Saturday, December 21, 2013

All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat Markazi Majlis (Central Committee) meeting - Press Statement


ALL INDIA MUSLIM MAJLIS-E-MUSHAWARAT
[Umbrella body of the Indian Muslim organisations]
D-250, Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar
New Delhi-110025 India

All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
Markazi Majlis (Central Committee) meeting
21 December, 2013

PRESS STATEMENT
New Delhi, 21 December, 2013: The Markazi Majlis (Central Committee) of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat (AIMMM), umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations and eminet personalities, held its second meeting of the year here today at the central office. The meeting, the first after the reunification of the two factions of Mushawarat last October, was chaired by the AIMMM National President Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan and attended by the following members: Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, Janab Mohammad Jafar (Vice President), Syed Shahabuddin,  Maulana Junaid Ahmad Banarasi, Dr. Anwarul Islam,  Janab Nusrat Ali, Janab Abdur Rahman Kondoo, Dr. Javed Jamil, Dr Jawed Ahmad, Prof. Mateen Ahmad Siddiqui, Mufti Ataur Rahman Qasmi, Janab Mujtaba Farooq, Janab Amanullah Khan, Janab Masoom Moradabadi, Janab Abdul Khaliq, Janab Manzoor Ahmad, IPS (Retd.), Janab Shahid Sharif Shaikh  and Janab Akhtar Husain Akhtar.
he meeting offered condolences to the millat and families of prominent leaders of the community who passed away recently and prayed for their souls, especially to MUFTI MUHAMMAD ASHFAQUE HUSAIN NAEEMI of Rajasthan, MUSHTAQUE MADNI, editor of Usool, Pune, Dr WAZARAT RASOOL KHAN, KHWAJA MUZAFFAR HUSAIN RIZVI, SYED HASNAIN MIAN NAZMI MARAHRAVI, sajjadanashin of Khanqah Barkatiya Marahra, MAULANA IBRAHIM MIAN SAHEB of South Africa, a khalifa of Shaikhul Hadees Maulana Zakarya, PROF NOORUL ISLAM of Aligarh, and SHEIKH HAFIZ ZUBER ALIZAI Mau Nath Bhanjan.
The meeting discussed organisational, milli, national and international issues and passed the following RESOLUTIONS: 
Muzaffarnagar riots
The one-sided anti-Muslim violence, which erupted in the rural areas of Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Baghpat districts of western Uttar Pradesh last September, is a blot on the face of India in general and the Samajwadi party ruling the state in particular. The state government alongwith its local machinery failed to anticipate or even to take action as soon as the riots started and has since continued in denial of the enormity of the event and its tragic fallout for close to one lakh Muslims who had to flee their villages and take refuge in over 30 refugee camps in Shamli and Muzaffarnagar districts. Many have since returned to their villages or settled elsewhere while still there are around 15,000 people living in some two dozen camps in sub-human conditions, surviving in plastic tents while their children are not accepted by local schools and colleges and both Jats and local administration are pressurising them to withdraw FIRs and drop legal cases against the criminals who killed, burnt alive, raped and uprooted a large population within a span of two days on 7-8 September this year. 
AIMMM appeals to the state and Central governments to work in seriousness for the long-term rehabilitation of these refugees who do not wish to return to their villages. Their children must be admitted to local schools and colleges, their FIRs and legal cases should be seriously pursued to punish the criminals and they should be provided with free land to settle as they are camping at present on forest and private lands which they will have to vacate sooner or later.
AIMMM lauds the services of the local madrasas and mosques which sprang to the help of the victims and appreciates the services of the civil society, especially Muslim organisations like Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind, Zakat Foundation and Charity Alliance etc which have offered timely help and are busy in the difficult work of the refugees’ rehabilitation. AIMMM appreciates the efforts of Jamaat-e Islami Hind to bring Jats and Muslims of the riot-hit area around Muzaffarnagar closer in a bid to allow the return of the uprooted to their villages with honour and dignity.
Politics of Communal riots
Over two hundred communal riots have been recorded within a few months before the recent elections in five states. It is now clear that communal riots are engineered by certain, especially Sangh Parivar, forces while other political and administrative forces allow this to happen. It is the responsibility of the civil society and media to come forward to expose this nexus which is a blot on the face of our democracy. There is a movement now against corruption but the equally dangerous poison of communalism continues to be ignored and tolerated.
Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill
The AIMMM notes with regret that both Congress and BJP conspired to prevent the passage of the Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill in the current session of Parliament while both cooperated to get the watered-down Lokpal bill passed. The Communal violence bill too has been watered-down but even in its present form it will make the local administration accountable, which will be an important step to check riots. AIMMM believes that both BJP and Congress have an interest to let things continue as they are as both benefit from the outcome of communal riots and both are united to prevent the Muslim community from enjoying peace and communal harmony needed for progress and prosperity.
Islamic finance
Islamic, or ethical, finance and banking has become an accepted mode of alternative finance in many parts of the world. Of late, UK has decided to become the hub of Islamic finance which offers an alternative to the interest-based exploitative commercial lending. Despite various assurances by Indian politicians including Prime Minster Manmohan Singh and recommendations of the Committee on Financial Sector Reforms of the Planning Commission (2008), whose chairman is now the governor of RBI, the Indian government continues to drag its feet in this field. It is time India took a brave step to allow this form of financial activity to break the vicious circle of private and corporate money-lenders and offer a large segment of the Indian population a chance to invest and participate in the financial sector with clear conscience.
Article 370
BJP’s prime-ministerial candidate has suggested  a debate over Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which binds Jammu & Kashmir with India. AIMMM reiterates that no attempt should be made to change the constitutional guarantees given to J&K. Any attempt to do so will only antagonise a large section of J&K people, both Muslims and Hindus, which in turn will reopen the question of the accession of the state to the Indian Union. Such a mayhem suits BJP since it marvels in fishing in muddy waters, but the whole country will suffer from the repercussions of such an attempt to tamper with Article 370 which binds J&K with India.

Homosexuality -- Article 377
The AIMMM welcomes the decision of the Supreme Court of India to overturn the 2009 Delhi High Court decision and order to continue criminalisation of unnatural sexual relations under Article 377. The AIMMM warns certain elements in Indian civil society and political parties to desist from removing or altering Article 377 as it will be a betrayal to the customs, traditions and beliefs of an overwhelming majority of Indians and rejection of the teachings of all religions and creeds prevailing in India.
Village Defence Committees
Government-sponsored and protected VDCs in J&K, especially in Chenab valley, are terrorising the local population. Out of 12,709 armed members of the VDCs in Chenab valley alone, 11,745 are Hindus which does not reflect the ground reality. This illegal militia openly misuses its officially-provided arms and this was very clear during the Eidul Fitr riots in Kishtwar last August. For communal peace and tranquility, this illegal entity should be disbanded forthwith and the state should desist from relegating the role of police and security agencies to unaccountable entities.
Persian and Arabic
AIMMM notes with pain and dismay that the UPSC has dropped Arabic and Persian languages from the list of permitted languages for public service exams while almost dead or limited-use languages are kept on the list. Persian is very important for our country as it was the official language for almost seven centuries and all our official and private records of the pre-1857 period are in Persian. Arabic, on the other hand, is the official language of 23 countries in the Middle East and North Africa with which we have strong commercial and cultural relations. Any dilution of the importance of these two languages will only harm our own country.
Bangladesh
AIMMM condemns the judicial murder of Abdul Qadir Molla by the government of Hasina Wajed in Bangladesh using a controversial verdict issued by a discredited tribunal. The hasty execution of a prominent leader of Jamaate-Islami Bangladesh is a scandal and crime committed by an unpopular government which is about to be overthrown by the people of Bangladesh in the forthcoming general elections. The present government by its hurried execution of a controversial order by a politicised tribunal is only seeking to weaken opposition forces. AIMMM believes that it was totally unfair to revive closed cases after four decades defying the decision of the first President of Bangladesh. AIMMM appeals to international human rights organisations to take the Bangladesh government and its discredited tribunal to the International Court of Justice as sanity and good counsel have failed to bring the present rulers of Bangladesh to their senses.
Angola
AIMMM is deeply concerned about the treatment of Muslims in Angola and the reported outlawing of Islam in Angola on the plea that the believers of Islam are less than one hundred thousand in that country. AIMMM believes that the criterion fixed by the Government of Angola to recognise a religion is artificial if not outright malicious. AIMMM appeals to the Government of Angola to revise its decision and to accord its Muslim citizens the freedom of religion which is part of the universally-agreed human and civil rights of people in all countries.
Egypt
AIMMM notes that the ruling junta in Egypt is trying to create a new constitution while only last year the country had voted for and adopted a constitution in a free and fair referendum. Overthrow of elected governments is unacceptable in today’s world and popular forces cannot be outlawed by a constitution written by a narrow-based “liberal” westernised elite. The Egyptian army should unconditionally return to the barracks and allow the elected and legal president of the country to resume his duties. 
Gaza Strip
The inhuman and illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza strip continues since 2007. The people in Gaza Strip are suffering and dying as a result of this illegal siege. The people of Gaza had a brief respite under President Morsi of Egypt but since the military coup last July, things have returned to a situation worse than Mubarak days because the army has destroyed most of the tunnels between Gaza and Sinai which were a lifeline for the people of Gaza. Gaza is in dire need of world support to survive and to defeat the brutal Israeli blockade.
  
Syria
AIMMM observes with pain the continued civil war and blood-letting in Syria as a result of foreign support to both sides of the conflict. The situation is worsened by the entry of Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists of the so-called “Islamic State of Iraq & Syria” who have muddled a just struggle against a sectarian and dictatorial regime. The AIMMM supports the struggle of the people of Syria to free themselves from the yoke of the sectarian Ba’athist dictatorship and appeals to foreign forces to stop meddling in the affairs of Syria and desist from giving it a sectarian colour.
[end]
Photographsof this meeting are available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mushawarat/  [first two rows]

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