Muslim leaders demand Khurshid's exit for 'blasphemous' statement

New Delhi: In a knee-jerk reaction, some Muslim leaders have termed as "blasphemous" the Chennai statement of Union Minister for Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid wherein he reportedly said that Sachar Committee report is not Holy Quran that it should be accepted blindly.

Several Muslim leaders and intellectuals demanded that the minister must quit his post as well as Congress Party because he committed blasphemy against the Holy Qur'an.

These intellectuals alleged that Mr. Salman rejected vital recommendations of Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Waqf and the Prime Minister's high level Committee on Muslims (Sachar Committee) in Waqf Amendment Bill 2010 drafted by his ministry.

While addressing a function on the topic 'Minorities of India: Issues and Challenges, in Chennai on June 25, Mr. Khurshid reportedly said that the recommendations of Sachar Committee report are not Quran and they cannot be accepted blindly because they may be wrong.

According to a joint statement issued by the Muslim leaders on 26th June, Mr. Khurshid earlier in a letter to Zakat Foundation of India had said that the JPC on Waqf and the Sachar Committee cannot claim monopoly to wisdom.

They said that Mr. Khurshid has also over-ruled the pivotal recommendations of the JPC on Waqfs without giving any reasons thereof while presenting the Waqf Bill in Parliament.

"He has violated the privileges of both the Houses of Parliament by showing down the JPC on Waqf and hiding his non-compliance of JPC. By this he has opposed the Prime Minister and the Union Cabinet which approved the Sachar Committee report in 2007 and made the Ministry of Minority Affairs as the nodal ministry to monitor its implementation. Thus, the minister must resign from the Government and the Congress" they demanded in a joint statement.

"Does this mean that the Congress and the UPA have been making fool of the Muslims for five years in the garb of Sachar Committee Report?" they asked adding "Congress and the UPA government should clarify their position vis-a-vis Mr. Salman's statement committing blasphemy against the Holy Qur'an and rejecting the recommendations of the JPC on Waqf and the Sachar Committee (most of which overlap)."

Though Khurshid could be questioned for not taking into account the recommendations of JPC and Sachar Committee while drafting Waqf Bill, how his Chennai statement can be termed blasphemous is difficult to understand. In fact what he said only highlighted the value of Quran for a Muslim. Muslims are supposed to follow every teaching of Quran without question. Can this status be given to a report prepared by a person or group?

The signatories to the statement are:

1. Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood, President, Zakat Foundation of India, New Delhi;

2. Dr. Zafrul Islam Khan, President, All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, New Delhi;

3. Mr. Mujtaba Farooq, General Secretary, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, New Delhi;

4. Maulana Mohammad Mukarram, Shahi Imam, Masjid Fatehpuri, Delhi;

5. Mufti Fuzailur Rahman Hilal Usmani, Mufti-e-Azam, Punjab & Shaikhul Jamia, Darussalam, Maler Kotla, Punjab;

6. Mr. Ghayasuddin Babukhan, Chairman, Hyderabad Zakat & Charitable Trust, Hyderabad;

7. Dr. Azimuddin, Coordinator, Federation of Minorities NGOs of Maharashtra, Mumbai;

8. Mr. Haroon Mozawala and Ashfaq Vaid, Khair-e-Ummat Trust, Mumbai;

9. Mr. Aftabuddin Sarkar, President, Federation of Muslim Associations of West Bengal, Kolkata;

10. Mr. Anwar Premi, General Secretary, Sir Syed Educational Group, Kolkata;

11. Major K. Ibrahim, President, All-Kerala Council of College Principals, Mallapuram, Kerala;

12. Dr. Iqtedar Farooqi, Secretary, Urdu Scientific Society, Lucknow;

13. Adv. Sajid Siddiqui, President of Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), Madhya Pradesh unit, Bhopal and

14. Adv. Haji Haroon, President Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind, Madhya Pradesh unit (Madani Group), Bhopal.

source: TwoCircles.net