JIH President, SIO condemn life sentences of Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, Umar Gautam
Call verdict a threat to democracy
New Delhi: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) president Syed Sadatullah Hussaini and the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) have strongly condemned the life sentences awarded to Islamic preachers Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui and Maulana Umar Gautam, along with 14 others, by a special NIA-ATS court in Uttar Pradesh for alleged illegal religious conversion activities.
Hussaini, in a press statement, called the charges of terrorism, criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity, and plotting offenses against the state "baseless" and warned that the verdict sets a dangerous precedent. He emphasised that no one can be forced to change their religion in a democratic country like India, adding that Islam prohibits such coercion. "Every individual has the constitutional right to choose, practice, and propagate the religion of their choice, a right no authority can take away," he asserted.
Hussaini also criticised the way the case was handled, with sensationalised media reactions and a charged communal atmosphere. "The entire exercise seems designed to create fear, intimidation, and hatred for political mileage," he remarked. He urged justice-loving citizens, organizations, and political parties to stand against this judgment, which he claimed threatens democracy and promotes authoritarianism.
Meanwhile, the SIO, in a separate statement, condemned the judgment, calling it a violation of basic human values and constitutional freedoms. The organization stated that the verdict suppresses the rights to freedom of expression and the freedom to practice and propagate one’s faith. It argued that these actions are part of a broader systematic effort by right-wing forces to undermine spiritual discovery and voluntary freedom of conscience. SIO expressed hope that higher courts would overturn the verdict, which they deemed unconstitutional.
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Railway lines as fence could cut cost of barricading to curb man-elephant conflicts: MP Wadiyar
Bengaluru, Sept 17: MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar has suggested that to bring down the exorbitant cost barricading – estimated to cost around Rs 1.3 to Rs 1.5 crore per kilometre – railway lines could be used to construct fences on Tuesday.
Wadiyar took to X to share the letter he had sent to Union Environment Forest & Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav.
Stating that “railway (lines) barricading” is proving to be an effective way to restrict the movement of elephants, he suggested that this should be taken up on a large scale.
“Upon consultation with the relevant authorities, it has come to my understanding that the cost of barricading per kilometre comes to Rs 1.3 crore to Rs 1.5 crore. Given that the border of the forests in my constituency stretches to over 400 km, with around 280 km of forest border requiring immediate barricading, the cost of such an exercise will reach Rs 350 crore to Rs 400 crore,” he wrote in his letter.
He said the environment ministry could make a direct request with the railway ministry for an allocation of railway lines, thus reducing the cost of the project to just that of labour cost.
“The benefits of this initiative are manifold, from reduction of human casualties, protection of property and livelihood, to conservation of elephants and, most importantly, promoting human-elephant coexistence, which is the need of the hour,” he added.
Working towards safer coexistence in Mysore-Kodagu! Submitted proposal to Union Environment Forest & Climate change Minister Shri Bhupendra Yadav Ji for railway barricading to reduce elephant-human conflicts. pic.twitter.com/VjOWIF1TTC
— Yaduveer Wadiyar (@yaduveerwadiyar) September 17, 2024
