Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind slams communal elements for instilling fear among minorities

NEW DELHI: One of India's largest Muslim organizations on Saturday said the community would fight efforts by communal forces to create fear among the minorities even as it urged the Centre and states to firmly deal with such elements. Reading out the declaration of its general session held at Ramlila Maidan, Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madani said, "The community that could fight against the British who believed sun never sets in their empire, will not cow down in fear of something that small groups are trying to create within the country." He, however, said the community won't overreact even when provoked. Amid huge applause, Madani said lakhs of Muslims like him are Indians "by choice and not by chance". He said there was a choice before Muslims to shift to Pakistan, but most of them stayed back and fought for the country's independence. Madani said the communal elements, both in government and outside, have carried out campaigns as if "our religion, culture, constitution and identity, nothing is safe". The declaration said the government is fully aware of such anti-Muslim tirade, but has maintained "studied silence". "It puts a question mark on the credibility of its popular slogan 'sabka saath sabka vikas'. We want the government to respond in action and not in words," Madani said. Taking potshots at Modi administration on issues of communal incidents, Madani said the government's failure is being mocked upon and country's dignity is tarnished when foreign guests sermonize the government, a reference to Barack Obama's address at a town hall meeting in Delhi. However, he was quick to add that such foreign guests have no right to teach lesions of secularism to India as "they have killed thousands of innocents" in other parts of the world. Setting the larger goal for thousands of volunteers who had gathered at the outfit's 32nd general session, the Muslim leader said for the next 20 years each member of the community must ensure that no child is deprived of education and training.   TOI