The Markazi Majlis (Central Committee) of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, the umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations, met in the Capital on June 13, under the chairmanship of the national president Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan.
The AIMMM adopted a number of resolutions on the current national and international situation. In a resolution on the general elections, it welcomed the result of the polls, particularly the defeat of the communal forces and the formation of a secular government under the leadership of the INC. It expressed hope that an unfettered UPA will be able to implement the policies and intent announced by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has said that Muslims on account of their backwardness should have the first claim on resources.
The AIMMM said that the generosity or otherwise of the Congress-led UPA government will decide if the Muslim return to the fold of the Congress is permanent or not. The AIMMM expressed it disappointment that very few Muslims were elected to the Lok Sabha raising the Muslim deprivation level to nearly 60% for various reasons, including the denial of tickets by secular parties and the contest among them in Muslim concentration seats and the division of Muslim votes. Indeed, eight states in which the Muslims are concentrated have recorded even higher level of deprivation. The AIMMM noted with dismay that while the Muslim electorate had played a notable role in defeating the communal forces and thus ensuring the formation of a secular government at the Centre, it has been under-represented in the constitution of the Council of Ministers.
The AIMMM further said that it has decided to organise, in cooperation with other Muslim organisations of national eminence, a National Muslim Political Convention in Aug-September 2009 for consultation inter alia on advocating necessary changes in the political and electoral systems so that the Muslim and all deprived groups can be adequately represented. For this purpose a preparatory committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Syed Shahabuddin, Convenor of the Joint Committee of Muslim Organisations for Empowerment (JCMOE).
In a resolution on Reservation for Women, the AIMMM welcomed the move while cautioning that this should not prove to be a backdoor for the forward castes and the rich to grab more seats in the legislatures. Therefore, the resolution said, it is necessary to provide within any agreed quota for women sub-quotas for the marginalised sections including a specific sub-quota for Muslim women.
The AIMMM welcomed US President Barak Obama’s speech to the Muslim World at Cairo on June 4 and considered it a good beginning and an attempt to open a new leaf in relations with the Muslim World after eight years of a totally unnecessary crusade against Islam and Muslims under President Bush in the name of fighting terrorism. After this good beginning, the resolution said, the American administration will have to prove its sincerity by actions to show that it is serious about mending fences with the Muslims around the world. If it does so, the resolution said, it will find an enthusiastic response from the World of Islam which has no reason to be at war with the West.
The AIMMM condemned the Israeli threats to Iran and Gaza Strip and said that the fact is that while Iran has signed the NPT, it allows IAEA inspectors to inspect and place cameras in its nuclear facilities and there is no evidence that Iran has nuclear weaponisation plans, Israel on the other hand keeps a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons. The AIMMM resolution further said that the fact is that Israel does not want any other country in the Middle East to challenge its hegemony and total control over the region and this is why it destroyed Iraq’s nuclear facility in 1982 and Syria’s last year. “This goondaism continues with the blind support Israel gets from the West in general and the United States in particular. At the same time, Israel continues to threaten the defenceless and impoverished Gaza Strip with another brutal attack on the lines of its earlier aggression of December 2008-January 2009,” the resolution said.
The AIMMM expressed its dismay at the precipitate announcement of the Minister of Minority Affairs that reservation for Muslims is not possible unless the Constitution is changed and said, “The basis of reservation is backwardness of a segment of society and this has been proved by the marathon exercise of the Prime Minister’s own committee headed by a former chief justice of a high court while the reservation for the minorities including Muslims was recommended by an official commission headed by no less than a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of India with the membership of some of our famous legal experts who cannot be ignorant of what the Constitution and polity of India allows or disallows.”
The AIMMM rejected this announcement and said that it “smacks of using a Muslim to nullify a genuine right of the Muslim community just as Muslims were used to nullify reservation and status of Urdu in the Constituent Assembly shortly after Independence.” The resolution further said that burying the Mishra Report without tabling it in Parliament will be a betrayal which the Muslim community will not forget or forgive.
On the issue of terrorism, the AIMMM noted that “while open arms-training by Hindutva gangs continues, Bajrang Dal announces to recruit 25 lakh more workers, Abhinav Bharat terrorist organisation is still functioning and its leaders are at large, the Bhonsala school where the Hindutva terrorists received armed training still functions as if nothing has happened, and Hindutva terrorists are extending their activities to the neighbouring Nepal, arbitrary arrests of Muslim youths in the name of unknown and unproven outfits continues, Muslim youths are routinely acquitted by courts after years of incarceration but without a word of apology or compensation for smashing their careers. The AIMMM urged the central government to “fix a uniform compensation for innocents whose lives and careers are destroyed as a result of prolonged incarceration.”
The AIMMM further said that if the powers that be are serious to fight terrorism, they must also check state-terrorism as it breeds what they claim to check. The AIMMM registered its alarm that Gujarat under Modi has become the hub where plots are hatched in the name of fighting “terrorism” to kidnap Muslim youths from various parts of the country and take them to the torture cells in Gujarat. The AIMMM said that the latest plot of the Modi government with the cooperation of other BJP-ruled states is to initiate a witch-hunt against Muslim youths who may have been at any time in the past associated in any way with the banned SIMI. The AIMMM condemned this witch-hunt and considered the Union Home Ministry responsible for condoning Modi government’s machinations against the Muslim community in the name of fighting “terrorism”.
In the context of the shameful incident of Shopian and AFPSA, the AIMMM condemned the continued violation of human rights of Kashmiri civilians by the army and security forces in Kashmir and called for the withdrawal of the army and paramilitary forces from the towns and villages of Kashmir. The AIMMM also demanded the earliest repeal of the notorious AFPSA law in both Kashmir and the Northeast as it breeds a culture of lawlessness and unaccountability on the part of the armed forces which as a matter of principle must not be used against civilian populations anywhere in the country.
The AIMMM also warned the UPA government not to be tempted by its majority to implement the so-called “reforms” on the IMF pattern or pro-rich policies. It said that the pro-rich economic model has failed in the West and we should not think that it will succeed in India.
The AIMMM also asked the UPA government to open the doors for the Islamic finance which promotes participation and accountability and discourages greed which is at the heart of the failed capitalist model.
The Mushawarat meeting was attended by the following members of the Central Majlis: Mr. Syed Shahabuddin, Maulana Ejaz Ahmed Aslam, Dr. Abdul Haq Ansari, Maulana Mohammad Shafi Moonis, Mr. Nusrat Ali, Mr. Amanullah Khan, Dr. N. Rasul Siddiqui, Mr. Abdul Rashid Agwan, Prof. Mateen Ahmad Siddiqui, Mr. Mohammad Zaki Ansari, Mr. Akbar H. Jung, Mr. Ahmad Rasheed Shervani, Mrs. Nusrat Sherwani, Mr. Navaid Hamid, Prof. Habibur Rahman, Maulana Mohammad Shaib Koti, Dr. S.Q. R. Ilyas and the following special invitees: Dr. Ayaz Ahmad Islahi (Lucknow), Mr Zafar H. Jung (Delhi) and Mr Syed Irshad Ali (Bhopal).
The meeting also offered condolences and prayers for the national and community figures who have departed in recent months, including Golam Osmani, MP and member AIMMM from Assam, Prof Zafar Ahmad Nizami, poet, author and chairman of Jamia Millia’s Political Science Department; Maulana Sayyid Sibt-E Hasan Razvi Qa’im Najafi, a noted Shia scholar; Prof Qamar Raees, distinguished Urdu critic, writer and poet; Maulana Raeesul Ahrar Nadwi, distinguished scholar and Shaikhul Hadith of Jamia Salafia, Banaras; Maulana Abdul Hannan Qasmi, distinguished religious scholar; Raees Ahmad Jafri, noted Urdu journalist of Kolkata; Noted playwright and theatre personality Habib Tanvir; Kamala Surayya, noted writer and poetess from Kerala; Abul Mujahid Zahid, distinguished Urdu poet; Khan Abdul Wadood Khan, writer and author; Abdus Salam Khan, scholar of Arabic and Islam of Rampur; PK Abdur Razzaq Madni, scholar and author, state secretary of Kerala Navatul Mhujahidin; Ghulam Nabi Kochak, former J&K minister and leader of Awami National Conference; and Maulana Mohammad Ahmad Khatibi, former Qazi of Bhatkal.