Jamiat slams 'eviction of Muslims' in Assam, calls on CJI to intervene

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) Prominent Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Monday alleged that Muslim families were being targeted as part of an eviction drive in Assam and urged Chief Justice of India B R Gavai to initiate legal action against all those involved in this "unlawful campaign".

Jamiat president Maulana Arshad Madani expressed deep concern over the ongoing eviction drive in Assam where he claimed "more than 50,000 Muslim families" are being targeted with bulldozers solely on the basis of their religion.

His remarks came days after the Assam government carried out an eviction drive inside Rengam Reserve Forest, displacing nearly 230 families to clear "several hectares" of land from alleged encroachers, according to official information.

The exercise was a part of the second phase of eviction, which began on August 18, inside Rangma Reserve Forest in Golaghat district, to clear encroachment from around 26 hectares of land. It was stopped as these families had not vacated the area, a senior official said.

The administration completed the five-day-long first phase of the massive eviction drive at Rengma in Uriamghat along the Assam-Nagaland border in Sarupathar sub-division on August 2 and cleared around 9,000 bighas (over 1,200 hectares) of land from encroachments, affecting around 1,500 families, mostly from the Muslim community.

A meeting of the working Committee of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind was held at the organisation's headquarters under the presidency of Maulana Arshad Madani, a statement issued by the Jamiat said.

It said the participants of the meeting deliberated on the current situation in the country, expressing deep concern over the alleged rise in communalism, extremism, deteriorating law and order, and religiously motivated discrimination against minorities, especially Muslims.

"They also voiced serious concern over the ongoing campaign by communal forces against madrasas and mosques despite the existence of the Places of Worship Act. And in particular, deep concern was expressed over the ongoing eviction in Assam where more than 50,000 Muslim families are being targeted with bulldozers solely on the basis of their religion," the statement said.

Addressing the meeting, Madani highlighted the situation in Assam and said that for some time now, a "planned campaign is underway to target Muslim-populated areas and forcibly displace their residents".

"By doing so, it is not just Muslim settlements that are being bulldozed -- it is the Constitution and the rule of law in Assam that are being crushed," he said.

"This is a reprehensible action, driven purely by political and religious motives. Muslims are being treated like second-class citizens, a situation that every justice-loving citizen of the country is condemning. Yet, the Chief Minister of the state (Himanta Biswa Sarma) appears to have no regard for the Constitution or the law, nor any fear of the judiciary," he alleged.

"In light of the recent campaign, under which nearly 50,000 families have been displaced solely on the basis of their religion, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind not only expresses grave concern but also urges the chief justice of India to take suo motu notice of the matter and initiate legal action against all those involved in this unlawful campaign," Madani said. PTI ASK DIV DIV