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Time of India
3 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Why Mumbai's mosques are falling silent
Why Mumbai's mosques are falling silent Mohammed Wajihuddin TNN Aug 8, 2025, 16:29 IST IST Muslims are navigating silence, with mosques forced to mute loudspeakers and shift the call to azan to phone apps. Now with Ganesh Chaturthi approaching, will the Mumbai Police enforce noise guidelines with the same urgency? Right opposite Sunni Badi Masjid in central Mumbai's Madanpura lives Ayaz Mohammed Hussain's family — in a two-room house in an old building named Chhota Isa. Hussain, 65, a retired railway guard, and wife Shama never had to check namaz time on their wall clock or mobile. The 127-year-old mosque's loudspeakers amplified the azan five times a day. Until the night of June 24, when police took them down. Residents of Madanpura and many other parts of the city are now experiencing an unexpected stillness in their immediate environment since police in Mumbai began enforcing noise guidelines two months ago.
Time of India
26-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
It started in a jail cell. Now, it fights to free those wrongfully jailed
It started in a jail cell. Now, it fights to free those wrongfully jailed Mohammed Wajihuddin TNN Jul 26, 2025, 21:27 IST IST Besides its work on the 7/11 case, the Innocence Network India is helping other terror accused with legal aid A narrow, rain-soaked lane in Mumbai's Vikhroli leads to a small ground-floor room. Inside, a few chairs, a chatai, shelves of books, and maps of India and the world hang on the wall. This unassuming space is the 'secretariat' of Innocence Network India , a coalition of lawyers, prison‑rights activists and civil society groups who work for 'the rights of those wrongfully prosecuted or convicted, especially under terrorism charges .' On July 21, when the Bombay High Court acquitted all 12 men convicted of the 2006 Mumbai train blasts — also known as the 7/11 bombings — some credit was due to this little-known coalition that kept the pressure alive, along with the efforts of the Maharashtra unit office of Jamiatul Ulema-e-Hind . Wahid Shaikh, who helped found the network, is visibly happy, and yet combative, seated in his two-room tenement. It's where Shaikh, a school teacher in Nagpada, central Mumbai, spends most of his after-school hours running Acquit Undertrial, his one-man YouTube channel that amplifies cases of alleged wrongful prosecution and demands compensation for acquitted convicts. It was here that he recorded a congratulatory message for the accused and their families the night before the verdict. 'I was 100% sure that the High Court would exonerate them. I recorded it before the order was pronounced,' says Shaikh. He should know. He was one of 13 men arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for the train blasts. He spent nine years in Arthur Road Jail before being acquitted in 2015. The only one to walk free at the time.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
An image for ages
A senior assistant editor with the Times of India, Mohammed Wajihuddin writes about Muslims, their issues, hopes and aspirations. Committed to upholding inclusiveness, communal amity and freedom to dissent and debate, he endeavours to promote peaceful existence. A passionate reader of Islam, he endeavours to save the faith from the clutches of the jihadists. An ardent lover of Urdu poetry, he believes words are the best weapons to fight jingoism. LESS ... MORE Perhaps there could not have been a more powerful image than this. Two young soldiers, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, sitting on either side of foreign secretary Vikran Misri, announcing to the world Operation Sindoor, India's measured, non-escalatory and precision strike against terror hubs in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and inside Pakistan. In response to the massacre in Pahalgam a fortnight ago. The image sent a message more powerful than the multiple attacks India struck post-midnight on May 7, almost a fortnight after 26 innocent tourists were gunned down in a gruesome terror attack at the picturesque meadow at Pahalgam in Kashmir. The image symbolised more than Indian armed forces' ability to avenge bloodbath by hired killers handled by their mai baap operating from across the border. In one stroke the two young officers from India's armed forces exposed the Himalayan lie in the statement of Pak army chief Asim Munir who seems to be stuck in the darks days of 1947. Munir and his ilk must have drowned in melancholy as these young soldiers, one Muslim and one Hindu, detailed the intensity with which terror hideouts were torn apart. The celebrations on Indian streets are justified. This was a masterstroke on the part of our armed forces. They say 'what is in name'. A lot if you consider the timing and the context. Operation Sindoor sought to salve the wounds of women who were widowed by the bunch of brutes that sunny afternoon at the meadow in Pahalgam. Many are calling it the old patriarchal mindset. They criticise the strike's very name 'Operation Sindoor.' The critics must understand Indian society and its symbols. Sindoor or vermillion has a strong significance in our society where 'suhaag' or marriage of a woman is symbolised also by application of this sindoor on the married women's forehead. No wonder, there are many films, television serials, songs and plays underscoring the value of this sindoor. By naming the strike after a powerful, everyday product like sindoor, the Government of India paid a rich and timely tribute to the women who lost their husbands at the hands of the terrorists on April 22. Also, it sent a message that Indian defence forces are committed to safeguard the sindoor of all married women in the length and breadth of the country. By choosing two young officers from the armed forces, one Muslim and one Hindu, to brief the media on Operation Sindoor, the armed forces reiterated their commitment to communal harmony and secular character. The image suitably sought to silence the hate brigade which has no qualms in questioning Muslims' loyalty to the country. Indian Muslims do not need certificate of patriotism from anyone, especially from the hate mongers whose forebears either remained absent from the freedom struggle or colluded with the British colonialists. There are many examples of Muslim freedom fighters refusing to succumb to pressure from colonial powers. There are examples to show how, despite horrendous conditions in prison or offers of parole, the patriots refused to write mercy petitions. Take Maulana Azad. Azad was imprisoned at Ahmed Nagar Jail. One day the jailer informed Azad that his wife was seriously ill at their home in Calcutta and that the British authorities had decided to grant him release on parole if he sent an application. Refusing this offer, Azad said it was beyond his dignity to beseech the British for a furlough. His wife died a painful death in her husband's husband. Azad shed copious tears at her grave post-release from prison. The valour and sacrifice of Muslim soldiers in fights against Pakistan or any other country is part of the military folklore. Suffice it to say that their loyalty to India is next to none. The same can be said about the Muslim masses. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Muslims stand in solidarity with the Indian armed forces' response to the terror attacks in our country. The image of Qureshi and Singh addressing the press conference after India's strike against terror hideouts in POK and inside Pakistan has once again demonstrated that the country is one when it comes to fighting foreign enemies. The image will be remembered for ages. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
