Fear marks minority report

After every blast, cops harass even innocent people in the community, say Muslims in the city

Mustaq Ahmed gets restless every time there is a blast in Mumbai or in any other city in the country. He knows he will be looked at with suspicion, and that policemen will pick him up and regard him with disdain.

A maulana in a madrassa in Agripada, Ahmed’s past links with the Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi), when it was still a relatively unknown entity, has become his nemesis despite severing ties with the organisation.

“The police knock at my door every time there is a blast,” the 40-year-old who has two cases of passport forgery says. “They then grill me for hours,” he says.

The police distrust is also because Tanvir Ansari, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in the July 11 Mumbai train blasts, lived in Ahmed’s vicinity. “But he was just an acquaintance,” he protests, consciously avoiding the topic. “It’s a price I pay for being a minority in this country.”

This is a feeling that cuts across the Muslim community in the city, especially those in the lower strata of society. After the blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, the community is gripped by an intangible fear — and resentment.

In the one-room apartments in Mira Road, Naya Nagar, residents refuse to entertain strangers. The Anti-Terrorism Squad believes that Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer Bilal, a techie who lived in the area, is one of the masterminds of the Ahmedabad blasts.
“Policemen comb the bylanes of our neighbourhood after every blast,” Syyed Irfan, a shopkeeper and a resident of Mira Road, says. The area is now on the police radar after two people, Faizal and Muzzamil Shaikh, were arrested for their alleged involvement in the blasts.

“The two should be brought to book if they are guilty,” Irfan says. “But those who are innocent should not be harassed,” he says.

According to the community, after every blast the police round up local youths in Muslim-dominated areas, including Bhendi Bazaar, Agripada, Nagpada, Mumbra and Mira Road. “The police should stop targeting us because of the community we belong to,” Hassan Jaffar, a Mumbra resident, says.

Many families pray that their men are not randomly picked up and made to spend nights in police lock-ups.

(Some names have been changed to protect identities)
s_poornima@dnaindia.net