By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
Bhopal: The All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, (AIMMM), president Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, while welcoming the verdict of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal, headed by Justice Gita Mittal, quashing the February 2008 notification by the Indian Federal Home Ministry which had re-imposed the ban on Students Islamic Movement of India, (SIMI), has demanded that the Federal government should offer an unconditional apology to the Muslim community and the victims.
It may be pointed out here that Congress-led Federal government had re-imposed the unjust ban on SIMI first clamped by the rightist Bharatiya Janata Party led government in September 2001 on flimsy and unproven charges.
The head of AIMMM, Indian Muslims’ umbrella organization, in a statement observed that the verdict is a result of the failure of the government to offer to the Tribunal any substantial evidence to prove its wild claims. The fact is that no such proofs exist.
Dr. Khan observed that two years ago the previous Tribunal had faced the same situation when, in serious miscarriage of justice and fair play, the judge alone was shown some material in sealed envelopes and the same was denied to the victims and their lawyers. The mindset of the judge of the previous Tribunal may be gauged from the fact that he had observed in his court that the non-availability of proof does not mean that the organization did not indulge in unlawful activities.
He observed that from day one, the ban was a means in the hands of the anti-Muslim fascist forces in this country who dream to put the whole Muslim community on the defensive and who have very much succeeded in their designs by continuously harping on the myth that the community somehow supports and harbors terrorists. This claim, repeated ad nauseum by an unquestioning stenographic media, is in its totality a lie and a concoction of the fascist forces who want to reduce the minorities to the status of second class citizens and who themselves have been found to indulge in terrorist activities.
He stated that the Muslim community had high hopes that the situation will change with the advent of the UPA rule in May 2004 but, thanks to the penetration of saffron elements in the central home ministry, security forces and the Congress party itself, the propaganda against the community continued unabated and the ban on SIMI was renewed twice by the UPA government although, apart from unsubstantiated claims, there was no tangible proof that the organization indulged in terrorist activities. And this is the reason why, instead of feeling ashamed and tendering an apology to the Muslim community, sources in the central government were quick to announce that the government will appeal against the verdict.
Dr. Khan added that it is possible that a few individuals, who at some point of time belonged to SIMI, did indulge in unlawful activities and if that was the case such individuals alone should be tried according to the law as it is applicable to all citizens of India. To punish a whole organization and a whole community on cooked-up and flimsy charges is a miscarriage of justice and a serious misuse of the legal process which in turn undermines the authority of the State and lowers its dignity in the eyes of the people.
He cautioned that the appeal against the verdict will only mean that the Union Home Ministry wants to prolong the agony of its victims by misusing the process of law. Moreover, it must offer a reasonable compensation to about a thousand promising young men whose lives and future have been smashed by a vengeful and biased administration. ([email protected])