Has Pakistan
Vice Captain Yousuf Yohanna Converted to Islam?
What is
Javed Miandad Doing in India as Zee TV Brand Ambassador
By
Arun Rajnath
NEW
DELHI, July 23: What is Pakistan’s recently ousted coach
and ace batsman Javed Miandad doing in India as Brand Ambassador
of the Indian channel Zee TV? Whatever the answer to this question,
while in India, Miandad is being attacked by Hindu religious extremists
for being an Islamic fanatic and converting top batting star and
Vice Captain, Yousuf Yohanna, from Christianity to Islam.
Miandad
is bracketed among the Gang of Four Islamic motivators of Pakistan
Cricket. The other three are Inzimam ul Haque, Mushtaq Ahmed and
Saeed Anwar. They are being accused of forcing Yohanna to embrace
Islam. Their next target, Indian critics say, is Danish Kaneria,
the spin bowler, a Hindu.
This
criticism from Hindu right wingers is coming through their media
organs and in personal interaction with journalists. They say
that Pakistani cricketers want to give a message to the Islamic
brethren that they may lose the game in the cricket field but
they would always win in the field of religion.
Javed
Miandad is on a visit to India as a Brand Ambassador for Zee TV,
the channel known for its right wing leanings whose owners allegedly
dance on the tune of the General Secretary of the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP), Dr. Praveen Togadia.
Even
BJP leaders, including General Secretary of the Central Youth
Wing, Rameshwar Prasad, say that Miandad should not have been
made the ZTV ambassador as he was instrumental in compelling Yohanna
to embrace Islam with the help of Captain Inzimam ul Haq and Saeed
Anwar. Apart from this Miandad is also known for his animosity
and hostility towards India.
When asked why the BJP is raising
this issue when the party should have no concern with the domestic
matters of Pakistan, Prasad said: “The BJP is not raising
this issue. But people should know about the domestic conditions
of Pakistan where minorities are not safe at all. When Pakistan
falsely implicates India in anything that happens to Muslims,
then why can’t we raise such issues regarding Pakistan?”
And
as far as the issue of making Miandad a ZTV Ambassador is concerned,
Prasad asks: “Why have they chosen him and not (former Indian
captain) Azharuddin.”
The
issue of embracing Islam by Yousuf Yohanna has also been touched
upon by a BJP Muslim intellectual Muzaffar Hussain in the Hindi
media organ of the RSS, ‘Panchjanya’ (This
is the name of Lord Krishna’s conk which he is believed
to have blown just before the great war of Mahabharat. Symbolically,
the blowing of the conk by Lord Krishna meant beginning of a new
era).
During
his visit to Delhi, he talked to South Asia Tribune at
the BJP Headquarters at 11, Ashoka Road and asked: “When
a game like cricket can bring arch enemies like India and Pakistan
close to each other, why can’t it bring a Christian close
to Islam.”
He
said: “Cricket can change the hearts, but this a phenomenon
that it is being used in changing faith of others. Pakistani cricket
players have compelled their fellow cricketer to convert to Islam,
but such things can happen only in Pakistan because it is fundamentally
a theocratic society.”
But
when asked how did he know that Yousuf Yohanna had actually embraced
Islam, and how India was concerned with such a domestic matter
of another country, Hussain said: “I have many links as
well as relations in Pakistan. It is easier for me than others
to know about developments in Pakistan.
"Regarding
Indian concern on this issue let me say that India should not
ignore the fact that Pakistan is a hostile country, and its players
loath kaafirs. One of them is here advertising for an Indian television
channel. You may invite them as experts, but not as a brand ambassador.”
Hussain then disclosed that some
Christian missionaries in Pakistan tried to meet Yousuf Yohanna,
but they were not allowed to see him on the pretext of security.
“The
Christian player is now chanting the kalimaa. He had
no financial or social insecurity. He has earned a lot of money
and lives in a posh area of the city unlike his brothers who are
still engaged in their old profession. Then why did he do so?
Obviously under duress,” he added.
Muzaffar
Hussain said Javed Miandad, Inzimam ul Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed and
Saeed Anwar belong to the Tablighi Jamaat. Like the Christian
missionaries, they tour village to village in groups of 15-20
members. All these four Pakistani players are also working as
Islamic motivators. “Yohanna has become a Muslim. Now it
is Danish Kaneria’s turn, who is a Hindu,” he said.
Shiv
Sena’s Delhi Chief, Jai Bhagwan Goel, is also opposing Javed
Miandad’s visit to India as a Brand Ambassador of ZTV.
Goel
supports what Muzaffar Hussain has written in the RSS organ. “They
are not players, but religious motivators who are spreading Islam
in every area which is known as Daar-ul-Harab (arena of war)
where Jihad has to be waged against the infidels. Yohanna
was also an infidel whom they could take on easily. And see he
is now a Muslim,” he told the South Asia Tribune.
Goel
accused Javed Miandad, Inzimam, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saeed Anwar
of forcing Yohanna to embrace Islam. He said: “These players
have acted on the Fatwa of their Mullas and they must
be now trying to bring Kaneria to their fold.”
Goel
said our leader Bal Thakeray has always opposed Pakistan for such
reasons. “We never allowed Pakistani cricket team to play
in Mumbai. How can we appreciate ZTV’s move to make Miandad
its Brand Ambassador when he also nurtures hostility towards India
like his fellow countrymen. They all think India to be the Daar-ul-Harab.”
It
is clear that hawks in India spare no chance of Pakistan bashing,
whether it is cross border terrorism or Kashmir or cricket. But
this is for the first time these hawks are targeting Pakistani
players accusing them of religious fundamentalism. Unlike the
terrorists, they are waging Jihad with the bat and ball in the
cricket field.
