Hyderabad: Grave threat to secular ideas, constitution

Hyderabad: Speaking of the fallout of the agitation against CAA-NRC-NPR, Maulana Syed Arshad Madani observed on Tuesday that the protest would be successful and yield the desired impact unless and until all communities come together and spearhead the agitation against the recent controversial laws which threaten to undermine the fundamental character of constitution and imperil national integrity.

While addressing the conference on 'Save Democracy,' Maulana Madani, the president of Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, said "Politics of hate divided the country once, and today the country is at a similar juncture, once again. To save the democracy and Constitution of India, everyone from each community should join hands and protest against the black law. If the protest is led by only Muslims, it will not be a protest. It will be successful only when Hindu, Sikh, Christian and others join hands to save secularism, unity and integrity," he added.

It is pertinent to mention that Maulana Syed Arshad Madani is the son of renowned freedom fighter and founder member of the World Islamic League Makkah Maulana Husain Ahmed Madani. He said that he suggested to the organisations to invite all other communities to speak about their view on the implementation of draconian laws, and appreciated that the conference was attended by Justice Chandra Kumar, Prof M Kondandaram, Jasveen Kaur and others.

Speaking of the citizenship law, NPR and NRC, Maulana said "CAA is an attack on the secular nature of India and is not a Hindu-Muslim issue. The secular character of the constitution binds Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Buddhists and the people of other religions."

Since the Independence of India several communal riots had taken place in the name of religion, whereas in the recent Delhi riots there was no dispute in the name of religion. "Hindus came forward to save Muslims and their religious places and so did the Muslims too. It was a failure of ruling government which tried to divide country in the name of religion. The country will not survive without secularism," he noted.

Prof Kodandaram said "The citizenship laws are a great danger to thousands of common people who may not have these documents to submit." For example, in many Hindu marriages, the pundits suggest changing the name of the bride, while matchmaking. This opens door for doubtful citizenship of these Hindus, who are countless in number. The Constitution guarantees many rights, but the citizenship laws will take away these. The new developments put the burden of proof on the citizens for the first time. This is the biggest threat to all Indians. We must unite to work against these laws." He urged the Chief Minister of Telangana KCR to issue an official statement on NPR and pass an official resolution on the lines of Bihar government. He urged the people to unite on these laws.

Justice Chandra Kumar observed that, "The country is facing a terrible situation after the independence of India. Several people went to Pakistan and several came to India during partition, but India never gave citizenship on religion basis, but the government is now asking its citizens to prove citizenship." He said that since the NDA government came to power, the warriors who fight for freedom became traitors and traitors turned famous, and slogans were raised in favor of traitors, he pointed.

Hamid Mohammed Khan, the president of TS Jamiat-e-Islami, said that as the Jamiat-Ulema fights for the freedom of India with traitors and send them back, similarly it would fight with those traitors who are out to divide country in the name of religion.

Social activist Jasveen Kaur, Prof Vishweshwar Rao, former minister and ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Mohammed Ali Shabbir, former MP Aziz Pasha, Mufti Gayasuddin Rahmania and others addressed and participated in the conference.

Constitution guarantees many rights, but the citizenship laws will take away these. The new developments put the burden of proof on the citizens for the first time. This is the biggest threat to all Indians. We must unite to work against these laws

– Prof Kodandaram

If the protest is led by only Muslims, it will not be a protest. It will be successful only when Hindu, Sikh, Christian and others join hands to save secularism, unity and integrity

– Maulana Madani,

president of Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind