There is civil rights violation everywhere in Egypt. Where are human rights activists? It is the oppressed who need help and solidarity, not the oppressors. The achievements of the toppled president Mohamed Morsi government during one year regime were unbelievable. President Morsi took several steps to consolidate the economy of the country. Can anyone here recall any government having given development of this magnitude to a country in a year? The military government is buying some puppets and it is to be seen who is selling himself. If we support the military government in Egypt, it would surely supress every democratic movement in future. These are the views Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, President Jamaat-e-Islami Hind expressed while presiding over a public meeting for restoration of democracy, freedom, justice and human rights in Egypt at Indian Social Institute in the capital on 21 September. The meeting was organised by Forum for Solidarity with Egyptian People in collaboration with JIH, SIO, Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, All India Milli Council, Majlis Ulema Hind and Egypt Solidarity Forum.
The convenor of the programme and Secretary JIH Mohammad Ahmad wondered how the military can topple a democratically elected government and kill thousands of pro-democracy activists. He put a big question mark on the silence of pro-democracy people and countries, adding that the issue of Syria was deliberately raised to blanket the military brutality in Egypt.
Briefing the situation prevailing in Egypt, Dr. SQR Ilyas, General Secretary Welfare Party of India, said the silence of Indian politicians, newspapers and news analysts and others is part of the conspiracy. They say the military has mirrored the public demand over failure of Morsi government and that president Morsi was struggling to impose the policies of MB on pan country which was not mandated by the public. The Indian government and others say that it is the internal matter of a country and it cannot intervene in it. But the history suggests that the country has extended its full support to the people fighting for democracy in South Africa. Not to go long back, New Delhi extended its full support to the democratic movement of Bangladesh and sent its Army for the purpose. Then the country’s statement that it will not interfere in the “internal matters” of Egypt is unjustifiable.
Dr. Ilyas took a dig while saying that it is tragedy that the person democratically elected by the people is now behind bars while the person whom the whole protest was aimed at is free. He further added that the economic prosperity of the country was pilot projected during the Morsi regime and soon after his election as president he visited China and other countries for the purpose. It compelled the Israeli government to give way for humanitarian assistance to reach Gaza. Even if we say the government failed on some fronts yet this was not the way to replace it. There was the option of ballet box. If the move is not stopped, this will be the greatest threat not only to the Muslim countries but also to all democratic countries.
Addressing the gathering, Ravi Nair of South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre said it was undoubtedly a coup; Morsi is not former president, he is the president even now and what is happening in Egypt is not an internal affair; it is a matter of global interest. The Indian government earlier interfered in ‘internal’ matters of some countries and got Fiji excluded from Common Wealth. We should also knock the door of every political party and get an all-party resolution passed in this running parliament session. Egypt is a scapegoat and the next are Hamas and Hezbollah. It was part of a planned conspiracy.
Speaking on the occasion, Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani, Gen. Sec. Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind stated that the media is puppet in the hands of some biased and partial parties; that is why they supported the coup in Egypt. This is the nadir of heartlessness that a number of people stand with the unjustified military government and provide monetary support.
Ashfaq Shariff, National President Students Islamic Organisation of India, said that human rights and democracy have been the two integral issues of every symposium and public gathering in this 21st century but the more we discuss the issue the greater becomes the violation of these rights. What is happening in Egypt is not only undemocratic but also the violation of human rights of a common man on a larger scale. We see the youngsters in Egypt are on forefront of the anti-coup government. This is a lesson for Indian youth and they should come forward to uproot all evils.
Parwaz Rehmani, Editor-in-Chief of Urdu Biweekly Dawat, said if the USA, Saudi Arabia, Israel and others prop up the military government, they took Egypt as a threat to their larger interest. But why politicians and news analysts say this is beyond explanation. I think they say so because they know about Islam what the West taught them. The commentators must study Islam with its original sources before criticising it and struggling to denigrate it. The thinking people must think over why the USA does not want the Islamists to come to power even through the democratic way.
Prof. AK Ramakrishnan of Centre for West Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, started his speech recalling his stay in Egypt during “dictatorial regime” of Hosni Mubarak, saying that he knew the meaning and value of democracy. He added that it is surprising how the so-called pro-democracy people can support the military government to save democracy. The military coup is a military coup and no military can save democracy in any country. And in Egypt also the military butchered the civilians. The Freedom and Justice Party is having an excellent and unparalleled civic plan giving each citizen his rights. He further added that when he visited Egypt last year, he found a tremendous change in the country especially in the fields of economy as compared to that in Mubarak’s regime.
Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, president All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat and Editor Milli Gazette said on the occasion that no Islamic party ever tried to grab power using force. They always come to power through democratic ways – in Palestine, Turkey and most recently in Egypt. Then why the world especially the West creates hurdles in their ways. Giving the example of Turkey, the speaker said the Islamist governments have always contributed to the world economy. Turkey was debt-ridden before the Islamists came to power but now it lends to the IMF and is among nine richest countries of the world, adding, President Morsi was not imposing Islam on others. He further added that the Vice President of FJP was a Christian and there was full freedom for every religion.