PUNE, India: The arrest of four Muslim young men by the Pune police last week and the extension of their police custody by a court on Friday has sparked anger among the Muslim community. Muslims say that the detained youths’ only crime was that they had pasted posters condemning the demolition of the Babri Masjid on the anniversary of the destruction in different parts of Pune.
The Special Operations Group (SOG) cops first arrested a 25-year-old unemployed web designer, Sadiq Ishaq Qureshi, and later his three friends Taufiq Javed Shaikh, 24, Amir Gafoor Ufedar, 35, and Mohsin Khan, 21, who were alleged to have accompanied Qureshi while pasting the posters. All fours are alleged to be activists of the Bangalore-based Democratic Party of India (SDPI), a political outfit launched by the Popular Front of India (PFI).
The youths were arrested on charges of attempting to inflame communal passions, promoting enmity between different groups on religious grounds, furnishing false information and for violating the Public Property Defacement Act.
Police are reportedly closing in on several other colleagues of Qureshi associated with the PFI and SDPI. Intelligence agencies accuse PFI of fomenting communal tension in south India. Officers of the Anti-Terrorist Squad and Intelligence Bureau have interrogated the arrested youths.
Reacting strongly to the arrests of its activists, the SDFI and PFI accused the police of falsely implicating Qureshi. PFI General Secretary K.M. Shareef said: “There was nothing anti-national or unconstitutional in the posters. We had launched a nationwide poster campaign demanding the arrest of those responsible for the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The posters condemning the demolition and arrest of those responsible for the demolition were not only distributed in Pune but in several others parts of the country.”
Shareef further said: “It is our constitutional right to demand the arrests of those involved in the demolition of the Babri Masjid. PFI is not something new, but has been in existence for the last 20 years and has been an active social organization. We have no links with any Pakistani outfit.”
The state unit president of the SDPI, Liyaquat Khan, said police arrested the youths without any basis and said they should stop harassing Muslims. “Qureshi is an educated and responsible Indian. The police have spoiled his career. If they have any evidence against him, they should produce it in the court,” Khan added.
Rajendra Joshi, senior police inspector, told the court that during initial interrogation Qureshi gave false information and that the police had recovered a compact disc and posters that were recorded and printed in Bangalore. “Qureshi first told us that he got the posters from Rajasthan and we are investigating where all he had traveled and for which purpose. The accused has been in touch with a foreign country. We want to go deep into the roots of the matter, for which we need to take him to Bangalore and need to keep him in custody to know about the sources of his funds,” Joshi told the court.
