united, at least on common Muslim issues. There are some differences on sectarian issues. But I believe that when we know our destination, then it makes no difference what ways we take or what means we use to reach the destination. We should keep our eyes on the destination and during the journey we should not falter. During the last few days our readers have called me over the phone and asked why I did not write anything on the elections in Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi and why I am not giving any suggestions to the readers. If my readers remember, I had in the beginning made it clear that I want to see secular governments in the state but the secular governments should not be so uncontrolled that they do not give Muslim issues any consideration before taking decisions in the belief that we only carry the flag of secularism though we get wounds from these secular governments. So support should not be given without any condition, not only to the parties making the government but also to your own brothers. He should promise that he will not ignore Muslim issues and he should be trustworthy. Those in Rajasthan who spoke against the government, held rallies against it forgot Gopalgarh tragedy or the fake encounter of Batla House. Daily Azizul Hind repeatedly drew their attention to these issues so that at least an assurance is given that the victims will get justice. We did not bother about whether anyone will raise his voice or join us in this protest. This battle will continue until justice is delivered, not matter who forms the government. And the community will hold those who are silent accountable for their silence. I am again reminding them they should keep this in mind. I want to publish their messages and convey them to common people without giving any importance to personal relations because they are the leaders of the community. One can have personal difference with anyone. To put it clearly, I have an on-and-off relationship with Meem Afzal. Sometimes he has been my best friend and sometimes we had differences. But the work he has done or is expected of him have nothing with personal relations or differences. For example, Angola was a relatively lesser known country of the world which came in news in India when M. Afzal the Indian governmet appointed him as the ambassador to Angola and many reception ceremonies were organized in his honour. The next time, Angola came in the news when the mosques there were closed. I don’t know why I have the belief that If M. Afzal had been the ambassador to Angola, he would have conveyed the sentiments of the Muslims, particularly the Muslims of India, to the government of Angola. May be the Angolan government would not have taken the decision in the first place, and if it had taken the decision, M. Afzal would have played a very important role in overturning the decision. During his stint as the ambassador to Turkeministan, the gift of the approval of Turkeministan-India (TAPI) Gas pipeline which he presented to India was not brought to the public of India by the narrow-minded and biased media of the country, otherwise it was such an important feat that renders him worthy of any big honour. We want to bring to light anyone belonging to the Muslims community who has made any achievement in the annals of history or in the modern age because the media seems to have vowed to present the picture of Muslims only as terrorists. They did not deems it necessary to bring out the achievements of Muslims. Azizul Hind may or may not remain in future but it will leave behind imprints on the journalism of India that whenever our next generation will study it, they will say with pride that Muslims were not terrorists and it was only a false allegation against them. Muslims have made historic achievements and if you want to know this truth then read Azizul Hind or Azad Bharat ka itihas. Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the Bharat Ratna. We congratulate him. Lata Mangeshkar was also awarded Bharat Ratna. But dosn’t Md Rafi qualify for that? If India does not have another Lata Mangeshkar, it does not have another Md Rafi either. Among the film personalities, Satyajit Ray was awarded Bharat Ratna but the Tragedy King Yousuf Khan (Dilip Kumar) or K. Asaf who made the historic fil Mughal-e-Azam was not given that honour. Why? Questioning this may even become a sin or crime. Possibly in future the voices may also be raised demanding Bharat Ratna for Modi. But the truth is that the person who brought to light the real truth of terrorism by even sacrificing his life deserves Bharat Ratna in India more than anyone else in the modern times because he not only brought the real face of terrorism into light but broke the morale of those who had the intentions to carry out terrorist activities and instilled fear in their hearts as to another Hemant Karkare might expose their designs. As I have said, Azizul Hind’s current shape is not the true reflection of my concept. Let it be self-sufficient. By God’ grace, this newspaper will tell the world what journalism should be like and what the power of Muslims is. I know that our own people will put hurdles in its path more than the others. But it is not surprising or disappointing to me because I know that Hadhrat Ali was killed in the mosque by a namazi and he was a Muslim. I can put forth many examples but I am not discussing Islamic history at this moment. I am trying to write a few sentences on journalism, that too with reference to Azizul Hind. I had the intention to publish it from every state of India where Urdu is read which I could not do but I have not lost courage. I wanted to publish Hindi daily from November 9 but could not. However, efforts are on. Read Azizulhind news in URDU and HINIDI azizulhind epaper.azizulhind/ epaper.azizulhind/index.php?newsId=2757
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 09:32:32 +0000
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