Author:
Publication: IANS
Date: August 31, 2004
Three months after supporting the
Congress in its fight against the Telugu Desam Party (TPD), the Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen (MIM) has begun targeting the Congress government for its alleged
harassment of Muslim youth.
MIM president and former MP Sultan
Salahuddin Owaisi has cautioned the government that if it failed to rein
in some police officials, it would also meet the fate of the previous TDP
government.
The arrest of eight alleged operatives
of Lashkar-e-Taiba by police on the charges of planning to blow up a Hindu
temple during the coming Ganesh festival and the use of force by police
on Muslim women at the police commissioner's office Sunday has angered
MIM and other Muslim political and religious organisations.
MIM, which has a Lok Sabha member
and supports the Congress-led government in New Delhi, has accused the
Hyderabad police of acting like their counterparts in Gujarat.
Salahuddin Owaisi, who represented
the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency for six terms, said Muslims were being
implicated in false cases.
"Linking Muslims to ISI and Lashkar-e-Toiba
was a strategy adopted by previous governments of BJP (Bharatiya Janata
Party) and its allies but it is shocking that this is continuing even under
Congress who claims to be a secular party," he said.
Owaisi, who had led many agitations
on Muslim issues, said such actions by some police officials was vitiating
the peace atmosphere in the state.
"The unease among the community
over the issue is natural," he said demanding action against officials
who beaten up women protesting against the arrests.
The dramatic arrest of Anees Mohiuddin,
a student, on his arrival from London at the Hyderabad airport in June
and the latest arrests have evoked sharp criticism from Muslim political
and religious bodies.
Muslim and Dalit organizations and
civil liberties groups have also condemned the arrests alleging that it
was done at the instance of right-wing Hindu groups.
Awami Majlis-e-Amal, Civil Liberties
Monitoring Committee, All India People's Resistance Forum, Telangana Ambedkar
Sangham and Praja Kala Mandali have threatened to launch a protest demanding
the release of arrested people.
Family members of a religious leader
Moulana Naseeruddin also disputed police claim that they recovered weapons
and explosives from his residence.
His wife, Tasneem Fatima, said he
was arrested from a mosque and no raid was conducted on their house.
She pointed out that he was arrested
on charges of links with Pakistani intelligence agencies in 1998 but he
was proved innocent in the court.
Meanwhile, police have intensified
patrolling in communally sensitive areas of state capital. The 10-day Ganesh
festival is beginning on Sep 17.
Muslims constitute 40 percent of
city's four million people.
