Hyderabad Charminar: Court orders Status Quo. MIM warns of violence

MIM warns government over communal violence

Andhra Pradesh, November 5, 2012: Voicing concern over increasing incidents of communal violence and inaction of the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) Monday warned that it would not hesitate to go against the government.

The MIM, which has a strong base in Hyderabad, also warned the government that if it failed to come to the community’s rescue, the party would be at liberty to do whatever is required.

MIM is extending crucial legislative support to the Congress, which has a slender majority in the Andhra assembly.

The United Muslim Action Committee, of which MIM is a member, held a meeting here Monday and asked the state government to act tough against Hindutva forces and take action against policemen for their inaction.

It said an ‘explosive’ situation was prevailing in the city due to activities of Hindutva groups including attempts to expand a temple near the Charminar.

It warned that this could flare up and have serious repercussions for the state and the country.

MIM chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi said that communal elements were having a free run in the city with police either colluding with them or acting as a mute spectator.

He told reporters that a fear psychosis had been created in the city on the eve of Bakrid with the animal husbandry department and police seizing cattle brought for sacrifice. He voiced concern over last week’s violence in Sabzi Mandi.

“For the last five days the entire area is under an undeclared curfew. Barbed fencing has been put only around Muslim localities and people are not being allowed to move. They are suffering because of lack of medicines and other basic amenities,” the MP said.

United Muslim Action Committee convenor Abdul Rahim Quraishi asked the government not to test the patience of Muslims and warned that lawlessness would have serious repercussions.

Condemning the police attitude, he said the groups spreading hatred against Muslims were allowed to carry on their activities in the name of cow slaughter.

The committee sought against those who prevented bulls and bullocks from being brought to Hyderabad and stabbing of Muslims youths.

“We know there is a ban on cow slaughter but there is no law which bans slaughter of bulls and bullocks,” said Quraishi.

The Muslim leaders asked the government, Archaeological Society of India (ASI) and the police to immediately stop attempts to expand the temple abutting Charminar.

“We don’t see this as a Hindu vs Muslim issue. Our only demand is that the law should be implemented to protect the monument. The heritage belongs to everyone. It has to be protected,” said Owaisi.

Court orders status quo on temple abutting Charminar

Andhra Pradesh, November 5, 2012: The Andhra Pradesh High Court Monday ordered that status quo, as of Oct 30, be maintained at a temple abutting the historic Charminar monument here and directed that no construction activity be taken up touching the monument.

The division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Vilas V. Afzulpurkar was dealing with three public interest litigations filed by corporators belonging to the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM).

Mohsin Balala, one of the petitioners, told IANS that the court directed that status quo, as of Oct 30, be maintained. The court directed all parties to file the affidavits within four weeks and posted the next hearing after five weeks.

The petitioners sought a stay on construction activity, saying it posed a threat to the over 400-year-old Charminar, a protected monument.

The Bhagyalakshmi Temple Committee, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and some other groups had impleaded themselves in the case, opposing the petitions.

The bench observed that while there was no dispute that the temple was there for a long time, the main grievance of the petitioners was that attempts were being made to expand the temple by touching the pillars of the Charminar.

“We make it clear that since Charminar has already been declared as a historical monument and thereby protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, no construction touching the said monument can be done by any party in any matter whatsoever,” the court said.

Tension has been building in the city since Oct 31 when some people tried to expand the temple abutting the monument, leading to protests from people belonging to the other community.

Violent incidents took place in the communally sensitive Old City Friday and late Sunday night.

The Charminar, an impressive square monument with four minarets, was built by Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah in 1591 to commemorate the end of the plague in the city.

– ians