Muslim community protests against random arrests

The Milli Gazette

Published Online: May 28, 2012

New Delhi, 28 May 2012: Muslim community leaders today sent a strong letter to  Mr P Chidambaram, Union Home Minister and Mr Wajahat Habibullah, Chairman, National Commission for Minorities protesting against the continuous saga of arrests of Muslim youth on unproven "terror" charges. The following is the text of the letter signed by a number of community leaders:

28 May 2012
New Delhi
Respected Sir,

Alarmed as the Muslim community is at the resumed serial, at random and unending saga of arrests of Muslim youth from various parts of the country on apparently no tangible charges, two more such recent incidents are agitating the community and we find it necessary to bring the same to your kind attention for urgent redressal:
1. Mr Fasih Mahmood, an engineer in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, according to media reports in both Saudi Arabia and India, was deported to India on 13 May this year at Indian government’s request on alleged “terror” charges and so far there is no information about his whereabouts.
2. Two very young Kashmiri students, studying in a reputed madrasa (Jamiatul Falah at Bilaryaganj, district Azamgarh, U.P.) were arrested by some unknown security agency at Aligarh station on 24 May while travelling on Kaifiyat train from Azamgarh to Delhi to visit their ailing cousin who had come to the capital for medical treatment. The name of the agency and the two boys’ whereabouts are not known despite efforts at both Delhi and Lucknow.

The Muslim community is pained to see this continuing saga which has earlier seen Journalist Kazmi’s arrest while seemingly there is no evidence against him. We request you to kindly look into the above two matters on an urgent basis in order to offer some solace to the families of these victims who have fell foul of the security agencies’ ultra vigilance where victims are picked up on mere suspicion without any real, hard and tangible proof and thereafter they are kept under illegal detention while the agencies try to somehow obtain some incriminating “evidence” or secure their forced confession via torture which is illegal and against India’s international obligations. These illogical incidents are seriously eroding the Muslim community’s goodwill towards UPA.

Yours sincerely,
 
 Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
For and on behalf of
 Mujtaba Farooq, Chairman, Coordination Committee for Indian Muslims
 Muhammad Ahmad, Political Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind
 Abdul Hameed Nomani, Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind
 Dr Tasleem Rahmani, President, Muslim Political Council of India
 Dr SQR Ilyas, General Secretary, Welfare Party of India
 Zaheer Zaidi, President, Shia Point
 Maulana Muhsin Taqwi, President, National Council of Shia Ulama
 Shuaib Shaikh, Secretary, Students Organisation of India
 AK Kidwai, Secretary, Association for Protection of Civil Rights
 Maulana Ataur Rahman Qasmi, Director, Shah Waliullah Institute
 [End]

European Poll: Israel Biggest Threat To World Peace

Results of a new poll commissioned by the European Commission show that Israel is believed by Europeans in 15 countries to be the greatest threat to world peace, greater than North Korea, Iran or Afghanistan.
While the European Commission will release the full results of the poll on Monday, the International Herald Tribune reported that the 7,500 people polled living in the European Union (500 in each of the 15 E.U. member states) were presented with a list of 15 countries and asked if these countries present a threat to world peace. Shockingly, Israel was rated first.
This poll is an indication that Europeans have bought into the vilification and demonization campaign directed against the State of Israel and her supporters by European leaders and media.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is voicing its outrage directly to European Commission President Romano Prodi and asks you to do the same.
"These shocking results, that Israel is the greatest threat to world peace, bigger than North Korea, Iran and Afghanistan, defies logic and is a racist flight of fancy that only shows that anti-Semitism is deeply embedded within European society, more now than in any other period since the end of World War II," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the Center's dean and founder.
"If the results of this survey are as reported, then Israel should draw the only conclusion possible: that the European Union and its members should play no role in any future Middle East peace process," Hier concluded.
Center officials are scheduled to meet with Javier Solana, Secretary General of the European Union, in November to discuss this and related issues.

Source: http://www.jewishfederations.org/european-poll-israel-biggest-threat-to-world-peace.aspx?print=1

We condemn the Mumbai Police action & confiscation of our Nakba day Banners!!

BHARAT BACHAO ANDOLAN
"Towards a national struggle against Imperialism, Zionism & Brahmanism"

To,
The Chief Minister,
Shri Prithviraj Chavan,
Government of Maharashtra,
Mumbai,
India.

Sub: We condemn the Mumbai Police action & confiscation of our "Boycott Israel-Save India, 15th May Nakba-Day" Banners from a private office premise.

Respected Sir,

Namaste!

We are extremely perturbed and angry at the fact that today, on the 18th of May 2012, at 3.00pm, the Agripada police raided the premises of the Jamat-i-Islami-i-Hind at Madanpura & confiscated the "May 15 - Nakba Day" banners. The office staff were called over to the Agripada police station for further questioning. Soon after, on making calls to the police station, which earlier refused to give us any information, but after sustained calls from various important quarters we were informed that it was on the behest & instructions of the Israeli consulate in Mumbai, that the police went into action. This is indeed a matter of great concern, whereby the local police is now acting as an agent of a foreign consulate against Indian citizens.

This is clearly an infringement of our sovereign & democratic rights & we thus lodge our protest & condemn the action of the police as strongly as possible. The banners were not put up in any public space without the due permission of the municipal authorities, as is the norm. The banners were strung outside the balcony on the first floor of the said private premises.

Moreover the banners had the following messages in context of the May 15th protests that are held globally.

i) Boycott Israel - Save India!!
ii) Free Palestine & Right of Return of the Refugees
iii) May 15th - Nakba Protests!!

These banners & protests are in keeping with our historical national tradition of supporting the anti-colonial freedom struggles & the international political consensus in terms of the global day of protests against the creation of the Zionist Apartheid Racist Israel.

Thus we demand that action be taken against:

i) The Israeli consulate, wherein they are clearly told to operate within the limits of a foreign entity as a consulate & not step beyond the boundaries & the laws of our country. They need to be told that they are not the new viceroys of India, where they can directly call up the local police station & have them raid & arrest patriotic citizens.

Though this problem also stems from the fact that due to state policy, a number of low level police officials are also traveling to Israel, for so-called anti-terror training whilst it is a well known fact that Israeli is the fountainhead of terror in the world.

This flawed training of our police by certified Islamophobes, has resulted in an increased wave of anti-Muslim xenophobia amongst our police & intelligence services, as has been evident in the persecution of Muslim youth in the course of the last two decades.

Meanwhile, a significant number of Mossad agents have been identified & expelled from India for indulging in espionage, drug peddling & weapons smuggling. Also the links of racist Israel with the extreme right-wing Manuwadi forces, namely the BJP-RSS-VHP-BD, all stand exposed.

Yet the secular Congress-led UPA turns a blind eye to the Mossad operations in our city & across the country.

Israel poses a grave security threat to the very sovereignty & unity of our country. Today, the dubious & perfidious role of the Zionist-Israeli Lobby in America & the Western world stands exposed & Israel stands at the bottom of public opinion across the world. Yet the ruling political elite in our country, do not seem to understand the obvious. Also the corrupting role of Israeli weapons manufacturers has been exposed by none less that the Defense Ministry itself, whereby 4 Israeli companies have been banned for bribing politicians, military officials & bureaucrats. The links of the Mossad & the Abhinav Bharat & Sanatan Sanstha terror organizations is also being probed due to the charge-sheet filed by Shaheed ATS Chief Hemant Karkare.

Thus it is also due to the flawed policies of the government, where the likes of racist Israelis operate with impunity, even by-passing the official corridors of power & our intel-security apparatus.

ii) The DCP Mr Kishore Jadhav & the Sr Inspector Mr Suryavanshi (Agripada Police Station), all need to be taken to task, for operating at the behest of the Israeli consulate as their agents.

All the police stations in our city of Mumbai, across Maharashtra & India, need to be warned that they cannot be acting at a telephone call from either the Israeli, the American or any other foreign power.

The next time the people of this city will lay siege to the police station, if our sovereign democratic rights as Indian citizens are again infringed upon.

We also demand that the Home Minister Mr R. R. Patil, take the appropriate action against these errant officials, so we do not see a repeat of these abominable acts ever again.

We represent the patriotic tradition of our Freedom Movement against the British colonial occupation of our Motherland & we will not see stand by & see our nation be colonized once again by American & Israeli imperialists. We will not betray the sacrifices & the memories of our founding fathers & the thousands who laid down their lives for a free India.

Today there is a movement across the world, where the masses are challenging the US-Israeli-European Neo-colonial project & the demise of the western imperial powers is destined.

It is time for the Indian political class to understand these new political realities for the future of our nation & the world is at stake.

We walk in the path of Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Azad, Mahatma Phule, Dr, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Subash Chandra Bose & Bhagat Singh & it is their teachings that we will strive to carry on.

Jai Hind!! Jai Bharat!!

Feroze Mithiborwala, Kishore Jagtap, Aslam Ghazi, Jyoti Badekar & Arif Kapadia.

cc to:

The President of India, Shrimati Pratibha Patil
The Prime Minister, Mr Manmohan Singh
The Congress President, Shrimati Sonia Gandhi
The Home Minister (Maharashtra State), Mr R R Patil

May 15, 2012 Nakba Day Program.

The 15th of May, marks the 64th year of the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian nation & thus it is refereed to as the Nakba, or the catastrophe. It was on this day that the Israeli European colonialists occupied Palestine & they ethnically cleansed more than 800,000, or half of the original inhabitants of the land.

Today after more than 9 decades of a racist & brutal occupation, the Palestinian nations continue to defy the Israeli-US-Nato powers against all odds. And the Palestinian Initifada continues to inspire billions of people across the to resist the imperial-Zionist designs for global hegemony. And thus the people of Palestine continue to stand at the front-lines & are the vanguard of the international resistance.

The brutal & Nazi Israeli occupation carries on with Western complicity. But on the other hand, the international mass support for the cause of Palestine continues to grow across the world & today, Palestine is the most popular cause in this history of the world.

Also the struggle for Palestine symbolises the struggle against imperialism & Zionism. In our country, today the corrupt Manuwadi forces & elite corporates are in alliance with these global powers. As we also know that it is the Zionist-Israeli lobby that controls the USA through various means of subterfuge. Israel is deploying the same strategy to control India. Thus Israel loses a grave threat to the very sovereignty & security of India.

The great Indians like Mahatma Gandhi, Mahatma Phule, Maulana Azad, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh - all of whom had opposed the formation of Israel on principled & moral foundations. We need to protect & defend the traditions & the legacy of our national freedom struggle.

Thus we need to awaken the Indian people to the threat that Israel poses to our own country & at the same time, we need to support & stand in solidarity with the Palestinian nation, as they struggle for their independence from the Zionist apartheid occupiers.

We thus call for the Boycott of Apartheid Racist Israel. We also appeal to the people of India to once again stand in solidarity with the national independence struggle of the Palestinian nation.

Jai Hind!! Jai Bharat!!
Bharat-Palestine Dosti Amar Rahe. (Long Live the People of India & Palestine)

May 15, 2012  Nakba Day Program.

1- Political discussion on Palestine conflict and Isreal's Threat to India and the world 11am-1pm at Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, CST Mumbai, India.

2- Public Demonstration and Awareness Program. 5pm, at outside Dadar Station(West), Mumbai India.

3- Semainar and Public meeting and GMJ experience sharing talk. 6pm-9pm at Chabildas School Dadar (west) Mumbai.

Organized by, Bharat Bachao Andolan, Phule Sahu Ambedkar Manch, Vidyarthi Bharati, and India Palestine People's Solidarity Forum.


4- Public meeting at Press Club Delhi

Organized by: Muslim Political Council.

5- Memorandum to Prime Minister about Strengthen the relationship with Palestine and to Boycott Israel.

Organized by: Free Palestine Campaign India.


for further details and to join, kindly email us on freepalestinecampaignindia@gmail.com

Boycott Israel....Save India

We demand release of the Journalist Kazmi

When will the witch stop hunting?

 

By Syed Hassan Kazim,

The witch hunt of Muslim youths going on across the country on a large scale is something which has largely been ignored by the mainstream media, but the voices against such illegal arrests have started to rise from different quarters. The recent most reaction has come from Bihar’s Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, who went fuming at the arrest of a man named Kafeel Akhtar from Darbhanga, by a team of plain clothed policemen from BJP ruled state Karnataka in relation to Chinnaswamy stadium blast case of 2010. The CM described the arrest as illegal and highly objectionable.
It is a duty of the government to make sure that innocents are not made to pay for the crimes of others. But the recent trend of witch hunting of the Muslim youths is something which is not going down well with the secular and right thinking strata of Indians.
The pathetic intentional ignorance of media towards this witch hunt is something which cannot be ignored by the excuse of the corporatization of media. Isn’t it the duty of the fourth estate to report honestly when it comes to the violation of human rights? After all, it is regarded as the voice of the voiceless. The way a whole community is being stereotyped is certainly going to leave an adverse impact on the minds and psyche of the youth, who are the future of this country. The largest selling daily, ‘The Times of India’ came up with the headline, “North Bihar is the new terror hub, or Azamgarh”. This shows how irresponsible the media has become when it comes to reporting the events which are somehow not related to the vulgarities of IPL or the fasts of Annas and Babas.
In March this year, an Urdu journalist, Syed Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi was arrested by the special branch of the Delhi police and was accused of being a part of the conspiracy to plant a magnet bomb in the car of an Israeli Diplomat, on February 13th, this year. As the trend goes, he was a Muslim who knew Urdu and Persian and that could be enough to be a suspect. The only hope is a fair trial. Till now the police have not been able to give a single concrete proof against him. Despite being in the judicial custody, Kazmi is being made a pawn just because someone from the top tier wants him to be indicted for the crime which he never committed. No one knows for how long will Kazmi have to stay in jail without getting any attention from the government?
The cases like that of Kazmi and Gilani come to the limelight because they are somehow comparatively high profile cases. But what about the hundreds of others whose futures and lives are unnecessarily being rotten in the jails across the country just because their names resembled to some so called terror master minds? The promotion hungry policemen when come under ministerial and departmental pressures arrest them in a hurry only to fabricate false cases against them. Who will reply to their questions? Who will reply to the questions of Amir (a boy when he was arrested 14 years ago and now a man by the Delhi police which alleged him of being some terror mastermind, or the so called international terrorist only to be acquitted by the honourable courts after spending the most precious years of his life in Tihar Jail. Will Dr. Manmohan Singh, who is ever-ready to welcome Hillary Clinton, care to meet Amir and ask for his forgiveness? Will Mrs. Sonia Gandhi do that? No, not at all!
If, for the Prime Minister, the judicial enquiry into the Batla House encounter means something which will bring down the so called morale of the Delhi police, then he should also think about the morale of the masses, morale of the youths of a particular community who are being arrested by the communal and biased police personnel. The way UPA dispensation has been treating the case of Muslim witch hunting has left a deep scar on the Muslim community because for most of the Muslims all the claims of the Congress about its secular and democratic values are falling flat like a myth. Most of them see no difference between the communal BJP and the supposedly “secular” Congress.
In a democracy, there are a few things which are more important than just votes and elections and those are honour, justice and fair trial. These are a few things which differentiate a democracy from a police state. The ones who hold the reigns of the country must be accountable for all activities carried out under their guidance. For starters, they should learn to say “sorry”.
(The author is postgraduate student at Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delh)