Stop undue harassment of Muslims or suffer: Shahi Imam

New Delhi: Maulana Ahmed Bukhari, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid here, on Friday claimed that investigative agencies are picking up innocent Muslims and charging them in terror cases, particularly to buttress the Government stand for an absolute ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India.

“For the sake of collecting evidence regarding SIMI's terror links, the investigative agencies have picked up thousands of innocent Muslims as SIMI members and are framing them in cases of recent terror blasts,” Bukhari said while addressing a gathering at Jama Masjid after the Friday prayers.

Earlier this month, a special tribunal lifted the ban on SIMI for lack of evidence. Embarrassed by the orders, the Central Government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the order.

The Supreme Court on Monday extended its interim order putting a six-week stay on the Special Tribunal's decision to lift the ban on SIMI. The matter will now be heard September 24.

Bukhari, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has demanded a judicial inquiry into the arrest of a madrassa teacher Mufti Abu Bashar from Azamgarh for his alleged involvement in last month's serial bombings in Ahmedabad.

"The government should stop undue harassment of Muslims or else we will be compelled to take extreme steps," said Bukhari.

He said: "The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are two sides of a coin and are involved in harassing Muslims."

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