The government warned against testing the patience of Muslims and not leading the country toward dictatorship
Pervez Bari | Clarion India
BHOPAL – Maulana Mehdi Hassan Aini Qasmi, Director of India Islamic Academy Deoband, has urged BJP allies, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Telugu Desam Party, to oppose the proposed Waqf Amendment Bill. In a statement on Tuesday, Maulana Aini Qasmi warned chief ministers of Bihar Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh to feel the pulse of the masses and refrain from endorsing the bill. If they fail to do so, Muslims and all fair-minded Indians will teach them an unforgettable lesson, he said.
“We regret that the NDA allies have not played their role in giving Muslims their rights and have supported the communal agenda of the BJP. We appeal to secular parties to oppose this bill unitedly,” he said.
Maulana Aini Qasmi said that after the March 17 All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) protest in New Delhi, the national and political leadership declared that the Waqf Amendment Bill is not just a problem for Muslims; it is rather a problem for the Indian Constitution. He said that the passing of the Waqf Amendment Bill was an attempt to bulldoze the Indian Constitution. “We will have to mobilise against this bill from the streets to the jails,” he added.
He said that the country’s Muslims have completely rejected the bill. “The government must not test the patience of Muslims and should not lead the country towards dictatorship. Attempting to seize the properties of minorities is utter cruelty, which no just group can accept,” he stated.
Maulana Aini congratulated the leadership of the AIMPLB for organising the short sit-in and said that the high-level representation of non-Muslim leaders and civil society in the protest was a revolutionary beginning. “The board should now announce a nationwide movement by taking all justice lovers together because there is no other way left except a public struggle,” he said.
He said that for the protection of the Constitution and on other crucial issues, all favouring voices should be appreciated and hypothetical narratives avoided. The like-minded political and social figures who could not participate in the demonstration should also be invited in the future. This is the time to make like-minded people friends and form a group of the oppressed against the oppressors, he opined.
