Aaker and Aurangzeb, Sharif Brother's technical KO of Rs. 3 billion,

Aurangzeb's grave

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Aaker Patel writes: Just outside of Ellora is the town of Khuldabad. It is where Aurangzeb was buried in 1707, after his campaigns against the Shia kings in Bijapur and Golconda that hastened the end of the Mughal empire. Aurangzeb’s grave is just a small slab of stone, perhaps seven-feet-by-seven-feet and about a foot high, easily the most modest grave of any Indian king, much less a great Mughal. It is remarkable that an emotional romantic, Shah Jahan, who built the most extravagant tomb in history, the Taj Mahal, for the mother of his 14 children, fathered a son, who was exactly his opposite.

He missed a significant anomaly. Aurangzeb mentioned in his will that his burial arrangements were to be made from his personal assets which were less than the equivalent of 4 rupees and that his grave should be a kachchi qabar, should have no roof. His wishes were carried out. Early in the last century the Nizam built a low marble boundary around the grave, desecrating the aura, and Aurangzeb's last wishes. India is strwen with magnificient masoleums that remind one of Ozymandias. Aurangzeb's kacchi qabar, was an exception.

My servant, Aya Beg, has my purse in which I have carefully kept my earnings of 4 Rs and 2 annas. In my spare time I have been writing the Koran and stitching caps. It was by selling the caps that I made an honest earning of 4 Rs and 2 annas. My coffin should be purchased with this amount. ..My grave should be dug in a dense forest. When I am buried my face should remain uncovered. Do not bury my face in earth. I want to present myself to Allah with a naked face.... My coffin should be made of thick Khaddar. link

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's most senior dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, has died, his grandson said Sunday. He was 87.

Sharif Brother's technical KO of Rs. 3 billion - A loan of Rs3 billion against the Sharif brothers remains outstanding despite a lapse of about ten years when the physical assets of four industrial units — Ittefaq Foundries, Brothers Steel, Ittefaq Brothers and Ilyas Enterprises — were surrendered to nine lending banks, who haven’t got a penny back since 1998. The Sharif brothers were lauded in the national press in 1998 for surrendering their physical assets to nine banks but in actual terms, these banks did not get a single penny back after one of their (Sharif’s) own directors moved the court and got a stay order against selling of these assets. The stay order in favour of Ittefaq Brothers remains effective till date.

Anjum Niaz: Light a fire, each of us, in our own small way under the tree of hate that harbours serpents preaching death and destruction. America must lead the way but first it needs to break out of its own bubble of ignorance about Muslims.