Secular-minded people urged to unitedly fight extremist forces
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has expressed serious concerns over a concerted campaign from some quarters to tempt Muslim girl students towards apostasy.
Addressing a meeting of the organisation’s working committee here on Monday, Jamiat President Maulana Arshad Madani blamed co-education for the phenomenon and stressed the need to have more Muslim educational institutions.
“The temptation of apostasy is spreading rapidly in the country. It poses a grave danger,” Maulana Madani said. “It has been started against Muslims in a planned way, under which our girls are being targeted.
“If immediate and effective measures are not taken to prevent this temptation, the situation may become explosive in the coming days. This temptation is being strengthened due to the co-education system, and that is why we opposed it, and then the media negatively presented our point of view and proclaimed that Maulana Madani was against the education of girls. We are against co-education, we are not against girls’ education,” he said.
Madani said, “Whatever we can do, we have to do now for the welfare of the nation and their educational development and after the independence of the country, we as a nation are at a very critical point in history.
“On the one hand, we are being entangled in various problems, on the other, the ways of economic, social, political and educational development are being blocked for us,” he alleged.
“If we have to defeat this silent conspiracy and achieve the zenith of success, then we have to establish separate educational institutions for our boys and girls,” he added.
“In the end,” he said, “The history of nations is a witness that education has been the key to progress in every age.
“So we have to attract our children not only towards higher education, rather, we have to encourage them for competitive exams by taking out the feeling of inferiority from them, and in this way, we can give a resounding answer to every conspiracy against us,” he said.
The meeting also considered the current situation in the country and expressed grave concern over growing sectarianism, extremism, deteriorating law and order situation and the discriminative attitude against the Muslim minority in the country.
“This was not a good sign for peace, unity and solidarity of the country,” the meeting said. “This current trend to subvert the constitution and law by sectarian forces is undermining the democratic structure of the country,” it said.
Other important national and social issues and contemporary education and social reform procedures, as well as office and organisational affairs, were also discussed in detail.
The progress of the cases being fought by the legal cell of Jamiat-Ulema-i-Hind was also reviewed. Among these are important cases to uphold the Citizenship Act in Assam and the Protection of Places of Worship Act in the country.
The Jamiat has filed a petition requesting the court to protect the Protection of Places of Worship Act, 1991.
In his address, Maulana Madani said evil elements are inciting religious extremism and filling the minds of the people with the poison of hatred. Similarly, a dangerous plan to make Muslims educationally and politically backward has also started, he said.
During the last few years, he said, the economic condition of the country has weakened considerably, and unemployment has increased to an alarming level. “Despite this, people in power are beating the drum of the country’s development and the biased media is supporting them in this campaign.”
He said that religious extremism is being increased only to divert people’s attention from economic and unemployment problems. Maulana Madani further said that this game of dividing the people on the basis of religious hatred and sectarianism will destroy the country. “One cannot be led astray from the real issues for a long time. Instead of promoting politics, if employment resources are not created, jobs are not given to the educated youth, then the day is not far when the youth of the country will be seen on the streets in full protest.”
He strongly condemned the planned displacement of Muslims in the states of Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Maulana Madani asked: Is it justice to displace thousands of people residing in these areas for decades without giving them adequate compensation and providing alternative land for their rehabilitation?
The meeting appealed to all secular-minded people to unite and fight the extremist and fascist forces at the political and social level instead of reacting and resorting to emotional politics, and make every effort to spread brotherhood, harmony, mutual tolerance and justice in the country.