(Pervez Bari): A historic public meeting of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, (AIMPLB), which was held at the Azad Maidan here on Sunday night, wherein Muslim clerics from different schools of thought in Islam exhorted Muslims to unite and exert pressure on the governments of the day not to tamper with Shariah (Islamic) laws.
A sea of humanity was witnessed as nearly a lakh Muslims converged from all over Maharashtra to hear the Muslim clerics who are spearheading a campaign to safeguard their constitutional and religious rights. They heard the clerics with rapt attention as how the governments of the day at the Centre and the states have been conniving to deprive them their religious rights as guaranteed in the Indian Constitution.
The Azad Maidan echoed with “Nara-e-Takbeer Allah-o-Akbar” at regular intervals as the air became thick with religious fervour and emotions all over. All Muslims at the venue took the pledge by raising their hands to safeguard the Muslim personal laws.
Maulana Syed Mohammad Rabey Hasani Nadvi, president of AIMPLB addressing the overflowing gathering declared Muslims can sacrifice their lives but can never tolerate interference in the Shariah laws. He emphatically said AIMPLB, which has always been vigilant in safeguarding the Shariah laws, will force the government to amend the Right to Education Act (RTE), scrap the Direct Taxes code Bill and bring changes in the Waqf Amendment Bill 2010.
The public meeting was organised at the end of the three-day 22nd convention of the AIMPLB here on Sunday. The traffic police had a tough time to regulate traffic around Azad Maidan as many a times road jam occurred around the venue of the public meeting.
Meanwhile, it may be mentioned here that the convention of the AIMPLB concluded here at Hajj House on Sunday afternoon with a resolve to intensify its “Aaeenee Huqooq Bachao Muhim” (Save Constitutional Rights Campaign) started in November 2010.
An 11-point resolutions were adopted by voice vote at the end of the convention which laid emphasis on amendments to rectify lacunae in different Acts like RTE, Direct Tax Code Bill, Waqf Amendment Act 2010. The convention directed the “Aaeenee Huqooq Bachao Muhim” to strengthen it further and organise it in a consolidated manner while developing rapport with different secular parties of the country.
The AIMPLB has been the running the Save Constitutional Rights Campaign and has held meetings in all the major towns and cities in the country to create awareness about the negative effects of the RTE Act on the educational fabric of the country.
At the fag end of the 22nd convention of AIMPLB a document “Mumbai Aa’laamiya” (Mumbai Declaration) was also released which exhorted the Muslims to adopt Shariah (Islamic ) laws in their day to day life and not ape Western civilization to mar their “Akhirat” (life Hereafter). If they do not practice Islamic laws practically then why would the governments of the day safeguard it. The document urged the Muslims to get their family problems adjudicated by “Dar-ul-Qaza” (Islamic courts) and accept the judgement passed by Qazi in the light of the commandments of the holy Quran and Sunnah whole-heartedly without any incrimination whatsoever. (pervezbari@eth.net)