By TwoCircles.net News Desk,
New Delhi: The Working Committee of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat (AIMMM), the umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations, met here on 8 August 2009 under the chairmanship of AIMMM National President Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan and deliberated on the milli, national and international issues and passed a number of resolutions.
The AIMMM condemned the NHRC’s clean chit to the Delhi police over Batla House “encounter” of September last year and reiterated that only a high level judicial enquiry will satisfy the kins of the alleged “terrorists” and the Muslim community which believes that Batla House was a fake encounter.
The AIMMM asked the ruling Congress Party to fulfill its election promise to give reservation to the Muslim community and requested the UPA government to table the Mishra Commission report at the earliest in Parliament and implement its recommendations.
The meeting was attended by the following members: Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari (President, Jamaat-e Islami Hind), Mr. Amanullah Khan (General Secretary, AIMMM), Mr. S.M.Y. Nadeem, Prof. Shakeel Ahmad, Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Prof. S. M. Yahya, Ahmad Rasheed Shervani (General Secretary, AIMMM), Begum Nusrat Shervani, Maulana Mohammad Shafi Moonis, Mr Syed Shahabuddin, Mr. Mohammad Zeyaul Haque, Prof. J. S. Bandukwala, Maulana Asghar Imam Mehdi Salafi (General Secretary, Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees and Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman.
The meeting offered condolences to the millat and families of prominent leaders and friends of the community who passed away recently and prayed for their souls, especially IMAM SYED ABDULLAH BUKHARI of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, MAULANA ABU MAHFOOZUL KARIM MA’SOOMI, former principal of Kolkata’s Madrasa Alia, PROF. ABU BAKAR, former chairman of Delhi State Minorities Commission, DR WAQARUL HASAN SIDDIQUI, former OSD of Rampur’s Raza Library, PANAKKAD SYED MOHAMMEDALI SHIHAB THANGAL, president of the Kerala Muslim League, and DR SYED ABDUL MANNAN of Hyderabad who was president of Anjuman Taraqqi-e Urdu A.P. for 30 years.
AMU
On the AMU issue, the AIMMM noted that the inquiry ordered against the Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University in respect of certain allegations levelled by seemingly vested interest individuals and groups was done in a haste.
Liberhan Report
The AIMMM, while expressing relief that the Liberhan Commission has finally presented its report, exhorted the Union government to table the report in Parliament at the earliest with an action taken report.
Right to Education bill
The AIMMM welcomed the Right to Education bill recently passed by Parliament while cautioning that the new policy should not bolster the two-tier educational system which has already evolved in which ordinary people’s children get inferior education in government schools while children of the rich get better education in private schools. The AIMMM asked the HRD ministry to do away with rigid norms for minority educational institutions and to facilitate their easy recognition and affiliation in order to encourage education of minority children. Without such relaxation, it observed, the Right of Education will be meaningless for the Muslim minority. The AIMMM also stressed that education in proper madrasas should also be allowed to continue without hindrance.
Hindutva terror
On the issue of Hindutva terror dilution, the AIMMM expressed its alarm that the ringleaders of Hindutva terrorism have been allowed to get bail while thousands of Muslim youths are rotting for years in various states’ jails without trial. The AIMMM demanded the removal of the current Maharashtra ATS chief from his post as he is responsible for the dilution of the case and he is known to have maintained good relations with some of the accused in the Hindutva terror network. The AIMMM expressed it pain that while security agencies keep kidnapping and arresting Muslim youths on mere suspicion, they ignore the Bajrang Dal and Durga Vahini training camps, one of which was recently held right here in the capital of the country. The AIMMM also registered its indignation that the same security forces which swing into action against Muslim youths on mere suspicion are blind to the activities of Abhinav Bharat which is the umbrella body of the Hindutva terror network. Likewise, no action has been taken against the Bhonsla Military Academy where hundreds of alleged Hindutva terrorists were trained. The government has failed to make an account of the thousands of terrorists who were trained in such centre just as it has failed to track the 350 or so serving and retired military officers who imparted such training.
Muslim political parties
On the multiplication of “Muslim” parties, the AIMMM, while welcoming the phenomenon of Muslim-led secular parties in some parts of the country, felt alarmed by the mushrooming of such outfits especially prior to elections which nullifies Muslim electoral power in minority pockets and indirectly serves communal forces as seen during the last general elections which led to a sharp drop in the number of Muslim MPs in Parliament. Muslim-led parties must not fight each other and each party should concentrate only on constituencies where it has fair chance to win.
26/11 probe
The AIMMM registered its displeasure that the Maharashtra government has seen it fit to sit tight on the report of the two-member Pradhan Committee which probed the 9/11 terrorist attack against Mumbai last November. The report, which seemingly found a scapegoat in the shape of Mumbai’s (Muslim) police commissioner, should be made public in order to allow its scrutiny and start a public debate about the issues involved and to push for the much needed police reforms.
Delhi HC order on gay sex
The AIMMM forcefully condemned the Delhi high court’s unfortunate verdict to decriminalise same sex consensual relationships in private which are punishable under IPC Section 377 which is still part of the statute. The AIMMM said that this goes against the social, religious and moral values of the overwhelming majority of the Indian people and will only serve to encourage abhorrent immoral behaviour in our society. The AIMMM cautioned the central government that it should not rush to amend the said section of the IPC. Instead, it should ascertain the views of all sections of the Indian society before taking any step aping the decadent West.
Minority profiling
The AIMMM condemned the Modi government’s appointment of a commission to profile Muslim communities in the state in the name of studying minority settlement and movement since Independence. It is a dangerous move which will allow the communal forces ruling Gujarat to use the data to persecute Muslims. The VHP has already used data culled from municipal and other government records to target Muslim lives and properties during the 2002 pogrom. The AIMMM also condemned the Gujarat government’s audacity to reintroduce in the state assembly the controversial GUJCOC bill which has been returned by the President of India due to fears that the state government will misuse it against a certain section of society which is already suffering due to active persecution by the communal administration in that state. The AIMMM also noted that the Gujarat state government has refused to cooperate with the Union government in the implementation of central schemes for minorities. The AIMMM felt that all these events since the pogrom of 2002 offer sufficient ground to impose central rule in Gujarat and rid its people from a communal and biased administration which has failed to show remorse or correct its course.
Communal riots
On communal riots, the AIMMM noted that the annual report of the Union Home Ministry for 2008-09 mentions that 943 communal incidents took place in the country during 2008, in which 167 persons were killed and 2,354 persons were injured. This is a sharp rise compared to the preceding year when 761 incidents took place in which 99 persons were killed and 2,227 persons were injured. A total of 656 of these incidents were aimed at the Muslim community which resulted in the death of 123 persons and injuries to 2,272. The AIMMM felt that the central government, especially the home ministry, is negligent in tackling the communal menace which is now threatening even southern states especially Karnataka where the BJP is engaged in a Gujarat-like experiment which has resulted in widespread violence against minorities and arrest of Muslim youths. Rabid communal organisations like Bajrang Dal and Ram Sene are running amok in the state while the state BJP has recommended a ban on the Popular Front of India. The AIMMM noted that the BJP has failed to learn its lessons and still sticks to its hardcore Hindutva agenda which seeks to divide and polarise the people of India on religious lines.
Demolition of Dibyawali mosque
The AIMMM condemned the demolition of the 140-year-old Dibyawali mosque in the capital’s Andheria Mor area and the reported revocation of the plot of land allotted for a mosque in Rohini due to protests by communal elements. The AIMMM reiterated that such policies only increase the alienation of the Muslim community and push it away from the mainstream and therefore the authorities should be extra careful not to hurt the religious sensibilities of minority communities. The AIMMM also demanded that namaz should be allowed in all so-called protected mosques which are under the care of the ASI as a ban on namaz is against the very purpose of such places of worship. Some of these mosques were taken over by the British during the freedom struggle while others were occupied by refugees from Pakistan at the time of Partition in 1947 and though the refugees were later evacuated from these places of worship, the same were later never returned back to their basic function. Time has come to correct this historical injustice. The AIMMM reminded the government of the agreement which was concluded on orders of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 1 March 1984 between AIMMM led by late Sulaiman Seth and the government led by the then Home Minister Narasimha Rao which concluded that Muslims will be allowed to offer prayers in all protected mosques. The government must honour this agreement.
Shopian rape & murder
On Shopian rape and murder case in J&K, the AIMMM demanded exemplary punishment to the criminals who raped and murdered two women in Shopian last May. At the same time the AIMMM demanded the repeal of the draconian AFPSA which allows the armed forces to violate Kashmiris’ civil and human rights with impunity. The AIMMM also demanded the immediate withdrawal of the army and allied forces from the towns and villages of the Kashmir Valley. The AIMMM deplored the insane use of Public Safety Act against political opponents, particularly its immediate reimposition in cases quashed by courts of law which shows the lawlessness enjoyed by the state administration.