08-11-2006, 11:21 PM
From today's Asian Age
Brinda Karat chips in
Is being Muslim a crime, ask MPs 8/11/2006 10:50:40 PM
- By Our Correspondent
New Delhi, Aug. 11: "Is being Muslim a crime?" Ms Brinda Karat (CPI-M) on Friday wondered aloud in the Rajya Sabha after she raised the issue of targeting of the Muslim community in Mumbai in the wake of the July 11 serial blasts. Mr Abu Asim Azmi (SP) too raised the issue that was first reported by this newspaper. Ms Karat and Mr Shahid Siddiqui (SP) have written to Union minister of home affairs Shivraj Patil to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
The Asian Age has reported over the last several days how the Maharashtra police personnel were picking up and harassing the Muslims in Mumbai including the senior vice-president of a multinational company, a dance choreographer known to film producer and director Mahesh Bhatt and others.
Ms Karat said it was "shocking" and a "matter of grave concern" that a community was being targeted because of its "religious affiliation". She said that identification, arrest and punishment of the persons guilty of the July 11 blasts "has to be priority" but the police were resorting to avoidable measures in order to "cover up the failure of their investigation".
"This defies the very basis of secular character of the nation," Ms Karat said. "There is a reign of terror in Mumbai ... what message are we sending out? Is being Muslim a crime ..? [Such incidents have] implications for the country ... [we] cannot demonise and victimise a community or subject them to social indignation and humiliation," she said.
Mr Abu Asim Azmi of SP, in turn, said the police were indiscriminately picking up the Muslims without a summon or notice.
He said that the Islamic Research Foundation library was checked and two persons arrested in Mumbai. Similarly, "Tableeqi Jamaat (Islamic preachers)" have been arrested and Muslim organisations were being targeted. He demanded stern action against the errant including suspension of the guilty police personnel.
Meanwhile, Ms Brinda Karat wrote in her letter to Mr Shivraj Patil that "the actions of the Mumbai police have wide repercussions and implications which are not helpful to prevent vested interests who want to divide people in the name of religion." Copies of her letter were released to media later in the day.
"There is a feeling of fear among the community because of indiscriminate picking up of Muslims in the city. It is as though the onus of proving themselves innocent has been shifted to a whole community. This is unacceptable and my party strongly protests against it," Ms Karat wrote.
"<b>Any leads that the investigation agencies may have must be followed without giving quarter to anyone involved. But it is indeed a sad day for Indiaâs secular values when the Mumbai police flags and targets all Muslims who have travelled abroad for the sole reason they are Muslims</b>," she added.
Mr Shahid Siddiqui (SP) too has written to Mr Shivraj Patil. The minister should put an end to the practice of indiscriminately picking up the members of a particular community on the basis of suspicion and take appropriate action against the errant policemen, Mr Siddiqui wrote in the letter.
In a statement released to media, Mr Siddiqui also said that the Muslims of Delhi, Mumbai and certain other places were being harassed, humiliated and insulted in the name of security measures. "Such incidents are condemnable and hurt the secular fabric of the nation," he observed.
Brinda Karat chips in
Is being Muslim a crime, ask MPs 8/11/2006 10:50:40 PM
- By Our Correspondent
New Delhi, Aug. 11: "Is being Muslim a crime?" Ms Brinda Karat (CPI-M) on Friday wondered aloud in the Rajya Sabha after she raised the issue of targeting of the Muslim community in Mumbai in the wake of the July 11 serial blasts. Mr Abu Asim Azmi (SP) too raised the issue that was first reported by this newspaper. Ms Karat and Mr Shahid Siddiqui (SP) have written to Union minister of home affairs Shivraj Patil to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
The Asian Age has reported over the last several days how the Maharashtra police personnel were picking up and harassing the Muslims in Mumbai including the senior vice-president of a multinational company, a dance choreographer known to film producer and director Mahesh Bhatt and others.
Ms Karat said it was "shocking" and a "matter of grave concern" that a community was being targeted because of its "religious affiliation". She said that identification, arrest and punishment of the persons guilty of the July 11 blasts "has to be priority" but the police were resorting to avoidable measures in order to "cover up the failure of their investigation".
"This defies the very basis of secular character of the nation," Ms Karat said. "There is a reign of terror in Mumbai ... what message are we sending out? Is being Muslim a crime ..? [Such incidents have] implications for the country ... [we] cannot demonise and victimise a community or subject them to social indignation and humiliation," she said.
Mr Abu Asim Azmi of SP, in turn, said the police were indiscriminately picking up the Muslims without a summon or notice.
He said that the Islamic Research Foundation library was checked and two persons arrested in Mumbai. Similarly, "Tableeqi Jamaat (Islamic preachers)" have been arrested and Muslim organisations were being targeted. He demanded stern action against the errant including suspension of the guilty police personnel.
Meanwhile, Ms Brinda Karat wrote in her letter to Mr Shivraj Patil that "the actions of the Mumbai police have wide repercussions and implications which are not helpful to prevent vested interests who want to divide people in the name of religion." Copies of her letter were released to media later in the day.
"There is a feeling of fear among the community because of indiscriminate picking up of Muslims in the city. It is as though the onus of proving themselves innocent has been shifted to a whole community. This is unacceptable and my party strongly protests against it," Ms Karat wrote.
"<b>Any leads that the investigation agencies may have must be followed without giving quarter to anyone involved. But it is indeed a sad day for Indiaâs secular values when the Mumbai police flags and targets all Muslims who have travelled abroad for the sole reason they are Muslims</b>," she added.
Mr Shahid Siddiqui (SP) too has written to Mr Shivraj Patil. The minister should put an end to the practice of indiscriminately picking up the members of a particular community on the basis of suspicion and take appropriate action against the errant policemen, Mr Siddiqui wrote in the letter.
In a statement released to media, Mr Siddiqui also said that the Muslims of Delhi, Mumbai and certain other places were being harassed, humiliated and insulted in the name of security measures. "Such incidents are condemnable and hurt the secular fabric of the nation," he observed.