The ‘other’ interview

Rushdi Siddiqui
Rushdi Siddiqui


Date posted: July 22, 2015

RUSHDI SIDDIQUI

The difference between a good leader and a transformational leader is the latter’s openness to being challenged, as they get a chance to showcase their talent, thinking and tasks.

Such leaders provide insights whilst rest of us just provide hindsight.

Such leaders see the what’s on the other side of the mountain, whilst the rest of us just see the hiking trail.

When you speak to such leaders, you can actually “see their minds working in real time!”

Now, having worked on the non-journalist side at Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and Thomson Reuters, you learn about what is not editorial newsworthy.

For example, press releases on winning awards (Islamic finance), speaking at an event (Islamic finance), opening an (Islamic bank) bank branch, launching an (Islamic) product, etc, are generally not newsworthy for likes of Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, WSJ, etc.

Thus, if a talk show was in my horizon, Zilzar Trending, I would ask the following questions from the below-mentioned people and provided (my version of) an answer.

Two underlying assumptions of such leaders, they (1) have a sense of humor and (2) have enough confidence in themselves to make fun of themselves.

Some people I cannot meet, as dead, some I have met and others I hope to meet.

The purpose is not only get insights to their thinking, but also raise issues that never reach them because of their gatekeepers, who may not understand, not “get it”, can’t be bothered, or act as toll collectors to pass through. Thus, “access or lack of it to leaders” is what makes for an inclusive populace.

Q: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, former prime minister and now President of Turkey. What have you/AKP gained as a result with the fight against Fethullah Gulen and Twitter? Are not the principles of Islam, foundation of AKP, about inclusion, why not tolerate dissent and opportunity for opposition to be heard?

Possible answer: yes, but no comment today. Interview is over!


Excerpt from The Malaysian Insider

Source: HizmetMovement.Com , July 22, 2015


Related News

No secularism or democracy without religious freedom

The gentleman gently said: “However, dear Mr. Alpay, it was clear from the beginning that the AKP had a hidden agenda. But pundits like yourself conveyed a highly positive picture of the AKP government both at home and abroad. You have a responsibility in the situation we find ourselves today.”

Gülen’s lawyer asks MİT whether it wiretapped client’s phone

Lawyer Nurullah Albayrak, who represents Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, has asked in a petition to the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) whether allegations suggesting Gülen’s phones had been wiretapped by the organization are true.

Top court annuls controversial law on prep school closure

Turkey’s Constitutional Court has annulled a controversial law seeking to close down dershanes, or private preparatory schools, in a landmark ruling that will influence the lives and futures of millions of students, parents and teachers across the country.

Erdoğan using hate speech against Gülen movement, says MEP

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s accusations against a faith-based movement led by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen amidst a corruption scandal are both uncalled for and amount to “a kind of hate speech” that has the risk of sparking violence against the group, a senior member of the European Parliament has said.

Who’s conspiring against Erdoğan?

Erdoğan has recently been verbally attacking everyone, including even his own allies. In his most recent statement he threatened Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, saying that his government “will reach your caverns and tear you into pieces.

Society ready for a new constitution, but how about politics?

Abdulhamit Bilici, March 16, 2012 If I were to touch on Turkey’s national agenda by discussing the recent successful trip made by President Abdullah Gül to Tunisia, my sense of disappointment would be great. As I tried to express in my recent column “Tunisia will be a model for Turkey,” the Tunisians, who only one […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

German ambassador: Berlin does not recognize Gülen movement as ‘terrorist’ group

Turks See Purge as Witch Hunt of ‘Medieval’ Darkness

Turkey’s Plans to Abolish Private Tutoring Centers Arrests Free Enterprise and Democracy

Fethullah Gülen Reiterates No Involvement In Turkey’s Controversial Coup Attempt

World is not Enough

Turkey’s Judicial Purge Threatens the Rule of Law

Lawyers for Gulen Call Flynn’s Comments ‘Troubling’

Copyright 2025 Insightful Neighbor