List of winner’s of Miss World

1951 – Kiki Haakonson, Sweden
1952 – May Louise Flodin, Sweden
1953 – Denise Perrier, France
1954 – Antigone Costanda, Egypt
1955 – Carmen Zubillaga, Venezuela
1956 – Petra Schurmann, Germany
1957 – Marita Lindahl, Finland
1958 – Penelope Coelen, South Africa
1959 – Corine Rottschafer, Holland
1960 – Norma Cappagli, Argentina
1961 – Rosemarie Frankland, United Kingdom
1962 – Catharine Lodders, Holland
1963 – Carole Crawford, Jamaica
1964 – Ann Sidney, United Kingdom
1965 – Lesley Langley, United Kingdom
1966 – Reita Faria, India
1967 – Madeiline Hartog Bel, Peru
1968 – Penelope Plummer, Australia
1969 – Eva Reuber Staier, Austria
1970 – Jennifer Hosten, Grenada
1971 – Lucia Petterle, Brazil
1972 – Belina Green, Australia
1973 – Marjorie Wallace, USA
1974 – Anneline Kriel, South Africa
1975 – Winelia Merced, Puerto Rico
1976 – Cindy Breakspeare, Jamaica
1977 – Mary Stavin, Sweden
1978 – Silvana Suarez, Argentina
1979 – Gina Swainson, Bermuda
1980 – Kimberly Santos, Guam
1981 – Pilin Leon, Venezuela
1982 – Mariasela Lebron, Dominican Republic
1983 – Sarah Jane Hutt, United Kingdom
1984 – Astrid Herrera, Venezuela
1985 – Hofi Karlsdottir, Iceland
1986 – Giselle Laronde, Trinidad
1987 – Ulla Weigerstorfer, Austria
1988 – Linda Petursdottir, Iceland
1989 – Andeta Kreglicka, Poland
1990 – Gina Marie Tolleson, USA
1991 – Ninebeth Jiminez, Venezuela
1992 – Julia Kourotchkina, Russia
1993 – Lisa Hanna, Jamaica
1994 – Aishwariya Rai, India
1995 – Jacqueline Aquilera, Venezuela
1996 – Irene Skliva ,Greece
1997 – Diana Hayden, India
1998 – Linor Abargil, Israel
1999 – Yukta Mookhey, India
2000 – Priyanka Chopra, India
2001 – Ibiagbanidokibubo Asenite Darego—Nigeria
2002 – Azra Akin—Turkey
2003 – Rosanna Davidson, Ireland
2004 – Maria Julia Mantilla Garcia, Peru
2005 – Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir, Iceland
2006 – Tat’ana Kucharova, Czech Republic
2007 – Zhang Zhi Li, China PR
2008 – Ksenia Sukhinova, Russia
2009 – Kaiane Aldorino, Gibraltar
2010 – Alexandria Mills, USA
2011 – Ivian Sarcos, Venezuela
2012 – Wen Xia Yu, China PR

Mustard seeds field

How Islam Spread in India

Today, there are over 500 million Muslims throughout the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), making it one of the largest population centers of Muslims in the world. Since Islam first entered India, it has contributed greatly to the area and its people. Today, numerous theories about how India came to be such a largely Muslim land exist. Politically, some (such as the Hindutva movement in India) try to make Islam seem foriegn to India, by insisting it only exists because of invasions by Arab and Persian Muslims. The truth, however, is far from that.

The Earliest Muslim Indians
Even before the life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in the 600s, Arab traders were in contact with India. Merchants would regularly sail to the west coast of India to trade goods such as spices, gold, and African goods. Naturally, when the Arabs began to convert to Islam, they carried their new religion to the shores of India. The first mosque of India, the Cheraman Juma Masjid, was built in 629 (during the life of Prophet Muhammad) in Kerala, by the first Muslim from India, Cheraman Perumal Bhaskara Ravi Varma. Through continued trade between Arab Muslims and Indians, Islam continued to spread in coastal Indian cities and towns, both through immigration and conversion.

Cheraman Juma Masjid

Muhammad bin Qasim
The first great expansion of Islam into India came during the Umayyad Dynasty of caliphs, who were based in Damascus. In 711, the Umayyads appointed a young 17 year old man from Ta’if to extend Umayyad control into Sindh: Muhammad bin Qasim. Sindh is the land around the Indus River in the Northwestern part of the subcontinent, in present-day Pakistan. Muhammad bin Qasim led his army of 6,000 soldiers to the far eastern reaches of Persia, Makran.

He encountered little resistance as he made his way into India. When he reached the city of Nerun, on the banks of the Indus River, he was welcomed into the city by the Buddhist monks that controlled it. Most cities along the Indus thus voluntarily came under Muslim control, with no fighting. In some cases, oppressed Buddhist minorities reached out to the Muslim armies for protection against Hindu governors.

Despite the support and approval of much of the population, the Raja of Sindh, Dahir, opposed the Muslim expansion and mobilized his army against Muhammad bin Qasim. In 712, the two armies met, with a decisive victory for the Muslims. With the victory, all of Sindh came under Muslim control.

It is important to note, however, that the population of Sindh was not forced to convert to Islam at all. In fact, for almost everyone, there was no change in day-to-day life. Muhammad bin Qasim promised security and religious freedom to all Hindus and Buddhists under his control. For example, the Brahman caste continued their jobs as tax collectors and Buddhists monks continued to maintain their monastaries. Due to his religious tolerance and justice, many cities regularly greeted him and his armies with people dancing and music.

The Jama Masjid in Delhi, India

Patterns of Conversion
The successive waves of Muslim armies penetrating into India followed much the same pattern. Leaders such as Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad Tughluq expanded Muslim political domains without altering the religious or social fabric of Indian society.

Because pre-Islamic India was entirely based on a caste system in which society was broken into separate parts, conversion to Islam happened in a step-by-step process. Often, entire castes would convert to Islam at a time. This would happen for many different reasons. Often, however, the equality Islam provided was more attractive than the caste system’s organized racism. In the caste system, who you are born to determines your position in society. There was no opportunity for social mobility or to achieve greater than what your parents achieved. By converting to Islam, people had the opportunity to move up in society, and no longer were subservient to the Brahman caste.

Buddhism, which was once very popular in the subcontinent, slowly died out under Muslim rule. Traditionally, when people wanted to escape the caste system, they would move to the major population centers and convert to Buddhism. When Islam became an option, however, people began to convert to Islam instead of Buddhism, while still leaving the caste system. The myths of Islam violently destroying Buddhism in India are simply false. Buddhists were tolerated under Muslim rule and no evidence exists that shows forced conversions or violence against them.

Wandering teachers also had a major role in bringing Islam to the masses. Muslim scholars traveled throughout India, making it their goal to educate people about Islam. Many of them preached Sufi ideas, a more mystical approach to Islam that appealed to the people. These teachers had a major role in bringing Islam to the masses in the countryside, not just the upper classes around the Muslim rulers.

Did Islam Spread by Force?
While some claim that Islam’s huge population in India is a result of violence and forced conversion, the evidence does not back up this idea at all. Although Muslim leaders replaced Hindu kings in most areas, society was left as is. Stories of forced conversion are very few and often not credible enough to warrant academic discussion.

If Islam spread through violence and warfare, the Muslim community today in India would exist only in the areas closest to the rest of the Muslim world. Thus only the western part of the subcontinent would have any Muslim population at all. What we see instead is pockets of Islam throughout the subcontinent. For example, Bangladesh and its 150 million Muslims are in the far east, separated from other Muslim-majority areas by Hindu lands in India. Isolated communities of Muslims exist also exist in western Myanmar, central India, and eastern Sri Lanka. These communities of Muslims are proof of Islam spreading peacefully throughout India, regardless of whether or not a Muslim government existed there. If Islam spread by force as some claim, these communities of Muslims would not exist.

Conclusions
Islam is an integral part of India and its history. As the Indian subcontinent remains today a multi-ethnic and multi-religious place, it is important to understand the position Islam has in the region. The political claims that some making regarding Islam as if it is an invading religion and foriegn to the people of India need to be defied with the truth of Islam’s peaceful spread throughout India.

[Courtesy: http://lostislamichistory.com]

Bihar CM urged to set up high-level probe team on terror arrests

By Mudassir Rizwan, TwoCircles.net,

Patna: Members of civil society have demanded Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to set up a high-level team to probe the arrests of Muslim youths from the state and the terror charges against them. If Kumar is really concerned about the arrests of innocents in terror cases, he should go beyond mere issuing statement, People’s Initiative, a civil group said while holding a daylong dharna (sit-in) on 24th June at Kargil Chowk near Gandhi Maidan in Patna.

“We demand CM of Bihar to set up a high-level team to probe all terror arrests from the state. The team should be asked to visit states where these youths are being held, dig into the truth of allegations against them and put the inquiry before the people of Bihar,” said the group in a statement.









On Qateel Siddiqui’s custodial murder, the civil group demanded the Chief Justice of India to set a high-level team to inquire into his death in the Pune jail.

The members of the civil society also demanded immediate check on the terror arrests being made violating the guidelines of the apex court and prosecute the guilty officers. Those people who are in jails without any charge sheet, must be released immediately.








Attacking the chief minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar, civil rights activists said his statement that Bihar government had no information about arrest is irresponsible and exposes his good governance claim. “Protection of life and dignity of Bihar residents is the constitutional responsibility of the state chief minister, and so he cannot get free by just issuing statement,” People’s Initiative said.




It is said about 17 youths mostly from Darbhanga and Madhubani have been arrested in terror cases since November 2011 and in almost all cases provisions of Constitution and SC guidelines have been violated.









It is wrong to attach religion to terrorism. Terrorists must be harshly punished but by implicating innocents in terror cases, terrorism cannot be defeated. It seems, there is conspiracy to malign Muslims in the name of terrorism, run by vested interests, it said.



The dharna was also attended by some families of the imprisoned Bihar youths and the family of Fasih Mahmood, Bihar engineer who is missing since 13th May 2012. He was picked from his home in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia allegedly on the request of Indian government but he has not yet been produced in any court. His family has filed habeas corpus in the supreme court. Qateel’s brother Shakil Siddqui was also at the dharna. Qateel was the first Bihar youth to be arrested in terror case. He was picked in November 2011 but was not yet charged. He was killed allegedly by two inmates in the high-security Pune’s Yerwada jail on 8th June 2012.









Talking to TCN on the sidelines of the dharna, eminent social activist and journalist Nayyar Fatmi said the campaign to implicate Muslims in terror cases is part of a larger conspiracy against the community which was raising voice more boldly in the recent time for his constitutional rights.



"Like Pakistan and America – which are run by their intelligence agencies – it seems India too is being run by its intelligence agency since last 2-3 years." He strongly condemned the killing of Qateel and mysterious disappearance of Fasih.









Fatmi, however, was happy that people of civil society and politicians and political parties have started to speak on the issue, they are also coming out to condemn the illegal arresting of Muslim youths.

He urged chief minister Nitish Kumar to break his silence over the issue. Sitting in the lap of communalists, he cannot give sermons on secularism.

Terror Arrests: Bihar civil group writes to Chief Justice of India

By Mudassir Rizwan, TwoCircles.net,

Patna: A civil rights group from Bihar has sought Chief Justice of India’s intervention for high-level probe into the murder of Mohammad Qateel Siddiqui in high-security Pune jail. Condemning the custodial murder, People’s Initiative, in its memorandum to CJI, has also highlighted the brazen violation by ATS teams of the Supreme Court guidelines about arrest.




L-R: Abdus Salam (father of Kafeel Akhtar), civil rights activist Nayyer Fatmi, civil activist Kanchan Bala, Amrah Jalal (mother of Fasih Mahmood), Shakeel Siddiqui (brother of Qateel Siddiqui) and civil activist and journalist from Darbhanga Shakeel Ahmad Salafi


“Qateel Siddiqui of Darbhanga was killed in judicial custody in Pune jail on 8th June 2012. The murder has made the role of jail administration and police suspicious. As the he was murdered in judicial custody, so we demand the Chief Justice of India to order a high-level inquiry into this murder,” the group demanded in the memorandum which was released to the media at a program at IMA Hall in Patna on Monday.

On the occasion, the group released a report of its fact-finding team which recently visited Darbhanga and adjoining areas from where over one dozen youths have been picked in terror cases since November 2011.







“In the name of counterterrorism, ATS has been violating the rules and guidelines of Supreme Court while arresting youths from Darbhanga and Madhubani, so we demand appropriate action in this regard,” the group said.

The civil activists demanded bail for the accused against whom police have not filed charge sheet even after the stipulated time and they are in jail for a long time.





The fact-finding team narrating their observation about the area said that due to arrests fear has enveloped the entire area of Darbhanga and Madhubani. ATS is not working as a law enforcement agency, rather it is working as a kidnapping gang. The team also revealed that some boys in Darbhanga are being threatened by Maharashtra ATS and Karnataka ATS. They are asked to come to Mumbai without telling anyone.





People’s Initiative had also invited family members of the arrested youths to tell their story to the media. Amrah Jalal, mother of Fasih Mahmood, Shakeel Siddiqui, brother of Qateel Siddiqui and Abdus Salam, father of Kafeel Akhtar told their story. They also talked to TCN.

The program was attended by eminent civil and human rights activists and community leaders. They included Kanchan Bala, Mahender, Nayyer Fatmi, Jitendra, Satnarayan Madan, Adv. Manilal, Arshad Ajmal, Nayyaruzzaman (state president of Jamaat Islami) and Anish Ankur.





The civil group announced to organize a dharna (sit-in) against the illegal arrests on 24th June at Kargil Chowk, Gandhi Maidan in Patna.