'Pune jail murder shows Muslims no longer safe in India'

The All India Muslim Majilis-E-Mushwarat, an umbrella body of Muslim organisations in India, has taken strong exception to the manner in which security was handled at the Yerawada Jail in Pune, where an alleged member of the Indian Mujahideen Qateel Siddiqui was murdered on Friday.

At a press conference in New Delhi, members of the AIMMM, headed by their president Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, claimed that the murder of Qateel Siddiqui was yet another proof that Muslims were no longer safe in India, even behind the walls of a high-security jail.

"The murdered accused, Qateel Siddiqui, was a law-abiding citizen of this country. Despite the passage of seven months on his arrest, the agencies have not been able to file a charge-sheet against him, while he has been consistently tortured in custody to force him to sign a fake confession, as it happens now in almost all such cases. His murder has been arranged at the hands of a criminal already incarcerated on murder charges. It seems the reason is to use Qateel's fake confession in court against other accused since he will no longer be there to deny and refute the forced confession attributed to him," said AIMMM members.

They added, "We hold Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria, the head of National Investigation Agency Sarat Chandra Sinha and Home Minister P Chidambaram personally responsible for this cold-blooded murder".

"This cold-blooded murder comes in quick succession after a number of cases where the security agencies' high-handedness in dealing with Muslim youth on flimsy charges and mere suspicion gives away the game of the administration's war against the Muslim community in the name of fighting terror," claimed the organisation.

"Only days ago, two young Kashmiri students were kidnapped by unknown security agencies at Aligarh and only one of them was later released, after the educational institution filed a habeas corpus case in the Allahabad high court," it pointed out.

Citing another example, AIMMM said, "It has been almost a month since Fasih Mahmood, an engineer, suddenly disappeared in Saudi Arabia at the request of Indian authorities, who are still not clear about the charges against him."

"Earlier Journalist Syed Mohammed Kazmi was arrested on unknown charges and remains in custody while right-wing terrorists are getting bail and feeling confident enough to hold a conference in Goa. We demand a judicial enquiry by a sitting high court judge. We reject with contempt the mere suspension of the jailor and a CID enquiry. The jailor will be reinstated soon and the CID enquiry will not go against its own ilk," said AIMMM.

"We appeal to national and international human rights organisations to take notice of the situation in India where sections of the administration are fighting a war against the country's largest religious minority in the name of fighting terror, while the security agencies themselves are the biggest culprits and excel in fabrication of cases and use torture to force the accused to confess to crimes they never committed. The aim is to demoralise the Indian Muslim community and to slow down its educational and social progress," said AIMMM.