Maharashtra
Ahead of Prophet Mohammad’s birthday, Mumbai masjids woo non-Muslims
Barely a fortnight before Prophet Mohammad’s birthday on October 9 celebrated worldwide as Eid-e-Milad, several Muslim groups in Mumbai have united for a unique initiative to enlighten non-Muslims on the Prophet’s teaching and preaching and remove misgivings about Islam.
Titled ‘Prophet For All Campaign’, the initiative will see the participation of various masjids, madrassas, Muslim-run schools or colleges, NGOs, social and cultural organisations and other entities.
“This is not intended to be an evangelical exercise. We are only keen to carry the Prophet’s message of love, peace and brotherhood to all our non-Muslim brethren – Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists, etc – for a better understanding of Islam and its followers,” the Campaign torchbearer Adv. Yusuf Abrahani, who is also the Islam Gymkhana President, told IANS.
Besides the Prophet’s message for humanity, it will also dwell on environment, conserving water, compassion for the poor, destitutes, orphans, workers or women along with certain activities conducted specially for non-Muslim audiences, he added.
President of the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP), Aamir Edresy said that there are around 500 registered masjids in Mumbai, nearly 400 schools and 20 colleges run by various Muslim trusts who are also being roped into the Campaign.
“We are sending appeals through the students to their families to participate in the campaign, invite at least five locals or neighbours to their homes for a meal on Oct. 9, and try to convey the Prophet’s message, with similar pleas even on social media,” Edresy informed IANS.
The PFAC will put up banners of the Prophet’s teaching which have universal appeal at major railway stations, bus stands, outside mosques or other public places, to make the maximum number of masses aware, on October 8.
On October 9, a special amushaira’ shall be held at the Islam Gymkhana featuring non-Muslim poets who have written on the Prophet with the audience comprising invitees from different communities, added Abrahani.
Explaining the principle behind the PFAC, the duo said that in recent times, certain misconceptions about Islam and Muslims have been created which have caused immense distress to the law-abiding and peaceful minority community in the country.
The PFAC hopes to dispel such wrong notions among the masses, make them aware of the true beauty of Islam, its philosophy of universal peace, brotherhood, love and concern for all people irrespective of their faith, etc, they said.
Abrahani recalled how many Muslims had fought for India’s Freedom, many had contributed in different ways to Mahatma Gandhi’s struggle for Independence, and Muslims have always remained at the forefront of various wars to protect their Motherland.
“Even during the recent Coronavirus pandemic for two years, hundreds of mosques in Mumbai and other parts of the state, besides individuals took care of lakhs of ordinary folks, threw the doors open for the migrants, the poor and needy, with meals, and a safe place to rest and refresha,” added Edresy.
The next goal is to have regular meal services for the deprived sections of society in all mosques, like the Sikh community, all mosques to remain open round-the-clock for people without any restrictions, offering other social-cultural services to the nearby communities, competitions, health initiatives, and more, as the budgets of the masjid trusts would permit.
Other members like Saeed Khan, Wamir Idrisi, Farooq Syed have urged Muslims to visit orphanages, destitute homes, old age institutions, blind persons or even hospitals on October 9 to distribute food, fruits or items of daily necessities to the needy, as propounded by the Prophet.
“On the Prophet’s birthday, various organisations, NGOs, mosques, and others hope to offer celebratory meals to around 300,000 non-Muslims across Mumbai. We shall continue this campaign on a long-term basis,” said Abrahani.
Meanwhile, starting the main PFAC activities, groups of mediapersons (non-Muslim), IAS-IPS officers, police personnel, lawyers, civic workers, politicians, film celebs, cricketers, industrialists, and leading social personalities shall be invited in batches at a series of events culminating with the Prophet’s birthday.
The PFAC organisers are hopeful that this will help curb the venom spewed against Islam and its followers in India by a miniscule number of amisguided individuals’ and help strengthen the existing bonds of Muslims with all other communities.
Maharashtra
Eknath Shinde’s Operation Tiger was successful… Uddhav Thackeray’s rebellion in Shiv Sena UBT, Sanjay Raut is angry

Mumbai: Operation Tiger has been successful. Shinde Sena has succeeded in forcing 6 MPs of Shiv Sena UBT to form another group, after which the rebellion has started again in UBT. The independent group has also been approved by the Lok Sabha Speaker. Now these 6 MPs can soon merge with Shiv Sena Shinde Party. After Operation Gaigar, Uddhav Thackeray group MP Sanjay Raut addressed a press conference and said that despite what Uddhav Thackeray did not do for these MPs, these people have acted dishonestly. This is dishonest. It is said that the rebel MPs are camped in Delhi and will merge with the Shinde group in the next two days. The operation in the state has been going on for the past several days and in June, a meeting of the India Alliance was also held in Delhi. In this meeting, Home Minister Amit Shah gave the green signal to Operation Tiger. The rebel MPs of the Thackeray group have been accommodated in a five-star hotel in Delhi. On Sunday, Uddhav Thackeray also held a meeting of his MPs in which five MPs attended the online meeting, due to which no one suspected them. This is the second biggest split in the Shiv Sena. After the rebellion of the Shiv Sena MPs, the Shiv Sena has become completely weakened. These rebel MPs include Sanjay Deshmukh, Ayut Mahal, Sanjay Jadhav, Parbhani, Sanjay Dina Patel, Mumbai, Nagesh Patil, Hingoli, Amarraje, Nimbalkar, Dhara Shiv. There is resentment in Shiv Sena after the rebellion of these MPs. Sanjay Raut is angry with them. He says that Uddhav Thackeray did so much for them but these people became dishonest.
Maharashtra
Muslim students deprived of government schemes… Only Hindu candidates are accepted for drone pilot training scheme: Raees Sheikh

Mumbai: Raising the issue of Muslim youth and students being deprived of the government’s ‘Amrit’ institute schemes, Samajwadi Party MLA from Bhiwandi East Raees Sheikh has said that applications are being accepted for the drone pilot training programme of the institute run by the state government’s Other Backward Classes Welfare Department, while online applications from Muslim candidates are not being accepted. In his letter to Minister Atal Seo and the Chief Executive Officer of Maharashtra Research, Advancement and Training (AMRUT) Institute, MLA Raees Sheikh said that the Amrit Institute has invited applications till June 30 for drone pilot training which is aimed at candidates from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the open category. “However, when applicants try to fill the online form, they are required to provide information about their religion and caste. The portal offers caste options only for Hindu communities, which prevents Muslim applicants from successfully submitting their applications.” Sheikh said he had received several complaints regarding this issue. Pointing out that the Amrit Institute aims to serve the economically weaker sections in the open category, he said that as an autonomous government institution, the founding government resolution (August 22, 2019) of Amrit does not mention any specific religion. It aims to work for different communities in the open category. Therefore, restricting applications in this manner is against the rules, he claimed. The Maharashtra government has set up several institutions for different social groups, including Barati, Aarti, Sarathi, Mahajyoti, Marti, and Amrit. While each institution may focus on a specific target group, it can be limited to a certain extent. They also provide training opportunities to and benefits to other communities. Sheikh added that unemployment is currently a major concern for youth of all castes and religions across the state. He said, “The Amritsar should not interpret the rules in such a way that Muslim youth are deprived of skilling opportunities. Minister Atul Sivaji, who heads the Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department, should ensure that Muslim youth are not excluded from these training programmes.”
Maharashtra
Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill 2026: Important seminar in Mumbai on constitutional rights and minority concerns, Justice Abhay Thapsay and legal experts express their views

Mumbai: “The Constitution of India gives every citizen the full right to practice and propagate his religion, but the government has become a tradition of ‘saying one thing and doing another’. The ‘Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill 2026’ is ostensibly named ‘religious freedom’, but its real purpose is to impose strict restrictions on religion and suppress minorities. When the language of the law becomes ambiguous, it becomes a cause of concern rather than protection, and this ambiguity damages the social fabric and mutual tolerance.” These views were expressed by Justice Abhay Thapsay, a former judge of the Bombay High Court, while addressing an important seminar organized by ‘United Against Injustices and Discrimination’ (UAID) and ‘Association for Protection of Civil Rights’ (APCR) at the Mayor’s Hall in Andheri West. More than 250 intellectuals, lawyers and social workers from different schools of thought participated in the seminar.
Addressing the seminar, renowned lawyer Advocate Lara Jessani shed detailed light on the provisions of the bill and said that hate crime is being systematically promoted in the country. The provisions of this law are so vague that under the guise of ‘allurement’, an attempt is being made to criminalize education, marriage, charity, employment and especially the relief activities of minority schools. She said that under the law, conversion of religion in the name of marriage or by luring has been proposed with a sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh. Moreover, any third party or the police can register an FIR at their own will, and the most dangerous aspect is that the onus of proving innocence has been placed on the accused, which is a serious constitutional conspiracy to keep citizens in jails for years without being proven guilty.
Dolphy D’Souza of Police Reforms Watch revealed that the draft of this sensitive bill was prepared in secret within just 72 hours, without any public consultation, hence the majority and the minority should all come together to raise their voice against this ‘divide and rule’ politics.
Dr. Salim Khan, member of the Central Advisory Council of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, said that faith and trust are a matter of the heart which cannot be changed through laws. He strongly criticized the anti-people and undemocratic policies of the government, citing Maulana Umar Gautam and Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, and termed it a manifestation of political failure.
Earlier, APCR Maharashtra General Secretary Shakir Sheikh, while directing the program, referred to the country’s situation, bulldozer operations, mob lynching and UCC and said that this draft is also a link in this chain. Renowned intellectual Irfan Engineer clarified that this law is not only anti-Muslim or anti-Christian, but also an ‘anti-Hindu’ law suppressing the backward classes, which has been brought to end secularism. At the end of the seminar, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Mumbai PR Secretary Syed Sharif Yunus expressed his gratitude to all the guests and participants.
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