Punish guilty, shed ‘shielding’ notion, Muslims urge Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA: Prominent Muslims in Kolkata have urged Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to act decisively against people of their community who were involved in crime as that would help overcome the “perception” that they are being “shielded or appeased”.
Muslims from various walks of life, who have been living in Kolkata for decades, highlighted two recent incidents: the NRS Medical College and Hospital violence last Monday and the hounding of model Ushoshi Sengupta and her app cab driver in the city this Monday. The accused, in both cases, were arrested within 24 hours of the incidents.

“The attackers in both instances were members of our community. We are grieved and embarrassed. Bring the assailants to book not just in these two instances but in every single instance where Muslims are involved. They should not be allowed to get away because they happen to be Muslims (as is the growing perception). This will send out a message that members of one community are not being shielded or appeased (as most people bel-ieve),” the letter — signed by 46 prominent Muslim citizens of Kolkata — states.
They have also urged the state government to engage or encourage engagements with Muslim youth and their families across Kolkata in gender-sensitisation, civic consciousness and law-compliance.
“This requires long-term patience but needs to be implemented right away,” the letter says.
Psychologist Zahid H Ganjee, one of the signatories, said: “There have been several lynching cases in the past year-and-a-half and sane voices from the Hindu community have demanded justice. Unfortunately, Muslims have not said and done enough when members of the community have acted like rogues. This has led to the entire community being tarnished. I hope the letter will spark a conversation, even a debate and then something good will come out of it. We are losing our primary identity as a citizen of this country and state. We need to reclaim it.”
Abdul Rahim, who runs an NGO, stressed the need for the community to receive fair and not privileged treatment. “There is a growing perception that the administration here is soft on Muslims who break the law. This perception needs to change. We want the law to be enforced without considering religious identity,” he said.
Communications expert Mudar Patherya, who drafted the letter after a discussion with several of the signatories, said there had been simmering discontent for some time. “I will not comment on whether the perception (that the administration is soft on Muslims) is right or wrong. But I feel, till now, governments have looked at the next vote and not the next generation. The moment they do that, things will change positively. I believe Muslims need to take a position,” he said.
Rahim says the administration needs to reach out to the community in the ghettos and strengthen, educate and empower the youth. “If you consider each of the incidents, the culprits hailed from ghettos,” he said.
Most of the signatories feel the recurring crime by Muslim youths is to do with poverty and illiteracy in ghettos where they reside. Mamoon Akhtar, who runs a school (Samaritan Help Mission) in Tikiapara, says children can bring about great change if educated.
But the letter has also drawn flak from a section of the community. Nutritionist Neha Hafiz, another signatory, took pains to point out that it was not a missive against the Trinamool government or its treatment of Muslims; but there was a need to change the perception that was being created about the community receiving more privileges than others. “There is a problem. We cannot deny it. And it needs to be addressed. Blaming anyone does not help. There is a need for education and reforms,” she said.
In Video:Act against culprits, punish the guilty, Muslims urge Mamata Banerjee