Aurangabad, July 19
The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party in power in
Maharashtra have been actively wooing SIMI's former members with an
eye on the town's 35 per cent Muslim population. Even when the local
police periodically rounds them up following incidents like the recent
Mumbai bomb blasts.
Thanks to the efforts of these political parties, Javed Qureshi, a
prominent SIMI activist from here, has even managed two terms as
Councillor in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation. Qureshi
represented the Congress as councillor from 2001 after the ban on
SIMI. He switched loyalties to the NCP last year after being denied a
ticket in order to retain his seat.
Today Qureshi is a vocal opponent of the ban on SIMI. “There was
nothing wrong with SIMI's activities. The organisation attempts to
prevent youth from straying away from the right path as prescribed by
the Koran,” says Qureshi. He admits that the ban on SIMI has
affected the lives and careers of its former members. “We are
harassed unnecessarily and questioned by the police at all times,”
he says.
The last time he and his former comrades were called in was a day
after last week's serial bomb blasts in Mumbai's local trains. “They
do not have any proof of any violent activity on my part, but summons
by the police affects my political career,” says Qureshi.
According to Qureshi(41), he left SIMI when he turned 30 as per the
organisation's rules. However, he did not entirely severe his links
with the organisation. A member of a prominent business family here,
Qureshi played a major role in organising SIMI's Ikhwana Conference in
1999. Fiery speeches by speakers at the conference denouncing the
Babri Masjid provoked the 5,000 or so attendees to clash with police.
The A.D. Mane Commission of Inquiry set up to probe the lathi
charge came up with startling information about the speeches made at
the conference. The Maharashtra Government sat on the report till
September 2001 when in the aftermath of the attack on New York's World
Trade Centre, SIMI activists here openly expressed support for Osama
bin Laden.
The state government quickly hit the panic button and recommended
ban on SIMI. The NDA government at the Centre was quick to agree.
Qureshi is unapologetic about the support for bin Laden as well.
“They (SIMI activists) said Osama is our brother in a manner that
all Muslims are brothers,” says Qureshi.
While lesser SIMI activists are being detained across Maharashtra,
Qureshi thanks to his political clout gets off without much trouble.
“As of now there is no proof that he is involved in any dangerous
activities,” says Mr Sudhir Dabhade, head of the Anti-Terrorist Cell
of the local police.
Both the Congress and the NCP in Aurangabad have taken stands
diametrically different from their parent parties in Maharashtra. When
Dr Abdul Mateen Abdul Bashir of Mumbai's J.J.Hospital was arrested for
allegedly helping to plant a bomb at Ghatkopar in 2002, both parties
held protests in Aurangabad.
