*What is wrong with Jamia?*
This is in response to the article titled 'Look who hijacked Jamia' written by Arif Mohammed Khan, published in Indian Express on 1st October 2008. The article is full of disinformation and defamatory allegations against a National Organisation named Jamate Islami and two national bodies, Muslim personal law board and Muslim Majlise Mushawarat. Arif Mohammed Khan did not even bother to verify the facts. He was deliberately aiming at posing the above mentioned bodies of National repute in bad light. It was really shocking to see such a learned person with an esteemed news paper could commit such a devastating blunder. Jamaate Islami was formed in 1941. The activities it has been doing since the last 67 years is as transparent as an open book kept in the middle of a street. Crores of rupees and tones of energy have been spent for the upliftment of marginalized sections of the society in India, especially Muslims. All India Muslim Personal Law Board was established in 1973 at a time when then Government of India was trying to subvert shariah law applicable to Indian Muslims through parallel legislation. It is just a board which consists various Muslim scholars, aimed at adopting suitable strategies for protection and continued applicability of 'Muslim Personal Law' i.e; Shariat Application Act in India. It is not an Organisation with cadres, instead an institution with certain aims and objectives. All India Muslim Majlis e Mushawarat (AIMM) which was formed in 1964 is an umbrella body of all Muslim Organistions and institutions of national eminence. It aims to protect the identity and dignity of the Muslim community and its constitutional and Human Rights, specially its Right to Equality, Justice and security. Arif Mohd Khan writes in the article: "...attracted by large population, more than two dozen Muslim outfits have established themselves in this neighbourhood taking upon then the responsibility to lead and organise the religeous and social life of the community. They include organisations like Personal Law Board, Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat and Jamaat-e-Islami. None of these organisations is known for promoting social reform or education. Most of the time they are competing with each other in crying wolf and pressing the need to fight against imagined threats to the Muslim religeon and identity..." The former union minister could have at least tried to collect the fact that personal law board and the AIMM had not been established for promoting education and social reforms! They have their own declared agendas as per their constitution. As mentioned earlier, since all the three endeavors had been formed for the fulfillment of different goals and objectives, there had not been a single instance in the history where these groups had to compete each other. He also was not able to quote even a single incidence from the history of these organizations 'fighting against imagined threats to the Muslim religion and identity'. This style of posing allegations reminds me of hunter shambu who used to shoot to the bushes closing his eyes to kill his prey! The works of Jamaat-e-Islami since the last 67 years, in the field of social reforms, education, financial help to the needy & diseased, home for the homeless, various health programs, the massive works done at the occasion of disasters under IRW etc is known to the nation. All these are not being done for the Muslim community alone, but to the whole of humanity. Apart from all these, multi crore project known as 'Vision 2016' which is intended to uplift Muslims socially and educationally especially focusing North India is in its full swing. Vision 2016 is an ambitious plan to positively transform the social development landscape of the country. Taking up Education, Health, Employment Generation and Legal Help as the focus areas, the plan envisages the establishment of multiple institutions across the country, with a strong backup of committed volunteers and community leaders The projects are run under multiple NGOs under the supervision of umbrella body, the Human Welfare Foundation New Delhi. The major problem that Arif Mohammed Khan observes in Jamaate Islami is that "..the students who had organized the blackout and attack belonged to the Jamaat-e-Islami. It is important to recall that the banned organization, SIMI, was mostly manned by young activists inspired by philosophies like that of the Jamaat-e-Islami." Why didn't Asif Mohammed Khan file a suite or at least give a complaint against Jamaate Islami if he knows that the people who had bet him in the darkness were its workers, instead of revealing his confession years after the incident, in an article?! What wrong impression or confusion does the writer tries to create while saying "SIMI was inspired by philosophies like that of the Jamaat-e-Islami."! So was it SIMI or the workers of Jamaate Islami who had bet him? The writer must have had the least knowledge of the fact that SIMI has never in the history been the Student Organization of Jamaate Islami! The ultimate aim of the article is to tarnish the image of Jamia Millia, Jamia Nagar and dozens of Muslim Organisations which has its office in the area, in the wake of the fake encounter of two students residing at Batla House. This massive propaganda being held by the chauvinists using authorities and media is part of demonizing the cultural identity of Muslim community. The defamatory campaign against Jamia Millia is the repetition of what has been done to Madrasa Darul-Uloom Daoband, since the last few months. Jamia Millia, as the whole country knows, has got a glorious and legendary history of being in the forefront of the National freedom movement. Through out the history, the campus has upheld the values of secularism and National commitment and had played impressive and valuable role in shaping the modern day education. The people of Jamia Nagar and the students of Jamia Millia Islamiyya will resist the petty political tactics being played by politicaians including Asif Khan and days to come will indeed prove the truth. Indeed falsehood is bound to perish. We urge also the media to follow professional ethics and not to create and sensationalize issues for exclusive stories. Rather, practice a fair and balanced journalism. Suhail K.K Jamia Nagar New Delhi Look who hijacked Jamia *Print* <http://www.indianexpress.com/story_print.php?storyid=367985> * Email* <http://www.indianexpress.com/news/look-who-hijacked-jamia/367985/#> *Feedback* <http://www.indianexpress.com/static.php?q=feed> *Discuss*<http://www.indianexpress.com/news/look-who-hijacked-jamia/367985/#post> Rate Article Rating: * : *8 based on 27 vote *Arif Mohammed Khan<http://www.indianexpress.com/columnist/arifmohammedkhan/> * Posted: Oct 01, 2008 at 0033 hrs IST Arif Mohammed Khan [image: Arif Mohammed Khan] ***"And fear tumult or oppression, which affects not in particular only those of you who do wrong. And know that God is strict in punishment." (Quran, 8.25)* Ibn Katheer commenting on this verse has quoted a Prophetic tradition saying that "if a people, despite being strong and numerous, do nothing to stop those men among them who do wrong, then they will be surrounded with punishment". History is full of instances showing how a small group of people or individuals by their odious acts have inconvenienced the communities they belong to. Today the Muslims as a community are passing through a difficult period on account of the activities of terrorists who shamelessly use religion to justify their crimes. A common Muslim, like his compatriots, is busy earning his daily bread and raising the family. With increased awakening about modern education, good numbers of Muslim families from rural areas have moved to urban centres to ensure education for their wards. A casual survey of the families living in Jamia Nagar will show that the majority of them hail from villages and depend for their income on rural sources. In many cases it is only the mothers and children who are living here, while the men spend most of their time in native places to arrange the necessary means for the family to carry on in Delhi. Their only concern is a safe and peaceful environment congenial for academic pursuit. On the other hand, attracted by this large population, more than two dozen Muslim outfits have established themselves in this neighbourhood taking upon them the responsibility to lead and organise the religious and social life of the community. They include organisations like the Personal Law Board, Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat and Jamaat-e-Islami. None of these organisations is known for promoting social reform or education. Most of the time they are competing with each other in crying wolf and pressing the need to fight against imagined threats to the Muslim religion and identity. Occasionally they also succeed in securing positions of power for their nominees and this political patronage helps them to widen their network in the community. If we look at some important events of the past then an idea can be formed about the activities and mindset that is promoted by these organisations. After the official ban on The Satanic Verses, Mushirul Hasan, the present vice chancellor and then teacher in the history department of Jamia, said in an interview... **to a weekly that a ban on the book would only boost its sales and increase the circulation of the objectionable writing. His remarks were not in support of the book, its contents or the writer, yet they provoked an angry and violent protest inside the campus. The Muslim outfits worked overtime to instigate and excite the feelings resulting in a situation where despite continuing on the rolls of the university Mushirul Hasan could not enter the campus for more than three long years. During the war in Afghanistan, public expressions of solidarity with Osama bin Laden were made and posters in his support were pasted in the area by some self-appointed champions of Muslim interests. This was done despite the knowledge that Osama and Al-Qaeda were directly involved in Terror<http://www.indianexpress.com/special/terror,%20world/>activities in Kashmir. I remember having met many Muslims from Jamia Nagar who expressed their utter indignation over the episode and felt sorry for not being able to oppose these undesirable activities. In 1990, Prof Mushirul Haq, the vice chancellor of Kashmir University, was killed by terrorists in Srinagar. Since he was an old teacher of Jamia, his burial took place inside the campus. As an academician I had held him in great esteem and during the Shah Bano controversy had sought his opinion on several occasions. I went to attend his last rites and walked almost a kilometre with the funeral procession. After reaching the burial ground suddenly the lights went out and in that darkness I was attacked with an iron rod, causing head injury. Later, inquiries revealed that the students who had organised the blackout and attack belonged to the Jamaat-e-Islami. It is important to recall that the banned organisation, SIMI, was mostly manned by young activists inspired by philosophies like that of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The other organisation with headquarters in this area is Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat. On the slightest provocation they would call for a boycott of celebrations of Independence Day or Republic Day giving rise to communal tension. It is true that on every occasion they had withdrawn the calls, but that did not help in lessening the tension. The most important Muslim organisation operating from the Jamia neighborhood is the All India<http://www.indianexpress.com/section/India/721/>Muslim Personal Law Board and its affiliates. During their agitation against the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Shah Bano case, the members of AIMPLB made public exhortations to break the legs of Muslims who... **differed with their stand. Their supporters went to the extent of suggesting that Supreme Court judges are not competent to interpret Muslim personal law. It is important to recall that during parliamentary discussion of the bill that was brought in to negate the impact of the Supreme Court judgment, almost every minister who rose to defend the measure referred to the apprehensions of threats to law and order arising on account of an aggressive and violent agitation. Such activities of these Muslim outfits are as much a source of consternation to common Muslims as they are to other Indians. Occasionally some Muslims raise their voice but they lose nerve when they see the political promiscuity and influence enjoyed by these extremist elements. The establishment must realise that the police can fight terrorists, not terrorism. Terrorism can be contained only by a strong political will that identifies and isolates individuals and organisations promoting a violent mindset and does not favour them with political patronage. *The writer is a former Union minister [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Hafiz Rahman. A Human Welfare Trust D-317, Dawat Nagar Abul Fazal Enclave Okhla, Jamia Nagar New Delhi-110025 India Mob: +91 99680 18896 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Nor can Goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (evil) with what is better; then the enmity between him and you will become as if it were your friend and intimate! Visit: sultan.org Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Post to group: [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
