13 April 2018 Harshly condemning the rape and murder of the eight-year-old innocent girl in Kathua district, All India Ulama & Mashaikh Board (AI
13 April 2018
Harshly condemning the rape and murder of the eight-year-old innocent girl in Kathua district, All India Ulama & Mashaikh Board (AIUMB), an apex body of Sufi Muslims in India is calling for a national consensus for exemplary punishment for the culprits.
“It should be nothing short of a ‘death penalty’ which is only fitting for this insane and inhuman brutality of the beasts”, said Syed Hasan Jamee, the national secretary of the AIUMB. He further said that the government should bring a “new law” on the rising rape crimes.
Syed Salman Chishty, the Joint Secretary of All India Ulama & Mashaikh Board and the hereditary custodian of the Ajmer Sharif said:
“An amendment in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on death penalty for rape of children below 12 years of age is mandatory after India has witnessed several brutal incidents of the rapes where the victims were mostly minor girls”, he added.
Highlighting the crucial aspects of this tragedy, the World Sufi Forum’s spokesperson, writer and media co-coordinator, Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi stated: “The brutal rape and merciless murder of Asifa—a minor Indian child—should open our eyes. But beware! It should not be painted as Muslim victimhood mentality in the country. It doesn’t make any difference if the victim is Muslim, Hindu, Dalit or of any other faith, creed or caste.”
Mr. Dehlvi continued: “There are a few people who are flogging off the narrative that the innocent Asifa was victimized because she was a Muslim’s daughter, besides belonging to the tribal community of Gujjar and Bakarwal. But for any Indian citizen sincerely concerned with this ghastly development, it makes no difference—being Muslim or Hindu. What worries us is the brutality and oppression in the disguise of the false religious identity and what concerns us the breaking of silence for all victims rising above any division on the basis of religion. Both the 8-year Muslim girl of Kathua and the 18-year old Hindu girl of Unnao were victims of the ‘inhuman’ men of the beastly nature. They were not part of a civilized society. We must feel ashamed of them being Indians. However, it should not trigger any sense of communal polarization in India.”
He added saying: “Though the Prime Minister has assured the country that no culprit will be spared and that “Our daughters will definitely get justice”, we have to watch if the complete justice would be delivered. And that is only possible when the rape criminals are hanged to death”.
In this regard, the officiating secretary of the AIUMB and a veteran journalist, Mr. Yunus Mohani posed a hard-hitting question. He asked: “Is this the newfound narrative of “New India” belonging to the ‘liberal and progressive’ people who have been witnessing such heinous crimes in their society for long, and now almost on a daily basis?”
“We fail to understand why the Investigating Agency instead of arresting the accused persons, arrests the complainant first in connection with such serious cases, as the Allahabad High Court has also asked in its order”, he averred.
By: Ghulam Rasool Dehalvi
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