The promise of extending protection to mosques of archaeological importance is still a pipe dream. The government sits on the proposal. The promise is yet to be fulfilled.
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, May 24: Mosques of archaeological and tourist importance
will get special protection in view of the blast at the historic Mecca
Masjid in the city.
To begin with, Mecca Masjid, Toli mosque, Khairatabad mosque and
Royal mosque will be monitored round the clock by specially-trained
personnel of the minorities welfare and the archaeological departments
and the State Wakf Board. All these mosques will have metal detectors
and closed circuit TV cameras. Cloak rooms will be set up outside
these mosques as part of increased security measures. All these
mosques are around 400 years old and are structural marvels in
themselves.
The Haj House and the Mallepally Mosque will also get metal detectors
and CCTVs. But these places will be monitored by the State Wakf
Board. Mallepally mosque is the State headquarters of the Tablighi
Jamaat.
The city police will train the personnel of minorities and archaeological
departments and State Wakf Board. It will also provide logistic support
to these departments. The police will, however, not involve itself in the
security at these mosques because of religious sentiments.
"Civilian employees will conduct frisking of devotees and tourists at
these mosques. The CCTVs will function from 4.00 am to 9.00 pm. As
these mosques are under the joint management of the minorities and the
archaeological departments, they will share the expenditure on
security," Minorities Welfare Minister Muhammad Ali Shabber said.
The Mecca Masjid will have 21 CCTVs with a central control room, six
door metal detectors and five hand-held metal detectors. The height of
the fencing will be increased. Traffic flow on the Shahalibanda-
Charminar Road will be closed during the Friday prayers.
As many as 30 unemployed youths will also be hired by these
departments for additional security at these places, the minister said.
The archaeological department has sanctioned Rs 30 lakh for security
measures at Mecca Masjid.
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, May 22: The State Backward Classes Commission has
launched a mega exercise to segregate Muslims on the basis of their
profession for purpose of reservations in educational institutions and
government jobs.
The State government plans to cover about 90 per cent of Muslims by
segregating them based on their nature of work. Muslims in
Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh enjoy the reservation facility
under the "OBC" category after the respective State governments
enacted legislation grouping the community on the basis of their
traditional professions.
The Congress government in the State, which failed to implement the
Muslim quota due to legal hurdles, has referred the matter to the
Backward Classes Commission to hold hearing afresh on the demand
for reservations to Muslims based on their traditional or ancestral
professions. The Commission is now flooded with demands from
various Muslim groups for inclusion in the BC list.
Unlike Muslims in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, those in
Andhra Pradesh do not have hereditary social professions. Andhra
Pradesh has only a few Muslim social groups like Qureshi (butchers)
and Noor Basha. But they already enjoy the quota benefits. Now the
government wants to provide quota for Muslim barbers, toddy tappers,
dhobis, traditional mendicants, tailors, weavers and shepherds.
"In UP and other northern States Muslims have a clear-cut social
demarcation. This is not the case with Muslims in Andhra Pradesh.
Though we have Muslim dhobis, Muslim weavers and Muslim barbers
and Muslim shepherds, we cannot distinguish them. The government
will have a gigantic task before it to identify the beneficiaries," says
senior Muslim religious leader Moulana Abdul Kareem.
However, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and a section of the
Muslim clergy are opposed to the State government's idea. MIM MP
Asaduddin Owaisi has lodged a complaint with the chief minister
alleging that the government's move will divide the community on
"caste" lines. The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board has also
joined the issue.
The "warnings" of the Muslim clergy notwithstanding, the State
government is gearing up to implement the quota for Muslims from this
academic year. It is waiting for the BC Commission report. According
to sources in the minorities welfare department, once the Commission
report is ready, the government will make a formal announcement and
enact legislation declaring Muslims involved in certain trades as OBCs.
By Syed Akbare
Hyderabad, May 19: Terrorists have chosen the historic Mecca Masjid
for the Friday's bomb blast for the simple reason that the mosque has
been linked to the sentiments of Hyderabadis.
For the 25 lakh Muslims of Hyderabad, Mecca Masjid is more than a
mosque. It is a sacred place of high reverence and the mosque of their
aspirations. And for the people of Andhra Pradesh, irrespective of their
religion, the 400-year-old Mecca Masjid is a historical monument of
great eminence.
Terrorists know well that anything sacrilegious at the mosque will
arouse the emotions of people and lead to communal disturbances in
the city. Moreover, Mecca Masjid has always been the focal point of
communal trouble in the city. The mosque has open access and there's
no security mechanism.
Mecca Masjid is one of the seven wonders of Hyderabad and the
biggest mosque down the Vindhyas. Only the other historic Jama
Masjid in Delhi is bigger than Mecca Masjid. Incidentally, the Jama
Masjid was built by Emperor Shahjahan while the Mecca Masjid was
completed by his son Emperor Aurangzeb.
"The Mecca Masjid was selected as the target site as the casualties will
be higher. It is the principal mosque in twin cites and devout Muslims
generally prefer to offer the Friday prayers at Mecca Masjid. Even
those who come from outside straightaway visit the grand mosque for
the Friday congregation. The mosque harbours the holy relics of
Prophet Muhammad, besides a black stone (Sang-e-Siya) specially
brought from Mecca during the mosque construction," observes senior
Islamic scholar Hafiz Syed Shujat Hussain.
A peep into the past shows that Mecca Masjid was the "starting point"
for almost every "retaliatory" step by local Muslim youths. The mosque
has emerged as the centre of protests particularly after the demolition
of the historic Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in December 1992.
"Though the mosque is controlled by the State government's minorities
welfare department, officials have always failed to maintain its sanctity
when it comes to controlling violent protests by some misguided
elements everytime a major incident related to Muslims or Islam takes
place around the globe. The mosque has an open access. Erection of
metal detectors outside the mosque and thorough frisking of people
visiting it will prevent such incidents," points out All-India Shia Youth
Organisation general secretary Mir Hadi Ali.
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, May 19: The Tablighi Jamaat has many enemies both among
Muslims and non-Muslims. It is more than 80 year old Islamic movement for
the reawakening of Muslims.
The Tablighi Jamaat, founded in 1920s by Maulana Muhammad Ilyas
Kandhalawi of Deoband school of Islamic thought, limited its missionary
activities initially to the Indian sub-continent. But in the last three
decades the Jamaat has expanded its movement to the USA, the UK, Australia and
other countries.
The Jamaat functions in two ways. In India the Jamaat concentrates mainly
on Muslims but in the West it takes up proselytising among non-Muslim
communities and invites them to the fold of Islam. Because of its missionary
style of functioning, various right wing groups like the VHP and the RSS
have always opposed the Jamaat. In fact, these groups have issued "stern
warnings" to the Jamaat.
Andhra Pradesh has been one of the important States for the Tablighi Jamaat
ever since its formation. Hyderabad, Kurnool, Kadapa and Guntur are its
strangleholds where it has a large following. Unlike other Muslim religious
organisations, Tablighi Jamaat believes in reawakening of faith and
purification of the self and the community.
Tablighi members fan out quite frequently to different parts of the country
and abroad to spread their message and ideology. Many Muslim
organisations do not see eye to eye with the Tablighi Jamaat not because of
the ideological differences but because of their one-upmanship.
Tablighi activists are not allowed into mosques by many mosque
communities and this has forced the Jamaat to have its own mosques
(Markaz).
A notable feature of the Jamaat is regular congregations (ijtema) it holds
around the world. The Bangladesh annual congregation is the biggest
gathering of humanity with a turnout of more than 40 lakh people. The last
ijtema in Hyderabad was held in 1994. It is now holding another international
conference after a gap of 13 years.
Senior educationist Yaser Amri points out, "the emergence of Tablighi
Jamaat was also a direct response to the rise of such aggressive Hindu
proselytising movements as Shuddhi and Sangathan, which launched massive
efforts in the early twentieth century to reconvert those Hindus who had
converted to Islam in the past. The Jamaat founder believed that only a
grassroots Islamic religious movement could counter it".
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, May 18: Was the blast at the 400-year-old Mecca Masjid
aimed at disrupting the massive congregation planned by Tablighi
Jamaat, a Muslim missionary known for its religious conversions
around the globe?
Senior Muslim religious leaders believe that the blasts were targeted at
the Tablighi Jamaat's international congregation which is scheduled to
begin at Mamidipalli, a few kilometres away from the historic Mecca
Masjid. The participants of the meeting from different parts of the
country prefer to take the Mecca Masjid route to reach the venue of the
Tablighi Ijtema.
Circumstantial evidence also points out that the blast was aimed at
disrupting the congregation. A similar blast, though of low intensity,
took place in a mosque in Guntur city on 27 May, 2000 on the eve of a
Tablighi conference there. Half a dozen people were injured in the
blast. Even the bomb blasts at a mosque and a Muslim graveyard at
Malegaon last year were preceded by a Tablighi conference.
Incidentally, the Jamaat has a strong base in Hyderabad, Malegaon and
Guntur. The police arrested Deendar Anjuman activists in the Guntur
blast case. Though most of its activities are aimed at "reforming"
Muslims, the Tablighi Jamaat quite often takes up "preaching" among
non-Muslims. This has many a time angered Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
The blast at the Mecca Masjid comes in the wake of a series of attacks
on Christian preachers in the State and Muslim leaders point fingers at
the Sangh Parivar.
"The VHP sent a threatening letter to the office of the Jamiat-e-Ulema
Hind after the Malegaon blasts. The letter asked the Jamiat to rein in
the Tablighi Jamaat or else face consequences," Jamiat Ulema AP
president Hafiz Peer Shabbir Ahmad pointed out.
The Hyderabad conference has been planned on a massive scale. Being
an international conference the Jamaat is expecting a turnout of 10 to
15 lakh people. Already three lakhs people have turned up at the venue
and the city police have despatched bomb squads. Security has been
tighened up at the venue.
The Tablighi Jamaat and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad have been at
loggerheads for long over the religious conversions. The Jamaat is
known for its religious propagation both within India and abroad. The
VHP opposed the Jamaat in Rajasthan and other parts of the country
accusing it of indulging in conversions.
Earlier this week VHP general secretary Pravin Togadia issued a
statement warning that the Tablighi Jamaat was its next target. United
News Network, a multi-lingual news agency based in New Delhi, sent a
copy of Togadia's statement to this correspondent. A couple of Urdu
newspapers are reported to have carried Togadia's diatribe against the
Jamaat.
"It's going to be a show of strength. Those who do not want the Jamaat
to hold such huge congregations are behind the blasts. We will not stop
the conference. It will go on," says Ata Hussain Anjum, conference
organiser.
Moulana Hameeduddin Aquil Hussami, one of the most revered
Muslim religious scholars in Andhra Pradesh, pointed fingers at the
VHP and the RSS. "Similar blasts took place in mosques in Malegaon
and Nanded in Maharashtra last year. The police instead of launching a
free and fair investigation blamed the banned Students Islamic
Movement of India. The police have been rounding up so-called SIMI
activists after every violent incident without proper investigation," he
said.
Moulana Aquil, who is revered as the "Ameer-e-Millat" (leader of the
community) said the police should not proceed with a preconceived
notion. It should keep the investigation angles open and bring the real
culprits to book. He also condemned the killing of three persons in
police firing.
