Can anybody confim these news please…Is Yousaf Yohanna Brother Yousaf now…
http://www.satribune.com/archives/july04/P1_miandad.htm
What is Javed Miandad Doing in India as Zee TV Brand Ambassador
By Arun Rajnath
NEW DELHI, July 23: What is Pakistan’s recently ousted coach and ace batsman Javed Miandad doing in India as Brand Ambassador of the Indian channel Zee TV? Whatever the answer to this question, while in India, Miandad is being attacked by Hindu religious extremists for being an Islamic fanatic and converting top batting star and Vice Captain, Yousuf Yohanna, from Christianity to Islam.
Miandad is bracketed among the Gang of Four Islamic motivators of Pakistan Cricket. The other three are Inzimam ul Haque, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saeed Anwar. They are being accused of forcing Yohanna to embrace Islam. Their next target, Indian critics say, is Danish Kaneria, the spin bowler, a Hindu.
This criticism from Hindu right wingers is coming through their media organs and in personal interaction with journalists. They say that Pakistani cricketers want to give a message to the Islamic brethren that they may lose the game in the cricket field but they would always win in the field of religion.
Javed Miandad is on a visit to India as a Brand Ambassador for Zee TV, the channel known for its right wing leanings whose owners allegedly dance on the tune of the General Secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Dr. Praveen Togadia.
Even BJP leaders, including General Secretary of the Central Youth Wing, Rameshwar Prasad, say that Miandad should not have been made the ZTV ambassador as he was instrumental in compelling Yohanna to embrace Islam with the help of Captain Inzimam ul Haq and Saeed Anwar. Apart from this Miandad is also known for his animosity and hostility towards India.
When asked why the BJP is raising this issue when the party should have no concern with the domestic matters of Pakistan, Prasad said: “The BJP is not raising this issue. But people should know about the domestic conditions of Pakistan where minorities are not safe at all. When Pakistan falsely implicates India in anything that happens to Muslims, then why can’t we raise such issues regarding Pakistan?”
And as far as the issue of making Miandad a ZTV Ambassador is concerned, Prasad asks: “Why have they chosen him and not (former Indian captain) Azharuddin.”
The issue of embracing Islam by Yousuf Yohanna has also been touched upon by a BJP Muslim intellectual Muzaffar Hussain in the Hindi media organ of the RSS, ‘Panchjanya’ (This is the name of Lord Krishna’s conk which he is believed to have blown just before the great war of Mahabharat. Symbolically, the blowing of the conk by Lord Krishna meant beginning of a new era).
During his visit to Delhi, he talked to South Asia Tribune at the BJP Headquarters at 11, Ashoka Road and asked: “When a game like cricket can bring arch enemies like India and Pakistan close to each other, why can’t it bring a Christian close to Islam.”
He said: “Cricket can change the hearts, but this a phenomenon that it is being used in changing faith of others. Pakistani cricket players have compelled their fellow cricketer to convert to Islam, but such things can happen only in Pakistan because it is fundamentally a theocratic society.”
But when asked how did he know that Yousuf Yohanna had actually embraced Islam, and how India was concerned with such a domestic matter of another country, Hussain said: “I have many links as well as relations in Pakistan. It is easier for me than others to know about developments in Pakistan.
"Regarding Indian concern on this issue let me say that India should not ignore the fact that Pakistan is a hostile country, and its players loath kaafirs. One of them is here advertising for an Indian television channel. You may invite them as experts, but not as a brand ambassador.”
Hussain then disclosed that some Christian missionaries in Pakistan tried to meet Yousuf Yohanna, but they were not allowed to see him on the pretext of security.
“The Christian player is now chanting the kalimaa. He had no financial or social insecurity. He has earned a lot of money and lives in a posh area of the city unlike his brothers who are still engaged in their old profession. Then why did he do so? Obviously under duress,” he added.
Muzaffar Hussain said Javed Miandad, Inzimam ul Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saeed Anwar belong to the Tablighi Jamaat. Like the Christian missionaries, they tour village to village in groups of 15-20 members. All these four Pakistani players are also working as Islamic motivators. “Yohanna has become a Muslim. Now it is Danish Kaneria’s turn, who is a Hindu,” he said.
Shiv Sena’s Delhi Chief, Jai Bhagwan Goel, is also opposing Javed Miandad’s visit to India as a Brand Ambassador of ZTV.
Goel supports what Muzaffar Hussain has written in the RSS organ. “They are not players, but religious motivators who are spreading Islam in every area which is known as Daar-ul-Harab (arena of war) where Jihad has to be waged against the infidels. Yohanna was also an infidel whom they could take on easily. And see he is now a Muslim,” he told the South Asia Tribune.
Goel accused Javed Miandad, Inzimam, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saeed Anwar of forcing Yohanna to embrace Islam. He said: “These players have acted on the Fatwa of their Mullas and they must be now trying to bring Kaneria to their fold.”
Goel said our leader Bal Thakeray has always opposed Pakistan for such reasons. “We never allowed Pakistani cricket team to play in Mumbai. How can we appreciate ZTV’s move to make Miandad its Brand Ambassador when he also nurtures hostility towards India like his fellow countrymen. They all think India to be the Daar-ul-Harab.”
It is clear that hawks in India spare no chance of Pakistan bashing, whether it is cross border terrorism or Kashmir or cricket. But this is for the first time these hawks are targeting Pakistani players accusing them of religious fundamentalism. Unlike the terrorists, they are waging Jihad with the bat and ball in the cricket field.
