By Mohammed Kaleem Siddiqui for Twocircles.net
Ahmedabad : Over a hundred thousand Muslims of Gujarat congregated on the occasion of the 17th national convention of All India Milli council on December 19 to protest against the views of Justice J B Pardiwala of the Gujarat High Court on Polygamy.
The conference, called Ittehad E Millat (Unity of Community) also took a stand against the growing intolerance in the country.
The council objected to Pardiwala’s observation on Muslim personal law made on November 5 in response to a plea made by Jafar Abbas Rasool Mohammad Merchant, a resident of Raipur. He had approached the court to quash an FIR lodged on the basis of a complaint by his first wife Sajedabanu, a native of Bhavnagar.
The court recommended an amendment of Muslim personal law, saying “On the basis of modern progressive thinking, India must shun the practice (of polygamy) and establish a uniform civil code.” While Jafar Abbas was charged under section 494 of the IPC for bigamy, he could not be persecuted for this as his second marriage is valid as per Muslim Personal Law. Pardiwala said.
Manzoor Alam, Chairman, All India Milli Council, demanded that the controversial observation in regard to judgment of Jafer Abbas be withdrawn, else they will start a movement against him.
Interestingly, Justice Pardiwala had made controversial remarks while hearing the Patidar leader Hardik Patel’s case, saying “Corruption and reservation destroyed the progress of country.” Later, he withdrew his remarks after 58 MPs filed a notice in the Rajya Sabha for his impeachment.
Commenting on the politics of right-wing Hindu organisations, former deputy speaker, Rajya Sabha K Rahman said “We should understand the policy of RSS to divide Muslims among Shia, Sunni, Barelvi, Deobandi etc…to unite the community is 365-day process.”
Ghyasuddi Sheikh, Daryapur MLA and convener of welcome committee for the convention said “Unity of Muslims is a must, but good relation with Hindus is also necessary to survive in a secular country.”
The convention also protested against Kamlesh Tiwari of Hindu Maha Sabha, who recently abused the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and demanded maximum punishment for Tiwari as per law.