By Dr. M. Iqbal Siddiqui,
On May 25th Jaipur hosted a “Conference Against Terrorism: A Solidarity Approach” held under the joint auspices of Rajasthan Muslim Forum (RMF), a united platform of leading Muslim organisations of Rajasthan and Peoples Movement of India in the Birla. About 37
organisations and institutions participated in organising this conference.
Mr. Justice Rajinder Sachar presided over the function while Dr. Manzoor Alam, President All India Milli Council and Dr. Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, Member of the central advisory council of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and spokesperson of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, were among the special Guests. All speakers unanimously condemned the blasts and applauded the bravery, mutual love and solidarity exhibited by the Jaipurites and assumed that this was a big slap in the faces of the terrorists who wanted to shatter the peace and harmony of Jaipur.
The programme commenced with recitation of the holy Quran with translation in Hindi, after which Qari Mueenuddeen, Chairman RMF, prayed for the departed souls. Mr. Justice Rajinder Sachar said in his presidential speech that the Muslims do not need to provide proof for their loyalty any more as they are not residing in this country as tenants but they are equally the owners of this country as the other communities are. He appreciated the Jaipurites for their solidarity and said that it was for the first time in India that the residents of a city have retaliated to the act of terror in such a manner. He took exception to large-scale arrests of alleged Bangladeshi infiltrators in Jaipur after the blasts and pushing the Bengali-speaking migrants into the transit camps that violated international law.
Dr. Manzoor Alam said that the justice delayed is denied. Dr. Qasim Rasool Ilyas said that after every act of terrorism innocent persons are blamed and detained by the police without any fault on their part. He wondered that the pointer of suspicion always moves towards the
‘Muslims only’ while other possibilities are deliberately ignored. He said those hatching an ‘international conspiracy’ to carry out terror attacks in India wanted to put the Muslim community in the dock and benefit the Hindu extremist groups. He said the Muslims arrested with much fanfare on the charge of carrying out bomb blasts were invariably acquitted by the courts. He appreciating the state government and the Jaipur administration said, “The way in which they controlled the situation after the serial blasts reflects a strong will to fight terrorism.” Tough he expressed his concern on detaining innocent Muslim youth.
Inaugurating the conference, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s State President Engineer Muhammad Saleem said “The Police have presumed that the culprits of blasts can only be from among the Muslim community and accordingly their investigations are moving in that direction, this
has put a query on the credibility of the investigating agencies.” This outlook of the agencies is dangerous for the unity and strength of our society and country.
Dr. Kumar Rajiv, national convener of Peoples’ Movement of India, appreciated both the present CM Mrs. Vasundhara Raje and former CM Mr. Ashok Gehlot for their sincere approach after the blasts. Mrs. Raje has mad the attempts of the terrorists futile by employing her administrative skills while Mr. Ashok Gehlot has fulfilled his duty by announcing that he will not play politics regarding the incident but support the government in fighting against terrorism.
Feroze Mithiborwala of Awami Bharat pointed out that the Jaipur blasts had further communalised the people, even though the violence had not taken place on the streets of the city. “It will lead to faster ghettoisation and marginalisation of Muslims, who will become an easy target for both the police apparatus and Hindutva forces,” he said.
Mr. Mithiborwala said the political timing and beneficiaries of the blasts offered ample clues to the identity of perpetrators of the crime: “With the investigating agencies turning a blind eye to the glaring circumstantial evidence and the communal rhetoric of Sangh Parivar becoming shriller, the conspiracy can be unearthed only by a high-level probe.”
RESOLUTIONS
We the people of Rajasthan present in this “Conference against Terrorism: A solidarity Approach” in Birla Auditorium Jaipur on May 25th 2008 do hereby resolve as under:-
* We condemn the ghastly and cowardice act of terror which killed 67 innocent people and injured more than 277 people on 13th May 2008 in serial blasts in Jaipur. We mourn the death of all those who were killed in this barbaric and insane act of enemies of the peace, the humanity and the country, may they be from within the country or outside, may they be of any religion or community. We believe that they are the traitors of humanity. We unequivocally criticize and vociferously denounce this senseless violence.
* Our heartfelt condolences and sympathy goes to all the families who have lost their dear ones and we all stand with them and pray to Almighty for fast recovery of the injured.
* We urge the government to locate the actual culprits and the conspirating forces, investigate them and bring out their ugly faces in front of the nation and disclose the identity of all those forces which are bent upon sowing the seeds of hatred in our age old traditions of unity in diversity. The heinous forces should be exposed and punished as soon as possible. So far, there is hardly any conviction in past incidences which took place at Mumbai, Malegaon, Makka Masjid Hyderabad, Akshardham Ahmedabad, Ajmer Dargah, Gorakhpur Temple and many more. This has given encouragement to terrorists who believe, “India is a soft target”. This myth should be broken and the government should decisively act now and here to eliminate these enemies of humanity from their hideouts, where ever they are. The government should reflect the will to overpower these terrorists and their organizations and should engage them in their own backyard.
* Simultaneously we urge the government to strengthen the internal security and agencies involved in this work should be made accountable to the nation. It is very disappointing that, just for the sake of showing action, police is routinely rounding up Muslim youth in large number and subjecting them to physical and mental torture, without any evidence, which is causing wide spread resentment, anger and despair in Muslims which is not a good sign for the country and the society. It has also become a routine to blame and suspect only Muslim Community and their organizations. If any one is responsible he should be punished severely but simultaneously the innocents should not be harassed.
* We also demand from the Government to stop harassment and detention of the Muslim youth, Imams, Maulvis and religious persons in the guise of investigation, without delay, simultaneously, all detainees against whom no solid evidence has been found should be released right away.
* We request all sections of the society, i.e. Hindu, Muslim, Sikhs, Budhists, Jains, Christians, to maintain the harmony, mutual trust and strengthen the secular fiber of the country and not to cave in by terrorist threats. The bravery, valour and solidarity shown by people of the country and the state, is praiseworthy and would certainly be demoralising for the terrorists. ‘United we will win’, this is our firm belief.
* We resolve unanimously to stand united against any terror, and resolve to fight the terrorists till our last breath.