New Delhi, March 04: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) appealed to the Muslim community in India to reach out to fellow countrymen and avoid being provoked by the recent incidents of communal hatred. Addressing the media at their headquarters, the President of JIH Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari said that: ‘therecently concluded mid-term session of Majlis-e-Numaindagan (House of Representatives) of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind have passed certain resolutions regarding the situation in our country and abroad. Jamaat wants the Indian Muslim communityto remain steadfast to their faith. Although the law and order situation in the country is slowly deteriorating and there are deliberate attempts to create hatred against Muslims and Islam, the Muslim community of India should avoid any negative response and uncalled-for course of action. Hatred should be answered with love and understanding. Regarding the international situation the House of Representatives of Jamaat expressed its apprehension at the rise in Islamophobia in Europe and America.

Earlier the Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Muhammad Salim Engineer condemned the killing of Pehlu Khan at the hands of ‘’gaurakshaks’’ in Alwar Rajasthan. He said: ’ Jamaat feels that ever since the BJP led government has come at the center, hate crimes and attacks against Muslims and Dalits have increased a lot in the name of cow protection. The number of fake gau-rakshak groups is also increasing. They are getting emboldened because no action is being taken against them. There is a complete breakdown of law and order and these incidents are becoming a major embarrassment for the country and sullying its image abroad. Jamaat feels that all this is a result of the communal mindset of the ruling dispensation. The government of the day has failed to curb those polarizing society on communal lines and spreading hatred against the Muslim community. Jamaat demands that the Central government must put an end to such incidents and prove its seriousness in maintaining communal harmony in the country’’.

On the recent Supreme Court judgment on prohibition along highways, Salim Engineer said: ‘’Jamaat-e-Islami Hind welcomes the recent judgment of the Supreme Court in which the sale of liquor has been prohibited along the state and national highways. Jamaat would like to point out that alcohol which is termed by Islam as ‘’the mother of all evils’’ not only brings death and destruction to many families but is also damaging the social and moral fabric of society. We believe that our Creator and Sustainer has prohibited alcohol and other intoxicants precisely for these reasons. We categorically reject the excuse given by various State governments that banning alcohol would seriously compromise the revenue they earn by way of taxing the alcohol industry.The cost that the government has to bear in terms of trying to prevent the crimes committed under the influence of alcohol, the various medical and health expenses that are caused by such tragedies and various diseases due to alcoholism, the breakdown in the family system and the abundance of court cases and litigation because of alcohol, is far greater than the income accrued by the government by taxing the alcohol industry.