January 21, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 20, 1426

MUMBAI, Jan 20: Muslim religious leaders are upset over the blaze of publicity under which Maulana Ghulam Elahi Baksh Yahya, the imam of the Haj House mosque, was arrested. They say that this vilifies the entire community.

At a meeting of ulema and imams held in Mumbai, some even termed the arrest a conspiracy to malign Muslims and Islam.

It was pointed out that the police had arrested several Muslims on terror charges in the recent past, but had failed to substantiate the charges.The names of Mohammed Afroze, Dr Mateen and Atif Mulla were mentioned in this connection.

“The Quran says that killing of an innocent is akin to killing the entire humanity. Don’t call the imam a terrorist unless you have proved it,” said Maulana Qudus Kashmiri.

The septuagenarian maulana also clarified that giving shelter to a visitor in a mosque was an old practice that no one could stop.

Maulana Zilur Rehman, imam of a mosque, echoed this line: “Muslims do come to imams and seek shelter in the mosques.”

Maulana Yahya did not commit any crime if he merely allowed some strangers to stay in the mosque for a few days. “The police must prove the charges quickly or we will launch a protest.”—By special arrangement with the Times of India