ALL INDIA MUSLIM MAJLIS-E-MUSHAWARAT

MMA/ MMM Resolutions,

New Delhi, 27 November, 2010

1.  On Verdict of the Special Bench of Allahabad High Court on Ayodhya Dispute

The MMM of the AIMMM expresses its deep shock and dismay on the verdict of the Special Bench of the Allahabad High Court in the Babri Masjid Dispute. The judgment has many frailties, inconsistencies and contradictions but more importantly it violates the universal Doctrine of Adverse Possession, bases itself on the faith & belief of a section of the majority community rather than on admissible evidence and reasons, declares the entire disputed site a legal person, and converts a title suit into a partition suit, and goes beyond the 1994 mandate of the Supreme Court and the pleadings of the plaintiffs. Thus, in many ways the verdict violates the Constitution, the Rule of Law and the Secular Order.

.           The MMM is apprehensive that unless reversed, this verdict will create a precedent which endanger the survival of many places of worship and shrines of the religious minorities, which a section of the majority may claim under one pretext or another.

The MMM has concluded that the, All India Muslim Personal Law Board which had undertaken the legal defence of the Babri Masjid following the Demolition in 1992 and the revival of the title suites in 1994 has failed to fulfill its responsibility adequately, whatever the reasons, and has not so far declared a firm intention to intervene in the Supreme Court or to file a PIL.

`           The MMM has noted that the dignified silence of the Muslim community has been taken as acquiescence and acceptance of this unjust verdict while the RSS, VHP and other members of the Sangh Pariwar have not only adopted a triumphalist tone but started pressing the Muslim community, directly and indirectly, to surrender the 1/3^rd share in the disputed site which the HC gave them so that they may fulfill their objective of building a grand Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir. The Muslims community has, therefore, unanimously rejected their call for negotiations.

The MMM has noted that apart from the JUH (Arshad group), which has filed an appeal, several other Muslim organization of national eminence intend to intervene or file a PIL including the AIMPLB, AIMC, the JIH, the PFI, the MJAH. The MMM appeals to all Muslim organizations as well as to all secular parties and NGOs to come forward in defence of the secular order and thus reassure the religious minorities against the majoritarian threat implicit in the Allahabad verdict.

The MMM advises the AIMMM, which was the first to take up the cause of restoration of Babri Masjid in 1986 & which had established the BMMCC, to intervene in the appeal or file a PIL at the appropriate time. The MMM appeals to the Muslim community to donate generously to the AIMMM & other Muslim organizations which enter the arena to provide necessary financial resources for efficiently and effectively undertaking the historic challenge.

            The MMM reiterates it faith in the Constitution and hopes that the Supreme Court shall reverse the verdict and award the title of the disputed site to the Muslim community and calls upon the Government to implement the road map already outlined by the S.C.  & not to handover the entire Acquired Area to the Hindu Organizations.

2. On Deliberate Delay by the UPA Government in Implementing the Ranganath Mishra Commission Report.

            The MMM of the AIMMM expresses its dissatisfaction at the apathy and insensitivity of the UPA Government towards the implementation of the Report of the  Rangnath Mishra Commission on Religious and Linguistic Minorities, which was submitted 2 ½ years ago and though placed in the Parliament has not yet been discussed. The MMM has noted the Government statement that the Report is under consideration and that its recommendations have been forwarded to many Ministries and Departments. The MMM urges the Prime Minister to expedite the implementation keeping in view that:

(a) A Caste Census in 2011 has been authorized by the Government.

(b) Nearly all secular parties including the INC have in principle supported reservation for the religious minorities.

(b) In a recent judgment the Supreme Court has indicated that the 50% ceiling on reservation is not inflexible and may be relaxed in special circumstances to meet specific situations.

The MMM warns the government that the issue of reservation for minorities is & shall remain at the top of the agenda of the Muslim community in the coming state elections and in the next General Election.

3.  On UPA Performance in the field of Muslims Uplift since 2004.

            The MMM of the AIMMM is sad to note that there has been no significant increase in the economic, educational and social status of the Muslim minority since 1999 when the UPA came to power Until & unless the governments open the door for appropriate reservation in government jobs, higher education, benefit of social development & welfare schemes and flow of bank credit for the Muslims & other deprived minorities. The MMM is firmly of the view that there cannot be any substantial uplift.

            After a detailed analysis the MMM has come to the conclusion that that even the the much-heralded Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the Right to Education Act have failed to spread & improve the quality of school education for the deprived groups particularly the Muslims and the deprived non-Muslim OBCs. In fact the SSA has been diluted over the years to the point of relative deprivation of areas of concentration of weaker sections from school facilities, even in respect of teachers, infrastructure, textbooks and mid day meals in existing schools because the per capita availability of SSA funds stands reduced, while the demand for school education has risen. On the other hand, the Education Act threatens the very existence of educational institutions established and administered by the Muslim minority.

            The MMM urges the Government to realize that India cannot leap into the 21^st century without universal education of quality upto secondary level and only. By funding education for the children of the elite and the establishment of private colleges and universities. Such an approach shall produce the managers, administrators and technocrats of the future from the elite to the continued marginalization of the deprived groups.

The MMM, therefore, urges the Ministry of Human Resource Development to give the highest priority to establish primary schools of quality in all areas of human habitation in accordance with national norms and to introduce the mother tongues of the students, irrespective of numbers, as the medium of primary instruction and include them under the Three-Language Formula at the post-primary level.

4. On Transparency in Uplift Programmes Particularly PM’s New 15 Point Programmes.

            The MMM regrets the lack of transparency & meaningful data in government reports & demands that the Government present an Annual Report on targets and achievements of the Prime Minister New 15 Point Programmes for the Welfare of the Minorities, apart from the Scholarship and Multi Sectoral Development Plans introduced by it and on the existing institutions like the NMFDC and the Maulana Azad Education Foundation. The Annual Report should include disaggregated data for each minority as well as the change-over the preceding year & since 1999-2000.

The MMM, in addition, demands statements on the recruitment of Muslims in armed forces, para military forces & central intelligence and the provincial armed constabularies & police forces of various States with figures of actual recruitment cadre wise during the year, and community-wise rise/fall over the preceding year.

The MMM also demands that enhance National Commission for Minorities should have 2/3 numbers from the Muslim Community and be granted constitutional status as promised and the Government take the initiative to setup a Parliamentary Committee on Minorities and institute a Component Plan for their development.

The MMM calls upon the Govt. to enact laws for the implementation of the Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme and to give statutory status for National Integration Council.

5. On Saffron Terrorism – Ban on the RSS.

            The MMM demands that the RSS, whose real face has been exposed with the complicity of several pracharaks and office bearers in acts of terrorism, for which with past the Muslim community was often blamed, be declared a terrorist organization and proscribed. 

            The MMM also demands that investigation and prosecution of the RSS members and activists suspected of participation in terrorism must be entrusted to the CBI and processed through a Special Court under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court.

            The MMM also demands that the Muslim youth who are still under detention as suspects in the very same cases be honorably acquitted and paid due compensation for their wrongful confinement.

The MMM is of the view that the RSS has played a role in all major incidents of communal violence since independence, both by including the Hindu community as well as by organizing gangs for participating in anti-Muslim violence, apart from its regular  propaganda to create distruct against the Muslim community. The MMM calls upon the MHA to appoint a National Commission on RSS to look into the record of the RSS which has in the past been indicted by several Commissions of Inquiry.

The MMM points out that since the RSS has over the last few decades penetrated deep into various police organizations, the MHA must introduce due checks in their recruitment and deputation to the IB and the CBI at any level and at the some time  ensure that Muslim officials are not denied their due participation in national intelligence setup.  

6. On Amendment of the Wakf Act 1995.

The MMM deplores the delay in the amendment to the Wakf Act, 1995. It particularly demands that all public Wakfs be included in the list of Public Premises and exempted from agriculture ceiling and rent control laws. The Wakf Tribunals should be authorized to decide all Civil Suits pertaining to Wakf properties, the Act should provide for a Chairman of the Central Wakf Council to be elected by and from among its members in order to make it a fully autonomous body and empower it to monitor and supervise the working of the State Wakf Boards.

            The MMM also emphasizes that Central and State Governments must restore unconditionally all Wakf properties which are in their hands, to the Mutawallis or to the State Wakf Boards, or purchase them at current market prices as well as allow creation of future Wakfs by Muslims and their utilization for educational & religious purposes. 

            The MMM also demands a special drive to identity & restore all public Wakfs including mosques, shrines and graveyards which are under illegal occupation and calls upon the Ministry of Minority Affairs and Central Wakf Council to monitor the progress in all states.

            The MMM calls for the restoration of recently abolished Inter-State Wakf Board for Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh and for the establishment of similar Boards for all contiguous States and Union Territories which have less than five hundred Wakf properties for their proper management.

7.  On Management of Haj

            The MMM has noted that 2010 has shown some progress in the handling and management of Haj, particularly the re-introduction of a global tender to select and charter Haj carriers but it is of the view that the tender should be launched atleast nine months in advance and that it should be followed by intensive negotiations by a high power team with the short-listed carriers to bring down the Haj fare to the level of not more than 75% of the current IATA fare, so that the Haj subsidy, which has only served to fan anti-Muslim communal feelings, may be eliminated as the earliest possible.

            The MMM is also of the view that there should be a clear and strict division of work between the Haj Committee of India and the Consulate General of India, Jeddah to take care of the management in the country and in Saudi Arabia, respectively. It is also of the view that work related to Haj be transferred from the Ministry of External Affairs to the Ministry of Minority Affairs & that the Govt. should provide a grant-in-aid to meet its administrative cost & submit an Annual Report on Haj to the Parliament.

The MMM has noted that the Indian pilgrims continue to face much difficulty in getting suitable accommodation and most of them are housed in distant parts of Mecca Mukarrama without adequate transport facilities. The MMM, therefore, suggests to the Government that accommodation should not be leased by the CGI, Jeddah, through agents but directly from the owners or through  Saudi Arabian authorities & after inspection by joint teams includes officials of major pilgrim-generating states, in order to eliminate the persistent odour of corruption.  

            The MMM also requests the Government of India to take up with the Government of Saudi Arabia as a long term measure the question of utilization of compensation lying frozen with the Saudi Arabian authorities for the Indian Rubats which were endowed in the past by wealthy Muslim pilgrims and which were demolished for the extension of the Harimain Sharifain. The MMM suggests that the Government of Saudi Arabia be requested to transfer the unutilized funds to the Saudi Arabian Haj & Aukaf authorities for the construction of new Rubats for the exclusive use of Indian pilgrims during the Haj.

            The MMM has also takes the opportunity to place on record that the Haj House in Bombay belongs to the Muslim community of India as a whole and not to the Government of India or to the Haj Committee and proposes that the original Trust Deed for its management be registered, with suitable modifications, to ensure that its recurring income is utilized for its maintenance & for the development of a Haj University for the benefit of the community.

8. On Results of Bihar Election 2010.

The MMM has taken due note of the results of the recent election to the Bihar Legislative Assembly and offers its felicitation to the JD (U), it finds that Muslims are better represented than in 2005 and  hopes that the government it forms shall pay full attention to the aspirations and needs of the Muslim minority and the implementation of the promises and assurances made by it in its manifesto and in the course of the campaign and to the improvement of various programmes that it shall inherit.

The MMM hopes that the Muslim community shall have due representation in the Council of Ministers as well as in all Boards, Commissions, Corporations & other statutory bodies, which are filled through nomination.

The MMM also hopes that the Government shall establish at state & districts level committees to review the progress of all schemes, centrally or jointly funded, with at least 50% representative from the people.

            The MMM of the view that without direct involvement of the Muslim population, which constitutes 16% of the state population and their adequate representation in government services, higher education, benefits of social and economic development and welfare programmes, the State cannot move forward on the path of progress.

            The MMM suggests that Government involvement in institutions of special interest to the Muslim like the Minorities Commissions, the Wakf Board and the Haj Committee be upgraded with induction of representative & competent persons from the community who enjoy its trust and respect.

The MMM suggests that the State should pay priority attention to the completion of Wakf Survey and the computerization of wakf records as well as encourage & support the establishment of People’s Wakf Committees at the  district Level.

9. On Proposed Amendment to Dastoor 2001 by Referendum.

            The MMM, after due consideration of the amendments to the Dastoor proposed by the President in the light of discussions at its meeting of 11 August, 2010 decides to authorize a Referendum by circulation of the approved among its members for their approval. The MMM requests the President to take necessary steps in this connection.