Repeal of farm Laws welcome, CAA-NRC should also be rolled back, say Jamaat leaders
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) leaders have expressed concerns over the growing atmosphere of hate against places of worship of minorities in the country and called on the government to roll back other anti-people laws like CAA-NRC, hailing repeal of farm laws as a people’s victory.
Addressing a monthly press briefing held here today at the JIH HQRS, the JIH leaders expressed also expressed dismay over the recent killings of a Dalit family in Prayagraj, UP, and rebutted the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights’ (NCPCR) report targeting Madrassas and minority run institutions.
Briefing media persons on current issues, JIH Vice President Prof. Mohammad Salim Engineer pointed out that the repeal of the farm laws was inevitable. Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to accede to the demands of farmers, the JIH leader called it a victory of the Indian people and all those who supported the farmers in their resistance against the anti-people, anti-poor and anti-farmer laws. He said that if it had been done earlier, the farmers would not have to pay such a heavy price for fighting against those unjust laws and losses could have been avoided.
Prof. Salim Engineer supported the farmers’ demand that the government must now enact a law to guarantee Minimum Support Price (MSP) for them. Lauding the peaceful protests of the farmers, he said it can be a good example for carrying out democratically and the positive role that civil society can play in helping the nation to ensure the removal of laws and policies that go against the interests of the nation and society.
Drawing the government’s attention to other anti-people and anti-constitutional laws like the CAA-NRC, the JIH Vice President asserted that they too should be withdrawn at the earliest. “This Bill goes against the basic idea of India as an inclusive, diverse, secular, and democratic nation envisaged by the founding fathers of our Constitution. It is part of the agenda of communal polarization and we are sure the people of India will not accept such divisive politics,” he added.
Commenting on the growing climate of hate against places of worship of minorities in India, the JIH Vice President expressed grave concerns over the recent attempts by some well-organized groups to oppose the offering of Friday prayers in Gurugram, Haryana and on the recent attack on a Church in Belur, Hassan district of Karnataka. He pointed out that there was a well-planned and systematic effort by some vested interests to divide people on religious grounds by targeting the places of worship of minorities.
Speaking about the Gurgaon Namaz issue, he said, “Muslims have been forced to offer prayers in open public parks and government lands because the government has not allotted them land for a mosque in the New Gurgaon. As many as 19 mosques big and small are under illegal possession of others since 1947. Local Muslims feel that the police and administration are not interested in restoring the mosques to the Muslims. “This politics of hate is practiced to divert the attention of people, especially when elections are around from the real issues so that the performance of the government and ruling establishment is shifted from development to other emotional issues.”
Recently a JIH delegation visited Gurugram and met the people who were opposed to the Namaz to arrive at a durable solution to the problem.
The JIH Vice President has condemned the recent killings of a Dalit family including parents, their son and a daughter, who was raped before she was murdered in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
According to reports, the girl was a minor and the case was first registered under POCSO. Also the initial FIR named 11 people belonging to the upper caste community as the key accused under various sections of the IPC and the SC/ST Act. It is reported that eight of the eleven accused were arrested. However, later the police released all the accused from the upper-caste community and charged a Dalit youth for the crime.
Prof. Salim opined that irrespective of the ‘caste angle’ to the murder, what was important that the killings signify a breakdown in the law and order situation and a sad reflection of the state of affairs of the police and ruling establishment in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman of the JIH education board (Markazi Taleemi Board), Mr. Mujtaba Farooq rebutted the findings and recommendations of NCPCR Report, namely the “Impact of Exemption under Article 15 (5) with regards to Article 21A of the Constitution of India on Education of Children in Minority Communities”, in which the NCPCR has assessed minority schools (schools run by minority organisations) in the country. The NCPCR has claimed that the special exemption that minority schools enjoy from the RTE is ”creating a conflicting picture between fundamental rights of children and rights of minority communities’’ and wants all schools under the RTE.
Mr. Farooq said that the report exaggerated the emphasis on Madrassas. He has commented that even though education is the fundamental right of children, the report failed to properly evaluate the government’s role in providing education to the children of minority groups. He asked, “if the minority children are going to Madrassas, then what are the reasons? Is the government providing ample and sufficient infrastructure to provide mainstream education to the minority children? While the NCPCR evaluated the Madrassa, why did they not evaluate the Government Urdu Medium schools? A comparison should be made between Madrassas and Government Urdu medium schools. If the situation of Government Urdu Medium Schools or the Government schools where minority children go is better, then minority children would not have gone to the Madrasas.”
The JIH education board Chairman noted that it was observed that in the government schools, generally, the language and culture of majoritarian culture was prevalent. “It appears that the NCPCR has obsessively targeted the Madrasas to distract from the main purpose of the report. Since Madrasas are not a mainstream school, then the focus should have been only the schools. JIH favours the continuation of exemption given to minority schools and madrassas from the RTE.” he added
