By TCN News,
New Delhi: The Central Advisory Council of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has demanded the government to stop forthwith chain-arresting of innocent Muslims in the name of counterterrorism. The CAC in its meeting on 19th April also passed resolution against setting up of National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) saying it will violate human rights.
The Jamaat’s CAC meeting was chaired by its President (Amir) Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Omari and attended by the following members of the CAC:
Muhammad Jafar (Deputy Amir), Prof. K.A. Siddiq Hassan (Deputy Amir), Nusrat Ali (Secretary General), Dr. Abdul Haq Ansari, Dr. Muhammad Rafat, Dr. S.Q.R. Ilyas, Dr. Hasan Raza, Sa’adatullah Husaini, Er. Muhammad Saleem, S. Ameenul Hasan, T.K. Abdullah, Mujtaba Farooq, T. Arif Ali, Maulana Waliullah Sayeedi, Abdur Raqeeb, Ejaz Ahmed Aslam, Parwaz Rehmani and S.M. Mallick.
CAC Resolutions:
Arrest of innocent Muslims in the name of terrorism
This session of CAC of JIH expresses its grave concern on the chain of illegal detentions, kidnappings and fake encounters of Muslim youths, raids on Muslim colonies and houses, arrests, torture during detention, outpouring of cases with serious sections against the arrested, arranging hundreds of false witnesses in each case, and filing of charge sheets consisting of thousands of pages – a chain that had started during the NDA government after 9/11. Though meanwhile many Muslim youths have been honourably released by courts of law for want of evidence, many precious years of their life were ruined behind the bars and they and the members of their families had to face public hatred, social boycott and financial difficulties as a result of the dirty tint of terrorism and character assassination by media.
The CAC expected that after the revelation of Hindutva terrorism undue arresting of Muslims and levelling charges against them would come to a stop. However, following a brief pause, the excesses of police and secret agencies have started anew. On the other hand, cases of Hindutva terrorism are being ignored so much so that the RSS men named in the charge sheet of Swami Aseemanand have not been yet arrested.
The CAC feels that continuous baseless banning of Islam-loving students and youth organisation SIMI, implementation of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA] and reference to fake organisation Indian Mujahideen are in fact excuse to provide basis for this state terrorism.
The CAC also voices its deep concern and sorrow over the disquieting fact that our national media is committing a heinous crime of putting a large section of the country in the rank of criminals by publishing concocted stories of police and secret agencies without any investigation and often with added inputs. But when these youths come out of the prison after having been declared innocent, the media does not feel ashamed of its previous attitude.
This session of CAC of JIH demands from the Governments at the Centre and in States that they:
(1) Stop forthwith chain-arresting of innocent Muslims in the name of counter terrorism;
(2) Get the cases of Muslims, who have been detained and implicated in various false cases, tried by fast track courts; meanwhile release them by guarantee;
(3) Pay damage cost along with full compensation and take concrete measures to rehabilitate the persons who have been honourably released by courts of law. And take legal action against the police officials who had caused them irreparable loss by implicating them in false cases;
(4) Set up a judicial commission to initiate a high-level probe into all major cases of terrorism. And Governments at the Centre and in States publish White Paper on all cases of terrorism;
(5) Declare null and void Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA], which has been violating human rights and acting as a refuge for oppressive and unjust actions of the governments and police, particularly since it has been transformed into a black law by including all serious sections of POTA therein; and
(6) Close forthwith the offices of foreign secret agencies, and do not provide an opportunity for any foreign agency or agencies to intervene in internal affairs of the country. With this unwise course of action our government is causing danger to the national sovereignty.
National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC)
The CAC sees with concern setting up of National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) under Union Home Ministry to counter terrorism.
The proposed centre on the one hand equips Intelligence Bureau (IB) with extraordinary rights and on the other hand does not fix its accountability. The issue is not only of intervention in the rights of states but of equipping the Centre with extraordinary rights, which it will exploit through IB. It is feared that it would affect citizenship and human rights on the large scale. Therefore, various justice-loving citizens and human rights activists have opposed this centre.
With the proposed centre IB has been given unusual rights such as to gather secret information, and beyond it to conduct search on citizens, to seize properties, to get information from other secret agencies, and to get its ordered implemented through special forces. It says that the establishment of IB and the rights given to it are not under any Constitutional provision, nor is IB accountable to any Constitutional institution. Therefore, giving such an agency the rights of police makes it a demon. The CAC wants to make it clear that it was IB, whose baseless information led to the arrest of innocent Muslim youths in the name of countering terrorism in various states of the country, out of whom many have been released by courts of law for want of evidence.
The CAC feels that as in the past black laws (TADA, POTA, MACOCA, and UAPA) formulated in the name of countering terrorism were used against weaker sections, especially Muslims, similarly this centre also will target the Muslims. The CAC feels that the rights police already have under Cr. P.C are enough to face every kind of law and order situation. Hence there is no need of any other law or any centre to counter terrorism. Therefore, the CAC demands from the Government of India to remove the concern of Muslims and justice-loving citizens by withdrawing its proposal to set up this centre.
Political Change in Uttar Pradesh
This session of CAC deems it necessary to express its feeling that the Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh, one of the five States which went to polls recently, exhibited extraordinary prudence that made it possible to cause political change in the State. Though different and contradictory statements made by certain leaders of other parties on reservation and other issues had made the situation complex, Muslim voters let farsightedness prevail upon them and in most of the constituencies did not allow their power to divide. The CAC also feels that due to lack of mutual understanding between the Muslim parties their performance could not prove effective. Had there been some understanding, not only Muslim representation in the State Assembly would have further increased but also the way for value-based politics would have been paved. The CAC believes that the defeat in Uttar Pradesh of both the big national parties has proved that these parties cannot hoodwink people by raising sensational and fraudulent slogans. People had given a chance to Bahujan Samaj Party and its leader Ms. Mayawati in 2007, but they lost the confidence of people by spending the resources of the State on unnecessary and useless projects, which resulted in her defeat. Grave cases of corruption also played their role in this result of B.S.P. The result of elections in U.P. also proved that Muslims in this State is a political power and they played a special role in the worst defeat of Congress. Muslim voters punished Congress for its uncertain attitude towards the serious issue of terrorism. The CAC expects from Samajwadi Party and its leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav that they would keep the promises they made to people, especially Muslims. And that they would keep in mind the warning the people have given in the form of exemplary defeat of Ms. Mayawati. Mr. Akhilesh Yadav must implement the measures he had announced in this regard soon after taking the oath of Chief Minister. The Muslim youths who have been implicated in cases of terror must be immediately released and due compensation be given to them for their rehabilitation.
The scenario in Syria
The CAC of JIH sees with grave concern the civil war in Syria and its use of power against its own people. An analysis of news coming from Syria reveals that the western countries are playing a dual game there. On the one hand they are issuing statements against president Bashar al-Assad and making announcements in support of the people, and on the other hand lingering the civil war in Syria. They are creating such a situation there that the government and the people fight against each other and become so weak that they might get an excuse to intervene and act upon their agenda easily. The United Nations, in cooperation with Arab League, had sent former Secretary General Kofi Annan on a peace mission to Syria and Bashar al-Assad also agreed to the peace plan of Kofi Annan, according to which withdrawal of troops from civilian areas, release of arrested protestors, free movement of all journalists and freedom of protest were to be ensured. But the latest information reveals that the Syrian government did not act upon any one of them. The army is continuously targeting civilians there. On Friday, April 13, lakhs of people usually staged a peaceful protest. Syrian troops fired at them at many places, as a result of which many persons were done to death. The process of public awareness against the oppressive government of Syria started with that in other Arab countries. The attitude of Syrian government towards protestors has been oppressive since the very beginning. Over 10,000 persons have died during this period of 13 months. The Syrian government is trying to provide excuse for its oppressive measures against the protestors by declaring them as terrorists and looters.
The CAC of JIH appeals to Muslim countries, including Iran, to exert pressure on the rulers of Syria to quit so that the western powers may not get a chance to make armed intervention in Syria.