It has been 8 days (as we rush to the press) since the pages of the Qur’ān, along with a mobile number written on them, were found on the railway tracks near Ghaziabad, however the police failed to trace the person who owns the mobile number. The incident happened on Friday (September 14) when some people found these pages lying on the railway tracks close to Adhyatmik Nagar police station. Consequent to the incident, which led to burning of Masuri police station followed by firing from police officials resulting in the death of as many as eight Muslims, a delegation of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind visited the area to understand the core of the issue so as to build an approach to deal with it.
Speaking to Radiance Viewsweekly, Mr. Mohammad Ahmad, Secretary JIH, Community and National Issues, said Khinzir (Pig in English) was also written over the pages along with the mobile number and when people called back on the written number, the person on the other side abused and challenged them to do whatever they could. When people went to Masuri police station to file an FIR regarding the issue, the police officials showed reluctance and tried to procrastinate.
“When a police official called on the number, the person on the other side abused the police officer as well, yet the police was unwilling to file the FIR,” said Ahmad. At that time there were only 6-8 people in the police station who were pressing the police to register an FIR; however the police trivialised the issue and did not file the FIR until the news spread in the nearby villages which caused people to throng the police station and eventually the mob turned violent and started burning vehicles. This gave the police the cue to fire at the crowd and six Muslims died at the spot while two died in hospital.
“The question here is not only about mob turning violent, but about why the police was reluctant and did not register the FIR when there were only few people in the police station? Why did it wait until the large crowd appeared?” asked Ahmad.
Those dead in the police firing include one Abdul Waheed (17) and Waseem (18), one of them is hafiz-e-Quran. The pages were found in the afternoon, close to the time of Friday congregational prayers, however it is still not sure that whether the pages were thrown from a running train or whether someone put them on the railway tracks; however the intention to provoke is clear from the act. Though the government has announced compensation of Rs. 50000 for those killed, yet none of them has received any information as to when will they be getting the money. The situation at the villages namely Dasna and Masuri is tense, though curfew has been revoked.
In his talk with Ranvijay, Circle Officer, Mr. Ahmad raised the concern about the fear psychosis among the people which is causing the villagers, especially youth, to leave the villages, lest they should be caught by the police and implicated in the case of burning vehicles at the police station. Ranvijay, however claimed that so far no arrest has taken place and in future also there is no such plan. Taking a dig at why the police have still not traced the mobile number as it is just a matter of few minutes, Mr. Ahmad demanded a swift investigation into the case. In his reply, Ranvijay assured that the police are investigating the matter and at this point of time they cannot reveal the investigation process.
The incident clearly shows that it was done to provoke, yet there may be many hidden agendas behind it. The so far analysis of the political situation of India augurs well for the incoming of the third front in the elections as the two major parties are losing their sheen because of corruption and inflation. And if we see the situation of UP after the coming of SP, it has witnessed 40 communal riots in just six months. So this kind of provocation could be to malign the image of SP so as to gain some political benefits in the elections.
On the question of why Muslims become so outrageous when such kind of incidents take place, Mr. Ahmad countered the argument and said why people question the outrageous behaviour of Muslims and why they do not ask those who do such things which would definitely provoke the Muslims as they love Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). He laid stress on building the culture where people respect the sensitivities of others. He said it’s ludicrous when people say why Muslims react so foolishly, however they should question why they keep inflicting gratuitous insult to the Messenger, whom the Muslims love, revere and respect more than anyone and anything else.
Ghaziabad Incident Police Fail To Trace Mobile Even After 8 Days
It has been 8 days (as we rush to the press) since the pages of the Qur’ān, along with a mobile number written on them, were found on the railway tracks near Ghaziabad, however the police failed to trace the person who owns the mobile number.
