The newly formed Anti-Communal Front, a wing of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC), held its first conference at Lucknow at Gandhi Bhavan on October 28. The focus was on ‘Uttar Pradesh: sampradayikta virodh ki naee ranbhoomi’.
Speaking on the occasion, Amaresh Misra, historian and the convener of the Front, said communal forces in whichever party, even the Congress, will be defeated decisively. In UP, Misra advocated aggressive secularism and an uncompromising, political struggle against communalism.
Tariq Shafique, an activist from Azamgarh presented a written documented report on police atrocities in Azamgarh. He presented the harrowing spectacle of 31 boys affected from Azamgarh district alone. Among these, 18 are in jail in various states – Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi and UP; 11 boys are missing – there are rewards of Rs. 5 lakh and more on the head of 16 and 18 year old boys!
Digvijay Singh, General Secretary All India Congress Committee (AICC) admitted that communal forces had infiltrated the system from 1989 onwards when non-Congress Governments were in power. He added that it seems that innocent Muslim boys were picked up and framed by security agencies in the wake of the Batla tragedy.
Mr. Singh promised that the matter will be taken up at the highest level by the Congress – the cases of Muslim boys picked up from Azamgarh and other UP districts will be handed over to the National Investigative Agency being set up by the UPA Government – and if it is found that Muslim boys were framed “they will be set free”.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Mahesh Bhatt emphasised that justice needs to be done otherwise people’s faith in the Indian Constitution will be shaken. Other speakers included Zafar Ali Naqvi, Congress MP from Lakhimpur Kheri, Rashid Alavi, Rajya Sabha MP and Rita Joshi Bahuguna.