By TCN Staff reporter,
Patna: Muslims in Bihar are terrified after the arrest of six Muslim youths here in connection with terror cases. They fear arrest of anyone at any time especially when intelligence and media have branded North Bihar as new terror hub after Azamgarh. Stunned by the development, Muslim political leaders have condemned the propaganda and allegation of media and intelligence agencies. In one voice, they said that no one should be arrested without strong proof and if someone is held guilty in the light of evidences then also the whole community or region should not be blamed for that.
Saba Zafar, BJP MLA, Amour constituency, Purnia district:
“Last week, Delhi Police arrested Aftab Alam, son of Mohd Ayyub of Belwa village which is under my constituency. The allegations against Aftab are yet to be proved but security agencies and media labeled whole Bihar especially northern region of the state as terror hub which is very unfortunate” said Saba Zafar, BJP MLA from Amour Assembly constituency in Purnia district of Bihar.
Heading of news story published in Patna edition of TOI dated 4th Dec 2011
He said that if police and security agencies have strong proof against anyone, they can arrest him but they do not have right to ruin anyone’s life only on the basis of suspicion because in the past hundreds of Muslim youths were arrested and later acquitted by the court but after spending several years in the prison.
“It is baseless allegation that terrorists are intruding Bihar from Nepal and Bangladesh and if it is true then it is failure of border security forces. They should be held responsible and not common people of the area” he added.
Maulana Asrarul Haque Qasmi, Congress MP, Kishanganj:
In his reaction, Congress MP of Kishanganj, Maulana Asrarul Haque Qasmi said: “The arrested Muslim youths from Bihar can not be labeled as terrorists until it is proved. Even if they are proved guilty on the basis of proofs, the entire community and whole area can not be linked with terror”.
He said that Intelligence Bureau (IB) should learn from the past incidents and should not arrest anyone without strong proofs as it happened in many cases in the past.
Dr. Shakeel Ahmad Khan, spokesperson of Congress Party, Bihar
“The people of Bihar are poor and peace-loving but there have been efforts to disturb communal harmony in the state especially in north Bihar which has sizable number of Muslims. Unfortunately, now the area is defamed and targeted by media and IB only on the basis of suspected arrest which is dangerous for the secular and democratic system of the country” said Dr. Shakeel Ahmad Khan, spokesperson of Bihar unit of Congress Party.
Akhtrul Iman, RJD MLA, Kochadhaman, Kishanganj
RJD MLA, Akhtrul Iman strongly condemned the propaganda that north Bihar is new hub of terrorists.
“If there is any terrorist he must be punished but for the mistake of individual whole region can not be held responsible. We demand government to seal Nepal and China borders if it believes that terrorists are bargaining in the country: he added.
Tariq Anwer, NCP MP, Rajya Sabha
“The north Bihar is peaceful area and Muslims who have big share in the population here are striving for their social and educational upliftment. With the arrest of some people, intelligence agencies should not conclude with terming whole region as terror hub” said Tariq Anwer, general secretary of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Arrest of six Muslim natives of Bihar
Six Muslim natives of Bihar have been arrested in last 15 days in Bihar or other parts of the country in connection with some unsolved terror cases including Delhi High Court blast (2011), blasts outside Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium (2010) and 26/11 attack at Mumbai’s Taj Hotel (2008).
Mohammad Qateel Siddiqi, 27, and Gauhar Aziz Khomani, 31, (both Darbhanga natives) were picked in New Delhi on November 22 and 23 respectively. Gayur Ahmad Jamali, 21, (Madhubani native) was arrested in Madhubani on November 24. Mohammad Irshad Khan, 52, (Samastipur native), and Abdur Rahman, 19, (Darbhanga native), were arrested in Chennai on November 27. Aftab Alam, 19, (Purnia native) was arrested in Purnia on 5th December. Delhi Police and intelligence agencies have claimed they are members of Indian Mujahideen and were spreading the network of the banned terror group in Bihar.
Related stories:
http://twocircles.net/2011nov29/madhubani_youths_police_deny_media_link_them_terror.html
http://twocircles.net/2011dec10/my_son_innocent_aftab%E2%80%99s_father.html
http://twocircles.net/2011dec11/bihar_new_pasture_terrorists_or_intelligence_agencies.html