The National Political Convention of Muslim Indians, convened by S. Shahabuddin has prepared a charter of demands copies of which will be given to all political parties. The response of these political parties to this Charter will decide their relationship with the Muslim Indians, according to Shahabuddin. Salient parts of the charter are reproduced for our reader’s perusal.

The Charter of demands which was discussed at the two day convention wants that a constitutional provision should be there “to change the Union Government with the responsibility for the protection of the constitutional and legal rights and for the promotion of the legitimate interests of religious, linguistic and ethnic minorities.”

It also wants “constitutional protection of the personal law of religious and ethnic minorities against any change and against the imposition of a uniform civil code against their will or without their consent.

Minority Commission’s status.

The Muslims want grant of statutory status to the minority Commission at the Central and in the states and establishment of such commissions in other states where religious and linguistic minorities together exceed 10 percent of the population and of minority boards in other states and union territories.

The Muslim Indians have demanded introduction of the system of proportional representation in elections in all levels.

The Charter demands creation of a Department of Minorities Affairs in the central and state Governments directly under the Prime Minister of the Chief minister concerns.

It wants a joint parliamentary committee on the welfare of the religious, linguistic and ethnic minorities.

The Charter wants reorganization of states and districts so as to create states of a manageable size and districts with a uniform population more or less co terminus with Lok Sabha constituencies.

The convention has demanded delination of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in a manner that minority concentration is not fragmented. It wants proportional representation for minorities as party candidates at elections at various levels in minority concentration constitution.

The Charter demands a prohibition of religious rites at any official function and of installation of private shrines in government offices or places of work or on public.

 

“The convention has demanded that there should be no interference with the administration and management of institutions of religious instruction such as maktabs pathshalas and madarsas as well as charitable institutions run by religious organizations or trusts of societies such as Musafir khanas dharamshalas and orphanages.”

 

premises. It wants reformation of the Prime Ministers 15 point programme for the welfare of minorities to make it result oriented and not merely procedure oriented in order to provide for quantitative monitoring at all levels from the district to the Centre. It demands composite deployment of civil and police officials, particularly at the district level keeping in view the demographic structure of the area of jurisdiction.

The Charter wants reorganization of the police force and the intelligence machinery with at least proportional representation of the minorities another weaker sections. It has demanded that special antiriot force be established at the Central and State levels with at least 50 percent representation of the minorities and other weaker sections. There should be a statutory provision for compensation for loss of life, limb and property in social violence.

The Charter has demanded a ban on all militant organizations and Senas and on military training drill or display of force in public by private organizations.

It wants liberalization of arms licensing in riot prone areas to the minorities and other weaker sections besides demanding a judicial inquiry in all cases of social violence in which human life is lost and prosecution of police officers charged with atrocities or violent misconduct.

The Charter demands statutory protection of the status of all religious places of worship as on August 15, 1947 and restoration of all places of religious significance such as mosques shrines and graveyards under adverse occupation since that date.

Babri Masjid

Restoration of Babri Masjid to the Muslim sis one of the main demands in the charter. The Charter wants recognition of the freedom of religious services in all protected places of worship.

The convention has demanded that there should beno interference with the administration and management of institutions of religious instruction such as maktabs pathShalas and madarsas as well as charitable institutions run by religious organizations or trusts of societies such as musafirkhanas dharamshalas and orphanages.

The Charter wants “Amendment to the Muslim Petsonal Law (Shariat Application) ACt 1937, to make it more comprehensive and the recognition of Imrate Sharia and Shariat Courts and panchayats subordinate thereto of par with Lok Adalat for resolving family disputes,

Foreign Funds

The Charter wants that there should be no interference with the flow of foreign funds for educational purposes wants declaration of Aligarh Muslim University as a minority institution under Article 30 of the Constitution and restoration of the historical and minority charter of the Jamia Millia Islamia and establishment of a Central University with Urdu as the medium of instruction. Besides demanding publication of the report of the panel headed by Dr. Gopal Singh on minorities it also demanded implementation of the recommendations of the report of the second backward classes commission headed by BP. Mondal with the provision that Muslims as a community be treated as a backward class as in Kerala and Karnataka. The Charter demands introduction of a system of universal reservation in public employment and higher education covering all social groups including minorities and caste groups whose educational and economic level is below the national or the state average, in proportion to its population at the appropriate level.

It wants establishment of a minorities finance and development corporation under the Central Government and under all state Governments with adequate working capital. Under the caption Wakf Protection, the Charter has demanded further amendments to the Wakf Act 1954 as suggested by the Central Wakf Council and pending such amendment promulgation of the essential provisions of the Wakf Act, as amendment in 1984, which have been found acceptable by the Muslim community. It wants that public Wakfs be exempted from income tax, land ceiling, and rent control legislation. All Wakf properties should be restored to Wakf Boards.

The Charter demands legal action against any publication or writing which incites hatred or promotes ill will or misunderstanding against a community or deframes or insults or ridicules or humiliates any social group or the personalities symbols and objects it respects.

Article extracted from this publication >>  July 28, 1989