Amid concerns over rise in jihadi activities in the state, the message at the anti-terrorism convention organised by the Assam State Jamiat Ulama here on 20 November was loud and clear — a person cannot be a Muslim and a terrorist at the same time because Islam never professes terror.
Reiterating its fatwa against terrorism issued in 2008, the convention on Thursday categorically said it was unjustified to target or view the entire Muslim community as anti-national for a few who had been arrested for terror links. A large number of Islamic scholars, social activists and intellectuals attended the event.
ISLAM NEVER SUPPORTS TERRORISM: TNTJ
A large number of men, women and children, owing allegiance to Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaath (TNTJ), formed a human chain on 17 November to protest against terrorism. As part of the State-wide agitation, more than 2,000 people from all parts of the district participated in the human chain formed from Thondi to Nambuthalai, covering a distance of one kilometre and a half. The participants, particularly women and children, held placards, denouncing terrorism.
TNTJ south district president Samsudhin, secretary S. Ahmed, north district president Abdul Hameed and secretary Halibullah were among those who formed the human chain. Addressing the protesters, the leaders said Islam preached peace and humaneness and never supported terrorism. Unfortunately, Muslims were seen as terrorists and an accusing finger was always pointed towards Muslims whenever there was a terror attack, they added.
COURT CLEARS 8 MEN ACCUSED OF BEING PART OF SIMI
A Kurla court on 22 November acquitted eight men accused of being active members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) organisation on the grounds that there was no sufficient evidence brought on record to prove the allegations against them. “Due to lack of evidence the court extends to them benefit of doubt,” Judge Ashish Ayachit observed.
The judge also said that the prosecution could not prove that the accused tried to incite any unlawful activity. Those acquitted by the metropolitan magistrate’s court in suburban Kurla include Ehtesham Siddiqui and Tanvir Ahmed Ansari, who are also facing a trial in the July 2006 Mumbai train blasts case.
8 YRS AFTER SACHAR, MUSLIMS STILL OUT OF GOVT JOBS AND SCHOOLS: PANEL
Eight years after the Sachar committee report on the condition of Muslims and creation of a Ministry of Minority Affairs, a post-Sachar evaluation committee, headed by former JNU professor Amitabh Kundu, has concluded that though a start has been made in addressing development deficits of the community, government interventions have not quite matched in scale the large numbers of the marginalised.
Poverty levels among Muslims, the committee found, remained higher than the national average between 2004-05 and 2011-12. In terms of consumption expenditure, Muslims are third from the bottom – after the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes. Set up in August 2013 by the UPA government for an evaluation of the status of Muslims after the Sachar committee findings, the Kundu committee was given an extension by the NDA government.
MINORITIES CONTINUE TO BE TARGETS OF VIOLENCE: HAMID ANSARI
Vice-President Hamid Ansari has said despite the constitutional and legal guarantees, religious minorities continue to be target of violence and discrimination from time to time. He was speaking on ‘Citizens and State Conduct’ at the 8th VM Tarkunde memorial lecture on 21 November. Ansari said weaker sections of society such as minorities, women, SCs, STs, children and persons with disabilities were still being discriminated against.
Quoting a study by the South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre, Ansari also said the “most serious human rights abuses” in India were the violations by the State of Article 21. “This is particularly acute in areas of internal conflict, such as Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and the Naxal belt where serious complaints about the misuse of laws like the AFSPA, the Disturbed Areas Act (DDA) or the Public Safety Act (PSA) continue to be made,” said the Vice-President.
INDIA IS NOW THE WORLD’S ‘SLAVE CAPITAL’: REPORT
With over 14.2 million in India being involved in forced labour and being victims of trafficking – for sexual exploitation and forced marriage, the country is home to the largest number of people trapped in modern slavery. Globally, 35.8 million people are enslaved across the world. Of them, 23.5 million people are in Asia, two-thirds of global total in 2014 (65.8%).
The Global Slavery Index 2014 announced on 17 November that India and Pakistan alone account for over 45% of total global enslaved population and have highest prevalence of modern slavery in Asia. The Index said, “Particularly in countries such as India and Pakistan, nationals – often including entire families – are enslaved through bonded labour in construction, agriculture, brick making, garment factories and manufacturing.” Modern slavery exists in all 167 countries with five countries accounting for 61% of the world’s population living in modern slavery.
MUZAFFARNAGAR PANCHAYAT BANS JEANS, MOBILES FOR GIRLS
A khap panchayat Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh has banned girls from wearing jeans and using mobile phones, a report said on 19 November. It asked the residents not to use social networking websites such as WhatsApp and Facebook. The order would apply to 46 villages in the Muzaffarnagar area. Such diktats have been issued in the past by Khap panchayats or caste councils in UP and Haryana, drawing flak from several quarters.
Earlier, in August this year, a community panchayat had banned girls from wearing jeans and keeping mobile phones claiming that they were having a “bad” effect on them and were responsible for eve-teasing incidents. The order was passed by the panchayat of Gujjar community at Jadwad village.
DEMAND TO MAKE SANSKRIT COMPULSORY TURNED DOWN
Taking on her critics, Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Smriti Irani on 23 November dismissed charges that education was being saffronised even as she turned down demands that Sanskrit be made compulsory in the curriculum.
Answering questions on the controversial decision to replace German with Sanskrit as the third language in some 500 centrally-run Kendriya Vidyalayas, Irani said that teaching of German under an MoU signed in 2011 had been in violation of the Constitution. An investigation has already been launched to find out how the MoU came to be signed. Responding to demands that Sanskrit be made a compulsory language, the minister said that the three language formula was very clear that any of the 23 Indian languages listed in Schedule 8 of the Constitution could be opted for.
NOW, SHIAS ASSERT CLAIM TO TAJ MAHAL
With senior Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Azam Khan recently demanding that the iconic Taj Mahal in Agra be handed over to Sunni Central Waqf Board, the Shia community has now demanded that the Taj should instead be handed over to the Shia Waqf Board as Mumtaz Mahal, in whose memory it was built, was a Shia.
“The Taj Mahal should be handed over to the Shia Waqf Board as Mumtaz Mahal, whose real name was Arjumand Bano, was a Shia,” said Syed Faiyyaz Haidar, president of Lucknow based Imam-e-Raza committee. Haidar also cites architectural evidences to cite the Taj Mahal as a “Shia building.”
BAHAIS DEMAND MINORITY STATUS
Less than a year after the UPA government declared Jains as a minority community, the Bahai community has reignited its demand for the status. The community much like the Jains is affluent, but it asserts that the status is a matter of recognition rather than plea for help.
Bahai representatives had met Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla in this regard and she reportedly referred the matter to the National Commission for Minorities. The matter was also taken up by the NCM in more than one meeting, but the commission felt that it did not have enough data on the socio-economic condition of the community to make a concrete recommendation.