Muslim delegation meets Prime Minister on Muzaffarnagar riots

The delegation also raised the issue of the Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill which remains in cold storage since 2005. The delegation urged the Prime Minister to see to it that this Bill is passed in the next session or issued as an ordinance.

The Prime Minister listened to the delegation attentively and assured the Muslim leaders that it will do whatever is possible. He said he will try to arrive at a consensus in the forthcoming National Integration Council meeting on 23 September. The delegation consisted of  Maulana Syed Jalauddin Umari President, Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Maulana Nusrat Ali General Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Janab Mohammad Ahmad Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Maulana Mahmood Madni General Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind, Maulana Niyaz Farooqui Member, Working Committee, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind, Janab Shakeel Ahmad Sayed, member, Working Committee, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind, Janab Kamal Faruqi, member, Working Committee, All India Muslim Personal law Board, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, . Janab Navaid Hamid General Secretary, Movement for the Empowerment of Indian Muslims, Janab Abdul Khaliq, Member Working Committee, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Maulana Ataur Rahman Qasmi, Chairman, Shah Waliullah Institute, Dr Zafar Mahmood President, Zakat Foundation of India, Dr Taslim Rahmani President, Muslim Political Council,  Maulana Abdul Wahab Khilji, member, All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Maulana Asghar Ali Imam Mahdi Salafi, General Secretary, Markzai Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees. The Milli Gazette Online

Published Online: Sep 16, 2013

The delegation presented to the Prime Minister the following memorandum as well as observations of the Muslim delegations which visited Muzaffarnagar and a brief position paper on the Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill:

DELEGATION OF MUSLIM COMMUNITY LEADERS

C/o  D-250, Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-110025  India

Tel.: 011-26946780, 9990366660  Fax: 011-26947346

  We, the undersigned, representing major Indian Muslim organisations, wish to draw your kind attention to the wave of communal violence sweeping across a number of states, especially in north India. The most serious in these recent flare-ups is the violence in and around Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. Many of us have extensively toured the camps of the uprooted and feel that a “mini-Gujarat” has been inflicted upon Muzaffarnagar and its adjoining areas. A very short summary of our observations is appended to this letter.

Though the violence has abated now but stray incidents are still taking place every day. An estimated one lakh people (all Muslims) have been uprooted. Some 65,000 are living in around two dozen camps run in madrasahs, Eidgahs etc or are sheltered in hundreds of houses in other villages. Others have gone to live with their relatives. Even now no proper relief measures have been taken and no serious documentation is being made and no FIRs are filed. It is our request to you to kindly ensure:

a.      Proper relief of ration and other necessary needs of life to those living in camps as well as with relatives. b.      Urgent documentation and preparation of lists with all details of names, losses and people responsible for the carnage as per the victims. c.      Filing of FIRs at the earliest so that the legal process could start to punish the guilty.

d.      Compensation of all losses suffered by the victims in terms of life, loss of cattle, houses looted and burnt and crops destroyed/looted etc.

e.      Construction/repair of burnt/demolished/damaged houses, mosques, madrasahs etc. f.       Construction of houses at other locations for those who do not wish to return to their villages (we found that no one is willing at least now to return to his/her village). We take this opportunity to impress upon you to ensure that the Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill is urgently passed or, if need be, brought in as an ordinance, in order to rein in and send a strong message to the forces trying to polarise and destabilise the country for political gains.

We are hopeful that through these measures a strong message will be sent to all that your government is really committed to the welfare and safety of all Indians, especially the weak and defenceless.