By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
Mumbai: August 6, 2009 was quite a different day for Malegaon when it saw people of the area organizing silent protest by wearing black strip on their shoulders against dropping of MCOCA from Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and other Hindutva extremists, and mourning the victims of Malegaon bomb blasts in 2006 and 2008 and praying for release of the innocent Muslim youths languishing in jails for these blasts.
Malegaon Kul Jamati Tanzeem (KJT) called for a silent protest yesterday for seeking justice in both September 2006 and September 2008 bomb blasts cases. They selected the day for protest because it was the same occasion –Shab-e-Bra’t- on 8 September 2006 when blasts occurred immediately after Juma prayer in Bara Qabrastan and Mushawrat Chowk which killed 31 people and injured above 300.
According to local people instead of a fair investigation in the case then and present ATS chief Mr. KP Raghuvanshi arrested 12 Muslim youths and charged them with MCOCA while they are innocent and police held them on the basis of fake story.
Kul Jamati Tanzeem which comprised almost all Muslim organizations of Malegaon prepared a 300 pages report on 2006 bomb blast with the help of lawyers and fact finding team to probe innocence of Muslim youth who are behind the bar. KJT submitted that report to CBI but they yet to get justice.
Thousands of Muslims including youths, aged and children as well as political and social leaders attended the protest at Mushawarat Chowk. Social activists Firoz Mithiborwala and Kishore Jagtab of Awami Bharat, Mumbai and several others from different places were present in the protest.
Houses and streets of the locality were flying black flags to show their anger with the attitude of the security and intelligence agencies.
They also expressed their concern over dropping of MCOCA from Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur Lt. col. Pruhit and other nine accused in 29, September 2008 bomb blast which took place in Bhikhu Chowk area of Malegaon which claimed four lives and left at least 70 people injured. They demanded to charge them with MCOCA as soon as possible.
Protesters gave a 6-point memorandum to Additional Collector Mr. Ajay More who came to meet them.
Addressing the protesters Maulana Abdul Qayyum said: We will not sit silently unless real culprits are put behind the jail and innocents are released.”
“This is not a fight to save Muslims but to save the sovereignty of India because it is going to the control of Israel. So we will continue to fight until it is freed” said Firoz Mithiborwala on the occasion.
KJT has threatened to launch a mass jail bharo movement in case justice is not done soon. The protest started at sharp 1:50pm with the speech of Maulana Abdul Hameed Azhari, the convener of KJT, and concluded at 5:00pm peacefully with dua of Maulana Abdul Bari Qasmi.