Ayodhya Muslims Join Protests re:Seers Arrest

[Guest guest]

Temples shut seeking seer's release:

[india News]: Lucknow, Nov 17 : All Hindu temples here were shut

after the morning prayers Wednesday to protest the arrest in Tamil

Nadu of Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi.

 

In Varanasi, some prominent holy men have threatened to immolate

themselves if the seer who has been arrested on murder charges is

not released immediately.

 

In the Hindu holy town of Haridwar, some people have launched hunger

strikes in support of their demand.

 

In Ayodhya, some prominent Islamic leaders have joined the protest,

surprising residents of the town where Hindu mobs razed the Babri

mosque in 1992.

 

They include Hashim Ansari, the key Muslim litigant in the mosque-

temple row, Mohammed Yunus Siddiqui, convenor of Babri Masjid Action

Committee, and Najmul Hasan, the state vice president of the Muslim

League.

 

"The Shankaracharya had played a very positive and constructive role

towards finding an amicable and out of court solution to the

dispute," Siddiqui told IANS.

 

"Each time he visited Ayodhya, the Shankaracharya displayed immense

concern about maintaining communal harmony at all costs. It is

deplorable that the administration has arrested such a person,"

Siddiqui said.

 

--Indo-Asian News Service

 

Seer in jail: Hindus, Muslims united in protest

ABHIJIT ATRE

 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2004 02:03:54 AM ]

 

PUNE/SATARA: That the residents of Satara town in western

Maharashtra observed a day-long peaceful bandh on Tuesday to protest

against the arrest of Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi is

just half the news. What was noteworthy was the rare show of unity

by members of hardcore Hindu and Muslim organisations.

 

 

The Muslim community in Satara turned out in large numbers on

Tuesday to participate in the march from Gandhi Maidan grounds to

the Satara collectorate to protest against the arrest.

 

The reason? The leaders of hardcore Hindu organisations, including

the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak

Sangh (RSS), Hindu Mahasabha, BJP and the Shiv Sena, had upheld the

minority community's request to postpone the bandh, earlier

scheduled for Monday, in view of the Id celebrations.

 

The development achieves significance, considering that the

Shankaracharya's arrest had evoked strong protests from among the

majority community in Satara. Leaders of all the Hindu organisations

had conducted a public meeting at the Rajat Sagar grounds here on

Saturday,where they resolved to observe a bandh on Monday.

 

Accordingly, press statements were issued and pamphlets circulated

across the city on Sunday. Apprehending that the bandh would affect

the Id celebrations, the minority community members, led by the

general-secretary of the Minority Council of Western Maharashtra,

Iliaz Shaikh, and city unit chief Shakeel Shaikh, appealed to the

Hindu organisations to postpone the bandh.

 

Speaking on the large-scale participation of Muslims in the

procession, Iliaz Shaikh told TNN, "They (Hindu leaders) helped us

celebrate Id. It was our duty to support their demand to release the

seer."

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