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April 18, 2006

India: Muslim Cleric's Henchmen Assault Reporters

Last week, on April 14, one of India's oldest mosques, the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, was hit by two bombs, which injured only 10 people, despite the complex being full of worshippers ready to attend Friday prayers. The building was erected in the 17th century, and can house 25,000 worshippers. Police said the bombs were low-impact, home made devices.

The senior imam, or Shahi Imam of the mosque is Sayeed Ahmed Bukhari. Earlier today, he was involved in a media dispute, in which journalists, women included, were attacked by his henchmen, according to Asian Age, the Calcutta Telegraph and rediff.com. At one point, the imam himself had to be restrained from assaulting a reporter.

The incident happened when journalists were waiting outside the residence of the Indian prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Race Course Road, New Delhi. The controversial imam had been visiting the prime minister, to hand over a statement, demanding compensation for Muslims affected by earlier riots in Gujarat, the release of Muslims detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The memorandum also called for Aligarh Muslim University to be given proper status as an educational establishment, unconditional talks with certain "leaders' from Kashmir , an increase in the corpus of funds for the Maulana Azad Educational Foundation from 100 crore rupees to 500 crore rupees and other demands.

A crore is a unit of 10 million. Therefore the figures for the Muslim foundation are currently $22.2 million US, and Bukhari wishes them raised to $111 million US.

The dispute with journalists erupted after the Imam was asked about the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government's decision, made last month, to reserve jobs for 'backward classes" in the private sector and places in education. We announced last October that in Andra Pradesh, the state government introduced "quotas" for economically deprived Muslims, though the high court later ruled this decision as unconstitutional.

But, after giving a conference, this question brought a negative reaction. The imam wished to terminate the press briefing. When pressed to answer questions on the reservations issue, this prompted a violent reaction. Bukhari shouted at journalists, and his entourage then started to hit out. Bad lanuage was also hurled. Microphones were snatched from journalists' hands. Bukhari appeared to go for one journalist, marching forward until he was restrained. Yusuf Ansari, a TV reporter from Zee News protested that the imam was not answering questions, and was beaten by one of the imam's aides.

Ansari later said that the imam had done nothing to prevent his aides from violence. Vijay Trivedi of NDTV, according to rediff, had a narrow escape when the Imam's driver decided to make a quick exit with Bukhari. He nearly ran over the journalist's foot. According to Asian Age, the incident led to a journalist having his foot run over by the car. He was taken to hospital, where a fracture was diagnosed.

A complaint about the incident has been registered at the Vhanakyapuri police station.

More ominously, for someone who is regarded as an imam, Bukhari announced before the fracas blew up that if his demands on the government were not met, he would be launching a political movement. He said: "We do not want to chart a different path but would be forced to do so if our demands are not met."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 18, 2006 9:13 PM

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