By TCN News,
New Delhi: The Central Committee of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat (AIMMIM), the umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations, met here on Monday, 17 February under the chairmanship of national President Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan.
The AIMMM Central Committee deliberated on organisation, milli, national and international issues.
The meeting deliberated on milli, national and international issues and passed the following resolutions:
(Courtesy: Milligazette)
Merger of Mushawarat groups
Members unanimously appreciated the merger last October of the two factions of AIMMM and paid tributes to all those whose efforts led to the merger.
Communal riots
Communal riots continue in various parts of the country ahead of the general elections. The AIMMM requests all state governments to be vigilant against the attempts of Hindutva elements which use communal violence to polarise society and get Hindu votes. The AIMMM also requests the Election Commission of India to ban all parties and individuals which indulge in communal violence and spread hatred against the communities for political gains. AIMMM registers with pain that UPA government despite numerous promises failed to show any seriousness in getting the communal violence bill passed although its draft has been ready since 2005. AIMMM condemns all “secular” parties which did not allow the passage of this bill through Parliament.
Change of demography though riots
The AIMMM expresses its alarm and displeasure against the use of communal riots to change demography by expelling Muslims from rural areas where they have lived for centuries. This illegal and criminal act must be checked with all the force at the command of the State and people who are behind this diabolical plan should be properly punished and denied right to fight elections. Such forced demographic change has been done earlier in and in areas of Assam and in Gujarat 2002 where some 60,000 uprooted people still did not return to their villages and now in the districts of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts where some 20,000 refugees still languish in tents in miserable conditions.
Waqf Development Corp.
National Waqf Development Corporation has now been established with a view to realise the real value of waqf properties for the benefit of the Muslim community. But the details of this scheme are still unknown and as such it is difficult to arrive at a definite opinion about its efficacy. The government should also remove the impression that this corporation will benefit all minorities because the waqf properties are meant for the benefit of the Muslim community. The Union government should at the earliest release the details of this corporation. AIMMM cautions that the NWDC should not be allowed to become yet another lethargic public sector organisation and should not become a backdoor for the government to continue to occupy and utilise waqf properties. In order to make this corporation successful, NWDC’s board of management should have a proper representation of serious and reputed representatives of the Muslim community and community organisations of repute.
Ban on SIMI
AIMMM condemns the fresh ban by the Union Home Ministry on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for another five years although there is no convincing proof about any terror activity undertaken by this organisation which remains banned since 2001. The ban is used to harass and implicate former SIMI members and Muslim youth in fresh cases although scores of SIMI activists have been acquitted by courts and despite the fact that even this banned organisation’s appeals against the first and subsequent bans are still pending with the Supreme Court. Former SIMI members are being hunted down and constantly harassed by security agencies despite a clear order by the Supreme Court that mere membership of a banned organisation is not sufficient ground to arrest someone. AIMMM notes that while the ban on SIMI is renewed without fail and its former members are unnecessarily harassed, a plethora of Hindutva terror organisations remain untouched like Sanatan Sanstha, Abhinav Bharat, Bajrang Dal and Sri Ram Sena. The Centre even rejected a Maharashtra state recommendation to ban Abhinav Bharat which speaks volumes about the attitude of the Union government vis-à-vis saffron terror.
Modi and Gujarat riots
Modi and his defenders are claiming that courts have given him a clean chit, hence any talk of his involvement in the 2002 riots is a contempt of court. This is factually incorrect as Modi has been given a clean chit by the SIT which has come under severe criticism for ignoring solid evidence implicating Modi in the 2002 riots. Zakia Jafari too has decided to go to high court against a lower court’s verdict in Gulbarg Colony case. Modi will remain an accused until the apex court, which had called him a “Nero”, exonerates him. Modi not only actively supported the riots, he has also been instrumental in dismissing FIRs and withdrawal of cases against the accused and shielding them, in addition to actively denying relief and justice to the victims. Selection of such a person by the saffron party as its prime ministerial candidate indicates the valueless and opportunist politics of Hindutva forces.
Army crimes in J&K
An army court of enquiry’s dismissal of charges against the officers accused in the Pathribal fake encounter has once again highlighted the unjust AFPSA law which gives immunity to the army in J&K and areas of Northeast where it is in operation since decades. In the Pathribal fake encounter of March 2000 army personnel had kidnapped and killed five innocent Kashmiri villagers and claimed that they were militants responsible for the Chattisingpora massacre of 34 Sikhs on 20 March 2000which too was allegedly perpetrated by the army to impress upon the visiting US President Bill Clinton the gravity of militancy in J&K. This dismissal of a solid case again calls for the repeal of AFPSA, an anti-people and anti-democratic “law” which thwarts justice.
Violence against Christian minority
In addition to the Muslim community, Hindutva forces have steadily targeted the Christian community across the country. According to a report prepared recently by the Christian Church under Justice (Retd) Michael Saldana, about 4000 Christian were targeted during 2013, and about 400 clergy and community leaders were attacked in 200 anti-Christians incidents across 19 states. It is time Central and state governments took serious notice of the overt and covert activities of the Sangh Parivar outfits which are behind these hate crimes.
Hindutva terror
The trail of Hindutva terror and its connection with the RSS is fairly well-known and accepted now. Even Union Home Ministry and the last two Union home ministers have publicly acknowledged “saffron terror” and spoke about the danger it poses to the secular and democratic fabric of the country. Now with Swami Aseemanand’s assertion in his latest interview with Caravan magazine that top bosses of the RSS were directly involved in motivating and financing saffron terror, it becomes a duty of the Union home ministry to treat this danger with the seriousness it deserves, arrest the top RSS leaders involved and ban all saffron organisations involved in terror and promotion of hatred against other communities.
Aam Aadmi Party
AIMMM welcomes the emergence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and considers it a secular alternative. But AAP, which is clear about the scourge of corruption, is not clear about the other scourge of communalism and though it has demanded the formation of SIT to probe the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, it is silent about the communal violence bill, fake encounters and arrests of Muslim youth in the name of fighting terror. In order to become a clear alternative, AAP should clarify its position about these crucial issues as well.
Palestine
The US under Obama is pushing hard to bury the Palestinian issue for good. Secretary of State John Kerry has been shuttling between Tel Aviv and Arab capitals to sell a plan which aims at settling the Palestinian issue for good in Israel’s favour. Palestinians are being offered a truncated and disarmed “state” while ceding to Israel West Bank’s thickly populated illegal Jewish settlements, ceding part of Arab Jerusalem including a part of the Aqsa Mosque to Israel, and closing the chapter of Palestinian refugees by settling them where they live at present. This is a total sell-out of the Palestinian issue. The AIMMM appeals to the UN ad all peace- and justice-loving nations around the world to ensure justice to the wronged Palestinian people by boycotting and pressuring Israel to accede to at least the minimum Palestinian demand to be allowed to live in peace, security and dignity in the pre-1967 areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Egypt
The Egyptian junta led by General Sisi, who has now elevated himself to the rank of Field Marshal, is consolidating its grip on power and has got a partisan constitution passed by a dubious referendum which grossly restricts civil liberties and awards unprecedented powers and total autonomy and immunity to the Army, while the main popular force in the country has been banned and declared “terrorist” and the first-ever democratically-elected President of the country is standing trial on grotesque charges. AIMMM condemns the role of the so-called Egyptian “liberals” who have preferred the heavy boots of the army over a moderate regime run by an elected President. AIMMM also condemns the Western and Gulf powers which have recognised and helped the putschists to survive and consolidate their grip over Egypt. AIMMM notes that Egypt and other Arab countries are boiling and a more comprehensive popular movement is on its way to sweep away the local satraps of foreign powers.
Syria
The Syrian civil war continues since three years and has already taken the toll of 125,000 Syrian lives, rendered 9.5 million Syrians refugees and destroyed almost the whole country. Yet the sectarian dictatorship in Damascus refuses to even honour its own commitment in the first Geneva Conference of 2012 to install an interim administration in Damascus to hold free and fair elections. The sectarian regime overlording the destruction of Syria now refuses to give in anything in the current (second) Geneva Conference. The AIMMM, while condemning forces like the terrorist “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” (Da’ish) which is active in Syria to frustrate the just struggle of the Syrian people, appeals to the world powers, especially the UN, OIC and Arab League to force the sectarian regime in Syria to see reason and transfer power to the people without any more bloodshed and destruction. Moreover, the present rulers of Damascus should be prosecuted by the International Court of Justice for their crimes against the people of Syria including murder of 11,000 people killed while in custody.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, under Hasina Wajed, is fast becoming a one-party dictatorship. It has just declared itself triumphant in heavily rigged elections boycotted by opposition parties. It is also waging a vendetta war against Jamaate Islami Bangladesh (JIB) by trying its leaders in front of a dubious and partisan tribunal, in a bid to weaken opposition parties. It is a matter of regret that the Indian government is supporting Bangladesh in these undemocratic measures. AIMMM urges Hasina Wajed in the interest of her country and people to stop her politics of vendetta and allow all opposition parties to function normally, lift the unjust ban on JIB and disband the dubious tribunal it set up to annihilate JIB for political gains.
Central African Republic
AIMMM registers its dismay and disbelief at the silence of world bodies, major powers and Muslim countries and organisations on the continued mass murder of Muslims in the Central African Republic where Christian militias are reported to have fallen as low as indulging in cannibalistic practices eating the flesh of their Muslim victims. The silence of Muslim countries and O.I.C. is baffling. Central African Republic, where election of a Muslim to the post of President led to mass hysteria by Christians against the Muslim minority, is a fit case to be expelled from the UNO, Organisation of African Unity and other international forums. The French army stationed in the Central African Republic is responsible for this massacre because it first disarmed Muslims and then watched as an spectator the Christian militias’ attacks on Muslims.
Burma’s Rohingya Muslims
AIMMM repeats its strongest condemnation of the Burmese authorities’ continued persecution of the Rohingya Muslim community in Burma which is deprived of its natural rights as citizens of Burma and forced to live as refugees in its own country or to flee to neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and India. Such behaviour is a source of utter shame in the twenty first century. AIMMM urges Burma authorities to rethink their erroneous and racist policies, they should allow Rohingyas to return to their villages and hamlets and should repatriate those who have fled outside Burma due to persecution. AIMMM urges the Indian government to put pressure on Burma govt. to start behaving in a civilised manner and honour the civil, political and human rights of the Rohingyas and to help Burmese Muslim refugees who are in our country.
Bahrain
A popular democratic movement is going on for the last two years in Bahrain which is being brutally crushed by the ruling clique there. AIMMM supports popular, democratic and human rights struggles of people everywhere. AIMMM cautions the rulers of Bahrain to refrain from crushing the popular democratic movement of the people of Bahrain and concede to them all their political and human rights.
The meeting also remembered important personalities of the community who departed after the last meeting of AIMMM, offered condolences to their families and the milliat and prayed for them, especially Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the 52nd Da’i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohra community, who died in Mumbai on 17 January, at the ripe age of 102; Ghulam Hasnain Kaif Nauganvi, a current affairs writer, commentator, Urdu poet and writer of letters to newspapers, who died at Nagpur on 11 January; Syed Muzaffar Husain Barni, noted civil servant, litterateur, chairman of National Commission of Minorities and governor of a number of states, who died on 9 February; Hakim Muhammad Mohtaram Usmani, noted Unani physician, founder-member of All India Unani Tibbi Congress, who died in Delhi on 8 December; Dr Kamal Ahmad Siddiqi, noted Urdu poet, writer, researcher, critic and expert on Ghalib, who died in Delhi’s Apollo Hospital in the night of 23 December 2013; Mazharul Haq Alvi, Urdu fiction writer, dramatist and translator of dozens of books, who died in Ahmadabad on 17 December at the age of 90 years; the 65-year-old Bollywood actor, TV personality and social activist Farooque Shaikh, who died in Dubai on 14 December 2013; ISHRAT ALI SIDDIQUI, veteran Urdu journalist and former Qaumi Awaz editor, Ishrat, who died in Lucknow on 2 January and Maulana Fareeduzzaman Kairanwi, president of Old Boys Association of Darul Uloom Deoband who died on 14 February.
This was the first meeting of the Central Committee this year as well as of the newly elected AIMMM central team. The meeting was attended by the following members: Prof. Akhtarul Wasey, Syed Samar Hamid, Shaikh Manzoor Ahmad, Masoom Moradabadi (General Secretary), Mohd. Faiyaz Qasmi, Dr Anwarul Islam, Maulana Junaid Ahmad Banarasi, Mohammad Ahmad, Ejaz Ahmed Aslam, Grp. Cap. Mohammad Anwar, Mohammad Yusuf, Nusrat Ali, Abdul Aziz (Kolkata), Dr. Masood Ahmad, Dr. MRA Haque, Dr. Javed Jamil, Dr. Syed Farooq, Prof. S.M. Yahya, Janab Rasheed Ahmad Khan IAS (retd), Syyed Mansoor Agha, Prof. Qazi Zainus Sajdin Qasmi, Navaid Hamid, SMY Nadeem, Dr. Ubaid Iqbal Asim, Prof. Habibur Rahman, Dr Syed Ahmed Khan, Dr. Uzair Ahmad Qasmi, Rahat Mahmood Chaudhary, Mujtaba Farooq, Kamal Farooqui, Ilyas Malik, Prof. Mohd. Sulaiman (General Secretary), Hafiz Rashid Ahmad Chowdhury (Vice President), Mohammad Jafar (Vice President), Janab Ahmad Rashid Shervani (Secretary General), Mufti Ataur Rahman Qasmi (General Secretary), Janab Syed Shahabuddin and Janab Abdul Khaliq.