Muslims hurt, but want peace
THE CONSENSUS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY IS: “IF WE HAVE TO LIVE IN THIS LAND AND PROTECT OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS, ACCEPTING THE VERDICT IS THE ONLY SOLUTION.”
There is deep-rooted despair in the community, which has no other alternative but to accept the verdict, is the refrain that a cross-section of Muslims has maintained. But they are unequivocal in their appeal on maintaining peace and harmony.
Mr Nizamuddin Farooqui, who has been assisting Muslims in Assam in the process of enrolling themselves on the National Register of Citizens, says, “So eagerly has the Supreme Court set aside all evidence presented before it. There were 80,000 papers translated from Persian into English to substantiate the claim. They have not considered them at all. There is no other court that one can go and appeal to. At least the Allahabad High Court judgment had divided the land into three parts and not taken away the title. The Supreme Court snatched the title and gave five acres of land. Did we ask for that land,” Mr Farooqui asked.
Moghalpura police took into custody office bearers of Darsgah-Jihad-OShahadat when they tried to convene a press conference on the verdict at their office. They included DJS president M.A. Majeed, secretary Salahuddin Afwan and treasurer Mohammed bin Umar. The three maintain that though the judgment has been delivered, justice has not been done.
Moulana Naseer, organiser of Wahadat-e-Islami,
Telangana chapter, too was placed under house arrest. He said water had been poured over their expectations of justice.
Iqbal Academy vice-president Ziyauddin Nayyar observed, “We have no other option but to accept the verdict and move on. It is not understood why the SC has give an alternate five acres of land. The fight was never for the land,” he remarked.
Moulana Ghyas Rashadi said, “The Supreme Court is the last court of the country. We have to live in the country and accept its verdict. We have no other option but to maintain peace. Sabar karo aman ko bahal rakho. Insaan ki jaan ki kadar hai. Ek mudde ko ley ke jaan se nahi khela jaa sakta (Be patient. Human life is valuable. Don’t risk your life over an issue).”
Fazil Hussain said, “The situation is such that there is no alternative. The question that is being asked is, if this is a workable solution it could have been implemented 30 years ago. It could have been arrived at even before the demolition of Babri Masjid. What has been achieved after losing thousands of human lives and secular character of the country? The winners in this judgment are only politicians, who have played with sentiments of the people.”
Majils Bachao Tehreek chief Majeedullah Khan observed, “The judgment will be a permanent fault line in the Indian judicial history. It will be debated whether it was based on the Indian Constitution.”