New Delhi, 10 May (H.S.):

Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind President Maulana Mahmood Madani has asked West Bengal’s newly elected Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to fully and honestly uphold the spirit and wording of the constitutional oath he took before the Governor and the people of Bengal, and to ensure equal justice for all citizens without discrimination.

Madani said the constitutional oath is not merely a formal procedure, but a public acceptance of the legal and moral responsibility attached to the office. Without such an oath, no one can become chief minister, and equally, no one has the moral right to remain in that post while acting against its spirit. He made these remarks in reference to the chief minister’s earlier statement that he would “work only for Hindus.”

He said such statements run contrary to India’s secular fabric, democratic values and the spirit of the Constitution. Power, he added, is not the property of any one religion or political group, but a trust held on behalf of the entire people, including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and all other communities. Madani said the people of Bengal want real development and effective governance, not politics of hatred or religious division.

“We are not saying the government should work only for Muslims; we are saying it should work for the whole of Bengal and for all citizens,” he said.

He added that people want clean water, a clean environment, better roads, quality education, employment, investment, justice for farmers and small traders, the rule of law and protection of the dignity of the poor.

Development, he said, does not stop at the doors of a mosque or a temple, and basic civic facilities cannot be divided on religious lines. If development truly reaches 80 percent of the population, the remaining 20 percent should not be deprived of it. If clean air is provided, it should benefit every citizen, not just Hindus.

Madani clarified that Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind does not oppose any government for political reasons alone. Wherever genuine public welfare, development and justice are visible, the organisation will welcome it. However, if governance is driven by communal discrimination, hatred or deviation from constitutional principles, then citizens and institutions of the country have the right to seek justice and constitutional protection through democratic and legal means.

Reiterating Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind’s commitment to India’s unity, pluralism, communal harmony and constitutional order, Madani said the organisation will always continue its democratic, peaceful and legal struggle to protect the rights, dignity and equal justice of every citizen in the country.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar