The Hindu : `Muslims being exploited by fundamentalists'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003

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Other States - Uttar Pradesh

`Muslims being exploited by fundamentalists'

Allahabad Dec 22 . Renowned poet, lyricist and social activist Javed Akhtar has said the Muslims in the country were being exploited by both the Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists.

At a programme on `The Muslims for secular democracy' here last night, Akhtar said there was a continuous struggle between the `saffronists' and Muslim fundamentalists to keep the sores of communalism alive.

The poet said there was acute shortage of people speaking truth in the country. He alleged that the Muslims were treated as second class citizens and a wrong image was being presented in the society. He said everyone had right to express his views in democracy without any fear. Some communal forces were trying to poison the cordial and peaceful atmosphere of the country for narrow political gains, he added.

Any organisation, section or people who talk about the evils of communalism must be opposed and a campaign must be launched against them, Akhtar said. Noted columnist and poet Hasan Kamal in his address said, ``We have to fight against those forces which are terrorising the people in the name of Islamic bomb attacks, communal violence and terrorism.''

Maharashtra Urdu Academy chairman Sajid Rasheed said the Muslims were being misguided by Muslim fanatics and the community to stay cautious against such people. Later talking to newspersons, Javed Akhtar said he was not against the Uniform Civil Code in the country. He asked the RSS and the BJP to come with the draft of the Common Civil Code so that it could be discussed at length. "There was an urgent need for reforms in the country that called of detailed talks among the people," he said.

Mr Akhtar observed some points in the Muslim personal law were irrelevent today, including the older form of divorce. ``These need to be changed in modern times,'' he added. He said people, both Hindus and Muslims, were fed up with fundamentalism and yearned for peace, ``Violence can never be quelled with violence.''

The poet said it was duty of the government to maintain law and order and provide security to the people but unfortunately both the government and the police had miserably failed in the task. He also expressed concern on the present status of women in the society and said certain steps were urgently needed for emancipation of the fairer sex.

Criticising the role of organisations like the Jamait-e-Islami and the RSS, he said supporting these outfits was tantamount to supporting communalism.

``Real secularism will follow when we would adhere to our respective religions without criticising other faiths,'' he added.

On the issue of secularism, he observed that the film industry exemplified the essence of secularism in the country. He added that the industry had people working in harmony cutting across religious, caste and linguistic lines without any discrimination. -- UNI

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