Between Mecca and Benares

[Our "Between Mecca and Benares" homepage has been visited 732 times since 21 March 2007]

Click here for our manifesto of "I-Thou" dialogue 

Here are articles submitted by friends that are worthy of discussion though we may not subscribe to them in part (or even in full). The primary criterion for inclusion is that the submitter genuinely holds these beliefs and is willing to enter into dialogue with others, who are likewise attempting to get to the bottom of the issues. Wherever relevant, background notes on the friend and on the article have also been provided. Sunthar may have also added his own, hopefully measured, comments on the main argument. You'll find the correspondence (not only around these articles), at the "Between Mecca and Benares" (or other relevant) forum. Some of these dialogues—often multilogues—have been compiled, edited and reformatted into digests that are enumerated as hyperlinks within the last (Dialogues) item under participant's name below. Contributors should feel free to modify their views in the light of the evolving discussions.

Dialogues

•  The Politics of Iconophilia: Idolatry, Iconoclasm, and the problem of representing God ( Sep 2006 - ) [viewed 1131x since 17 March 2007]

Alain Lamballe (Chindia, French)

 Terrorism in South Asia - French Center for Intelligence Studies (français) - (Nov 2005) [external]

Army and Politics in Pakistan (français) - (March 2000)

Islamabad-Peshawar-Quetta: a conflictual triangle within Pakistan (français) - (September 1999)

The defense of Pakistan: issues at stake (français) - (1998) [viewed 339x since 27 March 2007]

Kashmir in the internal affairs of Pakistan (français) - (January 1997)

Asghar Ali Engineer

[Asghar Ali Engineer's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 35 times since 10 March 2007]

• Visit Asghar's Center for Study of Society and Secularism website [external] - biodata (note) [viewed 0x since 20 March 2007]

• Is progressive Islam possible? (Islam and Modern Age, September 2006) [viewed 19x since 10 March 2007]

• Identity in a multireligious society (Secular Perspective, April 16-30. 2006) [viewed 25x since 10 March 2007]

• Globalization and Emerging Challenges to Islam in Asia (April 2005) [viewed 0x since 20 March 2007]

• Contemporary Challenges to Secularism & Democracy: a religious response (April 05) [viewed 0x since 20 March 2007]

• M. N. Roy on the Historical Role of Islam (March 2005) [viewed 1x since 10 March 2007]

• Indian Muslims and the Muslim Personal Law Board (Feb. 16-28, 2005) [viewed 0x since 20 March 2007]

• Islam, The Islamic World, and Gender Justice (November 2004) [viewed 2x since 20 March 2007]

• On Multiple Understandings of the Qur'an (September 2004)  [viewed 4x since 10 March 2007]

• Modern Muslim Intellectuals and the Qur'an (date?) [viewed 0x since 20 March 2007]

• Intra-Muslim Sectarian Relations - interviewed by Yoginder Sikand (note) [viewed 25x since 20 March 2007]

• Quest for an Islamic Theology of Peace and Religious Pluralism (note) [viewed 0x since 20 March 2007]

Bhadrakumar, M. K. (Eurasia)#Bhadrakumar MK

[M.K. Bhadrakumar's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 0 times since 07 November 2007]

• Musharraf remains the US's best option (17 Nov 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Saudi monarch woos Turkey's Islamists (12 Nov 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Afghanistan rocked by northern bombing (08 Nov 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Pakistan shakes off US shackles (06 Nov 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Iran looms over Turkey crisis diplomacy (25 Oct 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Benazir's second homecoming (20 Oct 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Russia bolsters ties with Iran (22 Sep 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Deep flaws in Afghan peace drive (15 Sep 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Afghan bridge exposes huge divide (05 Sep 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Gridlock on Pakistan's road to change (31 Aug 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Afghanistan's ball back in Pakistan's court (18 Aug 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Turkey: Islamists pay a price for victory (28 Jul 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Turks want a hard bargain with the US (27 Jul 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• A change of US plan for Pakistan (25 Jul 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Turkey's election has no losers (21 Jul 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Pakistan heading for a crackdown (13 Jul 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Russia's tango with Tehran (26 Jun 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Turkey not done with the Kurds (12 Jun 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Bad blood spreads to Afghanistan's north (30 May 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Tehran ignores the bluff and bluster (26 May 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Afghan battle lines become blurred (19 May 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Iran and the US: At least they're talking (10 May 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Why Iran spurned a US handshake (08 May 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• US ally Musharraf in a tangle over Iran (07 May 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• The week that transformed Turkey (04 May 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Iran, US take their fight to Afghanistan (21 Apr 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• What Turkey teaches about democracy (19 Apr 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Iraqi Kurds play with Turkish fire (14 Apr 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• The chimera of Arab solidarity (11 Apr 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• A Turkish puzzle over Iraq (06 Apr 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• US shadow over China-Russia ties (31 Mar 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Iran stands its ground in Baghdad (13 Mar 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Iran and the US: At least they're talking (10 Mar 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• US ally Musharraf in a tangle over Iran  (06 Mar 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Cheney meets a general in his labyrinth (01 Mar 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Foreign devils in the Iranian mountains (24 Feb 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Russia straddles Sunni-Shi'ite divide (17 Feb 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• India on the front line in energy war (14 Feb 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Gas: Iran turns up the heat (10 Feb 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Ahmadinejad held hostage to bazaar politics  (03 Feb 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• US elevates Pakistan to regional kingpin (27 Jan 2007; Asia Times Online) [[external]

• Russia's tango with Tehran (20 Jan 2007; Asia Times Online) [[external]

• China's Middle East journey via Jerusalem  (13 Jan 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• 'The door we never opened ...'  (06 Jan 2007; Asia Times Online) [external]

• The Great Game on a razor's edge (23 Dec 2006; Asia Times Online) [[external]

• Outsourcing the Afghan problem (12 Dec 2006; Asia Times Online) [[external]

• The Saudis strike back at Iran (28 Nov 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Russia and China create their own orbit (11 Nov 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Kyrgyzstan caught in US-Russia squeeze (07 Nov 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Rice gets a taste of tough love (27 Oct 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Russian energy: Europe's pride, US's envy (14 Oct 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Spy spat has a counterpunch (06 Oct 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Afghanistan: Why NATO cannot win (30 Sep 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Turkey's high-stakes march into Lebanon (09 Sep 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Moscow making Central Asia its own (25 Aug 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Be skeptical ... be very skeptical (17 Aug 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Turks want a hard bargain with the US (27 Jul 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• The roots of Muslim anger in India (15 Jul 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Iran plays by its own rules (24 Jun 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• US 'allies' keep Iran options open (06 Jun 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• The 'Great Game' comes to South Asia (23 May 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Cool in Ankara: A partnership under strain (29 Apr 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Kyrgyzstan edging toward more turmoil (27 Apr 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• China, Russia welcome Iran into the fold (18 Apr 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• 'Searching for attackers lurking in the night' (08 Apr 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Revolutions gone astray in Eurasia (31 Mar 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• The facade of Afghan-Pakistani tensions (13 Mar 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• US caught in Iran policy squeeze  (07 Jan 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Iran wins big in Iraq's elections (20 Dec 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• A dust storm over the Holocaust (13 Dec 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• The US ties that tangle Iraq and Iran (29 Nov 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Karzai grabs a tiger by the tail (23 Sep 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Left, right: Iran and Venezuela in lockstep (08 Jul 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Smokescreens in Afghanistan (25 Jun 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Into the valley of death ...  (16 Jun 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Shadows across the Bosphorous (10 Jun 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Revisiting the Iranian revolution (09 Jun 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Catalysts of conflict in Central Asia (02 Jun 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• The lessons from Ferghana (18 May 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• The 'Talibanization' of Central Asia (12 May 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Iraq key to US-Iran engagement (19 Apr 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Fergana's ghosts haunt Central Asia (24 Mar 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Central Asia sidesteps a revolution (06 Mar 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Pakistani oil diplomacy at a crossroads (19 Feb 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• US takes a new tack (09 Feb 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Who's afraid of Rashid Dostum? (29 Jan 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• India finds a $40bn friend in Iran (11 Jan 2005; Asia Times Online) [external]

• South Asia in a spot over Iran (16 Nov 2004; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Afghan 'warlord' put to the sword (16 Sep 2004; Asia Times Online) [external]

• India, Pakistan and the 'peace' pipeline (15 Sep 2004; Asia Times Online) [external]

• Afghanistan: Pakistan's 'new force' to the rescue? (17 Oct 2002; Asia Times Online) [external]

Dania Rari Pratiwi

[Dania Rari Pratiwi's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 26 times since 10 March 2007]

•  Imams, Rabbis share the same prayer for peace (April 30, 2006) [external]

Dmitry V. Shlapentokh (Athens, Eurasia)

[Dmitry Shlapentokh's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 0 times since 22 Oct 2007]

Caucasus becomes a new hotbed of extremism (06 Sep 2007) [external]

Iran's practical nationalism (06 June 2007; ATO) []

An appeal for empire, Theology of Discontent by Hamid Dabashi (19 May 2007) [external]

The intellect behind Islamic radicalism: the power of sovereignty (24 Mar 2007) [external]

A primer for transforming West; A Brief Guide to Islam by Paul Grieve (23 Nov 2006; ATO review) [external]

Putin's war with radical Islamists (08 Mar 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

Making enemies friends over Iran (08 Feb 2006; Asia Times Online) [external]

Does the World Want America to Leave Iraq (1 / 2006; WorldandI.com) [external]

Not one but many Islams; The Future of Political Islam by Graham E Fuller  (05 Feb 2005, ATO) [external]

Farish Ahmad-Noor

[Farish Ahmad-Noor's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 530 times since 10 March 2007]

•  Check out Farish's official website at the Centre for Modern Oriental Studies (Deutsch, Malay) [external]

•  Non-debate in the Muslim world: revisiting the ethics of difference (part 1) [viewed 215x since 21 March 2007]

•  European Muslims Painting themselves into a corner? - [viewed 29x since 21 March 2007]

•  Not just a Malay-Muslim problem (31 Jan 2005)

•  Islamism in Malaysia (note)

•  Malaysia's home-grown Taliban (note) [viewed 69x since 21 March 2007]

•  The other side of American charity in South-East Asia (note) [viewed 27x since 10 March 2007]

•  Hate in the name of Islam (note) [viewed 103x since 10 March 2007]

•  Dilemmas of the Contemporary Scholar in the Age of the ‘War Against Terror' (note) [viewed 11x since 21 March 2007]

•  US Elections: A Cowardly Vote from the ‘Home of the Brave’ (note) [viewed 14x since 10 March 2007]

•  Interview with Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysian Political Leader (note) [viewed 52x since 10 March 2007]

•  A Just Malaysia At Last? (note) [viewed 31x since 10 March 2007]

•  The Bombing in Jakarta: ‘Friends’ That Indonesia Doesn’t Need (note) [viewed 14x since 21 March 2007]

•  Why I Ain’t No ‘Moderate’ Muslim (note) [viewed 40x since 21 March 2007]

•  Is Bush’s Turkey the ‘Model Muslim State’ We Want? (note) [viewed 81x since 10 March 2007]

•  The Betrayal of Aceh (note) [viewed 34x since 10 March 2007]

•  It's ‘Fanatics Week’ in Malaysia! (note) [viewed 29x since 21 March 2007]

Gautam Sen

Iqbal Surani (français)

[Iqbal Surani's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 47 times since 14 March 2007]

•  Explanation of the virtues of Knowledge in the Kalâm-i Maulâ (French) - 2003

Jean-Marc de Grave (friends, français)

[Jean-Marc deGrave's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 46 times since 14 March 2007]

•  Ritual Initiation & Martial Arts: Three Schools of Javanese Kanuragan (French) - 2002 [viewed 283x since 10 March 2007]

•  Chapter 4: Intermediary phase (French) - 2001 [translation pending]

•  Chapter 6: Theatrical repertory, Kanuragan, Mystique & Creation Myth of Javanese writing (French) - 2001 [viewed 457x since 10 March 2007]

Joaquin Albaicin (español)

•  So-called "Holy War" in Kashmir - newspaper article [Dec 1999- Jan 2000] - Spanish

Maria Ali-Adib

[Maria Ali-Adib's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 114 times since 10 March 2007]

• Children of Abraham - Jewish-Muslim dialogue  (2004 photo-essay; fact-sheet) - note [external]

Martin Riesebrodt

Mary Searle-Chatterjee

[Mary-Searle Chatterjee's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 24 times since 10 March 2007]

• Islamicization in a Globalizing Context [1994] - English

Mohammad-Réza Fashahi

[Mohammad-Réza Fashahi's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 40 times since 10 March 2007]

• Learn more about Mohammad's work on Islamic thought (note)

Pathmarajah Nagalingam (Hinduism)

[Pathmarajah Nagalingam's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 79 times since 10 March 2007]

•  Teachings of the Quran

• Dialogues: Politics of iconophilia

Rajiv Malhotra

•  Read Rajiv's articles and  columns at Sulekha (note) [external]

•  Dialogues:  

Umair Ahmed Muhajir (Friends)

[Umair Ahmed Muhajir's Mecca-Benares profile has been visited 71 times since 10 March 2007]

•  Check out Umair's Qalandari blogspot of opinions, reviews, etc. [external]

•  Movie Reviews: Govind Nihalani's Dev; Shabd  (note)

•  Dialogues: Bollywood; universalism;

Visuvalingam, Sunthar & Elizabeth (Mecca, Banaras, Jerusalem, Lhasa, Madurai, tradition)

•  Between Srinagar and Benares: Kashmir's Contribution towards a Synthesis of Indian Culture (1991)

•  Between Mecca and Benares: Towards an Acculturation model of Hindu-Muslim relations (1993)

•  Hindu-Muslim conflict in Colonial Banaras: from the Lât Bhairõ riots of 1809 to 'Gandhian' civil disobedience of 1911 (1994)

•  Bhairava in Banaras: Negotiating Sacred Spaces and Religious Identity (2006)

•  Muslim allegories on the taste of Love: becoming God’s image (Evam 2006)

Yoginder Sikand (Friends)