India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—While Supreme Court in an oral observation on Friday suggested that suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who made highly derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) provoking emotions across the country, should apologize to the nation, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), one of the biggest Islamic organizations in India, on Saturday demanded her arrest.
The demand was made at a press conference addressed jointly by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind president Syed Sadatullah Husaini and its vice-president Prof. Engineer Mohammad Salim at the JIH headquarters in New Delhi.
Responding to a question from a journalist, Mr Husaini said that if apology replaced punishment, then there is no need of courts and prisons in the country.
The JIH also demanded action against those politicians, TV channels and media houses who are fanning hatred in the country.
The two JIH leaders said that the Udaipur murder and a series of mob lynching incidents in different parts of the country – including beating to death of an elderly Hindu on the basis of a mistaken identity in Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh recently – were interlinked and politicians and media involved in spreading hate were responsible for it.
Mr Husaini welcomed the observations of the Supreme Court that politicians accused of blasphemous rhetoric were single-handedly responsible for this grave situation in the country and the media promoting such hate speeches in the name of TV debates was also equally responsible. He said that it was unfortunate that even after causing such havoc, the accused spokesperson and TV anchors were still roaming free.
Mr. Husaini demanded enactment of a blasphemy law to punish those insulting the religious personalities of various faiths.
The two JIH leaders said that unfortunately, the political environment of our country was encouraging aggression and hatred and reducing empathy and tolerance and a section of the media was working hand in glove with such irresponsible political forces. They appealed to all peace and justice-loving citizens of the country to join hands and fight against hatred and violence.
In response to a question, Mr. Husaini said that there should be no two sets of laws in dealing with accused based on their religious identity. “There should be no double standard in taking action against those involved in promoting hate,” Mr. Husaini said, while responding to a question on the police arresting the Alt News website co-founder Mohammed Zubair and allowing former BJP leader Nupur Sharma move freely.
Prof. Salim said that it was highly disappointing that Nupur had not been arrested even after a month of her hate remarks on a TV channel. This, he said, has spoiled the image of India abroad.
He expressed surprise over the arrest of renowned human rights defender Teesta Setalvad and former Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar simply because he had deposed before an inquiry commission that probed the Gujarat 2002 anti-Muslim riots.
Prof. Salim said that Mohammed Zubair was arrested only because he shared the derogatory comments of Nupur Sharma on social media. This indicates the direction in which the country was headed to. He said this is an attack on India’s democratic values and freedom of speech.
He said that bulldozing of houses of protesters demanding arrest of Nupur Sharma amounted to muzzling of democracy.
Prof. Salim disapproved of how the fall of the Maharashtra government was engineered by making a mockery of the anti-defection law and the mandate of the people.
He said the method of “resort politics” was deployed to the hilt in which rebel MLAs were shipped to BJP-ruled states of Gujarat and Assam and offered all logistic support for toppling the government.
Prof Salim that the lust for power at all costs would lead to the weakening of democracy and instability in our polity and governance for which the nation would have to pay a very heavy price.
He said that Jamaat-e-Islami Hind also opposed the last-minute decision of the outgoing MVA government to rename the cities of Aurangabad and Osmanabad.
Prof Salim demanded withdrawal of Agnipath scheme.
