The Muslim Seva Sansthan on Sunday staged a sit-in at the old bus stand in Uttarakhand's Dehradun and raised various demands including the declaration of the cow as the national animal of India.
Addressing the demonstration, Muslim Seva Sansthan president Naeem Qureshi also demanded the release of Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui who was arrested in September for allegedly running a nationwide syndicate for massive religious conversion. "His (Siddiqui') arrest as an attempt to disturb the atmosphere before the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls," he alleged.
"We demand that cow is declared as the national animal by the centre," said Quereshi.
Qureshi also raised a demand for a caste-based census and said, "Caste-based census has been happening in the country since 1951 but the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government is stopping it now. Caste census should happen."
Quereshi asked the centre to release Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, terming his arrest as an attempt to disturb the atmosphere before the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
The Muslim Seva Sansthan chief warned that the organisation will stage another similar event at Jantar Mantar in Delhi if demands are not met. "All secular-minded people are invited to the event," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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