KOLHAPUR, 11 June 2006 — About 300 activists of Hindu militant organizations venting anger over the involvement of alleged slain Hizbul Mujahedeen militant Irfan Athar Attar, who was killed in Kashmir recently, went berserk on Friday and attacked Asif Enterprises, a shop in suburb Wadgaon dealing in PVC pipes and owned by former Muslim board president Alansheer Momin.
According to the police, the mob shouting anti-Muslim slogans, forced entry into the shop and broke window panes and damaged furniture. The miscreants fled from the place as soon as police arrived at the scene of the incident.
Later, the police called a meeting of the Muslim and Hindu leaders at the police station, where senior police officers explained the whole matter relating to Irfan and requested that peace should be maintained at all costs.
Some Hindu leaders then expressed regret for the incident at Asif Enterprises and said that it was due to some misunderstanding. Muslim leaders condemned the role of Irfan in terrorism and as good will toward the Hindus, it was agreed that no case would be filed for the vandalism at the Asif Enterprises.
Meanwhile Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. Patil said here yesterday that the police were investigating as to how Irfan turned a terrorist and information in this respect would be known soon.
If terrorists continue to come to Maharashtra, they would only be killed, Patil said.
To a question if the government would investigate the role of madarsas in the state following the Irfan episode, Patil said, “If one member of a society has turned a terrorist, it is not fair to hold the entire community responsible for terrorism. It is also wrong to hold inquiries against madarsas or to cast any suspicion on them. There is also a limit to how far the madarsas should be probed.”
Replying to another question about the failure of the Kolhapur police in keeping track of terrorist related links, Patil said, “Bomb blasts have occurred in several states of the country. We got intelligence output about bomb attacks on the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, seven months ago. We discussed about the possible terrorist attack with RSS officials, who wanted security but no police presence in the RSS headquarters. When the attack took place, police in civil dress, foiled the attempt. So it cannot be assumed that there is a failure on the part of the police.”
Patil said that all Muslims are not terrorists, and the entire Muslim community cannot be held responsible for the acts of a few youths who have gone astray.
