Police lacks focus on war against terror, angers community |
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| The
police had conducted raids on the offices of certain Muslim
organisations and publications run by the community under the pretext
of finding connections of activists of the banned organisation, the
Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). |
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| On
August 15, 18 young Muslims were arrested by the police from
Panayikkulam near Ernakulam, while organising a public symposium on
Muslim Contribution to Freedom Struggle in India. Muslim organisations
allege that charges against them were solely based on an anonymous
phone call, which tipped about 'a secret session of the banned SIMI
meeting'. |
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| But
contrary to the police version, sources in the Muslim resistance
movement National Development Front (NDF) say the event was organised
in a public place called Happy Auditorium in Panayikulam with an open
invitation to public. |
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| Interestingly,
the evidence against one of the organisers was 'keeping a book printed
in Pakistan' titled Mass Resistance in Kashmir. The police found the
book, which was hired from a library run by the regional office of
Jamaat-e-Islami in Kerala. |
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| But
according to Jamaat-e-Islami Amir T Arifali, there was nothing illegal
in keeping it in their inventory as long as the book was not banned in
the country. The event ended up in a police search at the
Jamaat-e-Islami library in Hira Centre, Kozhikode and finally led to
the arrest of five Muslim youths from and around Panayikulam area. |
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| On
August 19, police raided offices of various Muslim publications in
Kozhikode like Mufakkirul Islam Trust, Nanma Books and Qseen. The
confiscated items included books written by noted Muslim scholar
Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, along with CDs and leaflets. But Muslim
activists says books or leaflets which had references to Afghanistan,
Iran, Pakistan, Kashmir, Taliban, etc were not listed as confiscated
evidence. |
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| "The
police conducted raids with the help of live visual media to 'please
their godfathers' and their 'War on Terror'. It looked like the
intention of the investigation team was more for public relations than
for finding evidence as the media came first at the sight before the
police," an NDF activist said. |
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| Muslims
in the State view this as an attempt to isolate the community raising
allegations over their adherence to the Indian nationality. "Some
officials in the Police Department, who possess strong anti-Muslim
sentiments are responsible for this incidents. It is an attack on the
law-abiding Muslim citizens of the State," said an activist of the
Jamaat-e-Islami. Top level leaders of the NDF allege that the
administration is trying to terrorise, victimise and isolate the
Muslims in the name of combating terrorism. |
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| Interestingly,
even after a week of investigation, the police have not been able to
establish any links between the arrested persons and any of the
terrorist organisations. "This clearly proves their intentions. We will
oppose any move to isolate and attack the Muslims in the State," he
said. |
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"Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power.
It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality."
- Dr BR Ambedkar
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