Muslim Brotherhood, Indian Muslim Students, Nothing Queer

Last week's arrest of Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, secretary-general of the Union of Arab Doctors and a senior member of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood's Executive Guidance Bureau, opened a Pandora's Box of questions concerning the possible ramifications of the clampdown on the political arena. The Shia connection Jailan Halawi

This year, more than 30,000 Muslim students from Hyderabad and surrounding districts in Andhra Pradesh made it past the "Eamcet", the impossibly overwhelming entrance examination that the state conducts for admission to medical and engineering colleges. In fact, a Muslim student, a young Alauddin, from engineering topped the Eamcet to emerge as the first ranker.
In another heart-warming example, a married Muslim girl has topped the "Edcet" or entrance examination for education colleges. Last year, another girl, Ayesha Fatima, created history by topping the state board for intermediate or Grade 12 with 98.7 per cent scores in the final examinations. A quiet revolution is taking place among India's Muslims, the largest religious minority and perhaps the biggest Muslim population anywhere in the world. Increasingly, Muslim students are not only putting in unusual and stellar performances and competing with the best of the best in realms where they rarely ventured before, but they are even outshining their peers. India's monsoon revolution Aijaz Zaka Syed

the gay rights debate is not about sex at all; it’s about principles. It’s about the right to personal liberty and the willingness of a forward-looking government to play the role of constitutional defender. It deserves all the public attention it’s getting because this debate is about diversity and democracy. And whether a secular state can manage to keep the clergy at a safe distance from the judiciary. There’s nothing queer about it - Barkha Dutt