New Delhi : The President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Syed Sadatullah Husaini  expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and urged the government of India to take effective diplomatic measures to halt Israel’s ongoing genocidal war in Gaza  Addressing the JIH monthly press conference, the JIH President expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people, affirming that justice-loving people worldwide and Muslims stand shoulder to shoulder with them in their resistance against the genocidal war unleashed on the Palestinians by Israel. He said, “To date, over 38,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, with more than half being children and women. The Lancet estimates that the real death toll in Gaza could be as high as 186,000. More than 80,000 people have been injured. Entire families have been wiped out by Israeli bombs. Around 80% of neighborhoods and homes in Gaza have been destroyed, and 9 out of 10 people have been displaced from their homes multiple times.  This number makes up 8% of Gaza’s population. This mass death is happening under the watchful eyes of the “civilized” world. Deadly attacks on schools, hospitals, relief camps, UN missions, targeted killings of journalists and relief workers, and the bombing of civilian residential complexes – Israel has violated every international humanitarian law and has proven itself to be the most rogue, brutal, and uncivilized force on the planet. It is also worth noting that Israel has attacked many countries this year, including Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and Iran, apart from Palestine. It stands accused of targeted killings of individuals inside several sovereign nations. The latest is the martyrdom of former Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh. It was a clear violation of all diplomatic and humanitarian norms.  We are confident that the martyrdom of Shaheed Ismail Haniyeh will further fortify the Palestinian freedom movement and aid in the liberation and restoration of the rights of the oppressed Palestinian people. It is also worth mentioning that Israeli political and military leaders have been charged with serious war crimes based on clear evidence. These charges have been brought forward by prominent international organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and special UN committees. Even Israeli groups like B’tselem have documented and reported these allegations. The hypocrisy, blatant double standards, and moral bankruptcy of the West, who are watching as silent bystanders and enablers of the current conflict, stand thoroughly exposed. This hypocrisy has become especially evident against the backdrop of the Ukraine war. While the entire West is battling fiercely and making serious compromises on their economic and other interests to condemn the occupation of Ukraine, their approach in the case of Palestine is entirely opposite, as they stand behind one of the most brutal and inhuman occupations in history. This conflict has stripped the West of any remaining moral standing. It is a matter of solace that these double standards have become apparent to the populations of their own countries, as demonstrated by the widespread protests and popular unrest against Israel globally. Major cities across Europe, North America, and other regions have seen large-scale demonstrations. These protests reflect deep public concern and mounting pressure on governments to address the conflict and heed international calls for accountability. We commend the people of these nations for their courageous stance and hope they will drive much-needed positive changes in their governments’ policies. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind urges the United Nations and the international community to spring to action immediately, order a ceasefire, and ensure that Palestine achieves freedom and liberation from the apartheid and brutal regime of Israel, arrest all war criminals of the brutal Israeli regime and award them harsh punishment. For the people of our country and our government, we would like to reiterate that supporting Palestine is not an issue merely of human rights but also that of the core ethos of India’s freedom struggle and its constitution. Fight against all kinds of imperialistic injustices and freedom of oppressed people constitute the core of our national morality. If we don’t support the Palestinian cause, we are violating our values and going against our history. We also support the demand of several civil society movements to immediately cease all kinds of supplies particularly the supply of arms to Israel and to raise a strong voice against the blatant barbarity and violation of international laws, urging effective diplomatic measures to halt Israel’s ongoing genocidal war in Gaza.”

Discussing the Union Budget 2024-25, Syed Sadatullah said, “Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is of the opinion that the Union Budget is a critical exercise that drives the economic policies of the country and should be used to cater to the needs of the common man along with stabilizing the macroeconomic challenges. Assessing the Union Budget 2024-25 against this objective, we feel that the Budget 2024-25 does not offer any solace to the poor, the marginalized, SC & STs and religious minorities of India. It seems that the Budget aims to benefit only one class of society. There is an increase in health allocation this year, but it is still 1.88% of GDP. Despite increasing the allocation to education, it is just 3.07% of GDP. JIH demands that the allocation to health should be at least 4% and for education 6% of GDP. The Budget has been insensitive to the government’s slogan of “Sab ka Vikas” as it has drastically reduced the budgetary allocation to many schemes for minorities. It is quite unfortunate that the Ministry of Minority Affairs MoMA has an allocation of just 0.06% of the total budget. We expect at least 1% of the budget to be spent on the welfare of minorities. There are a few positives in the Budget like adherence to fiscal prudence for long-term debt sustainability, assumed tax buoyancy is kept at 1 despite last year’s tax buoyancy of 1.4, addressing financial stability by increasing capital gains and securities transaction taxes, sending a clear signal to keep asset prices aligned with economic fundamentals and the reduction or elimination of customs duties across several sectors aims to make Indian exports more competitive by effectively lowering export taxes. At the level of macroeconomic policy, we feel that this Budget is contractionary in nature. We needed an expansionist approach at this stage of our growing economy. Revenue is increasing substantially still the increase in expenditure is negligible, this contractionary approach will further aggravate the situation of unemployment, inflation, and inequality. Fiscal prudence is required but not at the cost of being insensitive to the needs of the people. Government expenditures have been slashed resulting in a decrease in allocation for the social sector. For example, the MGNREGA scheme allocation has not been hiked when unemployment is historically high. Continuous neglect of MGNREGA is highly regressive. Another worrying aspect of the Budget is that various subsidies have been cut. For example, food subsidy, fertilizer subsidy and petroleum subsidy all have been reduced. This is highly irrational and condemnable. Despite alarming level of inequality, budget is supportive to rich and unjustly tilted towards big corporates. The coprporate tax revenue (17%) is less than that from income tax (19%). Indirect tax is still very high burdening the poor and the middle class. In the name of employment generation under the new employment incentive scheme, corporates are being heavily subsidised. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind feels that to fund welfare, measures to curb corruption are needed, along with higher direct taxes on the wealthy and reduced indirect taxes to alleviate inflation’s impact on the poor. The government should implement special measures and policies for the welfare of Dalits, backward classes, SCs & STs and minorities, particularly Muslims, with concrete plans and adequate budgets rather than symbolic gestures. Further, 19% of our budget is going towards interest payments. Borrowing and other liabilities make up 27% of our budget. We must try and reduce our approach towards debt and try to move towards an interest-free economy. Vicious rates of interest on loans should be strictly curtailed. We urge the government to promote interest-free microfinance and interest-free banking on a large scale. This will boost the economy, generate employment and reduce social unrest.”

Expressing concern over the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, the JIH President stated, “We are concerned about the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, as it raises apprehensions about censorship and restrictions on the press. While the objective of the Bill is to establish a comprehensive legal framework for the broadcasting sector in the country, there are valid concerns that it may result in censorship of over-the-top (OTT) platforms, erosion of digital media’s independence, and ambiguity regarding regulation. The Bill creates a back door Censor Board for regulation of information by proposing the formation of a Broadcast Advisory Council to advise the Union Government on violations of the program code and advertisement code. The most alarming aspect of the draft is the inclusion of news to include that generated by independent news portals and individuals who have become popular sources for news and opinions, explainer videos, and other online audio-visual content, along with OTT content, shows, serials, documentaries, and other traditionally certified features. It means that the Bill’s definition of news and current affairs programs as “newly received or noteworthy programs” includes analysis, about recent events primarily of socio-political, economic, or cultural nature. This is vague and broad enough to encompass content creators who may not fit the conventional notion of broadcasters. This definition would also include independent YouTube journalists and news analysts. Similarly, digital news websites would also fall under the purview of the Bill as it defines “program” to be inclusive of such platforms. This marks the first time that news will be subjected to a Central Board of Film Certification-inspired regime, typically reserved for cinema, potentially paving the way for pre-censorship. According to the draft Bill, non-compliance with its provisions may result in penalties such as content censorship, mandatory apologies, temporary suspension of broadcasting, and fines. In cases of repeated non-compliance, the broadcaster’s registration may be revoked. JIH urges the Union Information & Broadcasting Ministry to engage in genuine consultations with all the stakeholders and amend the clauses of the Bill.”

Regarding the forcible transfer of students from madrasas to other government schools, Syed Sadatullah said, “Jamaat-e-Islami Hind strongly condemns efforts to forcibly change the status and identity of madrassas as well as to interfere in the educational journey of madrasa students in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Acquiring religious education is not only a fundamental right of every individual but is also to make a better society. In such a situation, neither the government nor its subordinate departments have the moral and legal right to forcibly remove the students getting free education in the madrasas and send them to other regular government schools. Under Section 30(1), religious minorities have a fundamental right to establish and manage their educational institutions. Similarly, the RTE Act has also given the madrasas the right to run their system independently and benefit students. In such a situation, the interference of institutions like NCPCR in madrasas is illegal and unconstitutional. By ignoring the real problems of children, NCPCR is unnecessarily getting involved in an issue which is beyond its scope. We demand that the Uttar Pradesh government should immediately withdraw its illegal circular under which the district officials have been instructed to transfer the students of non-approved madrasas (according to government figures, there are 8449 such madrasas in the state) to government schools. Crores of people in our country are deprived of necessities like food, clothing, shelter, education, health and other facilities. Madrasas are discharging yeomen service by providing free education along with free food, and accommodation to crores of children. Through its systematic and strong educational system, madrasas have produced many generations of important leaders who fought for our freedom and rendered valuable services to humanity. In such a scenario, this diktat of the state government is not only a sinister attempt to damage the established historical system of madrasas but also an unconstitutional violation of the rights of lakhs of madrasa students and their parents. We appeal to all the justice-loving citizens of the country to raise their voice against this one-sided cruel action and stop it.”

On the landslide in Wayanad, Kerala the JIH President updated the media regarding the efforts of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind saying, “We are profoundly saddened by the tragic landslide in Wayanad, Kerala. We extend our heartfelt condolences, pray for the families of the victims, and wish for a swift recovery for the injured. We urge the government authorities to carry out rescue and relief operations with utmost urgency and on a war-footing. The increase in landslides in Wayanad and the Western Ghats is quite alarming. For the long-term, there is an urgent need for identifying landslide-prone areas and initiate measures to prevent these natural calamities. We urge the general public and volunteers to contribute to the ongoing relief and rescue operations. JIH volunteers have already commenced their efforts, and JIH members from Kerala and beyond are committed to doing everything possible to assist those affected by the landslide.”