Activists attack mosque in Surat

SURAT: Saffron activists, reportedly members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal, vandalised a small masjid (mosque) called Morcha Masjid at the Udhna Darwaza area in Surat on Thursday evening. The act, allegedly in protest of the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai on Tuesday, has escalated communal tension in the city.

According to eye-witnesses, around 50 to 60 activists of the VHP and Bajrang Dal gathered near Udhna Darwaza at around 5:30 pm on Thursday evening.

The protesters chanted slogans denouncing the Mumbai terrorist attack and alleged Pakistan’s hand behind it. They also burnt an effigy of terrorism, and resorted to ‘rasta roko andolan’. While the protests were in progress, the ‘azaan’ (call for namaaz) was sounded from a nearby mosque. This irked the activists on the road. Some went to the mosque and demanded that the loudspeaker, which was being used for the ‘azaan’, be shut off.

However, witnesses claim that even before the people present in the mosque could respond, activists resorted to violence. They vandalised the mosque, damaging tubelights, fans, switchboards, etc.

When contacted, general secretary of Surat unit of VHP, Utkarsh Patel, said, “We had planned peaceful protests, and that is what we were doing. As the ‘azaan’ started, our activists requested that the volume of the loudspeaker be reduced, which was refused by the people in the mosque.”

Our activists acted in a controlled manner, and were leaving, when a stone was flung on them from inside the mosque,” he added.