Jeddah, January 09: Indian Ulema have taken on the police, who have come in for sharp criticism for their alleged brutality in dealing with Muslims and other weaker sections of society.
“The real fight is between the oppressed and oppressor. We have challenged the system, not any government or institution. Our fight is for justice,” said Mohammad Tahir Madni, general secretary of Rashtriya (National) Ulema Council, formed in the wake of the Batla House shooting of September 2008.
Batla House is a Muslim locality of New Delhi. It was here that some Muslim students of Jamia Millia Islamia were killed and others detained by police who claimed they were fighting terrorism. The students were from the Azamgarh district of the northern Uttar Pradesh state and Muslims of the district alleged numerous cases of harassment after the incident.
Madni said that initially the council was formed to defend Muslims. “Ulema belonging to all schools of thought came on one platform and mobilized Muslims. We had the support of Hindus as well,” he said in Jeddah. Madni spoke while attending the distribution ceremony of Naif International Prize for Outstanding Works on Sunnah and Islamic Studies in the Kingdom recently.
——-Agencies