The word ‘enemy’ should go: JIH weigh in on Enemy Property Ordinance

By Haider Abbas for TwoCircles.net

Lucknow: Jamat-e-Islam-e-Hind (JIH) today came out openly against the draconian proposals of The Enemy Property Amendment and Validation Ordinance 2010. JIH Uttar Pradesh President Syed Muhammed Ahmed spoke at length about the governments plan to occupy the properties belonging to Muslims, particularly, in Lucknow, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Mumbai etc apart from other parts of the country.

The Enemy Property Act came in 1968 which enabled the properties to be vested with the Custodian of Enemy Property, Mumbai, India, of those who had migrated to Pakistan. The number of properties today is estimated to be 2,168. Largest of them being in Lucknow-the state capital of Uttar Pradesh-once the hot bed for the movement of Pakistan.

JIH Uttar Pradesh President Syed Muhammed Ahmed

JIH has the base of 7000 cadres in the country and runs thousands of its offices all over the nation. “This Act would again throw Muslims out of economic gear for the next century and would give unsustainable domination to Custodian of Enemy Property, for all times to come,” said SM Ahmed at JIH office in Lucknow. He added to say that this is the biggest spanner, yet again, thrown, after the UP Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act 1952 and there is a sustained effort by the government to resurrect the dead-Custodian.

“The new economic boom in terms of real estate is benefitting some Muslims too-who by virtue of their ancestor’s properties are able to garner some benefits- from properties which were given to them, by their relatives-orally as a gift, before leaving for Pakistan.
This is making the communal officers sitting as Custodian to churn and simultaneously it is also adding to the heart-burning of those who have been illegally (mainly non-Muslims) living in the same properties. These illegal occupants had been minting crores by paying a nominal throw away rents,” he said.

Ahmed delved very elaborately about the efforts being made to mislead the Central Government, by people with vested and communal interests, in Lucknow, to give an impression that the proposed Enemy Property Amendment and Validation Ordinance 2010, is just about Muhammed Amir Muhammed Khan –the Raja of Mahmudabad. “This is wholly wrong. Raja of Mehmudabad is a bonafide Indian citizen and has every right to claim his properties illegally under the occupancies of many traders in Hazratganj and elsewhere in other parts of India. He has rightfully got his title of ownership from the Supreme Court in 2005,” he said.

Mehmudabad lies in the district Sitapur, 80 kms to the north of Lucknow. Raja’s father had been the youngest treasurer of All India Muslim League who had migrated to Pakistan in 1957. He lies buried in Mashad, Iran. His wife Rani Kaneez-e-Abid too has been buried in Mashad, Iran, She never went to Pakistan and died in 1991 in Lucknow. The properties of Raja are said to be worth thousand of crores.

“The ordinance, however, belies the aspirations of Muslims all over the nation. This proposed ordinance is not to be passed in this form as it invalidates the provision of ‘Oral Gift’. Oral gift is a part of Muslim Personal Law and this would amount to an infringement of Muslim Personal Law, sanctioned since the Shariyat Act was passed in 1937. Section 4(A) of the ordinance makes oral-gift as null-and-void,” he pointed showing the copy of the ordinance.

He cautioned that the Ordinance, by the Central Government, if passed in the present form, would be a body blow to the Muslims all over the country as Custodian of Enemy Property, Mumbai, will hold its franchise, over properties, over almost all the properties owned by Muslims, as a welfare gesture by the government. “This would usurp Muslims of their right to ownership to their ancestral properties!”

Delving further on the ingredients he said that the section 26 (B) has made Custodian of Enemy Property “a greater-thou” and has made all the High Courts and even Supreme Court become redundant. “This provision will make hardships swell for any one who had ever contested the Custodian’s claim on the legal grounds,” Ahmed argues.

“The impression by P Chidambaran, the Union Home Minister, is extremely wrong given that due to rampant legal wrangling, the proposed ordinance has been brought, whereas, the reality is the out-bursting stench from the Custodian of Enemy Property, Office, Mumbai-of its corruption! This has made the government take a hasty decision to anyhow grab as many properties as possible and make them remain vested in Custodian for ever, by way of this arm twisting ordinance. P Chidambaram should have instead fired the Custodian rather then to make a grandiose plan to gobble Muslim properties,” he said wryly. He also expressed his utter surprise as to the way Chidambaram is keeping the amendments to his heart as his intellectual property right!

He further was categorical in his demand that the government should also scrap the word ‘Enemy’ from the Ordinance as a whole. He took a historic cue to tell that after the Indo-China war of 1962-this ‘Enemy’ word was first coined and which finally became Enemy Property Act in 1968. Properties of all those who had left for Pakistan were confiscated. “The stigma still goes for Pakistan whereas hundreds of Indians, on a daily basis, are visiting China. What to speak of the hardships Muslims face into getting a visa to Pakistan. Why this hypocrisy. Does an Enemy stand for Pakistan only and which also now extends to Muslims of India? This is the big question which stands in the face of the nation after 63 years.” He asked why the indigenous Indian Muslims still made to bear the brunt for partition of 1947 when leaders of that time were equally responsible for it.

With JIH joining the fray-the debate or the effort to limit the issue around Raja of Mehmudabad has taken a curious turn. JIH chief also informed about his plan to co-ordinate a delegation comprising Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimahli, Maulana Kalbe Jawad and Maulana Hamidul Hasan-all eminent personalities who enjoy a lot of public support, to finally apprise Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the gravity of the issue-and its likely implications on Muslims of India.“ I am trying to get into touch with PMO and will definitely make PM know about the presence of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) oriented politicians within Congress. Can you elaborate? “Obviously, it is P. Chidambaram”, came the reply.