New Delhi, Aug 31: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Monday announced a nationwide “people’s movement” to protect the “Constitution and Sharia (Islamic law)”, under which it would organise public meetings and protest programmes in major cities across the country.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said it will prepare and disseminate a comprehensive white paper documenting incidents of discrimination against Muslims, constitutional violations, and human rights abuses to the media, human rights organisations, intellectuals, elected representatives, and relevant institutions.
It said the “Movement for the Protection of the Constitution and Sharia” is not a movement of any particular community or section but a shared national struggle to safeguard the Constitution of India, the supremacy of democracy, the rule of law, religious freedom, human dignity, national unity, peace and fraternity.
“We firmly believe that justice, love, dialogue, mutual respect and constitutional struggle are the true guarantees of India’s peaceful future. With this conviction, we invite every justice-loving, democratic and peace-loving citizen of the country, every social and religious organisation, and every responsible member of civil society to join this movement,” the Board members said at a press conference.
The Board said over the past several years, conditions have continuously emerged in the country in which vulnerable and marginalised sections, particularly Muslims, have been subjected to severe pressure, insecurity and discriminatory treatment at religious, social, political and economic levels.
“Mob violence, extra-legal bulldozer demolitions, targeting of mosques, madrasas and shrines, illegal occupation of Waqf properties and graveyards, arbitrary arrests of Muslim youth under baseless cases, interference with religious freedom, attempts to undermine Muslim Personal Law through the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), and attempts to undermine the beliefs of minorities by making the singing of Vande Mataram compulsory, have deepened a sense of insecurity among a large section of the population,” the AIMPLB said.
Eminent scholars, religious leaders of different faiths, intellectuals and social and political personalities will address these gatherings, and a protest will be organised in New Delhi, it said.
The Board said it will submit a comprehensive Charter of Demands to the President of India through the Governors in each state and the district administrations in every district.
