By Abdul Bari Masoud, Maeeshat News,
New Delhi: Reiterating Muslim reservation demand, Jamiat Ulama-i- Hind (M) has lambasted the BJP government for failing to put Hindu radicals on leash saying since the advent of this government at the Center last year these elements have became so emboldened that they have been carrying their nefarious activities with full impunity. At its 32nd general session held on Saturday here, Jamiat leadership said the government should pass the Anti-Communal Violence Bill which has been in limbo since the fall of UPA government.
President of the Jamiat’s Mahmood faction, Maulana Mohammad Usman Mansurpoori said in his presidential address that the country has been passing through a critical phase but the present grim situation is not new to the Jamiat. He said with the change of government at the Centre certain forces have become more active against minority communities in the country which are hell bent to want to create havoc .
Maulana Mansurpoori insisted that issue of Muslim reservation is very crucial for uplift of the community and Presidential Order in the Article in 341 should be revoked that debars Muslims and Christians from taking benefits of government’s affirmative action. Describing the Presidential Order as a blot on the Constitution and Indian secularism, he said the successive governments denied reservation to Muslims under the subterfuge of that reservation cannot be given on the basis of religion. Asking why only Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists are allowed to take advantage of SC and ST reservations, he made it clear that Muslims are not demanding reservation on basis of religion but on the ground of backwardness which the Constitution of India allows.
Maulana Mansurpoori also referred anti-Sharia judgments delivered by courts in recent years asking them to stick to Sharia Application Act in matters relating to Muslims.
Putting the Modi government on the dock for its failure to control communal elements, Jamiat leaders said after assuming the power at the Center by the BJP government, the country has witnessed more than 700 communal violence incidents. They demanded that the anti-communal violence bill should be passed immediately and make local administration accountable for outbreak of violence.
Ex.MP and general secretary of his faction Maulana Mehmood Madani also spoke on the occasion but he did not read out the Fatwa he sought from the Darul Uloom Deoband’s Fatwa department. The Fatwa, which sought guidance for Muslims in the present situation from the Darul –ifta of Darul Uloom, has provided grist to propaganda mill of the communal forces and Mahmood Madani has faced a lot flake for this. One Muslim leader said it was an unnecessary attempt to drag the Darul Uloom in Jamiat’s politics.
In his presidential remarks, Maulana Mansurpoori boasted that Jamiat has provided guidance to Muslims at crucial junctures in the past. However, a number of participants have contested his claim. They pointed out that if Jamiat leaders cannot remain united and run their own parallel factions then how can they except that Muslim masses will follow them? One participant also pointed towards the badly and poorly written Jamiat’s Presidential Address and Statement saying it would have made them laughing stock in the media.
Furthermore, both the factions of the Jamiat ( Arshad Madni (A) and Mahmood Madni (M), are indulged in stiff competition showing their strengths by organizing conferences, rallies and public meetings. In order to show their
strength, they reportedly bring madarsa students and imamas to fill the auditoriums and halls.