By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
Jamaat-e-Ulama-e-Hind. I fear you may be thinking that I am going to talk about Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH), the oldest Muslim organization in India. Sorry, read it again. It is a newborn, hardly two-month old organization appeared in the backdrop of the leadership dispute in JUH. Maybe to exploit the situation, or in its own imagination to capture the space to be vacated by JUH.
What makes this new organization suspect is its name that gives a sounding much similar to that of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind. Do you want to confuse people with this name? “No,” says Sohaibuzzafar Khan Qasmi, the New Delhi-based man who is running the show. Why this name? “A tradition of Prophet Muhammad reads ‘yadullahe elal jamaah’ (Allah backs unity, organization). Besides, all members of the founding committee chose this name because such names are popular and well-accepted by masses,” says Sohaib trying to justify the name of his organization whose one-page website in Urdu holds Muslim leadership responsible for overall deterioration and sordid state of Muslims in India.
Sohaib harshly criticizes JUH and its leadership. “JUH is the only Muslim organization in the country which has its units in every district. JUH claims to be the sole representative of the Muslim community. They have a vast network. But what have they done for the community in the last 60 years? They have misused the network. They have used it for the destruction of the community,” alleges Sohaib whose purpose of launching an organization is yet to go down well with the community.
A news report today in the Urdu daily Hindustan Express, published from New Delhi, about Sohaib’s organization establishing its unit in Saharanpur (UP), reads, “Jamaat-e-Ulama-e-Hind which came into being to get benefit out of the dispute in Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has established its unit in Saharanpur.” When I asked Sohaib what does he say about this qualification of his organization, he said, “We have no intention to exploit the JUH dispute.”
Are you recruiting those who have left JUH or are annoyed with the JUH leadership over this dispute? “We have not recruited a single person of JUH past because we think those people have lost their potential.” He says he is nominating young Ulema for leadership role. We have formed ad hoc committees and district committees in several states including Assam, Manipur, West Bengal, Bihar, UP, Uttaranchal and Maharashtra. None of the district leaders of this organization is from JUH, Sohaib claims.
What do you want to do which other organizations have not done? “The problems of the Muslim community have been exposed by the Sachar Committee. The Muslim organizations have not done to uplift the community which has a plethora of issues from illiteracy to health. We want to work on those fronts.”
Tall claims. Let’s visit the office of the organization which sounds determined to replace JUH. And let’s talk to people in the neighborhood of the man who negates any role played by JUH for the Muslim community in the last 60 years.
Located in a dingy lane of Walled City’s Daryaganj locality, the office hardly leaves one with any impression. It is open but no one to welcome you. A few dozen fat envelopes probably containing invitation for a meeting are scattered on the table. The landline phone on the table seems to be switched off because before going there I had ringed half a dozen times but got only message of it being switched off. Some bundles of big posters are also lying there.
A hakeem sb is sitting in his dispensary next to Sohaib’s office. Do you know about Jamaat-e-Ulama-e-Hind? “No,” he says. What do you know about Sohaibuzzafar Khan Qasmi? “I don’t know,” he continues without looking towards me, maybe he was unhappy with these questions. You will be surprised to know that this man later turned out to be father of the emerging “messiah” of the Muslim community. I came to know about it when I was talking to a tea vendor near Sohaib’s office in the lane.
I asked the same first question with the tea vendor. He showed ignorance. And he was looking honest but you cannot say this about his father. Do you see Ulema coming to the office? “I haven’t seen any group of such people. Yes, if a maulvi comes to my stall for tea, he (Sohaib) comes across, gets involved in talks and takes him to his office.”
A cloth shop owner in the lane is also ignorant about the “revolution” boiling in the kettle of Sohaib.
Guess, what is the entire drama for?
Link:
Jamaat Ulama-e-Hind contesting 2 Muslim-dominated LS seats in Delhi