Protest against desecration of holy books in Belagavi
Members of various Muslim organisations held protests in some places in Belagavi district of Karnataka on May 16 against the alleged desecration of holy books, including the holy Quran, in Santi Bastawad village recently.
A massive rally was taken out in Belagavi. Similar rallies were held in Hukkeri and some other towns. They complained that unidentified persons had stolen the holy Quran and Hadith books from a shelf in the village mosque, and burnt them in a field.
A large number of people gathered in front of the Anjuman ground near Kittur Rani Channamma Circle. They raised slogans like 'Nara Taqdeer, Allahu Akbar' and 'Hindustan Zindabad', 'Islam Zindabad'. They held flags and placards. They demanded arrest of the accused. They submitted a petition to the Deputy Commissioner's office, demanding strict punishment to the offenders.
Traders voluntarily closed shops on major roads of Belagavi to express solidarity with the protest. The crowd began swelling up after the afternoon prayers. The protest led to blocking of road traffic for nearly two hours in all the roads leading to the circle.
MLA Asif Sait, youth leader Aman Sait, current and former members of the city corporation, and a large number of Muslim citizens participated in the protest. The protesters demanded the arrest of the accused at the earliest.
Mr. Sait condemned the theft and burning of the holy books, and demanded swift legal action. 'What has happened is unforgivable. The Police Commissioner has promised to arrest the accused in a week. Earlier, the police had sought a deadline of three days. But officers were busy in cracking the case of the desecration of the idgah in the same village. Now that they have solved the old case, we hope that they will put their full force in this case,' he said.
He said that a negligent police officer had been suspended. He appealed to the community members to maintain peace and to cooperate with the police.
As a precautionary measure, the city Police Commissioner Iada Martin Marbaniang had imposed prohibitory orders in the central business district. Police had asked the protestors to carry out a peaceful march. Police said around 3,000 officers and personnel were on duty. The rally was disturbed for a few moments after some young protestors got into an altercation over allegations of some police constables pushing them. Senior officers pacified the agitated youth.
As many as 11 organisations joined the protest in Hukkeri. They demanded action against the offenders and steps from the government to see that such incidents are not repeated.
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