By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
The Congress-led Central Government is working on a new enemy property law that will directly affect thousands of genuine Indian Muslims who preferred to live in the country when their close relatives were migrating to Pakistan. The new law will deprive them of the properties that they inherited from their migrating relatives.
Not only this, the Enemy Property Amendment Bill will deprive the heirs, almost all of them are Muslims, of their legal right to seek judicial redressal and claim their properties confiscated by the Custodian of Enemy Properties. After the war with Pakistan in 1965, India declared all such properties left by the migrants “Enemy Property” and its appointed custodian captured the properties claiming they belong to “enemies” while their owners and occupiers are genuine Indian Muslims who enjoy full citizenship and civil rights as Indian citizens.
AIMPLB annual program in Lucknow on 21 March 2010 [TCN photo]
In 2010, Raja Mahmoodabad won his decades-long legal battle to recover his confiscated properties when the Supreme Court upheld his right on the properties his father Late Raja MA Ahmad Khan left behind while migrating to Pakistan in 1957.
But fearing that thousands of such genuine claimants of the “enemy” properties will turn up to reclaim their confiscated properties, the Union Government issued an ordinance on 2nd July 2010. However, it withdrew the ordinance after the protest from civil society.
“A ray of hope was kindled after the long-drawn legal battle of Raja Mahmoodabad last year but it is being defeated now by a legal sleight of hand. The first attempt was made last summer when the Union home minister tried to sneak in an ordinance insulting and defeating the purpose of Parliament. The move was defeated due to a quick and strong reaction of civil society. Now the home ministry is seeking to pass it through Parliament with some cosmetic changes which will deprive thousands of Indian Muslims of their rights and strip of their right to seek justice through courts,” said Dr Zafrul Islam Khan, Editor, The Milli Gazette fortnightly.
Talking to TwoCircles.net from Bhiwandi this morning Dr Khan said: “The new law will affect thousands of Muslims who genuinely inherited the properties. It will justify the illegal capture of Hindus on such properties.” He urged the community leaders to come out and put pressure on the government to withdraw the bill that is simply against Muslims. He urged immediate action from the community as the parliamentary committee working on the draft is closing its door for comments and interventions by civil society on 15th March 2011.
“The draft bill has been referred to the parliamentary select committee on home affairs which has sought comments and interventions by civil society to reach it by 15 March 2011. In other words, there is not much time left for us to react,” Dr Khan said.
It’s time for leaders of the Muslim community and all others concerned to quickly intervene in this matter by fax or email to the following officer.
D. K. Mishra
Joint Director, Rajya Sabha Secretariat
Room No. 142, First Floor
Parliament House Annexe
New Delhi-110001
Tel: 011-23035410
Fax: 011-23012007
Email: [email protected]
Text of the Enemy Property (Amendment & Validation) Bill, 2010