The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Ahmadiyya meeting cancelled

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Sunday, Jun 15, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Ahmadiyya meeting cancelled

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: The State government on Saturday wriggled out of a piquant situation by cancelling all programmes at Lalitha Kala Thoranam for the next three days, including the meeting being held by Ahmadiyya sect on Sunday at the same venue.

Controversy was brewing over the ‘All Religious’ meet called for by Ahmadiyya sect posing law and order problem as Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) parties and other Muslim organisations opposed the meeting on religious grounds. Raising objections, MIM Lok Sabha member Asaduddin Owaisi earlier met Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy seeking its cancellation.

Subsequently, the Ahmadiyya sect leaders moved the High Court and secured permission from the police to hold the meeting creating an embarrassing situation for the government as the MIM, MBT parties and other organisations stuck to their guns stating they would prevent the meeting come what may.

Tension began to mount as both the parties announced to lay siege to the venue to disrupt the meeting notwithstanding the permission given by the police to Ahmadiyya sect.

While the MBT activists took out a procession from Yakutpura to Gulzar House condemning the meeting and later burnt an effigy at Aitebar Chowk, the MIM organised a massive meeting at Darusalam exhorting its workers and like-minded persons to prevent the programme of Ahmadiyya sect.

Police deployed

Anticipating outbreak of violence, the police higher-ups deployed forces at all sensitive places in old city and even clamped prohibitive orders. Meanwhile, the Director of Cultural Affairs sent a letter to the police late in the night stating that permissions accorded to different organisations, including the Ahmadiyya sect, to hold meetings at Lalitha Kala Thoranam for the next three days have been cancelled even as the MIM leaders and activists were preparing for a showdown on Sunday.

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Andhra Pradesh