As the Darul Uloom maintains that its fight against terrorism will continue, read this thought-provoking essay by M. Zuhdi Jasser* on what are the ideological standards required to confront militant Islam.
In view of the points made by Lt Commander Jasser, are the scholars of Darul Uloom at Deoband prepared to take the next step and declare/accept:

1. The rejection of Islamism as a political ideology.
2. A rejection of the concept of the “Islamic state” …or (the) vision of a Muslim majority society led by theologians (imams and clerics) who run government through …

I recently came across this excellent article by Capt Bharat Verma on How India can acquire great power status. Unfortunately, knowing the way our politicians thinks and our system works, this analysis is likely to pass un-noticed and ignored by the powers that be.
This inability (or unwillingness) to think strategically is one of our leadership’s biggest weaknesses – and we are paying for it – dearly.
Excerpts below (emphasis mine):
“Due to New Delhi’s slavish use of ‘carrot’ since Independence, without any equilibrium with the ‘stick’, the great power potential of India …

Read these extracts from an Op-Ed by Kanchan Gupta in The Pioneer, “Unlike Israelis, we lack guts” in the context of recent developments in Israel.
Excerpts:
“….On a winter forenoon we take off from this airport…for Sderot, a frontier town on Israel’s border with Gaza Strip. Sderot has been in the news for more than a year now and has earned for itself a unique distinction: It is the most bombed place in the world yet its residents remain defiant and unshaken.
…
The first Qassam rocket — a crude device crafted out of …

What most of us long suspected, or knew, has just been confirmed by Interpol:
INTERPOL admits Dawood’s presence in Pakistan.
So whats stopping him from being extradited over? A minor technicality….Pakistan refuses to admit that Dawood Ibrahim is in the country
Never mind…once they do, we have everything lined up…including a number of flight options and easier availability of visa(s) !!
Sorry, I forgot…Shri Ibrahim is an Indian citizen…

or is he?
His passport has been revoked by the Government of India… but that may only be a minor problem… as Pakistan’s government has …

…but more needs to be done…(see a good post here).
Specifically, some of the the questions raised in these posts should be discussed and debated:
Islam�s �uncomfortable�truths��
Gandhigiri, Taliban and the need for reform in�Islam�and
�We Muslims Have Work To Do� – Salim�Mansur�

This thought was prompted by an exchange in the comments section of this post.
Courtesy of Acorn, please read and reflect on this extract from a speech by the Honourable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on 25th November 1949:
“If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do?
The first thing in my judgement we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we …

Starting with this�one by Sandeep�which includes quotes from MF Husain’s recent interview.�The two that I�found most interesting were: (emphasis mine):
MF Husain:
“…Later, in Hyderabad, in 1968, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia suggested I paint the Ramayana. I was completely broke, but I painted 150 canvases over eight years…When I was doing this, some conservative Muslims told me, why don�t you paint on Islamic themes? I said, does Islam have the same tolerance? If you get even the calligraphy wrong, they can tear down a screen.
…
In colleges, you learn about Shakespeare and Keats, …

“Day after Sena medal, officer dies fighting Ulfa”
“…A day after he was awarded the Sena medal for gallantry, on Republic Day, Capt Sunil Kumar Choudhary of 7/11 Gorkha Rifles died fighting Ulfa terrorists in Assam’s Tinsukia district on Sunday.
The 28-year-old officer was shot during an encounter with militants at Barpathar in the militancy-hit Tinsukia district of Upper Assam.
…An army report said Capt Choudhury and his team rushed to a house at Rangagarh in Borpathar after a tip-off that Ulfa terrorists had taken shelter there. The team came under heavy …

From�Terror funds in Dalal Street?* (an extract)
“…Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) (has)…alerted the government and the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) about investments by Khalid bin Mahfouz � a prominent Saudi businessman alleged to have links with Osama bin Laden � in Indian companies through the stock market.
Sebi is now being asked to probe if Khalid has been investing in Indian markets and possibly raising funds to finance terrorism.
…Khalid first came under the scanner following strong suspicion that he was siphoning off money from the National Commercial Bank, …

Reacting to the serial blasts in UP today,�Comrades A B Bardhan and Shamim Faizi�said:
“it was obviously the handiwork of the forces who were hell bent upon creating communal tension in the country”
…but then go on to say that
“the investigation in all these three incidents should not be ”one-track”.
This is not all.
While the Home Minister believes “…these blasts are a result of a deep conspiracy” and “…the motive could be to disturb communal harmony”…”According to the police, the blasts may be in retaliation to the arrested terrorists being beaten up by …