Jeddah expatriates honor prominent Indian lawyer

A number of Indian community organizations, led by the Al-Ittehad Foundation, recently felicitated prominent Indian lawyer Zafaryab Jilani on his appointment as additional advocate general of Uttar Pradesh.
The event, held at Jeddah’s Mehran Restaurant, was attended among others by a large number of Aligarh Muslim University alumni because Jilani himself is a prominent alumnus of the famous university.
The visiting leader appreciated the concern expressed by the non-resident Indians for their country, and took the opportunity to brief them on key legal and social issues concerning Indian Muslims.
Jilani touched upon various issues including the legal fight for the restoration and rebuilding of Babri Masjid, illegal arrests of innocent youngsters and the confidence-building measures being adopted by the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh. On the current legal status of the Babri Masjid case, he said: “It is now in the Supreme Court … The high court record papers are likely to be submitted in the apex court soon … The case may then be listed for further orders after the summer vacations.”
According to Jilani, the Supreme Court will have to first pass an order for the translation into English of the high court documents because the contending parties had originally filed them in either Hindi or Urdu.
He expects the whole process to take six to nine months. “The arguments will then begin and they may continue for a year, and then we can expect the judgment in two to three years,” he said.
Reacting to his new appointment, Jilani said: “I have accepted this position (of additional advocate general) to ensure that justice is done to all sections of society, including Muslims … The Uttar Pradesh government has already initiated a number of steps to correct a series of erroneous policy decisions by the previous dispensations.”
On the arrest of innocent Muslim youths, he advised that the parents and relatives of those youngsters should come forward and move proper applications prepared by the counsels for the accused for the withdrawal of cases. “The chief minister will consider the applications in a sympathetic manner,” he said.
Jilani appreciated the role played by the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) for its role in rehabilitating the victims of police excesses.
“The party has done a commendable job in taking up the cases of the arrests of Muslim youth in Hyderabad through legal channels,” he said. “Not only did the party help the youngsters to clear their names but also got them some monetary compensation; efforts along the same lines have to be initiated in Uttar Pradesh.”
Jilani said the Samajwadi Party government has started implementing Sachar Committee recommendations to alleviate the suffering of the Muslim community. “The stated policy of providing reservations is taking shape, and Muslim youngsters are now being given incremental opportunities to take government jobs,” he said.
Senior writer Muhammad Mujahid Syed thanked conscientious members of the expatriate community for standing shoulder-to-shoulder with its leadership in both good times and bad times. “We will always remember Jilani Sahab’s determination in the face of adversity,” he said.
Prominent among those who addressed the gathering were Syed Farzan Ahmed Rizvi, Hasan Bayazeed Ather, Yousuf Amjad, Bahjat Najmi, Aleem Khan Falaki, Irfan Barabankawi, Mujahid Pasha, Zabihullah Khan, Qari Muhammad Abbas, Syed Sami Ahmad, Khwaja Arifuddin and Azizurrab Alig.