New Delhi, September 22:
Text of the press release issued by COORDINATION COMMITTEE OF INDIAN MUSLIMS at the Press Conference on the current issue “Terrorism and Muslims’ Stand” at the New Delhi, Press Club on 22 September 2008
The Coordination Committee of Indian Muslims, representing all major Indian Muslim organizations is an ad hoc high level committee set up to deal with the current terrorism scare aiming the Muslim community in India.
The committee expresses its sorrow and grief at the untimely death of Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma during the encounter in Jamia Nagar’s Batla House on 19 September. The community offers its sincere condolences to his family.
The committee reiterates that Islam and Muslims are fundamentally opposed to terrorism as Islam and its holy book, The Qur’an, categorically forbids killing anyone unjustly and by unjust means. The Indian Muslim community through umpteen conferences and religious scholars and institutions, including the famous seminary of Darul UIoom at Deoband, has issued clear fatwas denouncing terrorism as an act totally forbidden in Islam. The Muslim community is opposed to terrorism whatever its source and shape.
We want to contribute to usher in a terror-free India. We believe that existing laws are sufficient to deal with this scourge. We clearly reject giving unlimited authority to the police. We, in particular, reject the legal sanctity to “confessions” given to the police and making bail applications more difficult for those accused of terrorism. No other law in India makes “confessions” to the police admissible in courts and this one must not be an exception. The Indian police, which normally resorts to third degree torture, is highly discredited in the eyes of the public. In all terrorism cases, where the police fails to file charge-sheets within a reasonable time-frame like six months, the accused should automatically get the right to apply for bail.
We feel that the Muslim community in general and the Muslim youths in particular are being targeted in the name of fighting terrorism. While security agencies should go about their work to secure the country from terror and make inquiries and arrest the accused and suspects, the same must not take place in an intimidating and insensitive manner. We are opposed to the insensitive style of the police functioning which creates terror and panic in the Muslim localities. We condemn the security and intelligence agencies’ rush to the media after any such incident with theories and conclusions before any real and proper investigation.
We also express our displeasure at the print and electronic media which blindly reproduces leaks attributed to unknown security agencies and starts blaming the Muslim community minutes after any terrorist incident. This leads to instability in the country and ill-will towards the whole Muslim community.
We demand that whenever police undertakes a combing or search operation in any Muslim locality, at least one third of the raiding force must consist of officers belonging to the minority community, and minority elders of the affected area should be taken into confidence and made part of the inquiry and interrogation teams. Such operations must not look like a patently anti-Muslim exercise. This will restore some credibility to the discredited police and security agencies.
We make it clear that the style of provocative searches and encounters is unacceptable in a democratic society. It always smacks of a preplanned conspiracy and betrays the police’s inability or unwillingness to face courts of law. More specifically, we reject the Batla-house style of encounter killings. We fail to understand why the alleged terrorists were not caught alive. People in the area believe that it was a fake encounter, that it was a one-sided and pre-planned affair. With this encounter the police has discovered a new “mastermind” for all the explosions in the past which means that India will no longer face terrorist blasts. We demand a high-level judicial inquiry into the Batla House encounter so that all facts may come out.
We also demand stringent action including immediate ban against Hindutva terrorist outfits, especially VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shri Ram Sena, Hindu Munnani, Hindu Jagran Manch, Yuva Hindu Vahini, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and Durga Vahini etc, which are targeting Muslim and Christian communities in a number of states. We are unable to understand why the government and security agencies are unable to proceed against Sangh Parivar outfits which have been caught red-handed in acts of terrorism and making bombs. We also demand the government to probe all possible angles of terrorism in India, including local and foreign forces which benefit from instability and chaos in India.
Signed by
Mujtaba Farooq, Convenor, Coordination Committee & Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind
Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
Ml. Abdul Hameed Nomani, Acting General Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind
Ml. Abdul Wahab Khilji, Asstt General Secretary, All India Milli Council
Ml. Mahmoodul Hasan, President, Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees, Delhi Pradesh
Dr Taslim Rahmani, President, Muslim Political Council
Ml. Zeeshan Hidayati, Chairman, Majlis-e Fikr-o Amal
Irfanullah Khan, Chairman Jamia Nagar Coordination Committee
Ml. Jalal Haidar Naqvi, Secretary, Majlis-e Ulama-e Islam
Supported by Gopal Rai, Conenor, Teesra Swandheemta Andolan
Bhai Tej Singh, President, Ambedkar Samaj Party
Text ends
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Terrorism and Muslims’ Stand, 22 Sep 2008
Tags: Coordination Committee of Indian Muslims, death of Mohan Chand Sharma, Deoband, fatwas, Hindutva terrorist organisations, India, Indian police, Islam and Muslims, media's role in blaming Muslims, Muslims and Christians targeted, provocative police searches, targeting Muslims, terrorism
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