03-20-2006, 12:47 AM
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Composite nationalism gone awry?: Indian Muslims meet to form exclusively Muslim group
* Secular and Hindu parties indifferent to Muslimsâ concerns
By Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: Representatives of over 300 Muslim organisations from all over India converged here on Saturday, pledging to forge a united front to seek political empowerment and support for a Muslim agenda from political parties ahead of elections in five states next month.
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Delhiâs historic Jamia Masjid, who had convened the conference called for an alliance of all sections and Muslim organisations to form an exclusively âMuslim political groupâ. Outlining the contours of new grouping, he said it would be open for Hindus and other communities like Akali Dal, but stressed that the initiative would remain with the Muslims.
Moderate faction of separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Gani Bhat, who arrived here on Friday after his two-month stay in Pakistan, also attended the conference. Besides representatives of the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal also attended the daylong meeting.
While the Congress representative Mukhul Wasnik was booed by the audience for not promising restoration of minority character to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), a section forced the SP leader Amar Singh to make a hasty retreat when he tried to remind the audience the bounties his party and the Utter Pradesh (UP) government has showered on minorities.
âActually the communityâs rank and file has always been united, but the leaders have not been. Our attempt is to bring them together to put up a united fight for Muslim rights,â Bukhari said in his inaugural address. âUntil now we have only begged for what is due to us. We shall not do that any more. We are ready to fight,â he stated. Bukharai later told reporters that Muslims have tested all political parties. He said the Muslim community even voted for the BJP also in 1977 and 1989 but neither the secularists nor others attended to their social, economic and educational needs.
Voicing disillusionment with the present political scenario, Bukhari said political groups have have harmed and dishonoured the millions of Muslims in the country. He urged Muslims not to rely on any of the national groups. âWe cannot trust the Congress or any other political groupâs claim of being secular. We have to be united and raise our own voice for a better future,â he stated. While reading out the agenda for the meeting, Babri Masjid Action Committee leader Advocate Zafaryab Jilani demanded an end to terrorism committed both by the government and public and called for a solution through dialogue.
Jilani said Indian Muslims needed more job guarantees because of their social and economic backwardness and asked the government to ensure the continuance of the minority status of the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh. âWhat is important is that the Muslim community is not adequately represented in the decision-making process in the country despite its large numbers, be it bureaucracy or anything else, there are very few Muslims,â he said.
âThe other tragedy is that rightwing groups in this country are always opposing anything good the government tries to do for Muslims. They also pollute the minds of the media and ordinary Hindus in the process. Such forces need to be isolated, and this is the job of the government and secular parties,â he stated.
A nine-point agenda circulated at the meeting demanded that 18 percent budget of the national education policy be specified for eradication of the educational backwardness of the Muslim community.
It also demanded the establishment of a central wakf council with adequate powers and a reserve fund of Rs 10 billion to liberate millions of wakf properties. The agenda also mentioned the establishment of a central madrassa board and new educational and technical institutions in the Muslim majority districts. It demanded that the core fund for Minorities Financial Development Corporation be increased from Rs 3 billion to Rs 10 billion. Jamait Ulemai Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madni, vice-president of Jamaat Islami Hind Mohammad Shafi Munis, general secretary of Majlis Mushwarat Maulana Ameeduzaman Kairinavi, top Islamic scholar Sheikh Abu-Baker Qadri, Bharti Majlis chief Jaweed Habib and Maulana Fazul-Qasmi were some of the prominent Indian Muslim leaders who attended the daylong meeting.
Composite nationalism gone awry?: Indian Muslims meet to form exclusively Muslim group
* Secular and Hindu parties indifferent to Muslimsâ concerns
By Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: Representatives of over 300 Muslim organisations from all over India converged here on Saturday, pledging to forge a united front to seek political empowerment and support for a Muslim agenda from political parties ahead of elections in five states next month.
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Delhiâs historic Jamia Masjid, who had convened the conference called for an alliance of all sections and Muslim organisations to form an exclusively âMuslim political groupâ. Outlining the contours of new grouping, he said it would be open for Hindus and other communities like Akali Dal, but stressed that the initiative would remain with the Muslims.
Moderate faction of separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Gani Bhat, who arrived here on Friday after his two-month stay in Pakistan, also attended the conference. Besides representatives of the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal also attended the daylong meeting.
While the Congress representative Mukhul Wasnik was booed by the audience for not promising restoration of minority character to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), a section forced the SP leader Amar Singh to make a hasty retreat when he tried to remind the audience the bounties his party and the Utter Pradesh (UP) government has showered on minorities.
âActually the communityâs rank and file has always been united, but the leaders have not been. Our attempt is to bring them together to put up a united fight for Muslim rights,â Bukhari said in his inaugural address. âUntil now we have only begged for what is due to us. We shall not do that any more. We are ready to fight,â he stated. Bukharai later told reporters that Muslims have tested all political parties. He said the Muslim community even voted for the BJP also in 1977 and 1989 but neither the secularists nor others attended to their social, economic and educational needs.
Voicing disillusionment with the present political scenario, Bukhari said political groups have have harmed and dishonoured the millions of Muslims in the country. He urged Muslims not to rely on any of the national groups. âWe cannot trust the Congress or any other political groupâs claim of being secular. We have to be united and raise our own voice for a better future,â he stated. While reading out the agenda for the meeting, Babri Masjid Action Committee leader Advocate Zafaryab Jilani demanded an end to terrorism committed both by the government and public and called for a solution through dialogue.
Jilani said Indian Muslims needed more job guarantees because of their social and economic backwardness and asked the government to ensure the continuance of the minority status of the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh. âWhat is important is that the Muslim community is not adequately represented in the decision-making process in the country despite its large numbers, be it bureaucracy or anything else, there are very few Muslims,â he said.
âThe other tragedy is that rightwing groups in this country are always opposing anything good the government tries to do for Muslims. They also pollute the minds of the media and ordinary Hindus in the process. Such forces need to be isolated, and this is the job of the government and secular parties,â he stated.
A nine-point agenda circulated at the meeting demanded that 18 percent budget of the national education policy be specified for eradication of the educational backwardness of the Muslim community.
It also demanded the establishment of a central wakf council with adequate powers and a reserve fund of Rs 10 billion to liberate millions of wakf properties. The agenda also mentioned the establishment of a central madrassa board and new educational and technical institutions in the Muslim majority districts. It demanded that the core fund for Minorities Financial Development Corporation be increased from Rs 3 billion to Rs 10 billion. Jamait Ulemai Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madni, vice-president of Jamaat Islami Hind Mohammad Shafi Munis, general secretary of Majlis Mushwarat Maulana Ameeduzaman Kairinavi, top Islamic scholar Sheikh Abu-Baker Qadri, Bharti Majlis chief Jaweed Habib and Maulana Fazul-Qasmi were some of the prominent Indian Muslim leaders who attended the daylong meeting.