(The Hindu,
September 9, 2006)
No option but to recite their prayers at home
by Kalpana Sharma
MUMBAI: On a normal day, the Muslims of Malegaon would have observed Shab-e-Barat by first cleaning and decorating the graves of their loved ones and then spending the night at the graveyard reading out the special prayers for the occasion. This Friday, following the explosions that killed over 31 people, they have no option but to recite the prayers at home. Malegaon is under curfew and no one is allowed to step out.
Irfana Sheikh, a lawyer based in Malegaon, told The Hindu late on Friday night that the only movement on the streets of this Muslim majority town is that of funeral processions and the sounds of ambulances taking the wounded to hospital.
Speaking about the incidents earlier in the day, Ms. Sheikh explained that many children were injured and killed because the "vazu-khana" where the children sit during namaz was close to the entrance of the Bada Kabristan where the prayers were being held. "They had almost completed saying the prayers. If the explosion had occurred a few minutes later, many people would have left the place," she said.
Cause for tension
Asked whether there had been any tension preceding the events of Friday, Ms. Sheikh gave two instances. About 15 days ago, when the celebrations for the recently concluded Ganesh festival had begun, she had noticed that a poster referring to the July 11 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai had been put up as part of the decorations in a prominent place in the city. "Is this not provocative?" she asked.
On Thursday, she said, the entire road was blocked in two locations — at Sardar Talkies and at Sangmeshwar — by the Bajrang Dal and the RSS as part of the Vande Matram celebrations. The song was played in many parts of the city through the day and had led to some tension between the two communities, she said.
People were asking, she said, why the police, that had a strong presence in Malegaon, had no prior warning about the blasts. She said some of them had tried to meet State Home Minister R.R. Patil when he came to the city on Friday night but were unable to do so.
Would this lead to further strife between the communities? "There will be no `fasad' [riot]," she said. "We know what communal riots cost. We have experienced them here. No one wants a repeat of that," she added.
Ms. Sheikh had her property burnt during the last serious communal conflagration in Malegaon in 2001.
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