Smashed windows, glass shards, broken bottles and bricks greeted early morning worshippers at three mosques on the outskirts of Mangalore on Monday.
While the president of the mosque management committee at the Kulai Masjid accused Sangh Parivar activists of the attack, the police in Surathkal and Mulky have registered cases against “unknown persons”. The attackers are believed to have targeted the Sirajin-Islam Badriya Jumma Masjid in Kulai, before proceeding to the Jumma Masjid, Mukka, about 7 km away, and from there to the Noor Jumma Masjid in Karnad, a further 8 km away on National Highway 66.
Second attack
“This is the second attack this year. Though we complain after every incident, no action is taken,” said Irshad. In their complaint to the Surathkal police, members of the management committee mention the names of around 10 persons from the local Sangh Parivar unit whom they “saw loitering around the mosque” at 10 p.m. after the last namaz.
Said K.S. Hassan, president of the mosque management committee: “No one was present at the mosque at that time, and worshippers suspect persons from outside for being behind the incident.
The relatively sturdy glass frames of the Noor Masjid, Karnad, by and large withstood the barrage of missiles. Jaffer Faiz, Maulana of the Masjid, who was sleeping in the first floor at the time, said he heard the pane break around 12.50 a.m. However, by the time he switched on the light and ran to the window, the attackers had fled, leaving behind a sack of bricks. This is not the first time the mosques have been targeted. According to Rafiq Kulai, a worshipper at the Kulai mosque for over three decades, the first incidents of stone throwing were reported here after the demolition of Babri Masjid 20 years ago. “They had thrown a carcass of a dog here. During the ’98 Surathkal riots, the Mosque was set on fire. Stones were thrown in December 2008, and even in June earlier this year,” he said.
Similarly, Abu Bakker Siddique, a worshipper of the Karnad mosque said this was the third such incident since 2009.
