By Mohammed Siddique, TwoCircles.net,
Hyderabad: Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, a leading organization of Muslims in India, has urged the Indian government to bring transparency in the process of investigations into the cases of terrorism and to expose the criminals responsible for the subversive activities through honest and impartial inquiry.
The Jamiat president Maulana Syed Mohammed Osman Mansurpuri, in his presidential address at the 29th General Session of Jamiat in Hyderabad on Saturday said that the terror incidents and actions in the name of fighting against them was the most serious problem in the country. “We openly condemn terrorism of all sort but it is regrettable that while attempts are being made to link the subversive activities of miscreants to Islam, the image of Islam, Prophet, Quran and Islamic history was also being distorted”, he said.
Maulana Mansuri said Jamiat did not have any sympathy with the criminals, whatever be their religion. “But we want that the innocent people should not become the target of excesses and atrocities. The career of educated youth should not be destroyed by creating an atmosphere of hatred,” he continued.
Several highly educated Muslim youths were arrested in connection with the recent blasts without any proof and were released later. “But they were tainted and maligned leading to loss of their jobs as their employers were not willing to take them back. The government should look how to rehabilitate them”, he said.
The two-day General Session was being attended by more than 6000 clerics from all over the country. The meet is discussing various problems of Muslim community including the threat of terrorism to the country, the victimization of Muslims and their educational and economic plight.
In a significant remark, the president of Jamiat expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the center.
When a secular government took over after the BJP-led NDA’s rule there was a hope that the prejudice against the minorities will come down. “But I regret to say that our hopes from the UPA government have diminished with the passage of time,” he said. He was unhappy that the government made little efforts to implement the recommendations of the Justice Sachar Committee and Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission to improve the lot of the Muslim community.
“The elections are very close but the pile of problems is still there. The communal atmosphere in the country is going from bad to worse and the communal forces are creating lawlessness everywhere. Along with the terrorist acts, there is also terrorism in the name of countering terrorism. The government has failed to check them”, he said.
The Jamiat president also expressed pain that in the condemnable propaganda against the Muslims, police administration, electronic and print media, all were involved.
“It is very serious issue that an atmosphere was being created in which the accused were not getting even lawyers to fight their cases”, he said referring to the decision of the Bar Associations in UP not to fight the cases of the accused in terror related cases.
Pointing out that in more than two dozen major bomb blasts in the country during last 8 years, the government has not been able to catch the real culprits and whether the blasts occur in mosque, Dargahs, temples, Mutts or bazaars, the names of only one community are propagated.
Maulana Mansurpuri also appealed to the media to differentiate between the accused and the convicts. “We expect from the authorities of the media that they will not project any accused as a convict before the court verdict”.
“Terrorism is not the problem of one community or one religion but it is a serious problem and a curse for the entire country, all communities and the civilized society. We have to eradicate it by working together”, Maulana Osman said.
The Jamiat president said that there was a deep connection between the terrorism and communalism. “We can’t look at them in isolation. We are against the theory of reaction. A wrong reaction to a wrong action cannot be supported”, he said.
Pointing out the double standard for the organizations of two different communities, Maulana Osman said that extreme actions were being taken against the organizations and institutions of minority community at the slightest doubt but on the other hand communal organizations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Sri Ram Sena, Hindu Vahini, Hindu Jagran Manch were being allowed to carry on their activities openly.
Maulana Mahmood Madni, the Jamiat Working Committee member and Member of Parliament, replying to a question from the reporters said that he was not satisfied with the performance of the UPA government because no steps were initiated for the implementation of the Sachar Committee and Justice Mishra Commission report.