A group of people from different organisations protested outside the Israeli Consulate here on Friday over the detention of a bearded Muslim man who was standing outside the building earlier this week.
Mohammad Saleem, a 42-year-old civil engineer who had come on work to the area, was checking his mobile phone when staff from the Consulate approached and interrogated him. He was then taken to the police station where it was learnt that his bearded appearance had aroused the Consulate's suspicion.
Yusuf Abrahani, a protestor, said: “You can't prevent an Indian from moving in a city just because he is sporting a beard. They are targeting a community. Young Muslims would get scared to wear a beard at this rate. Also, you cannot damage someone's reputation like this. We have spoken to the Police Commissioner and he admitted that it was a mistake.”
Placards carried slogans such as ‘Your forefathers Abraham, Moses and David, and, O, Israel, they were all bearded.' The protesters termed Israel “a terrorist state” and called for the termination of diplomatic relations with the country.
“The reason for the extremely communal behaviour of the police is the increasing atmosphere of Islamophobia and the demonisation of Indian Muslims in the climate of terror and fear, systematically induced by the government machinery, especially the casteist elements within the Intelligence Bureau and the Anti Terrorism Squad, via the corporate media. This current episode of humiliation has angered all self-respecting citizens,” read a press release of the Bharat Bachao Amdolan, an organisation that participated in the agitation.
After a brief negotiation with the police, the agitators declared that if no action was taken by Thursday against those responsible for the incident, a bigger agitation would follow.
