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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Educated Muslims being hounded: Owaisi

Mumbai: AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi has flayed what he termed as a ‘media trial’ in the alleged TCS Nashik conversion case and claimed that educated Muslims youth are being deliberately targeted as part of planned ‘hate campaign’, here on Saturday. Reiterating full faith in the judicial process, Owaisi said that justice cannot be handed out through media narratives or television debates and the law must be allowed to take its own course. “We are seeing a very dangerous trend… Now,...

Educated Muslims being hounded: Owaisi

Mumbai: AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi has flayed what he termed as a ‘media trial’ in the alleged TCS Nashik conversion case and claimed that educated Muslims youth are being deliberately targeted as part of planned ‘hate campaign’, here on Saturday. Reiterating full faith in the judicial process, Owaisi said that justice cannot be handed out through media narratives or television debates and the law must be allowed to take its own course. “We are seeing a very dangerous trend… Now, educated Muslims are being picked out for orchestrated allegations and media campaigns. This doesn’t augur well for society and justice itself with the media playing the role of the judge and jury,” said Owaisi sharply. Flanked by the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen state President Imtiaz Jaleel, Owaisi also emphatically said that it was wrong to link his party with the TCS case prime accused Nida Khan, “who will be ultimately proven innocent in the courts”. He expressed concerns over the slur campaign driven by malice and political motives against his party as well as Nida Khan in some sections of the media even before the investigations were completed or a judicial scrutiny. “Merely because some allegations have been hurled at a young woman professional, attempts are being made to paint her ‘guilty’ through media trials, even before judicial scrutiny. But, we have complete faith in the judiciary and are confident that the court will eventually exonerate her,” asserted Owaisi. Public Discourse Raising questions on the probe and accompanying public discourse with stress on the alleged recovery of certain ‘evidence’ from Nida Khan’s home, he sharply questioned: “Since when have a burqa, a niqab or religious literature become objectionable… Is wearing a hijab now regarded as evidence of a crime?” He said that these details along with baseless allegations are sensationalism in the media to create further prejudice against the minority community and reflected a deep-rooted hostility aimed at harassing educated Muslim men and women. Owaisi pointed out that a complaint in the TCS Nashik case was filed by a leader linked with the ruling party, and as per the software giant’s statement, Nida Khan was not with its HR Department and transferred even before the controversy erupted, contradicting several media reports. Of the nine cases lodged in the matter till date, in one case, she was accused of hurting religious sentiments, but nobody can comment on it before the court pronounces its verdict, he pointed out. Court Fight Dismissing attempts to drag and link the AIMIM into the row, he referred to a party Municipal Corporator Matin Patel who was booked merely on the basis of certain allegations and vowed to contest the matter in the court. Here Owaisi cited multiple examples of educated Muslims being scrutinised – including in Delhi when some educated youths were arrested for possessing a book by the legendary Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib and they were later released. There was another one from Allahabad where some Muslim boys were targeted for writing an Urdu ‘sher’ (couplet) prompting judicial intervention, and predicted that even in the Nashik TCS case, the truth will ultimately prevail as no criminal charges against Nida Khan may stand. AIMIM to set up voter help-desks AIMIM President and Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi said his party is developing a digital application containing electoral records of all 288 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra for 2002-2024, to help voters in the SIR process. For this, the AIMIM will set up help desk centers in its strongholds to facilitate the process and ensure proper utilisation of voter data. Alleging discrepancies in electoral records, he said such errors create huge problems for the voters, especially the poor or illiterates. Owaisi mentioned how of the nearly 27 lakh names placed in the adjudication list in West Bengal, “90 pc were poor Muslims.” These centers would be open for all Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Dalits, Adivasis and the general public needing assistance with the electoral records.

Derivative vs. Discipline

Bengaluru recently witnessed an unusual but telling medical intervention. Doctors at National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans) helped a 29-year-old young man, identified as ‘Mr. D,’ break free from what was diagnosed as stock trading addiction. According to the case report, the individual moved from modest investing to aggressive intraday and Futures and Options (F&O) trading, chasing rapid gains until financial stress, anxiety, and behavioural issues took over. To fund his addiction and chase losses, he reportedly turned to digital loan apps, eventually accumulating a staggering debt of Rs.80 lakh. This episode is not an exception. It is a sign of a deeper malaise quietly spreading across India’s capital markets.


High Spirits

Derivative trading attracts first-time investors with speed and excitement. A small margin promises control over large positions. A few successful trades create confidence. Screens flash green and red, mimicking the emotional highs of speculation, if not gambling. SEBI data shows that close to nine out of ten retail participants in the F&O segment lose money over time. Yet participation continues to rise, driven by hope, bravado, and fear of missing out (FOMO).


Over the last three decades, markets have repeatedly shown that short-term price movements are noisy and unpredictable. The Harshad Mehta episode in 1992, the dot-com collapse of 2000, the global financial crisis of 2008, and the pandemic crash of 2020 all triggered sharp falls followed by recoveries. Traders betting on direction during these phases were often wiped out. Investors who stayed invested survived and prospered.


The psychological burden of derivative trading is heavy. Losses demand recovery. Recovery demands larger risks. Overconfidence alternates with panic. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman famously observed that people feel the pain of losses twice as strongly as the pleasure of gains. Derivatives magnify this imbalance. Many traders mistake activity for intelligence, while markets quietly penalise impatience.


Constant Companion

Technology has turned markets into a constant companion. Mobile trading apps have removed friction and restraint. Decisions are taken in seconds, often without strategy or risk control. Leverage ensures that mistakes hurt faster. When capital erodes, emotions worsen. Several Nimhans case studies highlight how trading losses spill into family life, work performance, and mental health.


Globally, the pattern is identical. Studies in the United States and South Korea show retail derivative traders consistently underperform even basic index returns. Legendary investor Warren Buffett has warned that derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, not because they are evil, but because they amplify human error.


In contrast, history offers clarity. Over the past 40 years, Indian equities have delivered roughly 12 to 14 percent annualised returns despite wars, scams, political shifts, and recessions. This return did not come in straight lines. It came through patience, reinvestment, and discipline.


The Safer Bet

Mutual funds convert market volatility from an enemy into an ally. Systematic Investment Plans ensure that investors buy more units when markets fall and fewer when they rise. This simple discipline reduces timing risk and emotional interference.


Consider an investor who started a monthly SIP during the turbulent early 2000s. The dot-com bust, global recession, and later crises would have tested conviction. Yet the same investor, continuing uninterrupted, would today sit on a substantial corpus. The power of compounding rewards time, not brilliance.


Fund managers often remind investors that markets correct portfolios, not patience. Market expert Ramesh Damani has repeatedly said that wealth in equities is created not by trading frequently, but by owning quality businesses and allowing time to work its magic.


Mutual funds also provide diversification, professional management, and regulatory oversight. Hybrid funds, index funds, and retirement-oriented schemes cater to different risk appetites without demanding constant decision-making. Most importantly, they protect investors from themselves.


The emotional difference is striking. Traders live with constant tension. Investors live with acceptance. One reacts to noise. The other responds to value. Over decades, this difference compounds into vastly different.


The Nimhans intervention reminds us that financial decisions are never purely numerical. They are deeply psychological. Markets will always tempt with speed and shortcuts. Yet history, data, and experience point in one direction. Sustainable wealth is built slowly, deliberately, and patiently.


Derivatives may promise excitement, but disciplined investing offers dignity. In choosing the long road, investors choose peace of mind along with prosperity. Over time, the market does not reward the restless. It rewards the resolute.


(The writer is a retired banker and author of ‘Money Does Matter.’ He can be reached at  krs1957@hotmail.com. Views personal.)


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