A body of Indian Muslims condemned the isolation of the community and random searches in Muslim majority areas in the wake of the serial blasts in Delhi and the subsequent shootout.
NEW DELHI: An umbrella body of Indian Muslims on Monday condemned the isolation of the community and random searches in Muslim majority areas in the wake of the serial blasts in Delhi and the subsequent shootout between police and suspected terrorists in Jamia Nagar.
“We cannot live like a different community in our nation. It is not right to target the whole community for the wrongs of a select few,” A.H. Noomani, general secretary of the Jamiat-ulama-i-Hind and also member of the Coordination Committee of Indian Muslims, said at a press conference here.
The committee coordinator of the Jamia Nagar area, who was also present at the event, objected to the way the shootout took place in Jamia Nagar and even raised doubts over its authenticity.
“All the students living at L-18 had gone for police verification and even their Azamgarh residence had been noted in the verification papers. They did not even leave after the blasts. Why would hardcore terrorists do that?” he asked.
The Sep 13 serials bombings in Delhi left 24 dead and about a 100 injured. On Sep 19, the Special Cell of the Delhi POlice raided the Batla House area of Jamia Nagar and a shootout ensued, in which two suspected terrorists were killed and one was arrested. Since then, many Muslim residents had been detained on suspicion.
The committee also slammed the police's claim of having killed the mastermind of the bombings in Delhi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad during the Jamia Nagar incident.
“This should mean that there would not be any more attacks in the country. Police should try to bring the accused to trial and prove their involvement in the court rather than killing them in encounters,” the committee said in a statement.
The statement also said that "Hindu terrorist organisations" that are killing Christians in Orissa, Chattisgarh and Karnataka, should also be banned.
The committee members objected to a remark by Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani when he was the home minister. “He said that all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists arrested are Muslims. This is totally wrong and media also keeps quoting him,” the statement said.
It added: “At the time SIMI was banned, of the total banned outfits, there were only 12 Muslim organisations and the rest were non-Muslims.”
The statement opposed tough methods of getting bail and confessions in front of police officers being submitted as proof in court.
“No other law in the country allows this and the new anti-terror law should also not have it. Police treats people with third degree torture and most of the confessions are wrong,” said the committee.
The committee demanded that the government should probe all possible angles of terrorism in India.
In a statement issued by the organisation here, it said that the government should also probe all local and foreign forces which benefit from instability and chaos in India.
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