Resolutions adopted by the General Body of AIMC, at its 6th Annual Convention in Chennai

Rule of Law

The convention notes with grave concern the grim law and order situation and, more significantly, the continuing erosion in respect for rule of law all over the country and through various strata of the state machinery itself.

To illustrate, we have the spectacle of a ghastly massacre of members of the Muslim community in a village in Moradabad district on the night of July 22-23 in which there are tell-tale signs of involvement of police personnel. The failed law and order situation is evident in similar incidents from Kashmir to the North-East, to right in the middle of the national capital where a sitting MP was assassinated in the very hub of power.

To arrest the dangerous trend, the convention urges the Union and state governments to:

restore the people’s shaken sense of security, especially that of the vulnerable groups like minorities, Dalits and the economically weaker classes;
restore law and order in a democratic and efficient manner, jettisoning the old British Raj police mindset which only brutalises the weak and fails miserably in improving the situation on the ground;
restore the respect for rule of law under which every citizen –– from peon to PM –– is equal before law and, keeping in view this cardinal principle, the UP government be asked to stop hiding behind technicalities and allow the prosecution of Union ministers for their alleged role in Babri Masjid destruction as this would restore the respect for rule of law;
institute a judicial probe into Moradabad village killings and follow it up with prosecution of the perpetrators;
investigate the death of members of the Muslim minority community in false encounters;
protect the Muslim awqaf property from lawless land grabbers, bigoted anti-Muslim groups and assorted criminals;
investigate allegations of custodial deaths of Muslim youth and others and bring the law-breaking lawkeepers to book without delay;
stop state terror in the form of long detentions without trial, which go on without due process of law, against all legal norms, against all conventions and the Human Rights Charter;
stop harassment of Indian Bengali Muslims as “Bangladeshis”; and stop looting of trucks carrying cattle by hooligans in the name of “cow protection”.

Criminalisation of Politics

The convention expresses its disappointment over rampant criminalisation of politics which is indicated by an unusually large number of MLAs MLCs MPs and ministers with criminal background. It also notes with concern a criminal-police-political nexus everywhere, which is more glaringly obvious in the case of Kanpur riots.

The convention makes an appeal:

to the entire political class to give a serious thought to this growing malaise and think of ways to stem the rot;
to government, academics and the influential sections of society to come together and save the country from this dangerous drift.

Persecution of Dalits

the convention supports Dalit demands that caste be allowed to be included as race at the UN Convention Durban on Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination.
the convention also supports the demand of Dalits for reservation in private sector jobs as the scope for application of reservation principle in government jobs has reduced because the number of jobs has shrunken considerably.
the convention also demands that minorities be allowed a greater participation in all jobs and economic activities.

Proper Governance

This convention, after a day’s deliberations, has come to the conclusion that the Union government as well as some state governments of similar political persuasion have failed in their primary duty –– that of providing a fair, equitable and evenhanded model of governance –– the most glaring example being the extremely mischievous “Reforming the National Security Report” prepared by the Group of Ministers constituted for this sorry exercise. The report quite unwisely demonises Muslims and blames Islam and its symbols and creates a “ Mosque-Madarsa-Mullah Syndrome”, thus giving the entire Muslim community an enemy image.

The GoM Report isolates madarsas, Muslims and mosques and identifies them as threats to national security, creating widespread apprehension in Muslim mind as a section of the media goes to town with inspired stories about mosques and madarsas being ISI dens. It is heartening to know that the Prime Minister has categorically rejected the assumptions and innuendoes made in the GoM Report regarding madarsas being ISI dens. The PM said on August 7 that “madarsas are the fountainheads of learning” and that he had no reports of any anti-national activity in madarsas. He is in a position to know things better than the GoM as intelligence inputs are directly available to the PMO.

Keeping in view the PM’s clarification and its authenticity and authority, this convention demands:

that the mischievous, ill-informed and ill-intentioned innuendoes in the GoM regarding Muslims, mosques and madarsas be excised from the report forthwith as it is inconsistent with the views of the PM himself;
that the GoM, have another look at an earlier statement of the Union Home Minister and leading light of the GoM in which he stated that madarsas were not ISI centres;
that the deletion of the anti-Muslim slur from the GoM Report be followed up with immediate order to the administrative machinery to stop harassing Muslims on the basis of the false assumption in the report;
stop arbitrary arrests and Nazi-style mid-night knocks at the doors of prominent Muslims;
immediately release prominent Muslims like Mohammed Suleiman Sahab of Kanpur, a respected leader of the community and senior member of All India Personal Board and Milli Council; and
probe the criminal-politician-police nexus in Kanpur riots, bring the guilty to book and compensate victims.

Economic Meltdown

This convention takes serious note of the alarming downturn in the national economy that has brought the growth rate to a puny 1.5 percent. According to conservative estimates, 10 lakh workers have been forced out of their jobs, which means serious hardships to a million families. There is stagnation across the board, creating panic and eroding confidence in the market. All
this has visited upon the nation because of the wrong policies of the government, adoption of unsuitable economic models under IMF-World Bank pressure and that of other vested interests. Economic liberalisation and structural adjustments have hurt the poor worldwide, including in India. We were promised by our leaders that liberalisation would have “a human face” in India and would not hurt the poor. We are still to see that human face.

This convention pleads with the government:

to review its wrong-headed economic policies;
to roll back the juggernaut of economic ruin and spare the poor and working classes the troubles and hardships that they don’t deserve;
consider ways of rescuing the traditional crafts, cottage, small and medium-level industries, which have been crippled under the impact of "economic reforms"; and
take extra measures to protect the economically weak till things improve.
This convention cautions the Union government against reckless disinvestment which allows private interests to corner large public assets at throwaway prices. As per the CAG Report, Modern Food was sold off at a price much below the market rate. This is just one of many examples. The convention urges government to bring every fact regarding such sales before Parliament.

Scams Following Scams

This convention is deeply anguished at the country’s endless troubles with political corruption and economic scams. At some points both look like two faces of the same coin as all the economic scams have some political dimension and all scamsters their political patrons in high places. There
seems to be no end to it, and no area of life is untouched by this rising tide of graft, including defence purchases like Bofors, HDW submarines and virtually every defence purchase, as illustrated by Tehelka tapes.

This convention is extremely concerned about the far-reaching implications of the UTI scam which hurts the middle classes because they are the main investors. The alleged involvement of people connected with PMO and the PM’s household is another aspect of it, which is deeply disturbing. This is only a part in a long series of stock market thefts, some of the landmarks being
Harshad Mehta scam and Ketan Parekh fraud.

This convention makes an appeal to the Prime Minister to:

Set up a CBI probe into this web of Byzantine intrigue and clear the PMO and PM household’s fair name;
look for evolving measures to promote responsible governance; and establish a reliable, transparent and fair system of economic transactions. And, finally, bring the guilty to book.

Religious Persecution

This convention expresses its dismay over continuing attacks on Muslim religious institutions and symbols and requests the Union government to:

stop the dangerous discourse in which Muslims, Christians and Sikhs are described as the “other” for the state machinery to brutalise and crush;
stop secret surveys of Muslim concentration areas in different parts of the country, which are creating panic and terror from coast to coast and declare the purpose of such innately undemocratic procedures which violating all human rights norms;
stop vilifying Muslims and Sikhs, including retired armed forces personnel, and nullify orders to state police to watch the movement of all prominent men and activists among minorities as suspects;
withdraw the May 2001 UP Government circular in which the districts police chiefs have been asked to keep Muslims, Christians and Sikhs under watch;
the pre-election rash of engineered communal clashes be stopped forthwith and the district administration of areas where these are allowed to occur be held accountable for the lapse;
the mosque destroyed by goons in Asind (Rajasthan) be rebuilt immediately, the guilty brought to book and recurrence of such events prevented effectively; and
ban all private armies like Sunlight Sena, PWG and Bajrang Dal and disarm them as their formation is unconstitutional and a menace to national unity.

Cultural Freedom

The convention expresses serious concern over governmental efforts to deface minority religions and cultures and urges the Union government to:

scrap the UP Regulation of Public Buildings and Places Bill 2000, pending in UP Assembly, as it interferes with the constitutionally guaranteed freedom to profess and practice one’s religion without let or hindrance;
discontinue the relentless crusade to saffronise education communalising history and educational institutions, by changing history and school syllabi and by making Sarswati Vandana and Vande Matram compulsory singing for all school students, thus throwing the country’s secular Constitution to the winds;
dissuade the VHP Dharma Sansad from riding rough-shod over the rule of law and going ahead with the construction of a temple at the Babari Masjid site (the self-set deadline of the Sansad for the Union government to “clear all obstacles” being March 12, 2002).

This convention shares the concern of other fellow Indians over the cultural invasion of the west in the form of Hollywood films showing unbridled violence and explicit, wild sex; and

TV software of dubious moral content; books and magazines that carry pornographic portrayals and obscene sites on the worldwide web, asking the union government:

to create a group of intellectuals, artistes and arts critics, besides media and film personalities to suggest ways and means of coping with this menace.