COUNCIL of INDIAN MUSLIMS (UK) / PRESS RELEASE
"Babri Mosque Demolition has a symbolic Relation with the General Discrimination Against Indian Muslims"? UK Muslims
London, 6 December, 2006: British Indian Muslims have urged the Indian Government to handover the Babri Mosque site to Indian Muslims and let them rebuild the mosque there. Marking the 15th anniversary of the demolition of the 14th century historic Mosque in Ayodhya in 1992, Britain’s two leading Indian Muslim organisations, Council of Indian Muslims­ UK (CIM) and Indian Muslim Federation (IMF) have issued a joint statement here today.
“The demolition of the Babri Mosque was not only a serious blow to Indian secularism and the fundamental rights granted by the Indian Constitution to the religious minorities, but it also symbolised the virtual subjugation of Muslim identity in the post-1947 India.” CIM’s Chairman Mr Munaf Zeena said.
“Babri Mosque is an inseparable part of the Indo-Islamic heritage, which grew and flourished for almost a 1000 years. It actually redefined the meaning of religious tolerance and cultural cohesion in the Indian Sub-continent. However, the continuous denial of justice to Muslims, letting the perpetrators go scot-free and Government’s failure in handing over the Mosque site to Muslims, the rightful owners, is a threat to that precious Indo-Islamic heritage, the symbol of peaceful coexistence in India.” He added.
Zeena also said, “While hundreds of Muslims implicated in the Bombay blasts of 1992 were still suffering from the discriminatory policies of the police, the arrests of Muslim youths in Malegaon for bombing a mosque is the cruelest joke played with the victims.”
“If the Indian Government is really serious in doing justice with Muslims and restoring their confidence, these youths must immediately be released and CBI inquiry into these blasts setup.”
IMF’s Vice President Cllr Irfan Mustafa said, “The demolition of the Babri Mosque has a symbolic relation to the social and economic injustice with Indian Muslims and their all round backwardness.”
He added, “The findings of the Sachar Committee Report have shown that far from being a pampered lot, as the Sangh Parivar has been propagating, Muslims are economically backward, educationally marginalised and politically subjugated.”
COUNCIL of INDIAN MUSLIMS (UK)
66c Cazenove Road, Stoke Newington, London N16 6AA UK Tel: 020 8806 1147 Fax: 020 8806 6859,
www.coim.org.uk , Email:
info@coim.org.uk
For further information please contact Munaf Zeena on 07947 465958; Irfan Mustafa may be contacted at: 07801 3736