Muslims are accused of slaughtering the cow for centuries. In order to wipe out this stigma the nationalist Muslims have themselves started a countrywide signature campaign for cow protection. Under the campaign, which began in Delhi on May 13 in the presence of more than 10,000 people, at least 10,00,000 signatures only from Muslims would be collected and would later be sent to the President of India requesting him to direct the central government to enact a central comprehensive law completely banning the cow slaughter. The campaign began in the presence of various Muslim leaders and RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri K.S. Sudarshan. Apart from the ban on cow slaughter the Muslims will also give their consent to the fact that ?terrorism is not jehad and the life of freedom fighters should be included in school textbooks?. ?During the campaign we shall also apprise the people of the fact that Prophet Mohammad was also against cow slaughter,? said Umer Iliyasi, convener of the campaign.
Lauding the initiative on the part of Muslims, Sarsangha-chalak Shri K.S. Sudarshan described the campaign as unprecedented. ?I hope the majority of Muslims across the country will extend their support to the signature campaign and the stigma of cow slaughter will be abolished for ever from the country,? he said further adding that cow protection was the prime inspiration of the entire freedom movement and all leading personalities including Bahadur Shah Zafar, Lokmanya Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi and others supported it. He further said soon after being crowned as the ruler of ?independent? India on May 12, 1857 by the revolutionaries at Red Fort in Delhi, the first order that Bahadur Shah Zafar issued was for banning the cow slaughter in his kingdom. Shri Sudarshan informed that the Namdhari or the Kooka revolt was also for cow protection.
?It is a good beginning on the part of Muslims. Normally the Muslims are accused of slaughtering the cow. Now if they themselves initiate a campaign for the cow protection, it will produce good results and would also enhance peace and brotherhood in the country. I appreciate this initiative on the part of Nationalist Muslim Movement,? Shri Sudarshan added.
Paying tributes to the freedom fighters of 1857 the Sarsanghachalak said the first freedom movement was fought unitedly by all the sections and communities of the country. ?Similar unity is required now. Only then shall we be able to face the challenges of today. By the year 2011, India is going to emerge as the world power. We should all prepare ourselves for the challenge to lead the world together,? he added.
Inaugurating the year-long celebration to mark the 150th anniversary of 1857 freedom movement, Shri Sudarshan demanded the government to table the report of Mukherjee Commission, which went into the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, in Parliament and alleged that reluctance to do so rasied questions about its intent. He claimed that two Indian ambassadors, including Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, had met Bose in a Russian jail in 1946. He said Netaji after sometime arrived in India and settled near Ayodhya as Gumnami Baba and died in 1985. He added that the forensic test of Baba'shandwriting matched with that of Netaji. He said the freedom was achieved because of the collective sacrifices of hundreds of people and not merely because of the 1942 movement launched by the Congress.
Speaking at the function, which was jointly organised by Nationalist Muslim Movement, Poorva Sainik Sewa Parishad, Himalaya Pariwar, Bharat-Tibet Sahayog Manch and Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, Shri Indresh Kumar, member of RSS national executive, said if the country moves with the national and human feelings, no power on earth would be able to stop us. He said the present Hindustan has given much to Islam and also reformed it to a great extent. There were only two Ids in original Islam and the third Id?Milad-ul-Nabi?was added only in India and the tradition of worshiping the peers and mazars also began in India alone. He said the Nationalist Muslim Movement is moving ahead with the cooperation of more than 60 organisations and it also sought the support of RSS, which we extended happily.
Sayed Shahnawaz Hussein, former union minister and president of BJP Minority Cell, said Muslims are safer in India than any other country of the world and they could not get better neighbours than Hindus anywhere else. Mohammad Afzal, convener of the Nationalist Muslim Movement, said all the countrymen fought against the Britishers unitedly but instead of paying them rich tributes today, the life and works of those freedom fighters are being removed from the school textbooks. Before the inauguration of function, various poets from different parts of the country recited patriotic poems and thrilled the audience. One poet from Kota, Mohammad Javed, moved the audience by his poems, which explained how a true Muslim should be.
Lt. Gen. (retd.) R.S. Kadiyan said the best tribute to the freedom fighters would be to keep the freedom intact. He congratulated the team of Poorva Sainik Sewa Parishad that conducted a tour from Delhi to Moirong (Manipur) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of first freedom movement. The members of the team were honoured by the Sarsangha-chalak at the function. Former Air Marshal H.P. Singh was also present on the occasion. Namdhari Sant Harpal Singh spoke about the sacrifices of the Namdhari followers for the cause of cow protection. Sant Jashvir Singh Panna and Sant Ranjit Singh, who belonged to the families of Kooka fighters, were also present on the occasion. Shri Arif Beig and founder of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat Sardar Chiranjiv Singh were also present. Sardar Savinderjit Singh Bajwa, Deputy Mayor of Delhi, presided over the function.
