New Delhi, 5^th March 2022: Hailing the people for refusing to fall prey to the hate agenda in the ongoing Assembly elections in five states, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has contended that  voters  have understood the ploy of certain parties to garner votes through the polarization of voters along religious lines.

Addressing a monthly press meet, held here today, JIH Vice President Prof. Mohammad Salim Engineer, however, expressed great concern over the manner in which communal politics and hate politics were practiced in the recent assembly elections in five states. But, he  asserted that the maturity level of voters increased and they refused to fall prey to such tactics and real issues came to the forefront like inflation, unemployment, education, and health. “We feel that strict action should have been taken by the Election Commission (EC) against those parties who violated the code of conduct and tried to divide society through communal advertisements and hate speeches. One phase of the elections is still left and we hope that the EC will do the needful to keep the elections free and fair. The money spent on advertisements is extremely high and there should be a discussion on curbing this practice. There should be a federal law to prevent the party in power, manipulating the government machinery to its advantage,” he added.

Demanding of election reforms to strengthen democracy and prevent the use of money-power and muscle-power for manipulating election results, the JIH Vice President said that it would increase the trust of citizens and would strengthen the democracy.

Expressing concern over the Russian attack on Ukraine, Prof. Salim has called for restraint, immediate ceasefire, and the start of diplomatic processes to end the conflict. He said, war is destructive and only helps the armament industry. He urged the Government of India to continue bringing back all Indians stranded, particularly students in Ukraine and neighbouring countries as soon as possible by using all available land and air routes, free of cost.

Offering condolences to the parents and relatives of the students who lost their lives in Ukraine, Prof. Salim lamented that unfortunately some leaders were trying to derive political mileage out of the Ukraine crisis in the ongoing assembly elections. “This opportunism is condemnable”, he added.

The JIH Vice President voiced the apprehension of the people of our country that the Government might increase the prices of petrol and diesel and other essential commodities after the elections in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. He hoped that the Central and the state governments would take suitable steps to control it.

In his observation on returning from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, JIH National Affairs Secretary Mohammad Ahmed said that now there was a greater awareness among the people and even those living in remote areas were rejecting the tactics of communal polarization of the political parties.