A Muslim group is to recruit 10,000 activists to campaign on civil rights issues.

"We target to recruit 10,000 activists across the country who will work towards rights awareness among all sections of the society," Jamaat-e-Islami Hind president M.A. Haque Ansari told reporters Saturday.

"The response, also from non-Muslim segments, so far has been very
encouraging. Our Kerala unit alone has promised to meet the target," he added.

The organisation launched a civil rights campaign Friday that will conclude Dec 12. Public rallies, symposia, poetry reading sessions, essay competitions and other events are being held in major cities as part of the campaign.

"We have a target of taking the campaign to about 1.5 crore (15 million people) and interact individually with 1.5 million people," Ansari said.

He clarified that the campaign was not meant to stress civil rights issues pertaining exclusively to the Muslim community.

"We want to remove the impression that Muslims are concerned only about their rights. We are part of this country and our endeavour is to participate in its all-round development.

"We are also concerned about rights of women, of children, of Dalits, of Adivasis and of other minority communities," Ansari said.

"The campaign is directed at every one. We also want to educate the common folk in the Muslim community. We want to tell them that we raise hue and cry when our rights are in peril, but we must do so when others' rights are trampled.

"All sections of the society need to be sensitive to other's rights," said
Mohammed Shafi Madani, president of the Gujarat chapter of the body.

The organisers added that the campaign was on in all states of the country except Jammu and Kashmir, where the Jamaat did not have a network.

--Indo-Asian News Service