Muslims in Aap Ki Adalat appeal to Modi to set up committee to resolve issues

New Delhi: Several top representatives from Muslim community have appealed to Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi to set up a single high-powered committee to resolve crucial issues relating to minorities. Participating in Rajat Sharma's show Aap Ki Adalat, to be telecast tonight on India TV, these Muslim representatives identified education and jobs as the two topmost priorities for alleviating the conditions of Muslims. Narendra Modi's Muslim adviser Zafar Sareshwala, a businessman from Gujarat, Asifa Khan, BJP spokesperson from Gujarat, Mufti Azad Ahmed, member, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Maulana Sajid Rashid, president, All India Imams Association and Syed Zafar, former MD of Deutsche Bank and an investment banker fielded questions from the Muslim community. One of the Muslim representatives said, the community was more hopeful about Modi compared to the Vajpayee government at the Centre.When one of the representatives asked how many accused had been convicted for the 2002 Gujarat riots so far, Sareshwala replied that so far 63 Hindus, including former BJP leader Maya Kodnani, have been given life term imprisonment ranging from 30 to 38 years. 460 Hindus have been convicted so far in seven cases, and trial is going on in two cases for the last 12 years, he added.Sareshwala, considered close to Narendra Modi, pointed out that in the past, more than 5,000 Muslims died in the Ahmedabad riots in 1969, which was followed by riots in 1985, 1987, 1990 and 1992 under different regimes.During the Nineties, he said, people in Ahmedabad faced curfews for 200 days in a year, and night curfews stretched for six months. There has not been a single communal riot in Gujarat since 2002, Sareshwala said.Asifa Khan said, it was sheer misinformation that Modi did not act for three days when the 2002 Gujarat riots took place. The army, which was posted on the border after the Parliament attack, was called in and many rioters died in police firings, she added.“Nearly 400 Muslim children were rescued from madarsas in Bhavnagar, hundreds of Muslims were rescued from Sardarpura, and even Zakia Jafri was rescued from Gulberga society, where her husband was murdered by rioters”, she said.Sareshwala revealed how Modi was stumped recently when a Muslim delegation told him that the Centre had removed Arabic and Persian as optional languages from UPSC Civil Services examination.“The Muslim delegation first met Minister of state for Personnel V Narayanasamy, who said that there were three Muslim ministers in the Cabinet but they were not opposed to this decision. “When the delegation met Narendra Modi, he said, the Centre should have at least understood that 66 per cent of India's external trade was taking place with countries where Arabic and Persian are spoken. “Modiji promised he would reverse the decision, when he would come to power”, said Sareshwala.Recalling another incident, Sareshwala said how a Pakistani trade delegation which had attended a Tourism Fair in Gujarat approached Modi with the request that they be allowed visa to travel to Ajmer. “Modiji told the Tourism Secretary who had come with the Pakistani delegation to at least understand that the Ajmer shrine was as holy to Muslims, as Varanasi is to Hindus.”Aap Ki Adalat with Muslim representatives will be telecast tonight (Saturday, April 24) at 10 pm, and the telecast will be repeated on Sunday (April 25) at 10 am and 10 pm.