Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has expressed deep sorrow at the loss of human lives and properties caused by the most devastating flood in last 60 years in Jammu and Kashmir and showed solidarity with the people of Kashmir. Mr. Nusrat Ali, Sec-Gen. of JIH, while terming the situation in Kashmir extremely serious said the people of Kashmir today deserve sympathies and urgent help from the government and people of the country. There is also a need for public support and good planning for rescue and relief.
The JIH leader said that along with relief work at a large scale, the state and central governments should also find out if imbalanced development programmes of the governments and inappropriate or wrong planning are responsible for the worst flood in Kashmir. If found true, then planning should be made to save the people of Kashmir from such disasters in future and action should be immediately started to execute the plan.
PROTEST AGAINST INSUFFICIENT RESCUE OPERATION IN KASHMIR
Muslim scholars including Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, President All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat and Dr. Zafar Mahmud of Zakat Foundation of India, staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in the capital on 10 September against insufficient relief camps and rescue operation being carried by the Government in Jammu & Kashmir. They expressed concern over lethargic rescue operation and insufficient relief camps, and expressed solidarity with the flood-affected people in Kashmir.
JIH TAKES INITIATIVE FOR PEACE, COMMUNAL HARMONY IN VADODARA
With an aim to establish peace and communal harmony in the city, the Vadodara unit of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind took out peace rallies and distributed roses at crowded commercial streets in different areas like Pani Gate, Mandvi Gate and Juni Gadi. Under the leadership of JIH, people belonging to both Muslim and Hindu communities stood with the placards appealing to people to keep calm during the ongoing Ganesha festival and urging the masses to promote communal harmony.
Shaukat Indori, the president of JIH’s city Unit said that Vadodara has a history of communal tensions especially during the rituals of Ganesha immersion. Moreover, a total of 15 riots were reported during the last four months which was another cause of worry. He added that the JIH was wary of the situation and made efforts in uniting the Muslim community to play a role of responsible citizens. They had subsequently led a delegation and submitted a memorandum to the Police Commissioner of the City on 2 September.
JIH SEC-GEN. WRITES TO HOME MINISTER OVER HATE CAMPAIGN AGAINST MINORITIES
Mr. Nusrat Ali, Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, has written a to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh over the spurt in saffron hate campaign against minorities, particularly Muslims since BJP came to power at the Centre in May this year. In his three-page letter sent to Mr. Singh on 10 September, the JIH leader said the hate campaign will not only harm the plural and secular character of the country but also obstruct the development plans of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He urged the government to follow Raj Dharma and reassure constitutional rights of minorities and stressed that without taking all communities along, India cannot develop and progress.
DEOBAND CONDEMNS ‘LOVE JIHAD,’ SAYS SUCH MARRIAGES ARE ILLEGAL
Darul Uloom Deoband, one of the most influential Islamic seminaries, condemned “love jihad,” a headline-grabbing name given by Sangh Parivar organisations for inter-religious marriages that are allegedly a ruse for conversion, on 12 September. Without naming any political party, the seminary said the “bogey of ‘love jihad’” was being raised by people with vested interests. The Islamic seminary termed “illegal” marriages with Hindu girls after their forcible conversion to Islam.
Ashraf Usmani, press secretary of the seminary, was reported as saying that Islam did not allow such marriages. “It would be an illegitimate and illegal act to dupe a Hindu girl and forcibly convert her through marriage. In our view, forced conversion of a girl or a boy just to get married was unacceptable. “How can ‘love jihad’ be acceptable? Islam treats women with utmost respect. It does not allow boys to flirt with girls. How can it allow them to forcibly convert women of other faiths,” he wondered. Leading Muslim scholars and intellectuals have welcomed the official stand taken by Islamic seminary at Deoband on ‘Love Jihad’.
SUSPECTED ‘HINDUTVA TERRORIST’ INJURED IN A BOMB EXPLOSION IN KERALA
A suspected Hindutva terrorist was reported to have been severely injured when a bomb was prematurely exploded at his house at Kooleri under the Mattannur police station limits in Kannur, Kerala on 10 September. The injured suspected terrorist has been identified as 21-year-old RSS worker Nikhil, son of Kunnummal Pavithran. A large cache of explosives was found at his damaged house after the blast. It is suspected that he was making bombs to carryout terror attacks in the region.
Both the palms of Nikhil were nearly severed in the blast that occurred in the house at around 4 p.m., the police said. He was rushed to a hospital in Kozhikode. The explosion was suspected to have occurred when he was making country-made bombs at the veranda of the house. The house also suffered damage in the blast. No one was in the house at the time of the explosion, the police added.
BOMB BLASTS IN A RENTED HOUSE IN BIJNOR
In a shocking incident, a bomb reportedly exploded in the house of one Nilu Devi (80) in which four youth were living on rent for the last three months. One of the tenants was badly injured. The incident took place in Mohalla Jatan of Bijnor in UP on 12 September. Explosives, laptops, a matchbox and two copies of the holy Qur’ān are said to have been seized by the police from the site of bomb blast. Meanwhile, Nilu Devi was cited as saying that those who lived in her house belonged to the Hindu community. Local people said it was a plot to create communal atmosphere.
MINORITIES’ PANEL SHOULD REMAIN INDEPENDENT: NARIMAN
Speaking on ‘Minorities at Crossroads: Comments on Judicial Pronouncements’ at the seventh annual lecture of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on 12 September, distinguished jurist Fali S. Nariman said: “We have been hearing on television and reading in newspapers almost on a daily basis a tirade by one or more individuals or groups against one or another section of citizens who belong to a religious minority and the criticism has been that the majority government at the Centre has done nothing to stop this tirade. I agree.”
He said that while the government would “advance its own political interests,” the commission should be independent – Parliament had created it so. “Though it receives grants from the government, it is not expected to be a mere mouthpiece,” Mr. Nariman stated.
“How does one protect the interest of minorities who are spoken against in derogatory language? The answer is by invoking the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. Otherwise the commission is not fulfilling its main task which is protection of the interests of the minorities,” he said.
MUSLIM BODY REJECTS AL-QAEDA EXPANSION CALL
All India Sunni Jam-iyyathul Ulama, a Muslim organisation in Kerala, has asked the community to reject the reported call of Al-Qaeda to expand its activities in India. The call would not have any impact in the country, the organisation’s General Secretary Kanthapuram A P Abubaker Musaliar reportedly said at a function held at Thiruvananthapuram on 12 September. The country’s constitution is strong enough to protect the interest of minorities and there is no need for any help of any external forces, he said.
SIO HOLDS FREE MEDICAL CHECKUP CAMP
On 11 September, Students Islamic Organisation of India, Muradnagar, held a free medical checkup camp and provided the patients with medicines free of cost with the support of ITS Hospital at Madrastul Falah, Muradnagar. The principal, Shafeeq Ahmad and local leader of SIO Shahnawaz Ahmad said that 250 students and 260 others got benefited with this facility. The local in-charge of ITS Hospital, Apista Menon and Rajiv Kumar confirmed that all the registered persons were checked up in a good manner and provided medicines. In order to reach out people, the camp was been widely advertised.