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Demonstrations In Various Parts Of India Against Qur'an Burning
by Zafarul-Islam Khan
NEW DELHI, March 12 (IslamOnline) - Indian Muslims staged violent demonstrations in various parts of the country against the burning of the Holy Qur'an in the Indian capital on Monday, March 5th.
Demonstrations and violent clashes with police were reported from various cities in three states. The protests reportedly left 29 injured, including policemen.
Activists of the militant World Hindu Council (VHP) had burned the Holy Qur'an in a public demonstration against the Taliban decision to demolish idols and statues in Afghanistan.
The act was captured by photographer Kamal Kishor and circulated the same day by the Reuters news agency all over the world. The picture shows VHP activists burning a whole copy of the Holy Qur'an as well as pages torn from other copies of the holy book, revered by over a billion Muslims worldwide, 200 million of which reside in India alone.
Indian media chose to black out the news item, and officials claimed that nothing of the sort occurred. Even Delhi police issued a flat denial. But the news trickled slowly to Indian Muslims and activists around the country who were alerted to the photograph.
Copies were quickly made in various parts of the country and circulated in Muslim areas.
Soon the photograph appeared in wall posters telling Muslims that enough was enough and demanded action to preserve the honor of their holy book.
The call prompted street demonstrations in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
According to reports, 29 persons, including policemen, were injured in clashes after the Friday prayers.
Demonstrators pelted police personnel and vans with stones in Aurangabad where two activists of the Muslim student organization, SIM, were arrested for inciting protesters and pasting posters on walls.
Similar incidents and clashes occurred in the cities of Hyderabad, Pune, Nanded and Bharuch. At some places, police charged demonstrators with batons and opened fire in the air.
A total of 800 policemen have been deployed in Muslim areas in the southern city of Pune to control the unrest.
Posters appeared in Muslim areas all over the country, including Delhi, with the photograph of the sacrilege and demanding Muslims to come forward to stop an ongoing trend insulting Muslims using any pretext.
Observers state that the so-called "Sangh Parivar", whose political wing, the BJP, heads the present Indian coalition government, is hell-bent to vitiate communal harmony in the country, perceiving the belligerence against the largest religious minority in the country as a means to mobilize and unify the Hindu majority.
Muslims in India state that the hate campaign takes many forms and shapes, from demolishing the Babri Mosque a decade ago, to laying claim to hundreds of mosques and monuments of the Muslim era.
The campaign also advocates shuddhi (conversion) to bring Muslims into the Hindu fold, changing Muslim names of towns and cities to supposedly ancient Hindu names, spreading baseless rumors about Muslim organizations and religious schools, publication of inflammatory leaflets and books, demand for the "Indianization" of Islam, demands for the disenfranchisement of Muslims and abolition of their personal laws.
Indian Muslims complain that the list of insults is long, and that no action has been taken by authorities to check the growing anti-Muslim campaign currently threatening the country.
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