Major mosques in Hyderabad’s Old City witnessed protests after Friday prayers.
Hyderabad: Hyderabad police suspect that there could be attempts by Muslim groups to hold Shaheen Bagh-type prolonged sit-ins in other metros in the country in the coming days as the Centre is readying to roll out enumeration of National Population Register (NPR) alongside census 2021. The enumeration is to begin from 1 April 2020.
As cops begin their probe of Delhi riots this week, the role of some Muslim groups, including that of the All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), is coming under scanner in Hyderabad. Already, the city cops have booked a case against poet and singer Imran Pratapgarhi for instigating people of Old City to take up a Shaheen Bagh-kind of protest here too.
Similarly, the cops are studying videos of AIMIM former legislator of Maharashtra, Waris Pathan in which was made the “15 crore of Muslims can answer 100 crore of Hundus” comment. Interestingly, the party’s senior leader and Telangana AIMIM legislature party leader, Akbaruddin Owaisi, too, faced cases and was sent to jail in 2012 for making similar comments.
Sources in the intelligence wing of Telangana police told this newspaper that making inflammatory speeches which are now punishable as hate speech were a major reason for trouble across the country. The police of Karnataka, too, sought the help of their Hyderabad counterparts to understand whether AIMIM as a party is spreading such ideology at their midnight meetings.
In a related development, the Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notices to the police on a petition filed by some Hindu groups that AIMIM leaders Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi had made hate speeches that allegedly played a role in the Delhi riots. The case will come up for hearing in the middle of next month, but the police are to file an affidavit in a week.
On Friday, all major mosques in Hyderabad’s Old City witnessed protests and slogan shouting immediately after the noon prayers. Hundreds thronged the streets and raised slogans against Delhi police and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Police forces were deployed at Mecca Masjid near Charminar and Jama Masijd near Yakutpura which attract large gatherings on Fridays.
As of now, no untoward incidents have happened, but the cops are apprehensive that the worst is not yet over. As the Centre gears up for enumeration of census and NPR from 1 April, these types of protests are not ruled out, sources in the police said. Hyderabad and Bangalore are the two major metros in the country where big protests may happen, the cops suspect.
As the ruling TRS in Telangana is in alliance with AIMIM, the police may have to play a restrained role in following up the cases against those who make hate speeches. At the same time, the police are also under duty to protect the census/NPR enumerators when they start visiting houses from 1 April.
Already, some government employees’ unions have expressed fear over their safety during the enumeration drive. The Telangana government, which issued some orders (GOs) on the NPR survey, cancelled them on Wednesday, and wound up the temporary office set up for the purpose in Hyderabad. Now the government will wait for further clarity on the survey from the Centre. “We will decide on the details of NPR in the next two weeks,” sources in the general administration department said.
The governments and police have to brace for enumeration of NPR and Shaheen Bagh-type protests across the country in the wake of the charged atmosphere. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has already announced that his government would not implement National Register of Citizens (NRC) and won’t implement NPR if it hurts the interests of the Muslim minorities.