On Caliphate

Submitted by Ghulam Muhammed (India), Dec 15, 2005 at 11:42

A stirring is openly visible in media moves by US officials to start a new campaign against Muslims around the world, around the concept of Caliphate. Elisabeth Bumiller, in her White House Letter, published in The New York Times, has listed Donald Rumsfeld, US defense secretary, Eric Edelman, the undersecretary of defense for policy, Stephen Hadley, the US national security adviser, General Abizaid, The American Commander in West Asia and last but not the least, US Vice-President Dick Cheney, among the front rankers, who are planning a new propaganda onslaught on the Muslim world. This new media campaign is apparently revitalize anti-Islamic rhetoric and phobias, now that the old demons of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, have proved to be fake scare-crows that no longer scare the world, now that it is fully immunized of the US media overkill.

The best way to counter the US propaganda would possibly be for the august body of OIC, which has just finished one of its meetings at Mecca, to elect from among them a 6-year ONE term Caliph, beginning with the mundane job of bringing all the Muslim countries of diverse shapes and colors under one umbrella.

A Caliph or Khalifah is first and last responsible to lead the Muslim world. The need of the hour is to address the developmental issues of the impoverished community. Let the OIC leader, who is democratically elected, in whatever agreed fashion it may come about, be given the task to concentrate on economic well being of the Ummah.

Let Caliphate in action belie all falsehood and propaganda that the US fascists are now bent on unleashing on the hapless Muslim world.

OIC should lead by example laying down the essence of Islamic state as responsible for the well-being of its one billion-member constituency and ensuring peace of the world.

GHULAM MUHAMMED, MUMBAI

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