By TwoCircles.net news desk,
New Delhi: India’s most organized Muslim religious organization Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has urged people in Delhi to vote for secular candidates of clean record irrespective of party affiliation. However, it has asked people to avoid any party which has fascist inclinations.
The Jamaat has appealed to voters “to judge the candidates on the basis of their commitment to the genuine problems of the people. They should evaluate whether a candidate may be trusted to honour the promises made by him.”
Releasing its People Manifesto on Delhi Assembly Polls, the Delhi & Haryana Zone of JIH has urged voters to keep three points in mind while voting: “Avoid any party which has fascist inclinations or communal outlook or which spreads hatred among people; even if the candidate is personally a gentleman. Do not vote for candidates with criminal record irrespective of the party to which they may belong. Prefer candidates with a clean record who serve people without discrimination and who have a constructive agenda.”
The manifesto aimed at “actualizing the ethical and moral norms in collective life says: Delhi is not a full-fledged state yet. It enjoys some powers but a number of departments are still under the centre. There is a great deal of ambiguity about the respective spheres of Municipal Corporation, State Government and Centre. For quite some time, Congress and BJP have ruled over Delhi; sometimes the Corporation and the Assembly have been led by different parties. The ambiguity often leads to lack of responsibility adding to the problems of the public. A clear demarcation of powers between the Centre, the State and the Corporation is therefore essential.
The JIH has made several demands in the manifesto. They include division of powers among Center, State and Municipal Corporation, elimination of corruption and bribes, regularization of colonies and provision for basic facilities like sanitation, water, electricity and road in entire Delhi particularly neglected areas.
The JIH has reiterated its demand of judicial enquiry into the September 19 Batla House encounter as many serious doubts have been raised about the police version of the case.
Full manifesto
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s People Manifesto on Delhi Assembly Polls
(Released on the occasion of Delhi Assembly Elections 2008 by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Delhi & Haryana Zone)
(Office: 1353 Chitli Qabr, Delhi 110006, Phone: 011-23288575)
PREFACE:
The Jamaat invites all human beings to the universal world view based on belief in One God, His messengers and in the day of judgment. In accordance with this world view, the Jamaat wants to uphold the universal ethical values in all aspects of life, including politics. The manifesto is presented for actualizing the ethical and moral norms in collective life.
DELHI:
Delhi is not a full fledged state yet. It enjoys some powers but a number of departments are still under the centre. There is a great deal of ambiguity about the respective spheres of Municipal Corporation, State Government and Centre. For quite sometime, Congress and BJP have ruled over Delhi; sometimes the Corporation and the Assembly have been led by different parties. The ambiguity often leads to lack of responsibility adding to the problems of the public. A clear demarcation of powers between the Centre, the State and the Corporation is therefore essential.
On the occasion of Assembly election in Delhi, the Jamaat demands the following:
DEMANDS:
1. Duties and powers of the three agencies (Center, State and Municipal Corporation) should be clearly identified. General public should be informed about the details of this arrangement. The Centre should initiate this identification and at the same time take time bound measures to make Delhi a full fledged state soon.
Preparation of identity card, ration card and voter list should be made simple, so that ordinary masses may not be exploited by touts. The government officials should be made people friendly by giving them proper training and orientation, so that they do not harass the people.
3. Necessary steps should be initiated to eliminate corruption and bribes. The existing laws in this regard should be implemented strictly.
4. There is a large number of colonies which are not regularized yet.
The police and other officials harass the residents of these colonies on a daily basis by demanding bribes. Corruption is rampant and the police extracts money from people for any construction work; approved or not. Similarly bribes are demanded and extracted for telephone connections, electricity meters and water. Even then the infrastructure is pathetic. The authorities should address this problem in a comprehensive manner by regularizing the colonies on ~urgent basis. Procedures for securing connections and for approval of construction should be simplified and made transparent. The police harassment of common people should be stopped and the network for extraction of money from public should be dismantled.
5. Lack of cleanliness is a serious problem in Delhi and a large number of poor colonies are totally neglected. An efficient system should be put in place, without any discrimination.
6. The government schools in Delhi are in a dismal condition. Even the basic facilities are scarce and the quality of teaching is poor. As a result, people are compelled to go to private schools; which exploit them ruthlessly and charge astronomical fees. Suitable regulations should be made to stop this exploitation and at the same time, the standard of government schools should be improved. In new colonies, schools should be opened on an urgent basis. An adequate number of buses should be made available, exclusively for girl students of schools and colleges.
7. The condition of health facilities is similarly very pathetic. The number of primary health centers, dispensaries and hospitals is insufficient for a population which has crossed seventeen million. In the government hospitals, facilities are often lacking and medicines are not available. People often have to spend an entire day standing in long queues and even then return empty handed. This situation compels people to turn to private hospitals, which exploit them and charge heavy fees. The authorities must open more health facilities immediately and provide them with the necessary infrastructure. At the same time, the private hospitals should be governed by suitable regulations so that they may not exploit the public.
8. There exists discrimination among various areas in providing the basic infrastructure like electricity, water, bus services, schools, post offices, dispensaries and sanitation. For instance, colonies in poor areas are subjected to long hours of load shedding. This anti-poor bias should be eliminated. Electricity in particular, has become much costlier. The private companies must be regulated to supply electricity at reasonable rates to all areas.
9. Under the impact of privatization, the system of ration shops and fair price shops has been adversely affected. Often the commodities are not available and are of poor quality. The system also suffers from corruption. The authorities should immediately open more and better maintained ration shops and put in place a system for elimination of corruption and for ensuring efficient functioning.
10. Many serious doubts have been raised about the police encounter at Batla House (South Delhi) which happened on September 19, 2008. To know the truth, a judicial enquiry into this incident should be immediately instituted and the real facts be made public.
APPEAL:
The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind appeals to voters to judge the candidates on the basis of their commitment to the genuine problems of the people) some of which are enumerated above. They should evaluate whether a candidate may be trusted to honour the promises made by him. In particular, the voters should keep the following in mind:
(i) Avoid any party which has fascist inclinations or communal
outlook or which spreads hatred among people; even if the candidate is personally a gentleman.
(ii) Do not vote for candidates with criminal record; irrespective
of the party to which they may belong.
(iii) Prefer candidates with a clean record who serve people
without discrimination and who have a constructive agenda.