Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Concerned over the systematic anti-Muslim violence in various parts of the country during Ram Navami rallies, a 16-member delegation of Muslim religious and national leaders met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah here on Tuesday and asked him to take stern action against the riot perpetrators.
The delegation was led by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) President Maulana Mahmood Asad Madani.
Besides the planned communal violence, the delegation also raised a range of other issues including the arbitrary scrapping of Muslim reservation in Karnataka, unabated hate campaign and Islamophobia, growing incidents of mob lynching, raking up of Uniform Civil Code issue, attack on the autonomy of religious seminaries, the situation in Kashmir, forced evacuation in Assam, and protection of Waqf property. During the meeting, Muslim leaders also brought to the home minister’s notice the bail issue of Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui and Umar Gautam.
Maulana Madani told the home minister that concerted “efforts are being made to drive the second largest majority of the country into a cave of despair and that the situation in the country is being contaminated by the open proclamation of hate and communal passion.” As a result, he said, besides the economic and commercial loss, the good name of the country was also getting affected. He hoped that the minister will act quickly to restrain the anti-national individuals and organisations, a press statement issued by Niaz A. Farooqui, JUH Secretary.
The home minister, the statement said, also expressed concern over the religious tension and bloodshed during the Ram Navami festival. “In the states where we do not have our party (BJP) governments, we have tried to control it through the governor or chief minister, and where we have our governments, whatever incidents have happened, strict action will be taken,” the statement quoted the home minister as saying.
Regarding incidents of mob lynching, the home minister said wherever the incidents have taken place “we need to see whether cases of murder have been registered under Section 302. If not, write to us and we will make sure that it happens immediately,” he said.
In this regard, a list of such incidents will soon be sent to the home minister, the statement said.
The delegation also explicitly referred to the incidents in Mewat and asserted that, as depicted in the TV sting operation, a group of miscreants in the name of Gau Raksha is roaming the streets. The home minister concurred that these organisations need to be restrained, the statement said.
On the Muslim vilification campaign run by a section of the media, the home minister said that they (BJP and government) were also the target of the media. Regarding madrassas, he said that the government has no objection to teaching Quran and Hadith in them, but, he said, madrassa children should also be imparted modern education.
A member of the delegation also raised the issue of the Maulana Azad scholarship for Muslim students.
On the issue of the scrapping of Muslim reservation in Karnataka, the home minister assured the delegation that Muslims who were getting reservation on the basis of backwardness will continue to get them. “But the previous governments had made all Muslims backward, so the backward communities do not belong to, will get reservation under EWS category.”
The statement said the home minister maintained that a misunderstanding was being spread on the issue. “We will clarify it soon, and will also ask the law minister of Karnataka to explain the whole matter,” he was quoted as saying.
The home minister stated that action should not be viewed through the lenses of Hindu and Muslim when the Muslim delegation criticised the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir. He also said that although some of it was a state policy, stern action would be taken “if any excesses by the security forces or officials in Kashmir comes to our attention.”
The home minister claimed that no group was subject to discrimination under his administration. The government’s policies and programmes are open to Muslims and Hindus alike. “We don’t create programmes specifically for either group.” The delegation reiterated that the biggest issue was that Muslims were being deliberately targeted by organisations and individuals, purportedly affiliated with the ruling party, not the government’s plans.
The government should accept its constitutional duty and act in this respect since incidents of Islamophobia and hate crimes have damaged the reputation of the nation, they pointed out.
Besides Maulana Asad Madani, the delegation included Maulana Asghar Ali Imam Mahdi Salafi, Ameer Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith Hind; Maulana Shabbir Nadvi, President Naseh Education Trust, Bangalore; Kamal Farooqui, member All India Muslim Personnel Board; Prof. Akhtarul Wasay, President Khusro Foundation, Delhi; P.A. Inamdar, Chairman MCE Society, Maharashtra; Dr. Zaheer Kazi, President Anjuman Islam, Mumbai; Maulana Muhammad Salman Bajnoori, Vice President JUH; Maulana Nadeem Siddiqui President Jamiat Ulema Maharashtra; Mufti Iftikhar Ahmed Qasmi, President Jamiat Ulema Karnataka; Mufti Shamsuddin Bajli, General Secretary Jamiat Ulama Karnataka; Maulana Ali Hasan Mazaheri, President Jamiat Ulama Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh; Maulana Yahya Karimi, General Secretary Jamiat Ulama Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh; Maulana Muhammad Ibrahim, President Jamiat Ulama Kerala; Haji Hasan Ahmed, General Secretary Jamiat Ulama Tamil Nadu; Maulana Niaz Farooqui and others.
