AMN / New Delhi
Expressing deep concern over communal violence during religious festivals, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) asked the government of India to takes measures to check such violence in future.
Speaking at a press meet on Thursday, JIH Vice President Prof. Salim Engineer expressed grave concern over the violence all over the country during the Rama Navami celebrations. He said that any violence that was conducted under the guise of a religious procession was highly disturbing for any religion. Saying that religious festivals and processions are meant for communal amity and brotherhood, Prof. Salim said, “if it is exploited for conducting violence or disturbing the peace of the country, then it is highly condemnable and should be stopped.
This is something for even religious leaders to ponder. They must come out openly against this trend and urge their followers to stop religious activities from being hijacked by anti-social elements. We feel that the recent Rama Navami violence was not spontaneous but pre-planned. Hence, it amounts to a gross failure of our intelligence, which is also a matter of concern.”
The JIH Vice President urged the administration and the police to disallow the playing of DJs which caused noise pollution through high-pitched sounds that exceed the legally permissible sound levels. He also demanded that the lyrics of the songs being played should be scrutinized before they were permitted to be played as many had provocative and denigrating phrases.
He said that the police should not allow such processions from passing through communally-sensitive areas while they must be strong and resist the political pressure to do so. “It is also quite difficult to understand why religious processions must select a path and have to pass in front of other religious places. If it is meant to provoke and intimidate, then it should be denied permission by the police and administration,” he added.
JIH has welcomed the Rajasthan High Court judgment in the 2008 Jaipur bomb blasts case, in which Justice Pankaj Bhandari and Justice Sameer Jain overturned the judgment of the trial court that earlier awarded the death sentence to the four accused in the case. However , he said , “the judgment raises some important questions. As the accused have been pronounced innocent, it implies that the real perpetrators of the crime are still at large. Jamaat feels that the government must set up a new team to inquire into and trace the criminals who planned and executed the blasts. It must do so as justice has still evaded the relatives of those who died in the blasts. Jamaat agrees with the court that the guilty police officers who framed false charges should be identified and punished. We demand that compensation be given to the five acquitted as they lost 15 years of their precious lives in jail because of the false cases built against them.”