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ISMAIL YUSUF COLLEGE CAMPUS BACHAO

SANGHARSH SAMITI

STOP Encroachment of Ismail Yusuf

College Campus, a Waqf property

DECLARE IYC as a Minority Institution

HAND OVER IYC campus to a Muslim

trust to build a world-class university

A joint demand by all justice-loving Indians Muslims and non-Muslims before the Government of Maharashtra

Get ready for the biggest peaceful agitation in Mumbais history

for the cause of minority education

Join the Protest Dharna

Venue: Azad Maidan, near CST Railway Station

Date: Wednesday, 25th March, 2015; 2 pm to 6 pm

The Bharatiya Janata Party won the mandate both at the Centre and in the state of

Maharashtra by promising Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. In its Manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP specifically assured the minorities that it will strengthen and modernise minority educational systems and institutions and also take steps to remove

encroachments from and unauthorized occupation of Waqf properties. Sadly, the BJP, which heads a coalition government in Maharashtra in partnership with the Shiv Sena, has not only forgotten to keep this promise but is actually working against its letter and spirit. This is evident from the illegal manner in which the government has been trying to encroach upon the Waqf land, on which Ismail Yusuf College, Jogeshwari, has been established.

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Ismail Yusuf College is a Waqf property meant for education of Muslims Ismail Yusuf College, Jogeshwari is one of the oldest educational institutions in Mumbai. Sir Mohammed Yusuf Ismail, a great Muslim philanthropist and proprietor of Bombay Steam Navigation Company was concerned about the grossly inadequate facilities of higher education for the development of the Muslim community in British-ruled India. He therefore entrusted Rs 8 lakh to the Governor-in-Council of Bombay in 1914, and created a Waqf (an endowment made by a Muslim to a religious, educational, or charitable cause). On January 28, 1914, the colonial government passed Resolution 383 and accepted the amount as and by way of Waqf to carry out the terms and objects of the Donor. It used a part of the money to purchase 124 acres of land, kept the remaining amount as corpus, and established Ismail Yusuf College in 1930. As per the wish of the Donor, the Governor-in-Council accepted the following commitments:

The college would be primarily, but not exclusively, for Muslim students of

the then Bombay State.

It would be a residential institution.

It would provide for teaching Persian and Arabic languages.

It would provide reasonable number of scholarships and free-ships for the empowerment of needy Muslim students.

It would construct a mosque on the campus for prayers. (A mosque does exist on the campus.)

It is clear from the above that Yusuf Ismail College, and the land belonging to it, is meant primarily for the benefit of the Muslim community. The Government of Maharashtra, which manages the college and the land belonging to it as a trustee, cannot free itself of the above inherited obligations. The Muslim character of the institution is further underscored by the fact that, as per an order passed by the Bombay High Court in 1960, 20% of admissions are reserved for Muslim students, and these are done by the President of Anjuman-I-Islam and the Chairman of Ismail Yusuf Trust. Regrettably, successive governments of Maharashtra have brazenly violated the agreement in many ways. They not only turned a blind eye to, but actively encouraged, encroachments on the land, as a result of which the campus of Ismail Yusuf College has shrunk from 124 acres to only about 54 acres now. What is even more alarming, the new BJP-Shiv Sena government itself has now become an encroacher. According to recent media reports, the government has earmarked 15 acres of land on the campus to establish the National Law University. There are also reports that the Government wants to set up a full-fledged educational hub on the campus, along with a building to house the Marathi Bhasha Bhavan. This is a devious and deliberate assault on the rights and needs of the Muslim community. The government is only a trustee of the land. It cannot behave as if it is the owner of the land and

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do whatever it wants there. It is morally, politically and Constitutionally obliged not only to honour the wishes of the original Donor but also to act as per the agreement under which a Waqf was created, the land was purchased, and the college was established. We believe that India cannot develop in a balanced, inclusive and fair manner if a majority of Muslims continue to be left behind in education, professional employment in government and private sectors, and opportunities for economic growth. The fact that the Muslim community in India is lagging behind in education, particularly in higher and professional education, has been incontrovertibly brought out by the report of the Sachar Committee. It has been further reinforced by the report submitted by the Mehmood-ur-Rahman Committee, which was set up by the State Government in 2008 to study the economic and social backwardness among Muslims in Maharashtra.

Do we oppose setting up of the National Law University in Mumbai? No! The Maharashtra government is covering up its illegality by deceitfully claiming that it is going

to use the land belonging to Ismail Yusuf College only for educational purposes, such as for

establishing the National Law University (NLU). We are not opposed to establishment of NLU

in Mumbai. We wholeheartedly welcome it. But why should a general category educational

institution be set up on a Waqf land meant for promoting higher education among Muslims?

Can the State Government not find 15 acres of land anywhere else in the Mumbai Metropolitan

Region (MMR)? Isnt there enough land available on Mumbai Universitys Kalina campus?

Hasnt the government earmarked a 40-acre plot at Uttan near Bhayander for setting up the

Judicial Academy, where NLU can also be set up? Clearly, the Governments intention is to take

away Waqf property under the garb of the National Law University.

Time to show the power of unity of Muslims and non-Muslims for a just cause Concerned by this blatantly anti-Muslim move by the BJP-Shiv Sena Government, a large number of justice-loving citizens of Mumbai non-Muslim and Muslim have come together to form the ISMAIL YUSUF COLLEGE CAMPUS BACHAO SANGHARSH SAMITI. We, especially non-Muslim members of this secular platform, firmly believe that this issue does not concern only the Muslim community. It is a matter of defending JUSTICE. It is a matter of defending SECULARISM. It is a matter of defending COMMUNAL HARMONY THROUGH INTER-FAITH SOLIDARITY. It is a matter of defending NATIONAL INTEGRATION. It is a matter of defending the ideal of INDIAS INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT (SABKA VIKAS). It is also a matter of defending the rights and the most pressing needs of the MUSLIM COMMUNITY FOR ADEQUATE OPPORTUNITIES IN HIGHER AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION. Mumbai has a glorious history of Hindu-Muslim unity, which has manifested itself on many occasions both during and after the Freedom Movement. Now the time has come to further broaden the unity by including all non-Muslim minorities for this just cause.

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Our Demands

1) The Government of Maharashtra must give a categorical assurance that

it will not encroach upon the Waqf land of Ismail Yusuf College and also that it will remove all the illegal encroachments that it has already permitted in the past.

2) Ismail Yusuf College should be declared a Minority Educational Institution. Article 30(1) of the Indian Constitution gives the right to Religious/ Linguistic Minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. This demand has become all the more necessary since, under the terms of the endowment, Ismail Yusuf College or any new educational institutions that would be built on its campus in future has to be run primarily for the benefit of Muslims. The Government cannot fulfil this obligation without converting the college into a Minority Educational Institution. It is worth mentioning that even after it is converted into a Minority Educational Institution, 49 per cent of admissions will be open to non-minority students.

3) Ismail Yusuf College and the land belonging to it (after removal of all encroachments on it) should be handed over to a suitable Muslim trust to develop it as a full-fledged WORLD-CLASS UNIVERSITY offering a wide range of facilities in higher, technical and professional primarily, but not exclusively, for Muslim students.

4) BJP governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra must end discrimination against Muslims in education, employment and economic growth. Otherwise, this would mean that the ruling party has excluded Muslims from its slogan of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.

In order to secure these demands, the ISMAIL YUSUF COLLEGE CAMPUS BACHAO

SANGHARSH SAMITI appeals to all Muslim and non-Muslim NGOs, educationists, socio-

political activists, students, youth and enlightened citizens to join our broadbased, non-

political and peaceful struggle. Let us together launch the biggest peaceful protest in

Mumbais history for the cause of minority education.

JAI HIND! JAI MAHARASHTRA!