Book Rewview: Qanooni Rahnumai Series (Mukammal)
Author: Syed Ubaidur Rahman, P Mathew
Review by Abul Hasan
India’s Constitution gives equal rights to all citizens of the country, be they Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, atheists or of any faith. However, there are many people, especially from poor backgrounds belonging to marginalized sections of different communities who are unable to use their legal rights merely due to their ignorance.
Indian Muslims, being the most backward community in the country are particularly legally illiterate. The community, whose members are usually at the receiving end of the excesses of police, are painfully unaware of their legal rights as citizens and continue to be tormented. The lack of knowledge of their legal rights in the country makes them rather very vulnerable.
Syed Ubaidur Rhman has tried to give a flip to the need by compiling ‘Qanooni Rahnumai Series – Mukammal’ in Urdu language. The book deals in detail as to what are the civil and constitutional rights that Indian Constitution grants to every citizen in the country.
When I asked Syed Ubaidur Rahman as to why he wrote the book in Urdu, the author said, “A large number of Muslims in different parts of the country speak Urdu. In hundreds of thousands of madrasas across the country, Urdu remains the medium of education. There are many people who may not be able to access such important information in any other language. While legal literature is available in other languages including English and Hindi, there is nothing in Urdu that can be accessed. Therefore, it was of paramount importance that this need was addressed”.
Police excesses are a common sight across India. More than seventy years after Independence, India continues to be ravaged by incidents of extreme police brutality that put a civilised democratic nation to shame. Merely a few days ago, a 52-year-old Muslim autorickshaw driver was assaulted in Rajasthan’s Sikar district, allegedly after he refused to shout “Modi zindabad” and “Jai Shri Ram” in the early hours of Friday. The Indian Express reported that a FIR was filed by Gapphar Ahmad Kacchawa, who was left with broken teeth, a swollen eye and bruises on his cheek. He also claimed that he was robbed of his wristwatch and money. This is not an aberration.
Just over a month and half ago, in June, a 35-year-old Muslim man named Israr was beaten to death in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district. The police claim that this was not a case of “lynching”, and Saharanpur’s superintendent of police (rural) Ashok Kumar Meena says that local residents had said Israr was “mentally unstable”, which is why he stole a bike and attacked a minor. He labelled the cause of Israr’s death as a “jhadap” or clash. This is plain lie and Israr’s relatives refused to buy the police cover up. In the viral video of the incident, Israr can be seen lying on the ground as the attackers beat him up. At one point, he gets up, only to be beaten up again until he lies motionless on the ground. Israr breathed his last at the Saharanpur district hospital.
Despite such case of mob lynching and other similar cases, many people within the Muslim community don’t have even rudimentary knowledge about their rights and protections provided to them as the citizens of India. Qanooni Rahnumai Series (Mukammal) by Syed Ubaidur Rahman fulfills a very important need of the community that needs a whole lot of literature. The good thing is that the book is in Urdu language that is the lingua franca of a large number of people across the country, especially the language of Muslim religious leaders that largely come from madrasas.
The book has been divided in seven chapters. The chapters include, ‘Muslim Idaron Ke Liye Qanooni Rehnumai’ (legal guidance for Muslim institutions), ‘FIR and related laws’, ‘Police, Rights and Limitations’, ‘Your Rights if Arrested’, ‘PIL’, and ‘Your Rights’. The book is a must have in all the Muslim homes, especially in schools, madrasas and neighborhood libraries. The book is written in lucid and easy to understand Urdu. Legal jargons have been translated in easy Urdu that make it very helpful for even a general reader.
Name of the Book: Qanooni Rahnumai Series (Mukammal)
Author: Syed Ubaidur Rahman, PD Mathew
Publisher: Global Media Publications
Pages: 400, Price: 400
Contact: D-204, 4th Floor, Abul Fazl Enclave,
Jamia Nagar, Okhla, New Delhi-110025
Tel: 9818327757
This is a very timely book for Indian Muslims. It was needed. Commin people are completely unaware of their rights in the face of police excesses.
I appreciate the effort put in to help our community but the price tag is unreachable to general muslims.
Had this been approached to Minority Affairs Ministry or Urdu Academy the price would have been in the range of Rs150 only.
I will appreciate the effort put in to help our community but the price is very high to buy a poor person. so I will ask you to please buy a low price.
I need this book
Kindly send me.