“With the rise in the awareness among voters real issues like inflation, unemployment, education, and health have come to the fore during the elections, ” said JIH vice-president.

New Delhi – Hailing the electorate for refusing to bite the bait of divisive forces in the ongoing assembly elections in five states, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) Vice-President, Prof. Mohammad Salim Engineer, contended that citizens have understood the gambit of certain parties to grab power by polarising the masses along communal lines.

While addressing a monthly press meet, held here Saturday, he, however, was concerned over the manner in which communal and hate politics is being practiced to garner votes.

“With the rise in the awareness voters started refusing to fall prey to the tactics of communal elements. Hence, real issues like inflation, unemployment, education, and health have come to the fore during the elections. The onus is on the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take action against those parties who violated the model code of conduct during the elections,” he said.

Now that only one phase of the polling is due, he hoped that the ECI will do the needful to ensure free and fair elections. “The election expenses are too high for a country of India’s resources. There should be a debate on curbing the funds splurged on advertisements and public meetings. There should be a federal law to prevent the party in power from manipulating the government machinery to its advantage.”

Demanding election reforms to strengthen democracy in the country and prevent the use of money-power and muscle-power for manipulating election results, the JIH Vice-President said it would increase the trust of citizens in the democracy and thereby strengthen democracy.

Expressing grave concern over the Russian attack on Ukraine, Prof. Salim called for an immediate ceasefire of hostilities, restraint, and restoration of diplomatic processes for a negotiated settlement of the dispute. He said war is no solution to any problem; it only helps the arms industry at a heavy cost of lives and property.

He urged the Government of India to continue its efforts to bring back all Indian students stranded in Ukraine using all available resources at its disposal through land and air routes, free of cost.

Offering condolences to the parents and relatives of the students who lost their lives in Ukraine, Prof. Salim lamented that some leaders were trying to derive political mileage out of the crisis in the ongoing assembly elections. “This opportunism is condemnable”, he added.

The JIH Vice-President voiced the apprehension of the people of the country that the government might increase prices of petrol and diesel and other essential commodities after the elections in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. He hoped the Central and the state governments would take suitable steps to contain inflation.

In his observation on returning from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, JIH National Affairs Secretary Mohammad Ahmed said that there was a lot of awareness among the people and even those living in remote areas were rejecting the tactics of polarisation of the political parties.