Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Rajasthan on August 22 organised a press conference to condemn the violence being perpetrated in Assam for the past over two months. Addressing the press conference, the National Secretary of JIH, Dr. Mohammad Saleem Engineer extended commiserations to all the victims, whether belonging to the Muslim community or Bodo tribe. He said, “We strongly condemn what is happening in Assam for the past over two months and we extend our moral support and sympathy to the victims of this violence, whether Bodos, Muslims or any other community. It hurts that even after 65 years of independence minorities in the country, especially Muslims, are feeling insecure. In Assam, the Bodo tribe killed Muslims on a large scale and burnt their houses which eventually forced them to leave their homes. So far thousands of innocents have been killed and more than four lakh people have been displaced who are now living in 300 make-shift camps.
“We believe that the tribal riot has been moulded into communal riot by the fascist and communal forces. It is also suspicious as to why the Assam government treated the matter as trivial and did not call army to control it. Some politicians believe the problem is because of the Bengali-speaking Muslims who are migrants from Bangladesh; however it is a proven truth that the Bengali-speaking Muslims have been living in Assam for more than 200 years and are very much the natives of Assam in every sense. We urge the Assam government to take strong measures for the security of Muslims and press state and central government to increase the compensation, which has been announced as 2 and 6 lakh, to make it at par with the compensations of 1984 riots victims. Arrangements for the return of the Muslims to their homes should be made at the earliest and a permanent solution of the Bodo-Muslim conflict be reached at through talks so as to make the region peaceful.”
The Jamaat leader also condemned those behind rumours in Bangalore. He said whoever is doing it are enemies of the country and want to meet their own goals by brewing tensions within the citizens. He demanded the government to take strong actions against those who did it and punish them sternly. JIH along with the SIO (Students Islamic Organisation), JIH’s Student wing, met those fleeing the state and instilled confidence in them to stay back.
Relief teams of JIH are doing their bit in helping the ones in need. JIH has so far provided relief in 24 camps. Following are the details of the relief work done by JIH.
- More than 3000 people have been provided medical assistance.
- 15000 families (75000 people) have been provided with cooking utensils, mosquito net, baby food, clothes for kids and adults, Iftar and Eid Kits and other packets of eatables.
- So far 45 lakh rupees has been spent on the relief work.
In the past couple of days, some TV channels, in connivance with other organisations, called Jamaat-e-Islami a terrorist organisation and reported that Jamaat-e-Islami has taken money from ISI for spreading rumours in Bangalore. When JIH asked for proof, they said by Jamaat-e-Islami they meant “Pakistan-based Jamaat-e-Islami.” Some TV channels have made correction; however there are some who are telecasting without change, which again is causing confusion and suspicion.
The Jamaat leader vehemently censured the act of the TV channels and termed it as a conspiracy to make Jamaat lose its credibility among the masses and hence fail to collect funds for the relief of the victims. He also demanded that the TV channels should make it clear that by mentioning Jamaat-e-Islami they do not mean Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. He also said to the media persons in the press conference that while reporting or making news they should make sure that their way of writing and language should not convey the things the other way round.