Tufail Ahmad

Tufail Ahmad
Born
West Champaran, Bihar, India
NationalityBritish
EducationAligarh Muslim University (B.A.)
Jawaharlal Nehru University (M.A.)
King's College London (B.A.)
Occupation(s)journalist, commentator

Tufail Ahmad is a British journalist and political commentator of Indian origin. He has been the Director of the South Asia Studies Project at the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) in Washington, D.C. In his recent writings, he was described as a Contributing Editor at Firstpost and as executive director of the Open Source Institute (OSI), New Delhi.[1][2]

Life and career

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Tufail was born in the West Champaran district in Bihar, India. He is currently a British citizen.[3]

Tufail has a B.A. (Hons) in Sociology from the Aligarh Muslim University. He further studied Social Systems at Jawaharlal Nehru University and War Studies at the King's College London, receiving M.A. degrees in both. He also holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.[3][4]

He worked in Delhi for C-voter, Press Trust of India and Inomy Media. Subsequently, he worked as an editor with the BBC Urdu Service in London for approximately eight years, focusing on the coverage of Pakistan. [3][4]

Tufail is currently the Director of the 'South Asia Studies Project' at the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) in Washington, D.C. His research is focused on jihadist movements in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh as well as the counter-terrorism policies of the countries. He also carries out research on issues of cultural and religious freedom in these countries.[4]

Works

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Tufail co-edited The Internet Economy of India published by Inomy Media, in 2001.

He writes research reports at MEMRI,[5] regular columns in The New Indian Express[6] and occasional articles in the OPEN magazine.[7] He has liberal views, opposing jihadism and fundamentalism, and encourages Indian Muslims to participate in Indian polity and society.[8] He warns India and Pakistan of their jihadist threats.[9][10] He is concerned about the Liberal-Left intellectuals aligning with the Islamist forces owing to their supposed zeal in opposing the West.[3]

With the rise of the ISIS, Tufail has been tracking the reactions in the Muslim community and highlighting the calls for reform from within the community.[11]

In early 2016, Tufail Ahmad's book Jihadist Threat To India -- The Case For Islamic Reformation By An Indian Muslim was published in India.[12] The book was launched by Shri Kiren Rijiju, India's federal minister for home affairs, at a ceremony held at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) in New Delhi on March 31, 2016. At the book launch, other eminent personalities who spoke alongside Rijiju included: former Indian Army chief General N.C. Vij, former Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Shri Vikram Sood, former Indian Army commander Lt.-Gen. Ata Hasnain, and Pakistan affairs expert Sushan Sareen.[13]

Speaking at the launch of his book, Ahmad accused the Indian state of handing over its responsibility of teaching Muslim children to madrassas (Islamic seminaries) which he described as counter-liberty movements; and while stressing the need for Islamic Reformation, he called for teaching mathematics, economics and physics to Muslim girls from Grade 1 through Grade 12.[13]

Advocacy of Reform

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On 30 November 2016, Tufail Ahmad unveiled a 12-point document, in which he proposed a "blueprint" for a Uniform Civil Code for India.[14] The document was named "the Universal Bill of Rights for the Indian Citizen" and was written by Ahmad in collaboration with two others, Satya Prakash and Siddharth Singh.[15][16][17] Effectively, Tufail Ahmad is the first Indian to have authored a Uniform Civil Code to further debate about this subject among Indians.

In January 2018, Ahmad critiqued the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 passed by the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament. Ahmad said the bill fell short of reform for Muslims. With the aid of Smita Dikshit, a legal counsel practicing in the Supreme Court, Ahmad authored an alternative bill to raise awareness about Muslim issues called The Muslim Family Reforms Bill, 2018.[18]

Reception

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Tufail Ahmad's employer, MEMRI, is alleged to be a pro-Israeli organisation that selectively presents Muslim sources to show them in a negative light.[19] Zafarul Islam Khan, the editor of The Milli Gazette, accused Ahmad of promoting Islamophobic views and likened him to Taslima Nasreen and Tarek Fateh.[20] Tufail Ahmad has accused his critics Zafarul Islam and Shahid Siddiqui of promoting a jihadist mindset among Indian Muslims through the Urdu-language media.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Ahmad, Tufail (22 August 2016). "The Radicalisation Series: Analysing the threat to Muslim youths in India". Firstpost. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  2. ^ India's ex-Muslims: Shedding traditional Islam for science
  3. ^ a b c d "Tufail Ahmad - Journalist and commentator on South Asian affairs". tufailahmad.com. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "About us". Middle East Media Research Institute. Archived from the original on 10 May 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  5. ^ Tufail Ahmad research reports at the Middle East Media Research Institute
  6. ^ Tufail Ahmad columns in the New Indian Express
  7. ^ Tufail Ahmad columns in the OPEN Magazine
  8. ^ Tufail Ahmad, Modi Rule: an Opportunity for Muslims, OPEN Magazine, 13 October 2014.
  9. ^ Tufail Ahmad, The Rise of Ideological Jihadists, OPEN Magazine, 21 August 2014
  10. ^ Tufail Ahmad, The Next Decade of Jihadism in Pakistan, Hudson Institute, 20 June 2013
  11. ^ Ahmad, Tufail. Muslim Liberals Vs ISIS, New Indian Express, 3 March 2015.
  12. ^ "infolimner™". infolimner.com. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Vimarsha on 'Jihadist Threat to India – The Case for Islamic Reformation by an Indian Muslim'". 31 March 2016.
  14. ^ Ahmad, Tufail. "A Blueprint for the Uniform Civil Code". Twitter.com. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  15. ^ Ahmad, Tufail (30 November 2016). "Statement on the Draft Uniform Civil Code for the Indian Citizen". IndiaFacts.org. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Muslim intellectual Tufail Ahmad proposes a revolutionary Uniform Civil Code". Zee News. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  17. ^ "Muslim intellectual proposes a revolutionary Uniform Civil Code". The Statesman. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  18. ^ Ahmad, Tufail (23 January 2018). "MEMRI releases family reform bill, aims to raise awareness among Muslims on religious issues". Firstpost.com. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  19. ^ Brian Whitaker, Selective Memri, The Guardian, 12 August 2002.
  20. ^ Zafarul Islam Khan, In response to Tufail Ahmad: Is this the beginning of assault on India's Urdu Press?, Daily O, 16 July 2016.
  21. ^ Ahmad, Tufail (25 July 2016). "In Response to Zafarul Islam: Islamist Editors are Indeed Radicalising Indian Muslims".
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