By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
Nanded (Maharashtra): About three months after it was demolished by the local Muslims under the pressure of Hindutva groups, the mosque in Kalambar village in Nanded has been rebuilt and is functioning smoothly.
A. Rahman, a Nanded businessman who keeps on visiting the area, told TwoCircles.net that the Muslims of the village are able to perform five times prayer in the mosque now.
In the present month of Ramadhan Muslims are able to perform all their religious duties of the month including fasting and Tarawih.
Tarawih is a special prayer offered just after the night Prayer of Isha throughout the month of Ramzan.
Rahman told TCN that the situation in the area is normal these days. Although there was heightened fear in Muslims of the area in the immediate period after the demolition because of which some Muslims of the village fled to nearby villages. Some of them have returned.
The mosque in Kalambar village, 20 minutes drive from Nanded district, was demolished on June 24, 2008 by the local Muslims out of pressure from the Hindutva groups.
The Muslim residents of the village, mostly from very poor background, were threatened by the local RSS leaders to choose between their homes in the village or the mosque after which they were left with no option but to quietly demolish the mosque they themselves had built.
Only after the intervention of some secular and Muslim organizations and some political representatives from Nanded, the mosque was rebuilt. However, for some days the administration didn’t allow prayers in it citing security reasons.