Activist: Indian Muslims should learn to achieve their democratic rights peacefully

JEDDAH: Indian Muslim youth should refrain from attacking the media, a leader activist on Muslim issues has said.
In a telephone interview, Zafaryab Jilani, who is the convener of the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee and the advocate general of Uttar Pradesh state in India, said the state of Assam, due to its difficult terrain and jungles, had become a safe haven for the opponents of the Assamese Muslims.
The state is almost inadmissible for the outside media, so for any news one has to depend on the local media that is sympathetic or influenced by the Bodos tribe, according to Jilani.
He recalled the 2002 Gujarat massacre of Indian Muslims, when India’s national media did expose the nefarious designs of the communal outfits and the wholesale massacre of the defenseless Muslims.
The activist advised Muslim organizations to train and educate Muslim youths to know their democratic rights and duties.
He scoffed at the way the demonstrations were held in Mumbai, Lucknow and Allahabad to express anger at the ongoing massacre of Assamese and Myanmar Muslims.
He said the organizers of these demonstrations should have done some homework before giving a call for demonstrations. The organizers of the Lucknow and Allahabad demonstrations should have taken lessons from the violence that took place in Mumbai.
He gave the example of the Babri Masjid movement in this regard, saying that he advised Muslim youth time and again to hold fast to patience and democratic principles and assured them that through the democratic process one could achieve all the constitutional rights.
While holding marches, the demonstrators should refrain from violence, because violence backfires, he said.
Reza Academy, which gave a call for the Mumbai demonstrations, is a responsible organization that never believed in violence.
It was the work of some antisocial elements that took advantage of the huge crowd, Jilani believed.
He refuted the claim that Assamese Muslims are Bangladeshis and added that Assam for many decades had been suffering from internal divisions and violence.
He was amazed and annoyed that such a huge minority like the Assamese Muslims, who constitute 30 percent of the province’s population, is at the receiving end due to the indecisive, timid and selfish Muslim leadership that is letting down other Muslim leaders for their own agenda.
He said some people blamed a member of the Indian Parliament born in Assam for this poor state of the Assamese Muslims.
Sonia Gandhi’s latest trip to Assam was not able to wipe out tears from the faces of Muslim women, children, the sick and old, who are at the mercy of the armed and violent gangs that have no fear of being taken to task by the government in most of the interior of Assam.
Jilani believed that the government is busy in lip service. The media blackout of the riots makes one think that Sonia Gandhi does not have the upper hand and has lost control there. It is not clear if Assam’s home secretary or the chief minister has cards of the Assam policy, he stated.
The Muslim leaders have met the prime minister to find a solution to this terrifying crisis. Come what may, the Muslims should abide by law, Jilani advised.