NEW DELHI: At its two-day national meet, the Jamiat Ulama-i- Hind (JUH)’s governing council passed resolutions calling for the establishment of special fast track courts to deal with hate crimes and cited Census data and its own research to reject the narrative that Muslims are seeking to alter the country’s demographic balance through “demographic jihad” and illegal infiltration.According to a statement issued by the JUH faction led by Maulana Mahmood Madani, the Jamiat president said, “Those conspiring to turn Muslims into outsiders and second-class citizens in their own country are, in fact, enemies of the nation”.He was addressing the event held in Nuh, Mewat.Madani observed that hate speech could no longer be dismissed as a temporary instrument of electoral politics. Referring to figures that he claimed indicated more than 1,600 verified incidents of hate speeches and statements over the past year, with no FIR registered in 87% of those cases, Madani said that the situation raised serious questions about the responsibilities of law-enforcement agencies and the delivery of justice.As part of the resolution, Jamiat sought effective implementation of the directions issued by the Supreme Court in the Tehseen S. Poonawalla case, including the appointment of district-level nodal officers of Superintendent of Police rank in every district. The landmark 2018 judgment had declared mob lynching and extrajudicial violence illegal and unconstitutional, placing a strict legal responsibility on states to prevent and punish such acts.“I want to make it absolutely clear that we do not support the illegal presence of any foreign national in India. But who is responsible for such illegal influx? Surely, the responsibility lies with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA),” Madani added.
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On demographic changes, JUH cited Census data to point out that the decadal growth rate for Muslim population had declined from 32.9% during 1981–1991 to 24.7% during 2001–2011.The governing council also rejected the “High-Level Demographic Committee” constituted by MHA on May 26, alleging that it has an “unscientific composition and prejudiced agenda” and sought the establishment of an impartial commission comprising experts of international standing to scientifically examine the factors influencing demographic changes.