MUMBAI, July 14: It appears like any other day in Bhendi Bazaar, one of Mumbai’s predominately Muslim quarters. But three days after a series of bomb attacks in India’s financial capital, all is not quite as normal as it seems.
The narrow streets, lined with tea shops, sweet stalls and stores selling everything from second-hand electronics to mangoes, are bustling, but an underlying sense of tension prevails because Muslim militant are prime suspects.
“I’d rather not get involved,” says one trader, when asked about his feelings on the Tuesday evening rush hour blasts.
“Please go and ask someone else,” he says.
Others, who cautiously begin to speak, are quickly told by fellow merchants to hush up and keep quiet about the bombings — fearing that sharing the same religion with those suspected of the attacks will spell trouble.
But in a city wrought by Hindu-Muslim tensions over the last 15 years, with a history of riots, and bombings that have been blamed on Islamic extremists, Mumbai’s Muslims fear a backlash from hard-line Hindus.
“If they are saying Muslims did it, then I am worried,” says 48-year-old horologist Salim Rehman tending to a clock in the confines of his tiny, cluttered shop.
“It will incite those who do not like us and there could be trouble — some people will want to use us as targets and for their own political gains,” he adds.
Others have more practical fears, concerned they will be discriminated against in terms of getting good jobs, housing and places in schools for children.
Muslim leaders say police have been too quick to point blame for the attacks and have unfairly reinforced the view that all Muslims are terrorists.
“Police are just guessing about such things. We must have a thorough investigation,” Maulana Jalaluddin Umri, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, told Reuters.
“There is no community that does not have a black sheep, so why always point fingers at one section of the community when these things happen?”—Reuters
