Convention on ‘State Excesses against Innocent Citizens’ held at AMU
By TCN News,
Aligarh: “After the demolition of Babri Masjid, the movement of its rebuilding was getting shrill and loud across the nation and to confine that movement, thousands of innocents were framed in the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) and sent behind the bars for many years. I was one of them. Since I have been a student activist, I continued my activism in jail too. (I) opened the first jail university in Tihar Jail, introduced many courses,” said Khaliq uz Zamaan.
Zamaan, acquitted of terror charges after five years, was addressing a convention on ‘State Excesses against Innocent Citizens’ organized by Aligarh Muslim University Students Union (AMUSU) here on December 11 wherein he emphasized that we must stand united and combat against every enormity and tyranny. “Students can play a remarkable role in this struggle,” he said.
Recalling what Hitler once quoted ‘Terrorism is the best political weapon, for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death’, Akhlaq Ahmad, APCR national coordinator, said the same agenda of terror is being executed across the world for reigning over states. “Terrorism, communal riots, love jihad, cow protection, Bangldeshi immigrant etc issues are nothing but the tools of the state dividing the people for easy control over them and to facilitate the corporate interests,” he said.
Ahmad also shared some statistics related to Muslims: The ratio of Muslim population in India is 14 % but that of Muslims in jails is19%. Muslim population in Maharashtra is 10.6% of the total population but their ratio in the state jail is 32%. “Several ‘encounters’ in the name of counter terror have been proved as fake by different investigating agencies and court judgments as well. Thousands of innocent Muslim youth are languishing in different jails in the name of terrorism; victims of mass murder during communal violence are waiting for justice since 30-35 years in spite of the security of justice, equality and liberty provided by the Indian Constitution to all,” he said.
Parveena Ahangar, the chairperson of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) in Kashmir, whose son remains disappeared ever since the Indian Army arrested him in 1990, urged the gathering with teary eyes to join her struggle against enforced disappearance by armed forces in Kashmir.
Prashant Paikray, spokesperson, POSCO Pratirodh Sangam Samiti, said: “The policies of liberation, privatization and globalization have clutched our natural resources, which have devastated our livelihood and put our identity at stake. Fake encounters, custodial death and illegal detention have become the common phenomenon of security agencies to curb the people’s movement of jal, jungle and jameen.”
Bazlul Basit Chaudhary, who hails from Assam and works as a research coordinator at the Center for Action Research and Planning, stated false propaganda of Bangladeshi migration has been propagated for political gains, which is the root cause of ethnic and communal violence in Assam. Elaborating on the issue of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 (AFSPA) in north east India and atrocities committed by the Armed Forces, he entreated students to be the part of their struggle against oppression and victimization.
Abdullah Azzam, president, AMUSU, called upon the students to get engaged in the research and documentation work on various human rights violation issues across the country and expose conspiracies before the nation.
The chief guest of the convention, Abdul Mubeen, AMU alumni, acquitted of terror charges after 14 years, addressed the gathering through video message. The others who addressed the convention were Mohd Adeeb (former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha) and Shahid Malik (AMU Alumni).
Vote of thanks was given by Syed Masoodul Hasan (vice president, AMUSU). The convention was convened by Shazeb Ahmad, the secretary of AMUSU, the release added.