Yashwant Sinha announces 3,000 km long Yatra against CAA through six states
Mumbai, Jan 4: Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha on Saturday announced a nationwide `Yatra' (tour) to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register.
The campaign, organised under the banner of his organisation Rashtra Manch, will be called `Gandhi Shanti Yatra', Sinha told reporters here.
Former MP Shatrughan Sinha and former Gujarat chief minister Suresh Mehta were also present on this occasion.
The Yatra will start at Mumbai's Apollo Bunder on January 9, pass through Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi and cover a distance of over 3,000 km, Yashwant Sinha said.
It will culminate at the Raj Ghat in Delhi on January 30, Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary.
Accusing BJP-ruled states for using violence to suppress peaceful protests against the CAA and NRC, he blamed the government for disturbing peace across the country.
Mehta appealed people and organisations in Gujarat to take the lead to make the campaign a success.
The CAA was unconstitutional, discriminated against a community and was meant to humiliate it, the former Gujarat CM said, demanding that it be scrapped and the NRC and NPR should not be implemented.
Calling the police crackdown on anti-CAA protesters in Uttar Pradesh "state-sponsored terrorism", he said the Yatra was going there specifically to protest against the police's high-handedness.
"Dekhna hai zor kitna baju-e kaatil mein hai (We want to see how powerful is the oppressor)," he said.
Other organisations should also take out similar Yatras converging at the Raj Ghat at 11 AM on January 30, he said.
Actor-turned politician and former BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha said, "We have suffered so much that now we are embarking on a `safar' (journey).
"We are against the government's policies, we are standing up for the Constitution," he said.
The CAA provides citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries, but excludes Muslims, Shatrughan Sinha said, adding that it "seems to be a ploy to distract attention from the issues the country is facing."
The CAA would be as bad as demonetisation, he said, asking what was the need to bring in such a law without consulting experts or even senior leaders of the BJP and opposition.
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Will not tolerate bias of Congress anymore: Muslim organisations of Karnataka slam party
Bengaluru: Representatives of leading Muslim organisations, associations and unions from across Karnataka have issued a strong and sharply worded joint statement, declaring that the Muslim community “will no longer tolerate” what they described as the biased attitude of the Congress party towards the community and its leaders.
The statement was issued by a wide group of leaders and organisations, including Maulana Syed Tanveer Hashmi, President, Muslim Muttahida Mahaz, Vijayapura; Abdul Khadeer Saheb, President, Shaheen Group of Educational Institutions, Bidar; Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Nadvi, President, Welfare of Humanity Foundation, Bengaluru; K. S. Mohammed Masood, President, The Muslim Central Committee, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi District and former President of the State Minorities Commission; Haji Mohammed Hanif, General Secretary, The Muslim Central Committee, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi District; Muhammad Maula, President, Udupi District Muslim Okkuta; Yaseen Malpe, Immediate Past President, Udupi District Muslim Okkuta; Maulana Abdul Raqeeb MJ Nadvi, General Secretary, Majlis E Islah Wa Tanzeem, Bhatkal; Ashraf Ali Basheer, Convenor, Muslim Voice of Karnataka, Hubballi; Dr Abdul Kareem, former President, Karnataka State Minorities Commission, Hubballi; K. Ashraf, President, Dakshina Kannada District Muslim Okkuta; Muhammad Hanif, Secretary, Dakshina Kannada District Muslim Okkuta; Maulana Abdul Azeez Darimi, Leader, Sunni Yuvajana Sangha Karnataka; Haji Abubakar Nejar, District President, Sunni Samyukta Jamaath, Udupi District; Mohammad Rafiq, District President, Karnataka Muslim Jamaath, Udupi District; Rafiuddin Kudroli, President, Uniwef Mangaluru; Kasim Shuaiburrahman Qureshi, President, All India Jamiatul Qureshi, Karnataka; Afzal Mahmood, Secretary, Karnataka Muslim Political Forum, Gulbarga; Jabbar Kalaburagi, President, Karnataka Muslim Unity, Bagalkote; Nisar Ahmed, State Coordinator, Eddelu Karnataka, Mangaluru; Naqwa Yahya Malpe, President, Namma Naada Okkoota, Udupi District; Afsar, President, Karnataka Souharda Okkoota, Mandya; Advocate Abdul Jabbar Gola, Vice President, Joint Action Committee, Gulbarga; Advocate Anshad Palya, State Committee Member, All India Lawyers Association, Karnataka and Leader, Hassan District Muslim Organisations Federation; Haji Suleiman Saheb, President, Thirthahalli Taluk Joint Muslim Federation; and Mujahid Pasha of Al Jamaatul Quraish Trust, Basavakalyan.
The organisations said the united support extended by Muslims in the state was the main reason for the Congress party coming to power. However, they alleged that the party and its government are not treating Muslims with dignity, and that there is growing anguish within the community over being repeatedly insulted by denial of proper representation in political appointments and key positions in the bureaucracy.
Referring to the Davangere by-election and recent developments, the statement said the Congress party appears to have sent a clear message to Muslims: “You are merely a vote bank for us. Your job is only to vote for the Congress party. Positions, status, representation and opportunities in the party are alms that we give. If you question your rights or the injustice done to you, disciplinary action will be taken.”
The organisations said this approach is unacceptable and warned that the community will no longer remain silent. They questioned the party’s disciplinary actions against certain Muslim leaders, asking what action had been taken in similar situations in the past involving others. “Otherwise, a serious question arises as to whether the party’s disciplinary rules are applicable only to one community,” the statement said.
Calling the issue one of dignity, the organisations said it is not just about a few individuals but concerns the entire Muslim community. They criticised the Congress for taking unilateral decisions without consulting religious and social leaders and said such actions cannot be justified as mere political decisions.
The statement also accused the party of portraying Muslims as being wrong for asking for fair representation. It said it is not fair to expect the community to campaign for the party without giving them tickets that should have been given fairly, and then initiate disciplinary action on what were described as trivial grounds. The organisations termed the attitude of “you should have simply obeyed what we said” as highly condemnable.
They also expressed concern over what they described as attempts by the party leadership to pit leaders of the Muslim community against each other. At the same time, the statement criticised certain leaders within the community for choosing to pursue personal interests instead of standing firmly against what it called discriminatory policies.
Drawing a comparison, the organisations said that when leaders from some communities commit even serious mistakes or make direct statements against the party, no action is taken and they are instead rewarded. “But if leaders from a particular community deviate even slightly from the party’s diktat, they are subjected to severe punishment this is not fair, this is not acceptable,” the statement said.
Warning of political consequences, the organisations said such discriminatory behaviour will harm the Congress party in the coming days and could lead to a serious setback. They said Muslims had supported the party to ensure a secular government based on constitutional values and to prevent divisive forces from gaining power. However, treating this support as a weakness and assuming that the community has no alternative would prove “politically very costly” for the party.
The organisations strongly condemned what they termed as mistreatment of the community in the name of political calculation and demanded that such unilateral decisions be stopped. They also called for the present decision to be reconsidered.
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