In a monthly press meet on October 6, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind addressed four issues: freedom to express and blasphemy, FDI, communal violence in UP and rehabilitation of riot-affected people of Assam. Addressing the press conference, Ameer Jamaat, Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari vehemently condemned the defamation of religious personalities and said that under Islam every individual has a right to believe or disbelieve Prophethood of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). “Everyone has a right to say that he disbelieves Allah or Prophet or the Qur’ān; he has freedom to say so, but insulting and passing incendiary comments cannot be condoned under the pretext of freedom to express,” Maulana said. The filmmaker should be arrested and punished for his libellous and blasphemous expressions, he added.
Raising concerns about the present FDI policy of the government, the Maulana argued that the move will badly affect the small traders of the country. “It will have a negative impact on 4.5 crore people and have adverse repercussions for the economy of the country,” he said. He urged the government to roll back FDI in retail and provide respite to the large section of small traders of the country. “The large firms will have their monopoly and would totally control the market if FDI is introduced,” he added.
Observing the rising polarisation in Uttar Pradesh where many riots have taken place in a short span of six months of SP rule, the Maulana expressed concern over the Intelligence Bureau report which says that the communal situation in UP is volatile and the atmosphere is being created to stage communal violence on a large scale. Noting the sorry state of PAC wherein there is a skewed ratio of minorities, he demanded proper representation of minorities in police and paramilitary forces under the recommendations of Sachar Committee and Ranganath Misra Commission reports.
As per the relief work in the riot-affected Assam, Maulana Shafi Madni, in-charge of relief work, divulged that the situation is still tense and it will take a little longer for situation to become normal. “The situation is Assam is such that people cannot go back to their homes and still nearly 2.5 lakh people are living in camps. Life security of people in Assam is in shambles,” he said.