By Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: In a curious move, Jamiat Ulama-Hind (M) on Sunday constituted a committee which would take stock of the reforms initiated by Saudi Arabia seen as ‘’ appeasement’ of the West by the present rulers. Jamiat also said that it would continue the legal battle against Assam’s BJP-led government’s attempt to discriminate against citizens on the religious ground in the preparation of Citizenship register.
The Jamiat Working Committee held here a day-long meeting in which a range of national and international issues came up for deliberation. The meeting was presided over by the Jamiat President Maulana Usman Mansurpoori.
Expressing grave concern over the citizenship issue in Assam, Jamiat said it is unfortunate that the present government-led by BJP in Assam allegedly discriminating citizens on the religious ground. It said it would continue to support the legal battle on the citizenship issue.
“Since the issue of Assamese citizenship has also turned out to be very critical, therefore Jamiat has decided to fight this legal battle in the apex court with full force. It is to be noted that Jamiat has been fighting this legal battle for more than one and half years. Recently a delegation of Jamiat had called on NSA and Home Secretary and complained about adding unnecessary clauses during the process of NRC.”
The meeting deliberated upon issues including the status of Babri mosque case, the communal situation in the country, the humanitarian crisis in Palestine and the ongoing reforms in Saudi Arabia that created a concern in Muslim circles who considered the reforms as dilution of the Islamic identity of the Kingdom.
On the ongoing reforms implemented by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Maulana Mahmood Madani, Jamiat, general secretary said: “The working committee also deliberated upon recent initiatives taken by the Saudi Kingdom for introducing reform in the kingdom.”
In order to take stock of the situation, the working committee of Jamiat has constituted a committee that will gather every relevant material and information regarding the related issue, he added.
The Saudi government has recently allowed women to drive cars and opened cinemas and other decisions to shed its ‘conservative’ Islamic image but many see these steps as an attempt to “appease the West particularly the USA”.
On Palestine issue, the working committee adopted a resolution and strongly condemned the US decision of shifting its embassy to Jerusalem. It also expressed grave concern over continued Israeli aggression and atrocities on the hapless Palestinians.
On the rise of communal tensions and violence, the Working Committee noted that “misunderstanding among Hindus and Muslims is one of the reasons for the rise of violent incidents; therefore it has been decided to convey Peaceful and ethical teaching of Islam to Non-Muslims brethren.”
For removing cobweb of misunderstanding, Jamiat will publish and disseminate Islamic literature in Hindi, English and other regional languages.
Jamiat also decided that it would “create a sense of Islamic liberalism and brotherhood among Muslims” and for this, it would organize debates and symposia.
