Azamgarh: Den of terror or victim of backwardness?

Manjari Mishra & Binay Singh,TNN

 23 Sep 2008, 0037 hrs IST,

AZAMGARH: Two dead, eight caught, 10 on the run and still counting — the fast-paced events in Delhi have hit Saraimeer, the shiny oasis in this desert of backwardness, real hard. Gone is the open belligerence of residents when in August an enraged Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, exhorted them to come out on the streets for Abu Bashir, the prime accused in Ahmedabad blast, and free him from the "devils in khaki".

The mood now is of disbelief and deep shock. In Sanjarpur, Shadab Ahmed, the father of Saif, one of the Delhi blast suspects, held court in front of his house on Sunday. There was a crowd of around 150 sympathizers.

Tempers started rising as a Qualis and a Scorpio arrived. Two former SP MLAs, Alam Badi and Wasim Ahmed, got out and made their way towards 'Mister' as Ahmed, a former district vice president of SP, is known.

The duo had obviously come to express their solidarity with Ahmed. "I will hold back my tears till justice is done to my family," Ahmed's voice quivered with anger. They counsel patience. One of them said the inspector killed in the crossfire in Delhi was a fake encounter specialist. It was nothing but a frame up, he says, waving his fists in the air, and the crowd agrees.

Atif, the alleged Indian Mujahideen mastermind who was killed in the encounter, is from Saraimeer. His house wore a deserted look. The main gate was half shut and apart from a few media persons, nobody was around. Even the neighbours were keeping away. "Whatever has happened is extremely unfortunate," said Badruddin, who lives in the same lane. Others flatly refused to comment. You sense eyes behind shuttered windows keeping a vigil on what's going on.

The fear that the suspects could include one of their beloved family members is gnawing at their hearts. The Delhi blast and its aftermath may or may not have accomplished much for the perpetrators, but they have left a deep mark in people's minds here.

Known for its communal amity and brotherhood since the time of Maulana Shibli Nomani, the famous theologist, philosopher and founder of Shibli National College in 1946, the Hindu-Muslim divide in Azamgarh is today palpable.

Muslims openly talk of the dual-faced law, of brutal enforcing agencies and "gair majhebi" fanatics, while Hindus tell you about the growing threat from bearded "jehadis".

"The entire drama in Delhi was stage managed," said Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, principal of Shibli College, once a noted centre for secular learning. Atif, who was killed in the encounter, was just out of high school. "Do you think a lad of 18-19, who barely stepped out of Azamgarh, would suddenly become such a dreaded terrorist within months of reaching Delhi?" he asked. The government, he said, was under "POTA pressure". "They are simply trying to prove that even without POTA they can achieve a lot, and these youngsters have become scapegoats in this murky politics," he argued.

Ahmed seems to have utter disdain for police and politicians. In 2002, the principal was named in an FIR that accused him of burning the national flag and stomping on it, while hoisting the Pakistani flag in the college. The "conspiracy hatched by Hindu hardliners" left him bitter and isolated, he said. Fortunately he could count on a few friends, most of whom happen to be Hindus.

Azamgarh, he points out, is the only divisional headquarters that does not have a university, a medical college, engineering college, or any institute worth mention. There are no industries. Until Kaifiat Express was flagged off five years ago, courtesy the efforts of Kaifi and Shabana Azmi, there was no broad gauge railway link from Azamgarh. The roads are for all practical purposes non-existent.

"Successive governments have only manipulated minorities, but done nothing for their uplift," said Ahmed. "If there is discontent among the youth, do you blame them?" he said. "However, taking arms is the last thing they would do," he insisted.

Mohd Ibrahim Khan, a brick kiln owner from Bijarva, echoed similar sentiments. "Azamgarh is the nursery of terrorism, they claim, but what is the address of this nursery? In the last 65 years I have not come across a single such hatchery," he said angrily.

Many Hindus don't buy this. "Muslims in the pockets like Saraimeer, Mubarakpur, Bilariaganj, Larganj, Vindawal, Kotela, Anwak, Bishan, Mohammedpur have always spelled trouble for the majority community," says Jai Chand, a trader from Azamgarh chowk market. The government, he said, has always fought shy of investigating into the funding of the mushrooming madrassas. Jai Chand singled out the sprawling madrassa on the Varanasi-Azamgarh highway, which he claims was managed by "people in Dubai".

Ajay Rai, a lawyer in the district court, talks about the Tablighi Jamaat conclave held in Saraimeer last December. He claimed lakhs of delegates from the world over attended it. However, the agenda has been a closely guarded secret till today. Rajendra Singh, another lawyer, read much into the Shibli College staff's refusal to sing Vande Mataram on Independence Day.

Soft spoken Mohd Safi Ansari, a former professor of chemistry, is anguished by the recent happenings. Azamgarh, he points out, has produced intellectuals, professionals and academicians. A large chunk of the AMU faculty in the '60s hailed from Azamgarh, he said. "Shibli College guest house was the favourite haunt of freedom fighters including Motilal Nehru. My birthplace has fallen to an evil eye," he said, with feeling.

Ansari quoted his grandfather Iqbal Suhail, a prominent poet and successful lawyer from Azamgarh, "Is khittare Azamgarh par me magar faizan-e tajjalli hai. Yaksar jo zarra yehan se uthata hai, wo nayyare azam hota hai," (This Azamgarh is the land of blessed. Even a tiny particle which rises from here carries the potential to become the brightest star).

Should we call it shooting star now?

Source: The Times of India, New Delhi

URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-terrorism-jihad/azamgarh-den-terror-victim-backwardness/d/794