India's 911: Muslim Pope's brother hurt in 'Army of Pure' war
Ahmar Mustikhan, Freelance Journalist | 01.12.2008 06:43 | History | Terror War | World
Syedna Burhanuddin is the spiritual leader of the million-strong business-oriented Dawoodi Bohra community. One of this brothers Shabbir Nooruddin, an unrestricted missionary, was at the Oberoi Hotel and hurt in the Lashkar-i-Toiba's three-day war on India. He is still in hospital.
Shabbir Nooruddin s in hospital. -- Picture courtesy Faiz-e-Hakimi
Jonah Blank, South Asia expert. -- Picture courtesy University of Chicago Press
WASHINGTON DC: A younger brother of the Dawoodi Bohra spirtual leader was hurt in the terrorist attack in Mumbai, a member of the family dislcosed to this correspondent.
The victim, Shahzada Shabbir Bhaisaheb Nooruddin Saheb 'DM', 65, is one of the younger brothers of His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin TUS and is actively involved in the worldwide leadership of the community. The DM suffix at the end of the victim's name stands for Dai Mutlaq, or unrestricted missionary.
He is among the 12 brothers of Syedna Burhanuddin, 93, and was at a meeting at the Oberoi Hotel when the terrorists struck.
“He was hit in the arm,” said Taizoon H. Shakir, 45. The victim is a grand uncle of Shakir.
“This is India's 911,” Shakir, who is an Indian American and himself a prayer leader in Nevada, said. He said “I have gone through this twice in my life. First it was New York, now it is Mumbai.”
He said all the landmarks that came under attack were some of his favorite haunts and he and his wife used to go to Oberoi Hotel almost daily after their wedding in the 1990s.
In a statement Sunday, the spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohra community said he is deeply concerned and moved by the terrorist attacks on the historic landmarks of Mumbai in the last few days and on the loss of innocent lives and damage of properties during the cowardly attacks by the miscreants.
Syedna Burhanuddin said he strongly condemns violence in all forms and appeals to the people of India for peace and unity in this time of turmoil and anguish.
“His Holiness prays for all those who lost their lives in service of the nation and for the safety and well being of the people of Mumbai and also prays for peace and harmony to be restored in the city,” the statement said.
The attack on Mumbai was carried out by using the international waters of the Indian Ocean, smugglers style. Narcotics and gold smuggler Daud Ebrahim has for many years used these sea routes for his smuggling operations. Ebrahim, who was involved in the 1993 serial bombing in Mumbai, found sanctuary in Pakistan after being forced to leave the gold glittering smugglers paradise of Dubai in the late 1990s.
The Lashkar-i-Toiba or Army of Pure members that carried out the Mumbai carnage received training in Muzzafarabad and the garrison headquarters of Rawalpindi in neighboring Pakistan. The Army of Pure has been behind much of the bloodletting in Kashmir in recent years, but secular Kashmiris from within Pakistan denounced the Mumbai mayhem.
"The fight against terrorism is no longer fight of the West, US or non-Muslims but heavy burden is on Muslims to condemn, expose and fight back such terrorists, extremists and fundamentalists irrespective of their region, religion and culture," said Toronto-based Mumtaz Khan, vice president of the International Kashmir Alliance.
Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, chairman of the Geneva-based United Kashmir Peoples National Party (UKPNP), while condemning the Mumbai carnage, said Kashmiris as a people are against the propagation of communal hatred. "The forces which are using religion as a weapon of hate must be discouraged and their terror infrastructure dismantled," Kashmiri said in a message from Geneva.
One of the key specialists on the Dawoodi Bohra community is Jonah Blank, author of a book “Mullahs on the Mainframe: Islam and Modernity among the Daudi Bohras” and an aide to Vice President-elect Joe Biden.
According to Blank, the Daudi Bohras are a unique denomination of Indian Muslims, with a worldwide population numbering up to one million. Many Bohras live in the city of Mumbai (formerly called Bombay) and in their ancestral state of Gujarat, but there are over 470 major communities spread across forty nations. Traditionally they have been shopkeepers, but today many Bohras are entering high-tech professions: more and more are becoming surgeons, mechanical engineers, and software designers.
Blank is also a member of the 30-strong Pakistan Working Group.
The Bohra community of Mumbai are extremely anguished and angry over the attacks and some of the members privately say they want to hold Pakistan answerable in the same way the U.S. held Afghanistan accountable after the 911 attacks.
The Dawoodi Bohras maintain a stake in commercial real estates in as many as 40 nations worldwide. Syedna Burhanuddin is to the Dawoodi Bohras what the pope is to the Catholics.
[Freelance Journalist Ahmar Mustikhan is founder of the DC-based American Friends of Baluchistan.]
The victim, Shahzada Shabbir Bhaisaheb Nooruddin Saheb 'DM', 65, is one of the younger brothers of His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin TUS and is actively involved in the worldwide leadership of the community. The DM suffix at the end of the victim's name stands for Dai Mutlaq, or unrestricted missionary.
He is among the 12 brothers of Syedna Burhanuddin, 93, and was at a meeting at the Oberoi Hotel when the terrorists struck.
“He was hit in the arm,” said Taizoon H. Shakir, 45. The victim is a grand uncle of Shakir.
“This is India's 911,” Shakir, who is an Indian American and himself a prayer leader in Nevada, said. He said “I have gone through this twice in my life. First it was New York, now it is Mumbai.”
He said all the landmarks that came under attack were some of his favorite haunts and he and his wife used to go to Oberoi Hotel almost daily after their wedding in the 1990s.
In a statement Sunday, the spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohra community said he is deeply concerned and moved by the terrorist attacks on the historic landmarks of Mumbai in the last few days and on the loss of innocent lives and damage of properties during the cowardly attacks by the miscreants.
Syedna Burhanuddin said he strongly condemns violence in all forms and appeals to the people of India for peace and unity in this time of turmoil and anguish.
“His Holiness prays for all those who lost their lives in service of the nation and for the safety and well being of the people of Mumbai and also prays for peace and harmony to be restored in the city,” the statement said.
The attack on Mumbai was carried out by using the international waters of the Indian Ocean, smugglers style. Narcotics and gold smuggler Daud Ebrahim has for many years used these sea routes for his smuggling operations. Ebrahim, who was involved in the 1993 serial bombing in Mumbai, found sanctuary in Pakistan after being forced to leave the gold glittering smugglers paradise of Dubai in the late 1990s.
The Lashkar-i-Toiba or Army of Pure members that carried out the Mumbai carnage received training in Muzzafarabad and the garrison headquarters of Rawalpindi in neighboring Pakistan. The Army of Pure has been behind much of the bloodletting in Kashmir in recent years, but secular Kashmiris from within Pakistan denounced the Mumbai mayhem.
"The fight against terrorism is no longer fight of the West, US or non-Muslims but heavy burden is on Muslims to condemn, expose and fight back such terrorists, extremists and fundamentalists irrespective of their region, religion and culture," said Toronto-based Mumtaz Khan, vice president of the International Kashmir Alliance.
Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, chairman of the Geneva-based United Kashmir Peoples National Party (UKPNP), while condemning the Mumbai carnage, said Kashmiris as a people are against the propagation of communal hatred. "The forces which are using religion as a weapon of hate must be discouraged and their terror infrastructure dismantled," Kashmiri said in a message from Geneva.
One of the key specialists on the Dawoodi Bohra community is Jonah Blank, author of a book “Mullahs on the Mainframe: Islam and Modernity among the Daudi Bohras” and an aide to Vice President-elect Joe Biden.
According to Blank, the Daudi Bohras are a unique denomination of Indian Muslims, with a worldwide population numbering up to one million. Many Bohras live in the city of Mumbai (formerly called Bombay) and in their ancestral state of Gujarat, but there are over 470 major communities spread across forty nations. Traditionally they have been shopkeepers, but today many Bohras are entering high-tech professions: more and more are becoming surgeons, mechanical engineers, and software designers.
Blank is also a member of the 30-strong Pakistan Working Group.
The Bohra community of Mumbai are extremely anguished and angry over the attacks and some of the members privately say they want to hold Pakistan answerable in the same way the U.S. held Afghanistan accountable after the 911 attacks.
The Dawoodi Bohras maintain a stake in commercial real estates in as many as 40 nations worldwide. Syedna Burhanuddin is to the Dawoodi Bohras what the pope is to the Catholics.
[Freelance Journalist Ahmar Mustikhan is founder of the DC-based American Friends of Baluchistan.]
Ahmar Mustikhan, Freelance Journalist
e-mail:
ahmar_reporter@yahoo.com
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