By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent,
Kochi: Police yesterday stopped the march organised by the Hindu Aikya Vedi, a Hindu right-wing group, to the Tharbiyathul Islam Sabha in Calicut. The group had planned the march and raid of the madrasa accusing the institution of forced religious conversion. The leaders and people sat on the road and held a public meeting when the march was stopped.
The Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF), the students’ wing of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyathul Ulema (EK faction), had arranged a protective fence around the madrasa against the Hindu Aikya Vedi’s march.
The activists of the Popular Front of India also gathered at the Francis Road in order to stop the march.
The Muslim organisations had last day vowed to protect the madrasa against the threat of the right wing group.
The march began at around 10.30 am yesterday morning violating the prohibitory order that the police had issued fearing conflict. The police stopped the march of about 500 persons in the GH Road when it had passed nearly 10 metres. City Police Commissioner S Sreejit led the police force which had come ready with tear gas shells, etc.
Stones were pelted at the Pattalappalli (mosque) when the activists of the Hindu Aikya Vedi dispersed after the public meeting held on the road. Some windows of the mosque were damaged by the stone-pelting around 11.40 am before the juma prayers. The meeting had ended around 11.30 am. Police rushed to the mosque soon and juma was held in police protection.
The Tharbiyathul Islam Sabha is one of the foremost and famous madrasas in Kerala which teach Islam to the newly converts. The Hindu organisations had accused the madrasa of forced religious conversion. The accusations increased when it was known that the two girls in the Pathanathitta ‘love jihad’ issue had reportedly converted to Islam from the madrasa. The Hindu Aikya Vedi announced it would organise a march and raid the institution when the ‘love jihad’ issue was in the news.