Minority communities across the country need to take voting more seriously and have their documentation in place, said members of the Ulema Council and social leaders from the city.
At a press conference on Thursday, the leaders stressed the need for awareness on the issue, especially in the light of the recent Assam situation, where about 40 lakh people who could not prove their citizenship have reportedly been left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) list.
Talking about measures being taken to fix the issue, Maulana Syed Moin Miyan, a religious scholar, said, “The reason we called this meeting is so we could spread awareness about voting, urge people to verify their documents and turn out to vote. Documentation among minorities is a little weak. This meeting was called to think of ways to spread the knowledge, so that if a situation like Assam arises, people will be ready.”
Mr. Miyan said the issue was beyond religion as people in rural parts of the country have no idea what documentation is. “They don’t even have a record of things like date of birth.”
On the situation in Assam where things have heated up after the release of the NRC, he said he had full faith in the Supreme Court to take the right decision.
A day after the release of the final draft of the NRC, the court has said all those whose names are not on the list must get a fair chance to prove their claims.
Mr. Miyan said the message conveyed in Thursday’s meeting was not only for the mosques in Mumbai, but for all mosques as they felt that a situation like Assam could arise anywhere.
‘Realise gravity of issue’
Mr. Miyan said, “We had the imam [head of prayers in a mosque] of almost every mosque across Mumbai come to this conference. The idea is to spread the message of voting on every jumma [Friday, prayer day] through the imam . In this way, the message will reach thousands at the same time. Within the minorities, no one takes voting seriously.”
He added, “They have their documentation, but consider election as a day to go out on a holiday. We want to make them understand the severity of the issue and urge people to vote.”
The leaders also said they had created a social media team to help spread awareness as elections are coming up next year. “Vote for whichever party you want; we just want people to turn up and vote.” Another meeting with social activists, doctors, lawyers, and so on would be called to discuss how they can spread this message further.
On the campaign, Aamil Edresy, president, Association of Muslim Professionals, explained that there are two parts, one for Assam and the other for the entire country. He said, “The things being talked about in this meeting will also be spread across through social media. We are also working on trying to help people in two-tier and three-tier cities get proper documentation. A small team will help them with it. We are trying to mobilise all kinds of resources so that people will get the message.”
