ANHAD
Speakers at the National Meet on ’Tracing Sangh Terror Links And Stories Of Innocent Muslim Boys’ . PHOTO/Mukul Dube
National Meet ‘Ham Jo Tareek Rahon Main Marey Gaye’
Tracing Sangh Terror Links And Stories Of Innocent Muslim Boys’
New Delhi, January 28, 2011
-*Investigate Hindutva terror with sincere efforts
* Reinvestigate all terror cases of last two decades
* Release innocent Muslim boys
* Issue an apology to the innocent victims
* Rehabilitate them immediately
There is an almost universal sentiment of fear and growing despair among Muslim citizens of the country. There is mounting disillusionment with all institutions of governance, and more so with the police and judiciary, as well as with political parties and to some extent the media. There is on the one hand the constant dread of being profiled as a terrorist, or of a loved one being so profiled, with the attendant fears of illegal and prolonged detention, denial of bail, torture, unfair and biased investigation and trial, and extra-judicial killings. There is on the other hand the lived experience of day to day discrimination, in education, employment, housing and public services, which entrap the community in hopeless conditions of insecurity, poverty and want.
The consistent stereotypical profiling and insensitivity towards Muslims has pushed them from being citizens of a democratic country to the position of second grade citizenship. This kind of unsaid apathy and discrimination in a system that takes pride in calling itself democracy is highly undesirable. Despite constitutional and legislative guarantees Muslims in India not only continue to face discrimination and violation of their rights but unfortunately the past two decades have seen a steep rise in this discrimination.
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A combined report ‘What it Means to be a Muslim in India Today’ of the two tribunals Peoples Tribunal on The Atrocities Committed Against Minority In The Name Of Fighting Terrorism held at Hyderabad on 22-24 August 2008 and National Meet on the Status of Muslims in Contemporary India held in Delhi on 3-5 Oct 2009 was released today by victims- Mohd Raisuddin, Khatoon Bibi, Qamar Jahan Sheikh, Salmabi, political leaders Digvijay Singh, Ramvilas Paswan, Sitaram Yechury, senior journalist and editor Siasat -Zahid Ali Khan and social activist Shabnam Hashmi.
The tribunals were organised by Anhad in collaboration with Siasat, Hyderabad and Human Rights Law Network.
‘What it means to be a Muslim in India Today’ is a compilation of real life stories. It brings heart rendering stories of young boys, mothers and families in front of the nation. Stories of a besieged community: stories of discrimination, stories of torture & abuse, stories of prejudices & hatred, stories of apathy, stories of intimidation, stories of state terror & fabrication of evidence, stories of police atrocities, stories of judicial apathy & connivance, stories of cold blooded murders, stories of the second class citizens of the world’s largest democracy.
Anhad for more
(Thanks to Mukul Dube)