By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: First time since the Delhi serial bombings which culminated into a police encounter in Jamia Nagar in which two Muslim youths and Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma were killed, Muslim leaders today put their viewpoint before the media.
Muslim leaders under the banner of Coordination Committee of Indian Muslims, an ad hoc high level committee representing all major Indian Muslim organizations, first expressed their sorrow and grief at the untimely death of Inspector Sharma during the encounter in September 19. They offered their sincere condolences to his family.
The Coordination Committee of Indian Muslims has been set up to deal with the current terrorism scare aiming the Muslim community in India.
Addressing the press conference at the Press Club of India, Mujtaba Farooque, political affairs secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind said while Muslims have always been condemning terrorism in the country, after every such case the entire community is being targeted. He said the community supports stringent punishment to those behind the inhuman acts of serial bombings but an entire community must not be victimized for individuals’ acts.
Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani, acting general secretary of Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, said every known Muslim organization is away from terrorism and can never support it. He condemned both victimization of Muslims in the name of war on terror and terrorism in the name of Islam. He lambasted the government agencies and media for targeting a particular community.
Nomani said there is a deep conspiracy behind the spat of terrorism activities in the country. He further said a small power seems to have held the entire country to ransom by planning and executing terrorist attacks.
Qasim Rasool Ilyas, member, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, demanded forensic test of the bullet which killed Inspector Sharma. He also demanded judicial enquiry of the encounter.
The leaders expressed their surprise on the fact that security agencies are in the dark about a terrorist attack but within minutes after the blast, they come out with minute details about the sequences leading to the blasts, suspects and organizations involved.
The leaders came down heavily on the media for acting as mouthpiece of police and not doing any investigation regarding police claims about terrorism suspects.
At the end of the press conference, a statement was distributed among media persons. According to the statement, the Coordination Committee of Indian Muslims reiterated that Islam and Muslims are fundamentally opposed to terrorism as Islam and its holy book, The Qur’an, categorically forbid killing anyone unjustly and by unjust means. The Muslim community through umpteen conferences and religious scholars and institutions, including the famous seminary of Darul UIoom Deoband, has issued clear fatwas denouncing terrorism as an act totally forbidden in Islam. The Muslim community is opposed to terrorism whatever its source and shape.
“We feel that the Muslim community in general and the Muslim youths in particular are being targeted in the name of fighting terrorism. While security agencies should go about their work to secure the country from terror and make enquiries and arrest the accused and suspects, the same must not take place in an intimidating and insensitive manner. We are opposed to the insensitive style of the police functioning which creates terror and panic in the Muslim localities. We condemn the security and intelligence agencies’ rush to the media after any such incident with theories and conclusions before any real and proper investigation” reads the statement.
“We also express our displeasure at the print and electronic media which blindly reproduces leaks attributed to unknown security agencies and starts blaming the Muslim community minutes after any terrorist incident. This leads to instability in the country and ill-will towards the whole Muslim community,” they said.
They demanded that whenever police undertakes a combing or search operation in any Muslim locality, at least one-third of the raiding force must consist of officers belonging to the minority community, and minority elders of the affected area should be taken into confidence and made part of the enquiry and interrogation teams.
The leaders demanded stringent action including immediate ban against HIndutva terrorist outfits, especially VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shri Ram Sena, Hindu Munnani, Hindu Jagran Manch, Yuva Hindu Vahini, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and Durga Vahini etc, which are targeting Muslim and Christian communities in several states.
They expressed their surprise on why the government and security agencies are unable to proceed against Sangh Parivar outfits which have been caught red-handed in acts of terrorism and making bombs.
They condemned the media for ignoring those blasts in which Hindu extremists were killed while making bombs.
The signatories of the statement are: Mujtaba Farooq, Convenor, Coordination Committee & Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Ml. Abdul Hameed Nomani, Acting General Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-I- Hind, Ml. Abdul Wahab Khilji, Asstt General Secretary, All India Milli Council, Ml. Mahmoodul Hasan, President, Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees, Delhi Pradesh, Dr Taslim Rahmani, President, Muslim Political Council, Ml. Zeeshan Hidayati, Chairman, Majlis-e Fikr-o Amal, Irfanullah Khan, Chairman Jamia Nagar Coordination Committee, Ml. Jalal Haidar Naqvi, Secretary, Majlis-e Ulama-e Islam, Gopal Rai, Convenor, Teesra Swandheemta Andolan, and Bhai Tej Singh, President, Ambedkar Samaj Party.