A tribute to Khalid Azam

Link: http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2016/04/a-tribute-to-khalid-azam.html

Every now and then, you feel the irresistible urge to appreciate and say good things about an individual whom you have come to respect over a period of time. That person is Mr. Khalid Azam, and Indian American from Hyderabad. 

Khalid is an active participant at DallasIndians@yahoogroups.com with 1692 members comprising Indians of all regions and religions. Unlike any other group, our members respectfully exchange some of the most difficult issues the nation faces, particularly surrounding the current government. 

There is a steady calmness about him. When dealing with polarized minds, we have a few choices; aggravate the conflict further, run away, call the others names and shut down the dialogue.  Khalid consistently seeks to provide facts, which the opposite site may not acknowledge it, but grudgingly accepts it. This is very important in a dialogue, and he stands his ground where needs to be. 
As a moderator of the group I have been observing Khalid's responses and have come to admire his approach. No one can beat you up, if you quote the facts. 

A few members keep jumping out of bounce and post anti-Muslim stuff even though it is not about Muslims of India. 

A few members post critical articles about BJP’ rule and the other few get riled up and make negative statements about the group. We keep going! 

To practice true democracy and freedom of speech, we have opened the forum to all expressions. If we want to see the whole picture we have to learn to hear some of the toughest comments. No personal attacks are allowed but you can counter any topic in discussion.

This is where Khalid Azam has excelled in dealing with differences gracefully.  No matter what fellow members say, Khalid remains to facts. He does not resort to throwing numbers or statements; he always backs it up with references.  It is difficult for the naysayers to argue with him.

 If he points someone’s fault, it is not just a blank statement, he quotes them.  He does not spare any one, and I am glad he was critical of me too.  We have to learn to face things and not shut others down. 

He does not attack individuals but attacks their take on the issue with facts. 

He is Mr. India; he knows the facts and figures and is a reservoir of knowledge about India and Islam. We may differ on our take on traditional Islam, but I have always respected him for being straight forward and factual.  I count on him at times to respond to claims of extremists among Hindus of India, who are the mirror of of extremists among Muslims.  Fortunately the % of extremist remain small; 1/10th of 1% of each group.

Khalid Azam is a founding member and trustee at the Indian American Muslim Council, a group dedicated to promoting and preserving the tolerant and pluralistic ethos of India. He actively works with various religious communities in the United States and India to advance human rights and religious freedom at an institutional and foreign policy level. He wrote an opinion piece at George Town’s Berkley Center for Relgion - http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/responses/india-s-shrinking-religious-freedom

I thank Khalid for being an exemplary citizen on the net. He is an asset for the Indian community in general and Muslims in particular.

DallasIndians@yahoogroups.com was formed in 2004 and has 1692 members. The group was formed to exchange information about the Indian community living in the Dallas/ Fort Worth Metroplex. It is all about our Culture, Events, Politics, Religion, Bollywood, Music, Achievements, Consular Services, Concerts and everything else that binds us. If you are an Indian, you are welcome to join the “moderated group” by sending an email to Subscribe-DallasIndians@yhoogroups.com

~  Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him at TheGhousediary.com and several blogs listed there in.