Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (SB)
Mangaluru, Oct 11: Former mayor and Dakshina Kannada United Muslim Organization president K Ashraf on Wednesday October 11 said that the Muslim community in Dakshina Kannada had become a 'victim of the games played by political parties in the district', while announcing a massive protest in the city on October 13.
Addressing the media here, Ashraf said, "There has been delay in delivering justice to our community every time. In September, Bantwal police disrespected the Quran and arrested a journalist who reported the incident (while conducting raid on the residence of an accused in Sharath Madivala murder case)."
He further said, "Our community leaders demanded justice and submitted a memorandum to the district in-charge minister, the home minister and the chief minister. But justice has been denied to us. The police department has not yet taken action on Bantwal SI Rakshith Gowda, Uppinangady SI Nandakumar and Puttur CI Mahesh Prasad. Condemning this, we are organizing a mass protest on October 13 at Nehru Maidan. Various leaders from our community will participate in this protest.
"After strong protests and pressure from various quarters, the government ordered a COD probe into Qureshi case. But, COD has not yet completed the investigation nor submitted the report to the government. We do not understand why there is such a delay in the case," he added.
He further alleged, "In the Quran throwing incident, the police narrated a fabricated story to save their staff. The family members publicly narrated what had transpired on September 2 at their house. No Muslim will tell lies in the name of Quran. But the government and officials do not believe their words.
"Dakshina Kannada United Muslim Organization will lead the mass protest planned on October 13. It will start at 3 pm. On the same stage, our community will announce our future ways of protest," he concluded.
Suhail Kandak, Hameed Khandak, Azeez Kudroli, Ashraf Kinara, Hameed Kudroli and other office-bearers of United Muslim Organization were present.