Muhammad Salim Engineer, Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, while addressing the monthly press briefing at JIH headquarters on February 2 strongly criticised the government’s recent move and its overall role in the Babri Masjid case and the application moved by the Central Government in the Supreme Court regarding the Babri Masjid dispute in Ayodhya is just like the government acting like a party in the case and trying to put forward the agenda of the Sangh and its affiliates while keeping eye on the coming elections.
According to the press statement issued to the press, “Jamaat feels that the government should not forgo its basic constitutional obligations and must withdraw its application pertaining to returning the excess land from the 67.7 acre land around Babri Masjid. The government must honour the stay by the Court and refrain from taking any step which goes against justice and remains suspicious in the eyes of people and which will sully the image of India internationally. Jamaat wishes to remind the government of its bounden duty to establish peace in the country and work hard for the development and prosperity of our nation.”
On the interim Budget, the Jamaat claimed that the budget has not addressed the most difficult challenges faced by the people and instead tried to salvage the sagging image of the government by making big announcement without giving second thought on the source of revenue to fulfil the promises made during the budget. The budget once again neglected the minorities and did not take care of their aspirations and expectations. The allocation of the budget on education and health has not been satisfactory and on the desired line.
On the question of SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the JIH National Affairs Secretary Mohamed Ahmed said, “We welcome it and want an alliance of like-minded parties which can defeat the fascist forces. We are in contact with many political players and will be coming out with our own people’s manifesto which we will present to political parties to be included as a charter of demands from the citizens of this country. Earlier Media In-charge Arshad Shaikh briefed the media on Jamaat’s stand on the interim budget, Muzaffarnagar case withdrawal by UP government and the Meghalaya Coal Mine tragedy.