Sheikh Aziz: Man with a mission

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The calmness which Sheikh Aziz had on his face while he received bullets was the calmness of his fulfillment of the promise he had made before his nation to fight till the last drop of his blood

Death is inevitable and every one has to taste it one or other day. But who live and fight for a cause are remembered even after they depart. Particularly those who gave their precious life while striving to take their nation out from the shackles of slavery and for the freedom of their motherland, they are glorified, eulogized and remembered as martyrs. They live in the hearts and minds of their fellow nation men and become a source of inspiration for their people and for those around the world who strive for their birth right of freedom. Kashmir’s history is full of such son’s of soil who stood firm with courage, dedication and commitment and laid their life for the sacred cause of independence of this occupied nation, Sheikh Aziz is one such bright star among the galaxy of martyrs.

Sheikh Aziz got emotionally attached with the liberation movement of Kashmir when he was just 20 years old, and started with as a student leader and worked with many students and youth organizations to pursue the cause to which he was completely wedded to. And in 80’s discharged his duty as leader of Peoples League in Pulwama. As and when nation and situation demanded he fulfilled his responsibility amicably joined the armed struggle in 90’s in a bid to highlight the Kashmir cause globally and to show the world that Kashmiris are not cowards but people who want to live with self respect and dignity and as free people in the comity of nations.

In 1998 he was taken as APHC executive member and there on carried forward his struggle for the unfettered and globally recognized right of self determination on political front. And had to face tremendous difficulties and obstacles and hardships in this path and had to spend almost 16 years of his life in different prisons and interrogation centers but he faced them all with great compassion and resilience. And always lead from the front.

In August 2008 the communal frenzy chauvinists who had gathered from all over India in Jammu enforced economic blockade of Kashmir to punish the Kashmiris who had successfully protested en-mass against the transfer of land to SASB (Shri Amarnath Shrine Board) as it was part of evil design to change the demography of Kashmir to perpetuate the status-quo. This had alarmed the followers of Indian Modii’sm to which they resorted to cruel blockade with the tactic support of Government and Intelligence agencies. It was once again Sheikh Aziz who lead the sea of people towards the Muzaffarabad on the call of coordination committee for Muzaffrabad march, in a move to smash away the bloody line that separates the Kashmiris forcibly, fully knowing the dangers on the path he was treading when others preferred to sit at their safe dens.

Thus he once again proved his unflinching commitment towards the liberation struggle of Kashmir while leading the lakhs of people peacefully towards the Muzaffarabad to trample the C.F.L under foot but that proved too unbearable to occupational and imperialistic powers who showered bullets which pierced his chest and other valiant protestors martyring nine people including Sheikh Aziz on spot besides wounding hundreds of others at Chayal Boniyar on 11th August 2008.

The calmness which Sheikh Aziz had on his face while he received bullets was the calmness of his fulfillment of the promise he had made before his nation to fight till the last drop of his blood, calmness of that he lived and is sacrificing his life for his motherland, calmness of that he was about to achieve victory through martyrdom.

The martyrdom of Sheikh Aziz and other 70 people who were martyred ruthlessly during last years agitation has infused new vigor and passion among people. The blood of martyred leader has ignited the revolution in the hearts and minds of Kashmiris which will slowly and steadily spell doom for the oppressors and pave way for the dawn of freedom of Kashmir. Kashmiris are destined to achieve their birth right as they have shown indomitable courage and steadfastness from more than four centuries and sacrificed lakhs of its son’s for achieving this target with Sheikh Aziz one of the leading lights who taught an undying lesson to his oppressed nation through his martyrdom. May Almighty accept the martyrdom of Sheikh Aziz and bless his soul with his choicest blessings, as in the words of a poet Sheikh Aziz emulated the same:

Zameen pyasi thi Lahoo pyila diya
Mujh par watan ka karz tha Jo mein ney chuka diya

Shopian Tragedy

Entire nation has been in deep shock and anguish over the deplorable incident of Shopian in which two women were allegedly raped and murdered. While the relatives of the victim and people blame C.R.P.F stationed in that area as the Culprits involved in this shameful act government despite promising quick action has been callous towards taking any head way in the inquiry of this incident as reportedly even F.I.R hasn’t been registered yet in the concerned police station. The probes called after such kinds of gross human rights violation have miserably failed to punish the perpetuators of these dastardly acts and this has been the prime factor that people have lost trust over these inquiries. And more so the unbridled powers enjoyed by troops under different draconian laws have make them to behave above the law of land.

There have been protests over this incident and it is quite natural, but the way authorities have dealt it with brute force resulting in killings and injuries to hundreds of youth can prove disaster for the government as this can pave way for the mass agitation on the pattern of last year. So it is better for the government to come up with truth and take stern action against the culprits in their own interest and restrains from putting restrictions on the pro-freedom leadership.

This heart rending incident has provided ammunition to the opposition part P.D.P to fire at the government. but the memory of people is no so short that they will forget the gory incident of similar nature of Badra Payeen, Handwara where in November 2004 troops raped mother daughter duo and then government led by Mufti Sayed at first even denied the reports and then tried to hush up the case. Then in opposition N.C had also led demonstrations against it. Kashmiri people have no trust over these sycophants who do this political gimmickry just for power and to enjoy the perks and privileges. These regional pro-India parties who are collaborators of New Delhi in their every heinous crime have been rejected and subjected to disgrace even in Jammu last year when they were kept hostage at airport for hours and on sangarsh samiti protest were made to sit outside on Aug 9. If at all they are sincere they should stop running with hare and haunting with horn and stop running passive “separatism” when they get out of power to gain public sympathy. Rather they should work for the realization of national aspirations of people of Kashmir, which is complete independence of Kashmir.

People of Kashmir have proven time and time again their full commitment towards the struggle for independence and sovereignty and it is up to India to shun the obduracy and rigid stand and cooperate with Pakistan and pro-freedom leadership of Kashmir in working towards finding a durable solution to the vexed issue of Kashmir. The rejection of India towards the offer of talks from Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has putted spanner in the efforts of building a stable atmosphere in the sub-continent but India can’t run away from fulfilling its international obligations on Kashmir forever. As due to its domino effect Kashmir turmoil can engulf the peaceful areas of India. Soon India understands it the better for her.

Lest We Forget

Conscious and valiant people of Kashmir will never allow letting these sacrifices go waste.

May 8 reminds us one the darkest and bloodiest day in the Kashmir’s history of occupation and suppression. It was on this day in the year 1991 that about 29 innocent people were brutally martyred by C.R.P.F near martyr’s graveyard Khnayar, when a funeral procession of 3 local militants killed in an encounter was going on, trigger happy C.R.P.F personnel run amok and fired indiscriminately at the people adding another day in the long list of bloody massacres in Kashmir.

Kashmir’s history is full of such acts were humanity was putted to shame and these are in no way acts of human rights violation but war crimes committed as to spread fear psychosis among people of Kashmir demanding their inherent, pledged, fully deserved and unfettered right of self determination. And it is the denial of this basic right by which peace has eluded and the rein of uncertainty is prevailing in the sub-continent.

It is due to the supreme sacrifices offered by lakhs of Kashmiris who gave their red hot blood which took this dispute from cold storage and highlighted it in international arena. Conscious and valiant people of Kashmir will never allow letting these sacrifices go waste. Sagacity and prudence demands resolving this vexed issue in tune with the national aspirations of Kashmiris otherwise its inherent potential can destabilize the peace of whole South Asia.

Beyond election boycott

Finally ending all speculations the Peoples Conference chairman Sajjad Lone decided to join the fray by announcing to participate in parliamentary elections few days ago in a press conference at his residence. Whether it is going to yield something positive for the people of Kashmir if he wins will come to fore automatically. If he is able to get elected to the Indian parliament, which according to him is ‘change of strategy not ideology’, his own work will judge him what his intentions were. Sheikh Abdullah the ‘tallest’ leader of Kashmir and only leader who enjoyed influence in every region of Jammu and Kashmir left the ship midway still the resistance movement of Kashmiris for their inalienable and birth right of self-determination didn’t fizzled out and later infact became strong enough to challenge the hegemony of India. As the movement for Independence is always bigger than any individual and remains alive and kicking as long as sentiment is alive in the hearts and minds of people.

Elections in Jammu and Kashmir have always been a hectic affair for the government of India with ‘separatists’ by and large calling for boycott of elections under Indian constitution and ‘mainstream’ leaders naturally busy in wooing the voters to vote for them in lieu of basic amenities. No leader of any shade of opinion has ever dared to seek votes for the ‘integration of Kashmir with Indian union’. Whether Assembly elections or Parliamentary elections it has been an accepted fact by all that these elections have no bearing on future status of disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. As U.N resolutions have already stated that State Administration can’t take any decision which can have any impact on future status of Kashmir. And India’s First Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru himself declared in Indian parliament that Indian parliament can’t take any decision on behalf of people of Kashmir.

Boycott call given by pro-freedom leadership infuses fresh oxygen to the election campaign of ‘mainstream’ leaders and lends it more credibility. And claims of pro-freedom leadership that makes boycott only way to respect the sacrifices of martyrs and vindication of pro-freedom sentiment allows New Delhi to manipulate this to hoodwink international community using its biased media which always shows long queues of people waiting for their turns to cast votes and sells this to out side through its strong propaganda mill as rejection of ‘separatist’ ideology and acceptance of its ‘democracy’.

The only logic that elections in a disputed territory (Jammu & Kashmir) under its occupants (India) constitution will legalize its hold can’t be the justification for ever to remain away from polls as it has to be seen through the prism of its merits and de-merits. As disassociation from elections makes this battle exclusive only for collaborators who represent India in Kashmir and leaves no option for people other than to turn to them for at least basic amenities which makes them relevant and their existence a necessity. They enjoy perks and privileges of power without any real fight from any quarter. The national struggles take natural course and ends only after its logical conclusion it can take from few to even hundred’s of years till then people have also to live as well which can’t be possible without basic amenities. Half of pro-freedom leadership can join the fray and rest can continue to take this resistance struggle forward. There is no need for hundreds of parties propagating the same cause. Even if half of pro-freedom leadership doesn’t participate directly in elections at least they can identify honest and upright people so that they can participate in elections to undo the wrong committed by ‘mainstream’ leaders so far, they can provide some sort of relief to the people, check the exploitation of our natural resources particularly of water, get the state back on the track of development. For this an amicable environment needs to created so as to make this task easily.

It has to be introspect by all as when every time this nation comes close to success in denting the colonial hegemony some thing unusual happens and entire movement either gets derailed or fizzles out. We have to learn from the mistakes committed not only during the mass movement of 2008 due to which it couldn’t be converted fully into peoples revolution but it has to be seen why the revolution of early 90’s lost the track only after two years of its commencement. Movement can’t be sustained only by strikes and stone pelting substantial things needed to be done. Conviction, dedication and commitment are the essential ingredients of any liberation struggle and if a workable and farsighted strategy is added to it can be converted in to a success no matter how much strong an occupying power may be.

Taliban Specter

India is trying hard to equate our struggle with that of Al-Qaeda and Taliban to garner support of west but our struggle is a national liberation movement poles apart from Taliban aimed to achieve complete independence and reunification of our forcibly divided parts of Kashmir.

This refers to the news report of some agencies that Taliban may have reached to the Kupwara forests. It seems to be a well calculated move by India to malign our genuine freedom struggle by associating it with that of likes of Taliban and Alqaeda. Our struggle is a resistance movement based on U.N resolutions which are near about 18 in number passed by U.N Security Council to which both India and Pakistan are signatories and world witness to them. Even those who have taken up arms have declared to fight under the Geneva conventions and have restricted their fight with India within J&K. India is trying hard to equate our struggle with that of Al-Qaeda and Taliban to garner support of west but our struggle is a national liberation movement poles apart from Taliban aimed to achieve complete independence and reunification of our forcibly divided parts of Kashmir.

These kind of false notions are being spread to justify the presence of 7 lakh troops who have been empowered by draconian laws which provide them total impunity from the law of land. Which is the root cause of human rights violations by these so called security forces. The wanton use of force and arm twisting methods employed during previous elections may be used again for the parliamentary elections but these kind of cheap tactics won’t be able to break the will of valiant Kashmiris who have been fighting for their inherent, internationally recognised, pledged, fully deserved and unfettered right of self-determination. Elections or no elections won’t change the future status of Kashmir dispute as elections in real sense are meant for the development issues only. The more India will use force to crush the movement of Independence aimed actually to remind her of its own promise from which this “world’s largest democracy” backtracked upon the stronger will be the resentment and will of Kashmiris and history bears testimony to this fact.

Condemnable act

We as citizens of an oppressed nation (Kashmir) felt greatly grieved and our heart bleeds when we hear of such attacks in our brotherly country. We have saw enough of blood shed in Kashmir, we have saw our near and dear ones being ruthlessly murdered

This refers to the brutal suicide attack near Pir Wadhai Chowk on Peshawar road in which nine innocent people got killed and several others were injured, which is a condemnable act, whosoever are the culprits behind this dastardly act can not justify any cause by killing innocent people. We as citizens of an oppressed nation (Kashmir) felt greatly grieved and our heart bleeds when we hear of such attacks in our brotherly country. We have saw enough of blood shed in Kashmir, we have saw our near and dear ones being ruthlessly murdered, we have saw numerous massacres, encounters, killings, blood of our young and old ones being spilled like water, we have saw naked dance of death and destruction which has consumed our entire young generation. Much blood rather than water has flown through Jehlum. The recent decision of government of Pakistan of reinstating Iftikhar Chaudhary and other judges has defused the crisis but the suicide attacks engineered by invisible hands continue unabated, which has wreaked havoc and deteriorated the law and order and internal situation as well as given a bad name and impression to Pakistan to outside world. We Kashmiris hope that Pakistan will come out of all troubles and an era of long lasting peace, security and progress will take driving seat there and we desire to see a developed and powerful Pakistan in all respects which will be not be in the interests of people of Pakistan only but to the Kashmiris and to the whole Ummah as well. Then it will that country of which Quaid Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah dreamed of.

Yes what else they can do?

This refers to the statement of State’s Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather that “Government would probe a probe into the incident (killing of a youth at Nowhatta). What else we can do?” This shows the helplessness of this State Assembly in protecting the rights and safeguarding of life and property of people. Right from 1988 countless probes have been ordered which haven’t bore any fruit and neither any conclusion has been drawn from these probes. And if culprits have been identified in some cases the state is not competent enough in bringing perpetuators of these heinous crimes to book. The cold blood Murder of two innocent youth at Bomai Sopur is still fresh and now the gruesome killing of a youth at Nowhatta and brutal crushing of another youth under a forces vehicle, who is battling for life in a hospital, has added to the anger. This can have dangerous ramifications if the situation continues to remain grim and government continues to order probes just to hoodwink and divert public attention, rather than taking these issues seriously and repeal the draconian AFSPA, which empowers unbridled powers to the Security forces, which it has promised unless its own credibility will be under stake and will be dented.

Every sane person strongly condemns these inhuman acts and even “mainstream” leaders and government itself has condemned these acts equally on the floor of Assembly, then if such things still continue to occur it naturally gives impression that things are out of control of the government. And those who matter actually are pulling the strings behind curtains. If C.M being head of Unified Command Council has issued strict orders to the forces to respect human rights then one fails to understand why such kind of happenings continue to occur with such pace.

People of Jammu & Kashmir want the withdrawal of Security Forces from the civilian areas on the priority bases, rest can be gradual, and the repealing of the draconian laws which are the root cause of human rights violation. If the government continues to ignore these genuine demands of people then situation can take an ugly shape. The probes ordered by government won’t serve any purpose as till now nothing has come out of these processes and if something has happened to these probes is that these files continue to gather dust in government offices and nothing else.

Kashmir solution and role of our intellectuals

Some political analysts and commentators are of firm belief that this is the ideal and fully ripe time for the resolution of Kashmir dispute. After the Mumbai attacks Kashmir dispute has once again hogged the lime light and all the key global powers and players have felt the dire need of solving it as it is the key to the permanent and sustainable peace in south Asia. American president Obama all along his election campaign highlighted the need of resolving this vexed issue, and similarly British Foreign Secretary David Miliband made some rational comments which irritated India and recently U.N Secretary General Ban Ki Moon described it as world’s most dangerous place and Susan Rice described it as one of the hot spots.

India may have got some relief from the Obama administrations move to appoint special envoy Richard Holbrooke with his mandate ‘limited’ to Afghanistan and Pakistan only, which many believe was done on Indian governments request as it would have created major hiccups for them as elections are just few months away in India. But it would be impossible for Holbrooke and Obama administration to overlook the lingering Kashmir dispute in their broader assignments in south Asia which has potential to disturb the whole equation of events and Americans know it that road to peace lies through the Kashmir and the basic cause of contention between India and Pakistan is Kashmir dispute and that is why despite Kashmir being not on Holbrooke’s “Plate” he said “ we have to understand that to get the Pakistanis to focus on the west, we have to have a reduction in tensions between India and Pakistan”.

Back home pro-freedom leadership doesn’t look prepared to gear them selves to meet the changes and challenges which may come into effect after the loksabha elections in India will be over, they need to come out of illusion of defeat and set back after the good voter turn out in 2008 elections. If they analyze recent elections properly they haven’t suffered any defeat as the “mainstream” camp got forced to toe their line and they had to leave the pro-India cloak to seek the votes from people hence the stand of pro-freedom camp stands vindicated. And people didn’t voted for any ideology but only for developmental issues and de-linked Kashmir dispute from elections and forced the “mainstream” leaders to do the same. Pro-freedom leadership represents the sacred sentiment which is deep rooted in the hearts and minds of people of Kashmir, so there is no question of defeat or of any setback to them.

Our intellectuals should come up with innovative ideas and present them before the pro-freedom leadership rather than criticizing them only and they should stop questioning the commitment of people towards the freedom struggle as people are wedded to the cause of complete independence and sovereignty of Kashmir. Yes criticism is necessary but only criticism won’t do anything, our intellectuals should put their heads together and present suggestions before the leadership and guide them to empower them with new ideas constantly so that they can carry on freedom struggle with renewed vigor and impetus. Recently many pro-freedom leaders admitted that due to lack of any strategy they failed to capitalize on the popular agitation witnessed in 2008 and lost an important opportunity. Now it is for intellectuals to come forward and help them in formulating a clear and workable strategy. Mere criticizing them would amount to hypocrisy. It is the responsibility of everyone to see and check whether the struggle for independence is going on in right direction or not, as we all belong to this soil, hence can’t escape the huge responsibility laid on our shoulders by the lakhs of martyrs who gave their red hot blood to highlight this dispute in international arena. In this regard intellectual class of our society has more responsibility and they should take the lead and discharge their moral and national duty accordingly and it would be better if they will do it collectively.

India has always been in denial mode in accepting Kashmir as the core dispute this has impinged the peace, progress and security of entire south Asian region, this dispute has led to the arms race in this region due to which it has become a big drainage to the sources of India and Pakistan and of Kashmir as well hence its resolution is must and in the interest of all. So it is imperative for the pro-freedom leadership that they exert themselves like conscientious protagonists of the cause of independence of Kashmir and it is for our intellectuals to add more subjectivity to it which will prove a deterrent against the trends of war in South Asia and will act as buffer between India and Pakistan.

Where are they?

Few days ago APDP (Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons) staged a sit in protest in the heart of Srinagar pressing for their demand of whereabouts of their relatives subjected to enforced custodial disappearance by the various security agencies, troops and police mostly since the break out of armed rebellion from 1988, and appealed the C.M Omar Abdullah of setting a truth and reconciliation commission of which he has remained a vocal supporter before and during his election campaign.
According to APDP more than 10000 people have been subjected to custodial disappearance and C.M being Chairman of Unified Command Council has moral duty to look in to their genuine and humane demands. Subjecting people to custodial disappearance is worst kind of human rights violation and it has been mostly seen the relatives of disappeared persons suffer from the mental trauma and remain in dilemma about the safety of their near and dear ones which is horrific to say the least. After the shocking discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir mostly from Uri many including the relatives of disappeared fear about their loved ones who have gone missing under the custody of troops. Even a stone hearted will get softened as their demand is nothing but to show them the graves of their dear ones if they have been killed or let them a chance to meet them if they are alive.

In many cases where the perpetrators of human rights violation be that custodial disappearance, custodial killing, fake encounters or other violations have been identified they have got away from any kind of accountability by the draconian laws powered to them through which they enjoy total impunity from the law of land. Indian prime ministers assurance on the soil of Kashmir about ‘Zero tolerance’ to human rights violation and assurance by any other leader will continue to remain as mere rhetoric as long as these draconian laws are not withdrawn. Recent statement of Mufti Sayed (former C.M) merits attention where in he also stressed on this fact that investigating these violations on case to case bases will be inadequate. Recently a news report in various media sections carried the statement of Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Alliance in which they demanded abrogation of Disturbed Area and Armed Forces Special Power Act as these laws are a hindrance to get foreign tourists to Kashmir, hence a major stumbling block to the tourism sector.

In 2004, a Manipuri women Thang Jam Manorama was abused and killed by Assam Rifles and after the protests erupted to repeal the AFSPA then in November that year the then Prime Minister of India A.B.Vajpayee constituted a committee to review the provisions of the AFSPA and the said committee submitted report in which it was reported that “the act, for whatever reasons has become a symbol of oppression, an object of hate and an instrument of discrimination and high hand ness”. But unfortunately this report was made to appear like as north-east centric view and missed J & K where violations are much more and according to average mentions about J&K by the US state dept in its country state report on human rights violations and killings in conflict areas from 1993-2002 are 56.4 and combined seven states of north-east is 36.2 which is far less than J&K. It is the oppression unleashed by Indian troops backed by these black laws which have alienated the people of Kashmir more and more and in the words of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) this alienation among the people of Kashmir is complete and irreversible.
The brutal tactics employed by the India. forces here to suppress the movement for unfettered right of self determination have always backfired as this have provided the necessary ammunition to the freedom struggle to move forward with renewed vigor and this was witnessed by whole world during the agitation here few months back. Kashmir dispute will continue give sleepless nights to the Indian leaders and policy makers and this dispute if left unresolved will continue to remain as major threat to peace and progress of South Asia. Hence a multi pronged peace offence is needed to start tripartite talks for its final resolution. To make the atmosphere conducive for meaningful talks India has to initiate steps to remove the deep mistrust which she has created by its denial mode and time gaining policies, first and foremost these draconian laws should be repealed, troops should be moved back to barracks in a phased manner and a impartial commission should be made to look in the violation of human rights as demanded by ITHB and APDP and let them know where there near and dear ones are for which they have been protesting from a long time.

Welcome Move

Now leaders of Indian Muslims have decided to form a political party at national level though late but better than never. This is a welcome move by the Muslim leaders of India it should be appreciated as a positive and an assertive step taken by them. The announcement of forming a political party of Indian Muslims at national level came in a press conference by Maulana Baduruddin Ajmal, who heads the Assam United Democratic Front, earlier few days ago newly formed Ulema Council also decided to field two candidates for two seats of Azamgarh Sadar and Lal Ganj to espouse the cause of Indian Muslims at national level.
While its need was felt among the 180 million Muslims living in India since a very long time but it should be a united well coordinated effort rather than striking individually and separately for this cause of upliftment of Muslims across India . Indian Muslims used to and are relying on the so called secular parties for the fulfillment of their needs and in return they get nothing from them and these parties treat them just as their vote bank only and use lip service and verbal jugglery to please them and did nothing substantial work for them on ground so far. The condition of Muslims is pathetic and as stated by Sachar Committee report that in various places of India the condition of Muslims is even worse than of Dalits ( considered to be of ‘low caste’ and untouchables by some Hindus). There representation as per the above report is almost negligible in all sectors and clearly lack representation, their share in govt employment is 4.9% against the population of 14% and in many states it is exactly zero. They are way behind in every sphere of life.
Rather than relying on others Indian Muslims will have to take the burden of their grievances and problems themselves and address them on their own as rightly stated by Maulana Ajmal “we heavily depended on secular parties to work for our socio-economic and political empowerment. This is not possible we have to solve our problems on our own”.
Another problem faced by the Indian Muslims are that they have been made scapegoats in the name of national security rather vilified as was seen recently when many youth almost all Muslims were arrested on ‘charges of involvement in bomb blasts’ from the remote and most backward district of Azamgarh in U.P. They are being selectively targeted for any wrong that happens in India . They are treated as second class citizens with no trust on them in their own country, among India ’s Security Agencies (namely, CRPF, CISF, BSF, SSB etc.) Muslim representation is 3.2 per cent only. Those who lynched, mauled and mutilated them by instigating anti-Muslim riots in which thousands of Muslims were butchered mercilessly find themselves in higher echelons of power rather than facing the law of land and escape any accountability with total impunity. The followers of Damodar Savarkar have gained much ground in ‘secular’ India by inducing fear among Muslims and inviting Hindutva doctrine.
Ironically the so called secular parties of India have always played pawns in the nefarious game plans of saffron forces, they in real sense act as team ‘B’ of these Hindutva brigades in their every heinous act. Muslims of India look scattered at present with no direction and their future looks uncertain in this dark atmosphere amid this the decision of these Muslim leaders to form political party at national level to focus for upliftment of Muslims from the backwardness and removing the stigma attached with them is a welcome move and a right step in right direction.