New Delhi: The All India Tanzeem Ulama-e-Islam, the apex body of Sunni scholars of India, has criticised the Central government for preventing it from holding a protest against mob lynching cases at the India Islamic Cultural Centre in New Delhi on July 11.The Tanzeem had, on July 4, booked a conference hall at the venue and made a payment for it, but permission for the event was denied to them hours before the conference was to start at 5:30 pm.‘Denial of permission an attack on constitutional rights’Following the cancellation, the Tanzeem’s general secretary, Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi, who had made the booking, said his organisation had clearly outlined the purpose of the conference at the time of reserving the hall. It was supposed to be a peaceful gathering of ulema and intellectuals, but the IICC still refused to extend permission use the hall for the event.Reacting to the denial of permission to hold the event, Razvi said, “This systematic suppression of freedom of speech and criticism by the government has been on the rise and infringes the basic constitutional rights of the people.”He charged that “the government allows mob lynching to go unchecked but goes all out to stop all kinds of protests against such inhuman acts.” He criticised the attitude of the Centre, saying it sought to “suppress our fundamental rights.”The trigger for the protestIt was in light of the frequent cases of lynchings that the Tanzeem wanted to organise the protest. Most of these cases have been related to cow vigilantism. According to a Reuters report, between 2010 and 2017 there were 63 cow vigilante attacks in which 28 people, including 24 Muslims, were killed and over 100 were injured.Also read: Behind Mounting Muslim Protests, a Yearning to be Heard by the State Gone DeafLynchings and hate crimes have continued unabated across the country over the past two years as well. The most recent incident took place last month when a daily wager, 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari, was beaten to death by a mob in Jharkhand on the suspicion of being a thief. He was also forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman” by the mob.Five years, 266 hate crimes, 14 in JharkhandAccording to FactChecker, this was the 266th case of hate crime in the country since the Narendra Modi-led BJP government came to power in 2014 and the 14th such case in Jharkhand during the period.Recently, PM Modi had stated that mob lynching had not started in 2014 and should not be politicised. However, the percentage of attacks on minority community members and lower castes tell a different story.IICC was formed to promote mutual understanding, amityAgainst this backdrop, the Yanzeem’s conference assumed significance. It chose the IICC as the venue since the society was formed, in 1981 and got its present premises in 2006, with the main purpose of promoting “mutual understanding and amity amongst the people of this country”.Another aim and objective of the IICC is to “depict the true face of Islam which is most tolerant, liberal, progressive, rational and forward-looking religion, besides being based on cardinal principles of human values irrespective of faith, caste, creed and colour.”No place for hurt sentiments in the Islamic CentreNaturally, the organisers of the conference felt that the issue of lynching, which has left Muslims deeply scarred, could be discussed peacefully at the centre.Conference Hall I, which was booked by them, has a seating capacity of 85 persons – which itself shows that the organisers did not want to turn it into a large event.The hall has a stage, on which five people can be seated, and there is also a podium to assist them in addressing the audience. The IICC site states that programmes which can be conducted in the hall include “conferences, lectures, talks, book releases, press conferences etc”.Also read: Are Cow-Related Hate Crimes Against Muslims Only a ‘New India’ Phenomenon?However, despite collecting Rs 14,160 from Razvi, who had booked the hall with the reference of an IICC member, Mohammad Tariq Amin, the centre cancelled the event at the eleventh hour. The conference hall was booked from 5:30 pm to 9 pm on July 11.Razvi said that the IICC was clearly told about the agenda of the programme. The conference was to be addressed by scholars like Mohammed Abbas Rizvi and Tauqir Raza Khan.IICC was okay with the conference, not protestThe IICC denied that its decision was influenced by the Central government and said that the Tanzeem booked the hall for a religious programme but in its invitations stated that it was going to be a protest against lynching.Though the seminar was subsequently held by the Tanzeem at its premises in Seelampur in North East Delhi, there is no word yet on whose direction the IICC chose to cancel the permission for the event.
