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Militant Islam Monitor > Weblog > CEO of Ethan Allen Furniture Farooq Kathwari Sponsors Kashmir Corps Event with Muslim Brotherhood linked MSA

CEO of Ethan Allen Furniture Farooq Kathwari Sponsors Kashmir Corps Event with Muslim Brotherhood linked MSA

March 30, 2009

Farooq Kathwari the CEO of Ethan Allen furniture is sponsoring and slated to be the keynote speaker at the conference of the Kashmir Corps taking place at Columbia University on Saturday April 11th. The event is cosponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood linked MSA.

The MSA announcement proclaimed that:

KashmirCorps will host a conference, co-sponsored by MSA, that brings together alumni of its Summer Public Service Program, other accomplished students, young professionals, and experts with substantial experience in the fields of economic development, education and healthcare in Kashmir. The purpose of this event is to facilitate networking among young leaders and to formulate projects within the development framework that can be implemented in Kashmir. Those committed to the advancement of Kashmiri society will therefore be able to leverage their knowledge, skills, and abilities in pursuit of this goal through a coordinated and sustained effort.

Farooq Kathwari, the Chairman, CEO, and President of Ethan Allen Interiors Inc., and a Trustee of Freedom House, has graciously agreed to sponsor this initiative and will deliver the conference's keynote address.

MIM:Kathwari's own son Irfan was killed in Afghanistan fighting jihad against the Russians in 1992 . Kathwari established a foundation in his name. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1102

IRS registered name:

IRFAN KATHWARI FOUNDATION INC

IRS district of jurisdiction:

Manhattan

Federal EIN:

13-3681135

Ruling date:

Sep 1, 1994

Classified by IRS as:

Charitable Organization

http://irfan-kathwari-foundation-inc.idilogic.aidpage.com/irfan-kathwari-foundation-inc/

The US born millionaire's son is believed to have joined with Jihadists (who were connected to either Jaish Mohammed or Lashkar e Taiba), and died while carrying out an attack in Afghanistan.

"His eldest son was killed in Afghanistan in 1992: Imran, a 19-year-old college student born and raised in America, was drawn there by romantic notions of the fight against the Russians (and by that time, the regime they backed), says Kathwari. Imran went despite the family's opposition. He died in a mortar attack, in one of the last battles for the capital, Kabul. "My son is lying in rubble in Afghanistan," Kathwari says.http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_43/b3754076.htm

http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/597

MIM:In 2004 Kathwari was a speaker at the annual conference of the Islamic Society of North America, a group listed as an unindicted conspirator in the recent Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding trial.

WASHINGTON, September 5 (IslamOnline.net) - Muslims in America need to make leadership roles and integral part of their lives to succeed in the country, Muslim scholars have urged.

The topic was highlighted during the 41st Annual Islamic Society of North America's (ISNA) Convention, where thousands of Muslims descended on Chicago as of Friday, September 4, in the largest Islamic gathering on the continent.

"Leadership must rise to the top of the agenda, " said Farooq Kathwari, a successful American CEO, at a lecture, entitled "Developing American Muslim Leadership."

He urged Muslims to get involved in discussions about all leadership roles.

Kathwari went on: "It is very important that all Muslims get involved in their community and find leaders to set good examples," according to an ISNA newsletter sent to IslamOnline.net by e-mail. http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-09/05/article06.shtml

MIM: In response to a 2007 study on U. S. Muslims and the radical threat sponsored by the Chicago Conference on Global Affairs Kathwari a co chair of the task force :

"[S]aid in an interview that a radical response is always possible, "especially among the young. They are hot blooded and they don't want to be alienated."

"Fortunately in America there is more chance to be integrated," he said, but "a pro-active engagement makes a lot of sense. We need to be extra careful that we don't create a situation that is a self-fulfilling prophecy...

Kathwari said the historic pattern of assimilation for immigrants that sees later generations woven into the fabric of society was disrupted for Muslim Americans by Sept. 11.

"This process of integration has to be accelerated," he told Reuters, to counteract both the perception that Muslims are one monolithic force and to ease fears among Muslims, some of whom have become targets of violence." http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2529252520070626

Kathwari is involved with several Kashmiri oriented organizations and founded the Kashmir Study Group. http://www.kashmirstudygroup.net/

The conflict over Kashmir has afflicted South Asia for nearly a half century. Far from fading away with the passage of time, this seemingly intractable situation has in recent years grown even more bitter and violent. No day goes by without exacting a further toll of victims and suffering. The urgency of resolving the problem is heightened by the danger that it could once again lead to war between India and Pakistan, this time in a nuclear confrontation with calamitous consequences for South Asia and the world. Yet despite the crying need for a settlement and the great human and economic costs of failing to reach one, the conflict persists.

The Committee that has formed the KASHMIR STUDY GROUP (KSG) is convinced that the dangerous and tragic situation in Kashmir calls for fresh efforts to break the deadlock. We have considered the situation carefully, and have concluded that a non-governmental body comprising Americans and others who are concerned about the problem, well-informed about the issues involved, and open-minded and objective about the elements of a solution can make a significant contribution to these efforts. more...

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Farooq Kathwari's brother Rafiq, a journalist and photographer, (who was also employed at Ethan Allen) wrote a piece glorifying Irfan's death entitled; "My Nephew the Freedom Fighter" and a poem honoring him as well.

http://www.featurewell.com/?Doc=Signin.cfm&AID=2080

MY NEPHEW, THE FREEDOM FIGHTER
by Rafiq Kathwari , 1313 words
All rights available.
Essays: The author, an American born in Kashmir, remembers his cousin, who is "buried in a mass grave somewhere in the minefields of Afghanistan." Full story...

"...My family has a longstanding tradition of activism in Kashmir. My father was once a Finance Minister in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. We had migrated there in 1949 after India and Pakistan fought their first war over Kashmir. My mother wrote letters to world leaders pleading with them not to forget the plight of broken families separated by an artificial cease fire line, which in Kashmir is called the Line of Control. We returned to Indian-occupied Kashmir in 1960, after 11 years. There, Irfan's father and I were jailed for several months by Indian authorities for our student activism. That was the family tradition that influenced my nephew Irfan..."

"... Freedom for Kashmir was near, or so it seemed. Those events impacted Irfan differently then they did me or my brother. Irfan spent his waking hours that summer at the local mosque, sometimes returning home late at night... Iraq invaded Kuwait in August, and a few months later when smart bombs fell in Baghdad, Irfan wanted to enroll at King Faisal U in Islamabad..." A few weeks later, Irfan wrote that he and a handful of his new classmates had crossed the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in a Toyota pick up several times without being stopped. A photo shows him wearing the long shirt, the kameez, and loose pants, the shalwar; he is stroking his curly beard. There is no Kalashnikov on his shoulder. "Love of Allah," he wrote in another letter, "is the only love I have ever known." On one such trip, Allah's foot soldier seemingly cast the first stone. The enemy released an arc across the sky. In their backyard in America, his mom was pruning roses under a gunmetal sky, the day the call came. My nephew is buried in a mass grave in the desolation of Afghanistan. My brother and sister-in- law, who believe that their son was killed in a freak accident fighting the Soviets, are, of course, entitled to find solace in any idea that helps them come to terms with their sorrow..."

Farooq Kathwari and his family continue to be high profile promoters of the 'Kashmiri separatist cause' whose efforts to disengage from Indian and Pakistan are also supported by the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Last year Farooq Kathwari spoke at the radical Islamist ISNA convention on the subject of Muslims and business. Kathwari has also started 'The Irfan Kathwari Foundation' to commemorate his son's martydom and death as Jihad fighter, which funds Islamist activities. http://biz.yahoo.com/t/63/2890.html

Ethan Allen shareholders might be interested to note that CEO Farooq Kathwari's political project, the "Kashmir Study Group", gives it's email and physical address as the Ethan Allen company premises.http://www.kashmirstudygroup.net/
http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1075

One blogger blamed Farooq Kathwari for his son's decision to leave America and wage Jihad:

"...Farouq Kathwari Pres. of Danbury based Ethan Allan Corp. also did
something equally stupid in filling his son's head usual Islamic nonsense. As a
result he too took leave from Harvard Medical School to go fight in
Kashmir. He did not know any Urdu or anything else about the conflict
except that it was a fight between good and evil. Good meaning of
course Islam and Hindu were no doubt the evil.

On an excursion in Kashmir his group saw an Indian military truck and decided to engage it by opening fire. The Indian soldiers returned fire and a shell fragment from a grenade severed an artery causing him to bleed to death. His comrades left his body on the scene for the Indian soldiers to find, where upon they found documents revealing his identity. American Embassy was informed which arranged his body to be send back to Connecticut.

At his funeral services a Jewish boy who was a childhood friend got up and shouted at his parents that "my friend lies in that box today because YOU filled his head with hatred" No other words were spoken afterwards.."

http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/597

The mission statement of the Kashmir Corps:

Kashmir Corps is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit organization whose mission is:

(1) To promote public service and research in Kashmir,
(2) To examine and contribute to the discourse on the Kashmir question, and
(3) To build a network of young leaders dedicated to improving the welfare of Kashmiri society.

Through our work, we strive to foster tolerance and end the stigma associated with the conflict in Kashmir, while celebrating the rich history and vibrant traditions of the region. http://www.kashmircorps.org/

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