Over five thousand people from different parts of the country came to attend a one day National Convention organised by All India Milli Council, in New Delhi at the Talkatora Stadium which saw a galaxy of activists, political leaders, academics and other concerned citizens condemning the attempt of the government to muzzle freedom of expression AIMC-Resolutions, Eng-Final-1and creating fear psychosis among the minorities and vulnerable sections of people.
The people stood in silence for one minutes in memory of those sacrificed their lives on the border as well as all those who have been killed by the lynch mob, the innocent pilgrims killed by the terrorists in Amarnath as well.
There is no doubt that this was a huge show of strength and it reflected the mood of the community, particularly the Muslims though the participation of Dalits, OBCs as well as Sikhs was pretty high. Presence of Muslim and other women were also visible in the convention.
Those who spoke on the occasion were Justice Rajinder Sachar, Justice A M Ahmadi, Ms Teesta Setalvad, Mr Sharad Yadav, Mr Mani Shankar Iyer, Mr S N Gautam, Mr Thomas Mathew, Bhai Tej Singh, Shri Chandra Singh, Mr Zafaryab Jilani, Mr Ram Puniyani and many others. Actually, it is for the first time that we saw such huge presence as speakers also.
The convention passed a resolution asking all the like minded people irrespective of their caste, communities and other affiliations to join hands and fight to not just protect the constitution but also build the nation.
RESOLUTIONS
At a time when there are counter efforts to mar the Indian Constitution’s basic components like pluralism, diversity, equality, justice and tolerance and those responsible for this feel sure that nothing would happen to them as if they have got sanction from the highest authorities in the government, the Constitution faces threats to its very existence. This extraordinary situation has perturbed the citizens of the country. Realising the concerns of the citizens, All India Milli Council (AIMC) has called the national convention “Save the Constitution and Build the Nation” so that the issue is pondered over in detail and remedies are suggested. Following are the resolutions passed by the national convention held at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi on July 30, 2017.
- This gathering demands a total ban on hate speech which is against our ethos and the constitution. We demand stringent action against those who deliver hate speech and also those who support and condone such speeches.
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The All India Milli Council (AIMC) expresses deep concern over the rapidly changing social and political atmosphere after coming to power of a majoritarian government in the country, posing threats to the democratic spirit and basic values of the constitution. We keenly feel that it need a strong movement to address this issue.
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The AIMC calls upon every citizen to join “Save the Constitution and Build the Nation” movement.
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The AIMC deplores the growing negative trend among voters that communal crimes pay poll dividends and finding that over 50 politicians holding elected office in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies face charges in criminal cases related to inciting religious violence or stoking communal hatred as revealed by a recent analysis of 50,324 candidates by English daily Hindustan Times.
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The AIMC urges the government to take special measures and devise a separate law to stop the cases of lynching of minorities and Dalits on the pretext of protecting the cow and other related incidents continuing even after the condemnation of the hate crimes by the Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues.
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The AIMC demands from the government to constitute a judicial commission to look into the cases of innocent Muslim youth arrested in the name of terrorism, particularly since 2001 and take special steps to rehabilitate them with dignity, and devise separate laws to punish police officials who have arrested them on false charges.
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The AIMC feels that there exists a fear psychosis in citizens, particularly the minorities, dalits and other weaker sections of the society since the Modi government took over and adopted authoritarian ways, ignoring the democratic order and therefore, asks the ruling coalition to instill confidence and trust in them.
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The AIMC condemns the enhanced attacks on the religious places, including mosques, graveyards and other waqf properties and demands urgent steps for saving them.
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The AIMC demands better care of government minority institutions, including National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) which are in bad shape, and also urges to appoint the chairperson of the NCMEI which remained vacant since Justice Suhail Ejaz Siddiqui demitted office in December 2014. This need further attention of the government in view of Delhi High Court directions on July 9, 2017.
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The AIMC demands from the central government to categorically reject the recommendations of the RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN) headed by Dina Nath Batra to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to keep legendary Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib’s couplet and Urdu words from school texts.
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The AIMC feels that although there is no official censorship on the press, it is under pressure and the media as a whole faces threats to its freedom whose recent victim is Economic and Political Weekly Editor Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, besides, organised attacks on media persons carried out by the rightist hoodlums. Therefore, the AIMC demands from the government to take effective measures in this connection.