'Ghar wapsi' issue to figure at Muslim Personal Law Board meet

The issue of 'ghar wapsi' programme by some Hindu organisations is likely to figure prominently in the three-day meet of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board scheduled to be held in Jaipur from March 20.

"The Jamaits and the Board have already clarified their stand on the issue. It's only a propaganda," AIMLPB General Secretary Maulana Nizamuddin told PTI. He said that though the matter has not been included in the general agenda, it would be raised in the meeting.

"Thought should be given whether the country will progress or get destroyed. What does this 'ghar wapsi' programme mean?" he asked.

"Tomorrow you will tell Christians to become Hindus, the next day you will tell Muslims to become Hindus. Is it a joke? It's like insulting the entire community," he said.

He said the agenda of the meeting was general in nature and such contentious issues were not included in it. "It is a secular state where all communities exist since long," he said.

He said a campaign was being carried out against Muslims, but generally such issues are kept out of the agenda. "But, if some questions crop up, the board give its reply," he said.

To a question, he dismissed as ‘politics’ the ban on beef by the Maharashtra government.

"It's all politics," he said. "Whether it is Maharashtra or Kolkata, not only Muslims, but other persons also eat beef," he claimed. He said the issue did not pertain to Muslims alone. But, the business of many persons and companies would be affected due to the ban.

Prominent on the agenda of the meeting are issues like ‘nikah’ and ‘talaq’ and related cases pending in various high courts and the Supreme Court, Nizamuddin said.

"Several Muslim youths are detained in jails and trial has not begun. This is not justice. If they are guilty, they should be punished or else they should be released," he said. He said several conditions have been imposed on the ‘talaq’ issue that were not right according to Shariya law.

"In most of the cases women seek 'talaq' either due to domestic violence or other issues or it is mutual consent," he said. On the RSS statement that all Indians were Hindu, he said, "Let them say so. Will you agree if a person calls day a night, it will not happen. It is up to the prime minister to think what impact it will create when his own people are talking like this," he said.

The AIMPLB general secretary wondered as to how the slogan of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ would get realised in the country.

"By calling Muslims Hindu, will they become Hindus? Those who are 'sanatandharmis' should call themselves Hindu. In Arab, those, who go from India are called Hindi. We say that we are Indians, but Muslim by religion," he said.

He said there was no need to create such propaganda in these times when the major issues before the country were unemployment, poverty and illiteracy.