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

Gov’t media maintain attack on Bank Asya

Turkish daily Yeni Akit, with close links to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reported on Sunday that Bank Asya extended loans to certain Turkish-owned companies abroad and failed to collect these loan debts.

[Political Scandal a la Turca] What is happening in Turkey right at this moment?

Responding to the allegation that the Hizmet community is behind the investigation, and to a broader one suggesting that the Hizmet movement is fighting the AKP government, both Mr. Gülen himself and the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), based in İstanbul, denied any such motivation or involvement. Furthermore, they invited the state authorities to prove those allegations, and take legal action if any evidence is found substantiating them. Mr. Gülen’s lawyer condemned and rejected the allegations as an attempt to divert public attention away from the massive bribery scandal and defame his client.

Gülen and the AK Party: A common quest for democracy or something more? (2)

* Mehmet Kalyoncu Both the Gülen movement (aka Hizmet movement) and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) seem to believe that military operations alone cannot solve Turkey’s terrorism problem. Because of this shared understanding, the movement’s civil society organizations and government agencies have been working hand-in-hand in the Southeast to revive the region […]

Turkish PM Erdoğan’s chain of mistakes

“There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must be not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, and positions which must not be contested.” Erdoğan’s most serious problem is this. Based on the fact that he has come out successful in every crisis he has encountered, he always uses the same strategy to overcome difficulties. I call this the “curse of winning every battle.”

Dozens of Dutch-Turkish businesses ‘threatened’ after failed coup

Business people associated with exiled opposition leader Fethullah Gülen, or accused of supporting him, have filed official police complaints, the Parool newspaper reported. The Dutch government last week called for Dutch Turks who had been targeted to contact the police.

[Part 1] Islamic scholar Gülen calls conditions in Turkey worse than military coup

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has inspired a worldwide network active in education, charity and outreach, has described large-scale slander, pressure and oppression his Hizmet movement currently faces as worse than that seen during anti-democratic military coup regimes witnessed by Turkey.

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

Questions we dare not ask: Gülen and the coup

‘Power struggle with Gulen movement weakens Erdogan’

Hizmet and March 30 elections: What happened? (2)

Kimse Yok Mu reaches out to tribe in Panama

Gülen denies attempting to axe peace process

Brazil court orders release of Gulen-linked businessman accused by Ankara of terrorism

Ongoing political raids against schools and businesses are unconstitutional

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News