All India Muslim Personal Law Board has demanded to recall the Communal Violence (Prevention and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill 2009. A resolution condemning the bill –which would in effect curb the civic rights of the minorities – was unanimously passed at the 21st annual convention of the prime body consisting of ulema, scholars and members of civil society. “Nothing short of scrapping the bill will do,” General Secretary of the Board Abdul Rahim Qureshi said on March 21. “What is urgently required is a complete redraft in consultation with the representative bodies and secular minded people.”
The basic objection pertained to an unbridled authority granted to the police and administrative officers under the Bill. Qureshi said, “Conferring such power on law-enforcing agencies would only amount to the curtailment of the civic rights. It will also result in untold misery to the Muslim community which has always suffered worst during any riot or communal skirmish,” he said quoting the resolution that, “The apex body of Muslim outfits berated the harassment and witch-hunting of Muslim youth in the name of counter-terrorism measures. A number of fake cases implicating this class are growing, which is a matter of grave concern.”