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Monday, December 20, 2010

[wvns] New danger Muslims facing in India

Identity-assassination, new danger Muslims facing in India: Dr. Arshi
Pervez Bari, ummid.com
Monday December 20, 2010
http://ummid.com/news/2010/December/20.12.2010/minority_day_at_amu.htm


'Separatism and religious extremism have little appeal to Indian Muslims'


India's over 150 million Muslim population is largely unattracted to extremism, U.S. diplomatic cables have said, endorsing India's vibrant democracy, inclusive culture and nationalistic nature of the minority community.

Bhopal: Dr. Arshi Khan of the Department of Political Science in Aligarh Muslim University, (AMU), has said that Muslims have entered into a more dangerous phase of 'identity-assassination' on the pretext of terrorism. The law enforcement agencies need to be honest and law-abiding while dealing with occurrence of violent incidents.

Dr. Khan lamented on the prejudices of the enforcement agencies which take no time to blame or arrest the members of the Muslim community whenever any violent incident occurs but they play excuses if investigations zeroes in on non-Muslims belonging to the Sangh Parivar (radical militant Hindu organization).

He said that India does not belong to the Sangh Parivar. It belongs to the people of the country in which Muslims have considerable share and stakes.

He said that the welfare of the Muslims and other minorities would also strengthen the country as their fates are inseparable.

The above views were expressed by Dr. Khan while speaking at a Round-Table Conference to mark the World Minority Rights Day on "Minority Rights Day: Policies and Issues" at Aligarh on December 18.

The conference was organized by Dr. Ambedkar Chair, Faculty of Law, AMU, in collaboration with the Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University.

According to a Press release Dr. Khan focused mainly on the present situation of the Muslim minority community which is backward, deprived, discriminated and excluded in the public sphere.

Dr. Khan said that socio-economic and educational backwardness and exclusion of Muslims are self-speaking facts mentioned by the Gopal Singh Committee (1983), Justice Sachchar Committee (2006), Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission (2007) and the Andhra Pradesh Backward Class Commission and the report of the Minority Commission in 2004.

Dr. Mohibul Haque speaking on the occasion said: "We are not celebrating but observing minority rights day which shows that there is nothing to celebrate keeping in view the conditions of minorities in India and its neighbouring countries".

Dr. Haque said the Declaration on rights of minorities that was adopted by the United Nations' General Assembly on December 18, 1992 has unequivocally declared that principle of non-discrimination or equality before the law as enshrined in the Constitution is not enough to protect minorities from marginalization and exclusion. It has called upon states to adopt special measures for the preservation and promotion of the rights of minorities, he added.

He emphasized the fact that being the largest democracy of the world, India should establish precedence by making special efforts for providing physical and economic security to the Muslims and other minorities. The minority character of Jamia Millia Islamia and AMU should be preserved to the best satisfaction of the Muslims of India.

Earlier, Prof. Mohammad Shabbir, who chaired the conference while welcoming the panel of speakers, Dr. Arshi Khan, Dr. Mohibul Haque and other guests, said that it was an important day to assess the actual health of minorities in constitutional context.

He highlighted the importance of the Indian Constitution and the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission for providing the legitimate base for doing away with the backwardness of the Muslims minority community.

He said that the Constitution has promoted other vulnerable groups but the task of overcoming the problems of the Muslims minority is yet to be fully attended by the government.

Meanwhile, valuable comments were made by K. K. Sharma, Dr. Mrs. Samina Khan, Dr. Nafees Ahmad, Dr. Tanzeem Fatima, Dr. Badar Ahmad, Dr. Waseem Ali, Mr. Tahseen Raza. A number of research scholars and students participated in the interactive session.

Prof. Iqbal Ali Khan made the concluding remarks with his suggestion for upholding the cause of the minorities in the interest of Indian democracy.

A resolution was adopted on this occasion urging the Government of India to (i) establish judicial inquiry in all cases of bomb-blasts since 1998, (ii) stop the harassment of Muslim youths on the pretext of terrorism, (iii) establish special Tribunal to look into the cases of riots and riots' related incidents, (iv) set up an All India Compensation Commission for the Riot Victims, (v) to strengthen the National Commission for Minorities, (NCM) to make it effective with the power of inquiry and investigation with the rights to indict the violators of the rights of minorities, (vi) ask the enforcement agencies to follow the Rule of Law and (vii) to enact a new law to prevent political leaders in power from committing genocide and crimes against peace.


(pervezbari@eth.net)

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