Appealing the government to come down heavily on forces spreading bigotry and communal hatred, JIH Vice President urged the political parties, non-governmental organizations and social activists to come forward and fulfill their responsibility towards curbing hatred in the country
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Expressing serious concern over the incidents of hate crimes in the country, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has appealed to the government to rein in the communal forces and anti-social elements behind these incidents.
Addressing media-persons in an online press conference on Saturday, JIH Vice-President Prof. Mohammad Salim Engineer has said that the frequency of hate crimes, cow vigilantism and mob lynching has increased of late because of no action taken against the culprits involved in such crimes.
Stating that atrocities against Dalits and minorities have increased a sense of insecurity among the marginalized sections of the society, Prof. Salim pointed out that criminal cases and incidents related to law and order are given a communal colour and exploited by forces of hate and division to create polarization in society. He said that crime incidents pertaining to communal hatred had increased with assembly elections of five states-Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Manipur-drawing nearer
. “Those engaging in these nefarious activities to create communal strife feel emboldened as no action is taken against them and they become confident to carry out further crimes knowing that they can continue to spread hatred and commit acts of violence without attracting any punishment by the law enforcement machinery”, Prof Salim elaborated.
Appealing the government to come down heavily on forces spreading bigotry and communal hatred, he urged the political parties, non-governmental organizations and social activists to come forward and fulfill their responsibility towards curbing hatred in the country. He also demanded the government to focus on providing financial aid and relief to labour, industry and institutions that have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Replying to a question about a request for ‘President’s police medal for Gallantry’ made by police officer Ved Prakash Surya, who was photographed in a video with BJP leader Kapil Mishra when the latter made a provocative speech at a pro-CAA rally in Northeast Delhi last year, JIH secretary Mohammed Ahmed said, “it is very disturbing”.
Ahmed said that earlier, too, PAC (Provincial Armed Constabulary) personnel were found conniving in the communal but they had never demanded medals for it.
“But it is very disappointing that policemen who failed in curbing riots are demanding medals. Northeast Delhi was burning for three days, resulting into death of 53 innocent persons, injuries to hundreds of others and destruction of properties worth hundreds of crores of rupees. Policemen having failed in carrying out their duty be punished”, said Ahmed.
He said that Home Minister Amit shah had admitted in Parliament that Northeast Delhi riots were planned and executed by outsiders. “The government must identify and punish the real perpetrators of the violence. But I don’t hope the government would accept our demand”, Mr Ahmed said in response to another question.
Ahmed said that the “non-issues” of religious conversion and so-called “love-jihad” that have the potential to polarize the society on communal and religious lines, were being raised when the elections to five state assemblies were just a few months ahead. Some political parties feel that they can’t go to the people to seek votes again as they have failed on all fronts and hence, they are raising emotional issues for political gains. They were simply trying to divert attention from the real issues facing the nation.
Speaking at the press conference, the JIH Secretary has called for an audit of all the government schemes that are being conducted post Covid. He said, “results of the audit should be made public and suitable action should be taken against those responsible for likely to be detected failures and unsatisfactory implementation of those schemes.”
‘Inflation, unemployment hit poor people’
Expressing concern over steep rise in prices, Prof. Salim said that they were increasing despite no increase in demand for the commodities.
Stating that prices of edible oil has touched Rs. 200 per litre and that of petrol Rs. 100 per litre, he said the rising prices have affected 94 per cent of Indian population while the only beneficiaries of it are the corporates and business-people. Stating that the economic growth had slowed down in the country owing to various factors, Prof. Salim said that the government must provide interest-free loans to revive the economy.
The JIH leader also demanded the government to revitalize the country’s economy, especially small and medium-sized industries and businesses. Asking the government to take responsibility for the widows and orphans of the victims of the pandemic, he said, “the government should arrange free education for the orphans and provide employment to any member of the family.”
‘Stay electoral bonds for election funding’
Referring to the Supreme Court refusing to stay the electoral bonds, Prof. Salim said that the court should stop the electoral bonds for raising election funds because there were chances of unhealthy relationship developing between political parties and corporates who may use this as a leverage to get business contracts, hefty bank loans and industrial licenses and other benefits.
“With the Supreme Court of India refusing to stay the electoral bonds, there is serious apprehension that any further sale of electoral bonds before the upcoming assembly elections in UP, Punjab, HP, Goa and Manipur would further increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties,” he added.