Jamiat goes ahead with meeting

“WE have never played the communal card in all our history. Even now, the fight is for land, Jamiat is not into politics,” said Siddiqullah Chowdhuri, state president of the Jamiat-E-Ulema-Hind.

Addressing reporters here on Monday, the Jamiat leader said the People’s Democratic Conference, a political party the Jamiat supports,is taking care of the political side of the anti-SEZ struggle in Singur. CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his predecessor Jyoti Basu had earlier reportedly alleged that the Jamiat was giving a communal twist to the agitation for land.

But Chowdhuri today said the organisation is a national representation of Muslim intellectuals and has social and religious functions. “We believe the former chief minister (Jyoti Basu) has been misguided. He had (earlier) conveyed best wishes for a programme the Jamiat had organised to observe the golden jubilee of Independence,” he said. He said despite the imposition of Section 144 in Singur, the Jamiat’s state chapter would continue with its agitation programme in Singur on Wednesday.