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Lucid scholarship on the Muslim world
Reviewed by B. L. Chakoo
In the Whirlwind of Jihad
by Martha
Brill Olcott. KW Publishers.
Pages 414. Rs 820.
the
title
of this book, In the Whirlwind of Jihad, comes from the
struggle that the Quran enjoins believers to engage in if they
are to live lives that are in accordance with the will of Allah. While
most of the social science literature about jihad focuses on jihad
bil saif — when believers engage in an armed struggle in defence
of Islam – the Quran terms this "a lesser jihad,"
as it is the product of the circumstances in which a believer finds
himself. But every Muslim believer must engage in jihad al-nafs, ‘the
greater jihad’, as it is a struggle to rid evil from within
oneself."
Driving
with a travel buff
Reviewed by H.Kishie Singh
More Driving Holidays
by Bob Rupani
Rupani Media. Pages 309. Rs799
from
East to West and North to South, Bob has traversed every bit of India.
I should know. I have been his co-driver, travelling all over India
with him, an association that goes back 30 years. Bob's
first book Driving Holidays in India became a handy reference book for
motorists. That was in 2005. Bob has now come out with More Driving
Holidays In India. It has 10 more routes and 89 new destinations.
To
forget is to tempt a repeat
Reviewed by Priyanka Singh
Voices from Chernobyl
by Ingrid Storholmen.
Harper Perennial. Pages 175. Rs 299.
it
was in the small hours of a spring morning that their world came
apart, hurtling across the realm of any recognition of existence as
they had known. Can one prepare for a nuclear disaster? Is there any
escape from the radiation syndrome that slowly eats up ones insides,
playing havoc with the system until the body itself feels alien and
death a healer?
Looking
at reservation
Reviewed by P. K. Vasudeva
Reservation: A Quest for
Justice
by R. K. Kshirsagar
Kalpaz Publications. Pages 326. Rs 975
the
fundamental rights regarding social safeguards of the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes under Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution are
mandatory, inviolable and irrevocable. Hence, these cannot be violated
by anyone, including the judiciary. The anti-reservation activists
argue that the reservation in educational institutions and jobs for
the SC, ST and OBC has brought inefficiency and merit has been
crucified, resulting in disappointment for those with merit and bright
candidates and increased inefficiency in specialised jobs where only
the merit is fundamentally required.
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