Obama Renews openness about his Muslim roots ahead of Egypt Speech.The president, who is a Christian but whose Kenyan father came from a family that includes generations of Muslims, stressed his Muslim roots in a way that he never did during his presidential campaign last year, when it might have been seen as a political liability. 

Now, Obama appears to be citing his Muslim roots as a tool for encouraging more moderate elements of Islamic society to rise up and ally with the United States. 

Obama told his audience in Egypt that the U.S. is home to nearly 7 million Muslims, who enjoy income and education levels that are higher than those of the average American. 

He referred to his childhood in Indonesia in an interview with the BBC ahead of his trip. Adviser Denis McDonough did the same on June 5,09. 

In an interview with a French television network, Obama also stressed the need for a better dialogue and the common ground between East and West. 

Obama should stress the need for a better dialogue and the common ground between Pakistan and India also. He should suggest Pakistan for stopping the infiltration of terrorist in to India. 

"One of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslims Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world," Obama said. 


Obama should know the following statistics: 

Indonesia: 200 million Muslims. India: 156 million Muslims. Pakistan: 150 million Muslims. United States: 2.3 million Muslims (according to the Pew Research Center). Muslims make up between 1.5 to 3% of the US population.

We should remind Obama that India of Hindu majority is home to the world's biggest minority, and that there are more Muslims in India than in all of Pakistan 

And while addressing the Turkish Parliament two months ago, Obama said the United States has been "enriched" by Muslims. 

"Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country -- I know, because I am one of them," Obama said. 

Let Obama should realize: Hinsuism is the mother of secularism 

We should remind Obama an incident of April 2005: A group of Indian Muslim leaders told former Pakistan Prime Minister Shujat Hussain that India was a secular country "because of Hindus". Hindu by nature can follow the law of the land and uphold the constitution of any country. The goal of a true Hindu is not to become religious but to become self-realized. Indian Muslims, who think themselves as brothers of Hindus and sons of Bharat Mata, can follow the same line. Hinsuism is the mother of secularism. Ancient Hindu society was based on absolute freedom to search the truth without getting attached to any particular belief system and that is the goal of Dharma. Ancient India realized the purpose of secular thinking long before West discovered secularism. Thus it is very easy to be secular for a Hindu. 


Obama speech stirs controversy in his home state U S 

Obama's citing of his own background invited mockery from some quarters with the Politico's Mike Allen calling the comments 'by far the most extensive he has made about his Muslim roots.' Michael Rubin of conservative weblog The Corner also found fault with Obama's studious avoidance of the word 'terrorism'. Questioning Obama's 'balanced tone' on the the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Republican Jewish Coalition's Matthew Brooks said: 'American policy should not be balanced - it should side with those who fight terror, not those who either engage in it or are too weak to prevent it.'


By Premendra Agrawal

http://www.thechhattisgarh.com/060609.htm