Muslims For Secular Democracy

We the people of India gave ourselves, 52 years ago, a Constitution based on theprinciples of Secularism, Democracy and Pluralism.

Secularism, which rejects the concepts of a theocratic state and majoritarian rule, whichseparates matters of faith and affairs of the State.

Democracy, which guarantees Fundamental Rights to every Citizen of India and Equalitybefore the Law.

Pluralism, which celebrates the rich cultural and social diversity of India, a uniquefeature of our nation.

Muslims for Secular Democracy (MSD) affirms its commitment to the values enshrinedin the Constitution of India and is dedicated to reclaim it for the Indian people. MSD is aresponse, on one hand to the sustained hate propaganda and the celebration of violenceby the Sangh Parivar and its affiliates, and on the other to fanatics and extremists amongMuslims who claim to be the sole representatives of the Muslim Community. MSD firmly opposes their narrow-minded, reactionary and archaic mindsets.

The first national meeting of MSD, held on October 1, 2003 at Mumbai was attended byseveral prominent Muslims from Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, Jalgaon, Malegaon, Bhopal,Delhi and Hyderabad. The meeting decided to adopt a Declaration, which is the result ofseveral months of formal and informal deliberations across a cross section of Muslims inMumbai and Maharashtra. The declaration addresses several issues which have beenfoisted on the Muslim community by Muslim and Hindu communal forces and which have been deliberately done to divert the attention of the people from the real issues
facing them. The meeting decided to initiate a massive nationwide campaign to educatepeople on these issues.

The meting also adopted the following resolutions:

Resolution – I: Stop this violence!

India, the land which has given to the world the apostle of non-violence and peace hasbeen trapped in a growing cycle of religious intolerance, hatred and bestial violence inthe last 15-20 years. On one hand, the Sangh Parivar and its affiliates are engaged inrelentless hate propaganda and the militaristion of society to create the climate forviolence against minorities. On the other are a handful of Muslim extremists who have noqualm in targeting innocents in the name of Islam. MSD unequivocally rejects violenceas a solution to social conflict and strongly condemns the perpetrators of both MOBTERROR and BOMB TERROR.

Resolution – II: Rule of Law

The Constitution of India guarantees to every citizen equality before law and equalprotection of law. But sadly, far from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to protect thelife and liberty of ALL citizens, we have witnessed in recent years the disturbing fact ofan increasingly communalization of State institutions and personnel. Muslims for SecularDemocracy heartily welcomes the recent observation of the Supreme Court that a government that fails in its Rajdharma of protecting innocent citizens and punishing the perpetrators of violence has no right to rule. It also supports the petition in the SupremeCourt of the National Human Rights Commission, the Citizens for Justice and Peace andZahira Shaikh for a retrial of the Best Bakery and other massacres in Gujarat last yearoutside that state.

Resolution III: Uniform Civil Code

Muslims for Secular Democracy believes that all existing personal laws in the country,the Hindu Code Bill included are unfair to women and urgently need reform. The needfor a uniform civil code is raised time and again. We feel that in a country like India,which has a multiplicity of religions, cultures, customs and beliefs, a draft uniformcivil  code, based on gender justice and which can be acceptable to all communities, should bepresented for discussion and debate.

It is ironical that in the forefront of the demand for a uniform civil code is the sameSangh Parivar which has never shown any commitment to uniform justice and which hadstaunchly opposed the Hindu Code Bill in 1956 which was aimed at protecting the rightsof women and granting them a share in property. The ideologue of the Sangh Parivar, SriGolwalkar had deemed the idea of a uniform civil code as mistaken and unwarranted.Muslims for Secular Democracy feels that the Sangh Parivar is not sincere in itscommitment to women’s rights. Without any draft to offer on the issue, it keeps raisingthe banner of uniform civil code merely to create anxiety and insecurity among Muslims.

A few days back, the deputy prime minister, Sri LK Advani declared that the uniformcivil code was a ‘national necessity’. We urge him, his government, his party or hisParivar to put before the nation a draft bill on the uniform civil code if they have any.And it would be best if such a draft is put forward before the coming Assembly elections.Otherwise, one would be forced to conclude that Shri Advani’s statement is nothing but apolitical gimmick with an eye on the polls.

Signed
Gulam Mohammed Peshimam, Convenor
Hasan Kamaal, Spokesperson
Javed Akhtar, Spokesperson
Javed Anand, Spokesperson