Muslim leaders protest over ''profiling'' of community as terror

New Delhi, Apr 15 (UNI) A delegation of prominent Muslim organisations of the country led by Rector of Darul Uloom, Deoband and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief Qari Mohammad Usman today sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop what they called ''profiling'' of the Muslim community as terrorists by the security agencies and the media.

The leaders called on the Prime Minister this morning and gave him a memorandum in which they expressed their protest and anguish over the attempt to link Islam with terrorism, and asserted that Islam had no connection with the cult of violence and terror as practiced by some now.

The memorandum said innocent Muslims were being picked up across the country on flimsy grounds and initial investigation leaked to the media to malign the whole community.

''The atmosphere has been charged to such an extent that in certain states the etite bar councils have refused to defend Muslim accused,'' it said.

The Muslim leaders urged the Prime Minister to take steps to check the trend of branding the whole community as terrorist.

While appreciating the Prime Minister's step to appoint the Sachar Committee and implement its major recommendations, the Muslim leaders also sought to draw his attention towards some of the long-standing demands of the community, which were still unfulfilled.

These included extension of the benefit of reservation to Dalit Muslims by striking out the basis of religion from Article 341, releasing the Waqf properties from the illegal control of various agencies, including government, enlargement of the scope of Minorities Development Finance Corporation, permission to Muslims to offer prayers in the mosques under ASI protection and creation of a Haj Management Corporation among others.

They also made a forceful plea for pressurising the Maharashtra government to act on the Sri Krishna Committee Report on Mumbai riots.

Besides Qari Usman a-e-hind, the delegation also included chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission Kamal Farooqui, MP and general secretray of Jamiat Ulem Maulana Mehmud Farooqui, Member Muslim Personal Law Board Qasim Ilyas Rasool, Jamaat Islami chief Maulana Jalaluddin Umri, general secretary Jamiat Ahle Hadees Maulana Asghar Ali Imam Mehndi and Dr Zafrul Islam, Chairman All India Muslim Majlis-e- Mushawrat.

UNI NAZ HS RN1913