National Meet On The Status Of Muslims In Contemporary India

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MUSLIM IN INDIA TODAY

OCTOBER 3-5, 2009

New Delhi

Venue: Speaker Hall, Constitution Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi
 Timings: 9am to 10pm on October 3, 4 2009 and 9am to 5pm on October 5, 2009

Invitation to National Meet On The Status Of Muslims In Contemporary India

OCTOBER 3-5, 2009, New Delhi

Anhad is organizing a National Meet on the Status of Muslims to document the continuing ways of discrimination, exclusion, persecution of Muslims in India today, to document overt as well as low intensity violence and the insecurity that they live with, and to prepare a charter of demands for the present government. We also plan to develop a strategy paper for voluntary organizations who are working for the minority rights.

During the three day meet senior activists, academicians, grass root workers and victims would present and listen to testimonies and reports, and reflect on these conditions.

Panel of distinguished jury members will come up with recommendations on the last day.

Panelists:

Admiral Ramdas, Ahmad Saeed Malihabadi, Asghar Ali Engineer, Colin Gonsalves, Gagan Sethi, Ghanshyam Shah, Hanif Lakdawala, Harsh Mander, Justice Bhargava , Kavita Srivastava, Mahesh Bhat, Prashant Bhushan, Ram Puniyani, Rooprekha Verma, Sandeep Pandey, Shahid Latif, Tarun Tejpal, Uma Chakravarty, Zafar Agha, Zahid Ali Khan, Zoya Hasan

Speakers:

Abu Zafar, Ajit Sahi, Amit Sengupta, Apoorvanand, Arshad Ajmal, Ashish Khaitan, Avinash Kumar, Azam Khan, Aziz Mubaraki, Baharul Islam, Farah Naqvi , Harinder Baweja, Hozzefa Ujjaini, Iftikhar Gilani, Irfan engineer, Jawed Naqvi, Jyoti Punwani, Manisha Sethi, Manoj Jha, Mehmood bhai, Minakshi Ganguly, Mohd Azam Khan, Mohd Shuaib, Nagma Nadaf, Naseem Ansari , Nihal Ahmad Ansari , Nishat Hussain, Noorjahan, Poornima Joshi, Rajendra Y J? Clifton ( to be confirmed), Rajiv Yadav, Rashida Khan, Sarwar Raza, Shafeeq Mahajir , Shahnawaz Alam, Shesh Narain Singh, Sohail Hashmi, Vidyadhar Gadgil , Vineet Tiwari, Vrinda Grover, Yogesh Diwan, Yusuf Shaikh , Zaheer Ali Khan, Zakia Soman

Note 1.: Victims will also be deposing. Their names have not been included in the list

NOTE 2.: Apart from the speakers, panelists and victims who have been invited by Anhad for the Meet, we will not be able to arrange for any accomodation in Delhi or travel for outstation participants. Those out station participants wanting to attend the Meet must arrange their own travel and stay and also must write to : anhad.delhi@gmail.com to register as there is limited space available. Delhi particpants are requested to inform us so that we can work out the logistics.

Note 3: The sessions will start at 9am and continue till 10pm on October 3 and 4th, 2009.

Note 4: All presentations will be 10-15 minutes and testimonies: 5-7 min only.

Schedule

October 3, 2009, 9.00am — 4pm

Session 1 Persecution in the Name of Terrorism

Manisha Sethi, Ajit Sahi, Shafeeq Mahajir , Naseem Ansari , Abu Zafar, Azam Khan, Shahnawaz Alam, Rajiv Yadav, Danish Quraishi

October 3, 2009, 5pm—10pm

Session 2 Social, Economic, Educational, Political Discrimination, and limited access to the impact of govt schemes

Zakia Soman, Arshad Ajmal, Aamir Edresy-to be confirmed, Aziz Mubariki, Baharul Islam, Nishat Hussain, Sarwar Raza, Nagma Nadaf, Noorjahan, Mehmood bhai, Apoorvanand, Hozzefa Ujjaini, Zulekha Jabin, Zakir

October 4, 2009, 9.00am — 4pm

Session 3 Faces of Discrimination

• What it means to be a Muslim in today’s India- Javed Naqvi, Sohail Hashmi
• Hate campaigns- hate material- Dr Muzzafar Asadi, Deepak Bhatt
• Appropriation of Muslim religious and cultural spaces- Yogesh Diwan
• Negative Images Creative in Media- Shesh Narain Singh, Mohd Shuaib
• Discrimination against Muslims by law enforcement agencies both Police and judiciary- Iftikhar Gilani, Irfan Engineer, Rashida Khan
• Systematic Appropriation of the Waqf properties and Qabristans – Vidyadhar Gadgil , Zaheer Ali Khan, Dr. Zafar Mahmood
• Failures to Control organizations spreading hatred, Impunity and Failures to implement Enquiry reports and punish those guilty of Communal Crimes - Harinder Baweja
• Rise and infiltration of Communal politics in Indian Society- Poornima Joshi
• Ignoring the large scale terror links of the Sangh – Ashish Khaitan
• Cow slaughter -an excuse to attack – cases
• Politics of symbols and words- Manoj Jha
• Discrimination during relief, rehabilitation, natural calamities- Avinash Kumar
• Emergence and role of new age gurus- Amit Sengupta
• Attacking big businesses to break the economic backbone the community

October 4, 2009, 5pm-10pm

Session 4 Communal Violence and State Impunity

Jyoti Punwani, Vineet Tiwari, Vrinda Grover , Farah Naqvi , Yusuf Shaikh

October 5, 2009

9am-11am Deputy Speaker Hall, Constitution Club

Jury members deliberate and prepare recommendations

11am- 2pm Jury members Speak

Panel: Working out the recommendations

3.30pm- Press Conference and releasing of recommendations by the Jury Members