The two-day conference of Islamic clerics from all over India, commencing at Hyderabad on Saturday, is expected to come down heavily on terrorism by issuing a fatwa on terror.
The conference, expected to be attended by over 5,000 clerics from 21 states, is the first such congregation being held in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in the country and the arrest of several Muslim youths in connection with these incidents.
“Earlier, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and Darul Uloom, Deoband had issued similar fatwas. But this time the fatwa will be issued by 5,000 plus clerics from all over the country, giving it much greater acceptance and credibility among the community,” said Shabbir Ahmad, president of Andhra Pradesh unit of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, the body sponsoring the meet.
The congregation is expected to debate the profiling of Muslims in the name of terrorism and pass a resolution asking the government to take remedial measures. Other issues expected to be discussed are the implementation of the Sachar Committee report which dealt with the social, economic and educational status of Muslims, the Ranganathan Mishra panel report, which recommended reservation for Muslims in education and employment and September 19 shootout in Jamia Nagar in Delhi.
The meet is also expected to endorse a resolution seeking to set up counselling centres in every district for Muslim youths, who may get carried away by sinister campaigns.
{{/usCountry}}The meet is also expected to endorse a resolution seeking to set up counselling centres in every district for Muslim youths, who may get carried away by sinister campaigns.
{{/usCountry}}A special train, Sheikh-Ul-Hind express, also known as the train for national integration and peace, carrying over thousand clerics from Uttar Pradesh arrived in Hyderabad on Friday. Similarly 700 buses from all over south carrying clerics are scheduled to reach by Saturday morning.
The meet will culminate at a public meeting at Nizam College Grounds, where a declaration demanding a strict anti-communal violence law, uniform treatment of riot victims, reservation on the basis of population and Scheduled Caste status for Dalit Muslims and Christians, would be issued.
The Andhra Pradesh unit is expected to showcase the initiatives of Congress government in the state to help the Muslim community by providing reservation in education and jobs etc. “What the Congress government in the state has done for Muslims is unprecedented. No government did anything like this in the past 60 years,” Ahmad said. This should come as music to Congresss party’s ears with elections only few months away.