Muslims
in some cities of Uttar Pradesh took to road protesting against the killings in
Assam and Myanmar in Lucknow and several parts of the state. Violent scenes
were witnessed in Lucknow and other cities. All the protests were held after
the Namaz of Alvida Juma (last Friday of Juma).
In
Lucknow, the Muslims took out a procession from Tile Wali Masjid after the
Namaz. As they proceeded towards Vidhan Bhawan to lodge their protest, the
procession turned violent. They damaged vehicles, bashed up people and broke
the cameras of media persons.
The
Budha Park which has a tall statue of Budha was the first target. They uprooted
the gate of the park to force their entry. Attempts were made to deface the statue
but they remained unsuccessful. Next was Hathi Park where also another failed
attempt was made to deface the statue.
Later
as the procession moved ahead it turned violent. Police used mild force to
enforce order. However most of the time they remained mute spectators. Soon the
mob turned its anger towards the media persons covering the event. Their camera
was snatched while OB Van of Aaj Tak channel was also damaged. The media
persons later themselves sat on a dharna at Vidhan Bhawan and the home secretary
assured them that proper enquiry will be done.
Similar
story was repeated in Allahabad. Stone pelting and damaging the vehicle was
done by the processionist. Here police acted tough and used force. Later curfew
was clamped for five hours in Kotwali police circle.
In
Kanpur also minor violence was reported from Rizvi road and adjoining areas.
However situation was brought under control.
Till
late night police has registed cases at Allahabad, Kanpur and were in the
process of registering in Lucknow. A senior police official stated that list is
being prepared and the miscreants are being identified.
The
protests were held under the aegis of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind whose state level
functionary Maulana Jahangir Kasmi denied that his men were behind such protest.
“We had left after our token protest and then it was only a mob,” he said.
Security forces were caught off guard as the planning for the
protest was being held for quite some time. Posters had come up in Muslim
dominated areas but still administration did not take security measures.
Muslim
clerics however were quick to condemn the violence. Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Waizi, the Imam of Tile Wali masjid who led the Juma Namaz stated that Islam
has no place for violence and it cannot be justified. Maulana Khalid Rasheed
Farangi Mahli too stated that violence is not a means to raise the demands.
Protest should be done peacefully.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment