Muslims self-employed, stigmatised

A study of employment and education among Muslims in India by Prof. Rakesh Basant of IIM Ahmedabad has revealed a high proportion of self-employment among Muslims to avoid discrimination given high perceptions of unfairness; this leads low salaries and economic backwardness among the minority. The researcher found most respondents had a ‘stigma of being labeled anti-nationalists” and “being appeased at the same time”. He concluded Muslims are more in need of quotas than Hindu OBCs. The report suggests affirmative action and incentivising diversity in institutes and companies to enable a greater participation in governance and labor force.
The research noted that the gap between upper caste Hindus and Muslims had remained the same, and that of Dalits, Adivasi and upper-caste Hindus had declined.
It cited non-existent credit flow in Muslim areas and low participation in education due to limited access to good quality schools as adversely affecting their status.
It recommends “Nomination of ethnic, linguistic, and religious minorities in local-level bodies”; and that reservation in government employment could enhance returns to education for Muslims. A Central government notification to affect 4.5% minority quota in Central educational institutes is still pending in court due to an Andhra High Court stay.

Faizabad, 19th December 2012,
Forbes Inter College, Faizabad hosted a conference, 'Challenges to Common Heritage', 'Sanjhi Virasat ki Chunotiyan' on 19th December.
Subhasini Ali, former MP and member of CPM said, "The challenge India faces today is a disintegrating sovereignty. Indian states have pledged their policies to America. It's only through American handling of Indian policies that on the one hand FDI is being forced on India and on the other, Muslim youth are being arrested in the name of terrorism and left to rot in prisons all across India. Indians must unify to fight this issue and it's only this that will be a rightful tribute to our martyrs."
The event was also attended by Human Rights activist Gautam Navlakha who said that the freedom gained 60 years ago has not yet been realized and it's the Indian Army that has portrayed people from Kashmir and the north-east as India's enemies and killed hundreds of them. Muslims and tribals are being isolated and the country is being systematically divided by its democratically elected government.
Former Inspector General of Police SR Darapuri said that the anti-terrorism laws being passed by the parliament are draconian and only allow to help officials oppress Dalits, Muslims and tribals. 
Welfare Party Secretary General, Qasim Rasool Ilyas said that terror acts need to be inquired into to that Muslims, who are implicated in cases and released years later, faultless and having all charges against them taken back, their lives are ruined and it defames Muslims. 
All India People's Front leader Lal Bahadur Singh noted that Faizabad did not have a riot even after the Babri Masjid demolition but it had one under SP's communal governance.
Senior CPI-ML leader Mohammed Salim said that Indians must not rely on a political party to protect secularism in the country but they must take the matter into their own hands. He added that the people must use its values of common heritage to fight fascist regimes in the country. Rihai Manch convener Md. Shueb said that IB is trying to divide the country along communal lines. He added that Tariq and Khalid, accused by the ATS and other intelligence agencies in the Court premises bombings have been deemed blameless in the RD Nimesh Report. The SP government fails to make the report public and bring the culprits to book.
PUCL leader Mahtab Alam said that the governement's action in the name of Operation Green Hunt and terrorism only target Muslims and tribals and weaken the anti-imperialist movement. 
The meeting was chaired by Sitaram Verma and organised by DYFI.
Among the attendees were Satban Singh, Gufran, Hafiz Abdul Hafeez, Syed Ashraf Nizam, Jalal Siddiqi, Tariq Saeed Sudhir Singh, K P Singh, Dinesh Singh, Kamlesh Singh, RD Anand, Swapnil Srivastava, Manzar Mehdi, and Rajeev Yadav.
 

To,
     Chief Minister,
     Uttar Pradesh

Subject: Demand letter from the Wada Nibhao meeting
1. RD Nimesh report, on the Tariq-Khalid fabricated cases be made public.
2. Innocents arrested in the name of terrorism be released as promised by the government.
3. The report of Justice I. S. Mathur Commission, formed to investigate the role of current DGP A.S. Sharma in protecting rioters in the 1992 Kanpur communal violence, be made public.
4. Setting-up of special courts for terrorism cases to speed up the process.
5. Arrangement of compensation and proper rehabilitation facilities for those acquitted.
6. Action be taken against police officials responsible for the fabricated cases and wrongful arrests.
7. A CBI inquiry into riots during the present government.
8. CBI probe into the Bajrang Dal members killed in Kanpur.
9. Investigation into all acts of terrorism in the state.
10. Judicial inquiry into the abduction of Sitapur resident Shakeel.
11. An investigation into the 31 December 2007 to January 1, 2008 Rampur riots.
12. National Cooperative Development Corporation, Lucknow, on 15th August 2000, Shramjeevi Express bomb case, Sankat Mochan, Babri masjid premises riot, Cantt Station, Varanasi, 2007 attack on Rahul Gandhi, Chinhat, Lucknow, encounter on 23rd December 200. be inquired into. 
13. The government explain the Batla House Fake Encounter case.
14. Political and social activities of Intelligence agencies be brought in the purview of Right to Information.
15. Indian Police officials not be sent to terrorist nations like Israel and America for training.
16. SP government explain its association with Israel and Shivpal Yadav's trip to the region.



From- Md. Shueb, Md. Suleiman, Tariq Shamim, Dr. Javed Akhtar, Jai Roy, Javed Advocate, Haji Ahmed Hussain, Rabindra Nath Roy, Vinod Yadav, Tariq Shafiq, Arif Naseem, Anshumala, Shiva, Saroj, Kanchan, Punam, Masihuddin.

Illegal detention of Muslim youth is an embodiment of the Government’s betrayal – Md. Shueb

Riots during SP reign planned – Md. Suleiman

Call to Government to clarify stance on Shivpal Yadav’s Israel trip – Tariq Shamim

 Azamgarh, 12th December, Advocate Md. Shueb, during his presidential address at the Wada Nibhao strike organised by Rihai Manch alleged that the SP government was not earnest in its promise of expeditious release of innocent youth implicated in fabricated cases. He added that even senior party leaders are confused about their stance regarding the status quo and that they issue contradictory statements. He commented on the government's reluctance to release the RD Nimesh report and said that its excerpts printed in newspapers only confirm the falsity of charges against the youth held in various cases. 

Indian National League President Suleiman Ahmed said that even though Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal workers were caught making explosives in Kanpur, the Mayawati government failed to take appropriate action and chose, instead, to bow down to the interests of forces detrimental to the nation's unity. He said the instability the inaction in the probe and the subsequent arrests of Muslim youth could lead to civil unrest in the future. He added that the entirely one-sided, pre-planned riots during the SP rule could be likened to the Gujarat riots and were in no way accidental. 

The Nimesh Commission was constituted for the kidnapping of Hakim Tariq from Azamgarh on December 12, 2007 but even after years, the findings of the Commission have not been made public and the suggestions are far from being implemented. Tariq Shamim, National General Secretary, Qaumi Ekta Dal noted that there are differences of opinion among the SP leaders about the report. On the one hand, leaders like Shivpal Yadav denounce it, while on the other Rajya Sabha representatives of the party use it to gain popularity among Muslims.

He demanded the government explain why its leaders visited Israel and also that the State abstain from    taking assistance from Israel in training police and intelligence officials.

The meeting was attended by Hussein Haji Ahmed, Rabindra Nath Roy, Arif Naseem, Anshumala,Vinod Yadav, Jai Prakash Rai, among others.

Community Backing

While many communities are coming up with support/investment funds for their members, such as Kutchi Angel Network, which works with Jains, Muslim entrepreneurs have come up with Halal Investments, a firm based in Ahmedabad that is Shariah compliant and open for everyone in the global community.

"Secura and a couple of others have already floated venture capital funds based on Shariah...Al-Barakah is now planning to launch one soon," H Abdur Raqeeb, general secretary, Indian Centre for Islamic Finance.

Ms. Roy speaks at Writers’ Association

Noted social activist and writer Arundhati Roy stressed the need to intensify revolutionary movements to fight oppression by the state against the people speaking at a Revolutionary Writers' Association meeting in Hyderabad. Ms. Roy said that the successive governments have made lives of common people miserable during the last 20 years by adopting the policies of globalization and liberalisation, bringing about a sea change in the country’s economy and leaving the ones at the margin of the society extremely vulnerable. She added that the reforms being implemented since the last 20 years have only contributed to the declining living standards of common people.
“The reforms being taken up by the governments under the guise of free market regime have resulted in 30 per cent growth of military forces while adivasis forest areas faced extinction. The policy-makers have conspired to evacuate adivasis from forests under the name of Operation Green Hunt. Ironically, the people’s organisations instead of revolting against these policies are maintaining silence,” Ms Roy said. She explained that the mobilization of lakhs of security personnel as part of the Operation under the pretext of combating Maoists was to attack innocent tribals off their mineral-rich land. She also said that the governments were branding Muslims as ‘terrorists’ as and when it suited their policies.
While appreciating the recent Bharat Bandh against FDI in retail sector, she questioned why parties and people did not agitate against incidents such as Gujarat riots. Referring to the ban on Revolutionary Democratic Front imposed recently by the state government, she said the people’s organisations have failed to express their anguish over the decision and play an instrumental role in India’s ‘democracy.’

It is shameful that the CM didn’t visit Faizabad riot victims: Rihaai Manch
Rihaai Manch strongly condemned the irresponsible attitude of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav towards violence in Faizabad. Even after a week of the incident he has not visited the area. After visiting the victims, Rihaai Manch members conclude that the carelessness shows the lack of commitment of the government towards the protection of minorities. The government claims to bring the criminals to book but fails to meet and sympathise with the bereft, instead, innocent Muslims in Bhadarsa are being implicated in false cases. They blamed the state government of appointing a party person, Manoj Jaiswal, a Hindu right-wing man to investigate the riots. The Rihaai Manch representatives also said that the reason why Yadav was not visiting Faizabad was that the role of his party members in the incident is clear and the victims will raise questions about the party’s involvement. Rajiv Yadav said the riots were aimed at communal polarization and reviving BJP’s innings in the region. Even, the current DGP is a man who played an instrumental role in the Babri demolition by giving shelter to Hindu right-wing workers in Kanpur whose role was investigated by the Justice IS Mathur commission. The findings of the report submitted by the commission in 1998 have still not been made public by the ‘secular’ SP government, let alone taking punitive action against him. Instead, the government installed him in an important post and the result is nine riots within a year of him taking office.  Human rights activists, comparing Modi and Yadavs said the Yadavs were even worse as Modi did anti-Muslim activities to win elections while Yadav came to power on Muslim votes.
CM Yadav had claimed that the riots were a conspiracy by the opposition parties, failing to answer why the police didn’t clamp down on the culprits in the hours-long arson, and, also that SP minister Shailender Kumar was found guilty of the Asthan, Pratapgarh incident where-in 45 Muslim homes were set on fire. The activists said his incompetence raises serious questions about his leadership potential.
The investigative team of Rihaai Manch will include intellectuals, journalists and human-rights activists and will visit the riot victims and come out with a report shining light on SP’s role in the violence in Faizabad.