*This is a draft statement. Those who want to add their names should email "Mahtab Alam" <**[email protected]*<[email protected]> *> by 3 December 2011, 6 pm.*
* * *An appeal to seven individuals to decline the Maulana Mohd Ali Jauhar Award * According to a news item in the Milli Gazette of 1 December 2011, Jagdish Tytler, an accused in the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984, will be awarded the Maulana Mohd Ali Jauhar Award on 10 December 2011 at the India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi. Seven others will share this award. The undersigned appeal to the other seven awardees to not accept the award as a mark of protest against honouring Mr Tytler, whose contribution in the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom has been recorded by several fact-finding reports, including those by PUCL and PUDR. The seven names are: 1. S Y Quraishi (Chief Election Commissioner of India) 2. Sanjeev Bhat, Indian Police Service officer, Gujarat cadre 3. Zafar Agha , Senior journalist, Delhi 4. Mohd Najeeb Ashraf Chaudhry ,Chief Income Tax Commissioner, 5. Maulana Mohd. Haseeb Siddiqui , Chairman, Deoband Nagar Palika Parishad 6. Nusrat Gwalliori, Urdu poet, Madhya Pradesh 7. Begum Rehana AR Andre, Social Activist and Educationist, Mumbai It is sad that for doing so, the name of Maulana Mohd Ali Jauhar (1878-1931) is being used. He was a key figure of the Indian freedom movement, a leader of the Khilafat movement and the sixth Muslim to be President of the Indian National Congress. We are sure this is not how he would have liked his name to be remembered, and that he would not have approved of being used to white-wash the sins of a politician who was part of communal violence and mayhem in the capital of India. It is also regrettable that an award being given by members of a minority community is honouring someone who has played a key role in the victimisation of another religious minority. Therefore, we the undersigned call upon the seven others to boycott this award ceremony. We make the same appeal to Justice (Retd.) MSA Siddiqui of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, who is reportedly scheduled to chair the award ceremony. Links: Award News: http://www.milligazette.com/news/2804-awards-indian-muslims-last-fortnight-news PUCL-PUDR Report: http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2003/who-are-guilty.htm Signed: *1. Sohail Hashmi, Writer and Film Maker, Delhi * *2. Mukul Dube, Writer and Columnist, Delhi * *3. Mahtab Alam, Civil Rights’ Activist and Journalist, Delhi* *4. Shivam Vij, Writer and Journalist, Delhi* *5. Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist, ANHAD, Delhi * *6. Manisha Sethi, Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association* *7. Subhash Gatade, Writer and Activist, New Socialist Initiative, Delhi * *8. M Gauhar Iqbal, Social Activist, Delhi* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * * -- MD. MAHTAB ALAM [email protected] Phone:+ 91-9811209345 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
