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Jan 21, 2011, 03.04am IST
MUMBAI: The credit for RSS activist Swami Aseemanand's change of heart, according to his confession, goes to 21-year-old Sheikh Mohammed Kaleem, an accused in the May 18, 2007, Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid blast. Kaleem, who is out on bail, addressed a rally against "sanghi (saffron)" terror at Azad Maidan on Thursday.
The swarthy, bespectacled boy, who was showered with praise and hailed as a model by members of over a dozen Muslim NGOs attending the rally, kept his speech short.
Speaking in typical Hyderabadi Urdu, he recalled many meetings with Aseemanand in Hyderaba's Chanchalguda jail. " One day the jail warden told Aseemanandji that I had already spent 18 months in jail for the Mecca Masjid blast. Aseemanandji, for whom I brought water and food, would ask me questions about Islam."
Among the several teachings of Prophet Mohammed, according to Kaleem, the one which touched Assemanand was the spirit of tolerance the Prophet had showed at Taif, a place near Mecca. Legend has it that when the Prophet reached Taif with the message of monotheism, he was stoned by the pre-Islamic pagan tribe living there. As the Prophet started bleeding profusely, angel Jibreel (Gabriel) came and told Mohammed that, if the Prophet said yes, God would crush the people who had stoned him between two mountains. But the Prophet forgave his tormentors, prayed for them, hoping that truth would prevail one day. "This story had a great impact on Aseemanandji," said Kaleem who also recounted his torture in police custody.
Hyderabad-based advocate Ahmadullah Khan who had fought the case of several accused of the Mecca Masjid blast, including Kaleem, was all praise for the boy: "His good conduct changed the heart of Aseemanand. I know how his family has suffered over the last many years. Now the agencies should admit their mistakes and release all those, including the accused in Malegaon blasts of 2006, currently in prison," demanded Khan who, like most speakers at the rally, alleged persecution of Muslims by the investigating agencies. Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi threatened that Muslims would launch a jail bharo andolan if their boys languishing jails on "false" charges of terror were not let off.
Read more: Blast accused helped Swami soften stand - The Times of India http://timesofindia.
Blast accused helped Swami soften stand
Mohammed Wajihuddin, TNN,Jan 21, 2011, 03.04am IST
MUMBAI: The credit for RSS activist Swami Aseemanand's change of heart, according to his confession, goes to 21-year-old Sheikh Mohammed Kaleem, an accused in the May 18, 2007, Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid blast. Kaleem, who is out on bail, addressed a rally against "sanghi (saffron)" terror at Azad Maidan on Thursday.
The swarthy, bespectacled boy, who was showered with praise and hailed as a model by members of over a dozen Muslim NGOs attending the rally, kept his speech short.
Speaking in typical Hyderabadi Urdu, he recalled many meetings with Aseemanand in Hyderaba's Chanchalguda jail. " One day the jail warden told Aseemanandji that I had already spent 18 months in jail for the Mecca Masjid blast. Aseemanandji, for whom I brought water and food, would ask me questions about Islam."
Among the several teachings of Prophet Mohammed, according to Kaleem, the one which touched Assemanand was the spirit of tolerance the Prophet had showed at Taif, a place near Mecca. Legend has it that when the Prophet reached Taif with the message of monotheism, he was stoned by the pre-Islamic pagan tribe living there. As the Prophet started bleeding profusely, angel Jibreel (Gabriel) came and told Mohammed that, if the Prophet said yes, God would crush the people who had stoned him between two mountains. But the Prophet forgave his tormentors, prayed for them, hoping that truth would prevail one day. "This story had a great impact on Aseemanandji," said Kaleem who also recounted his torture in police custody.
Hyderabad-based advocate Ahmadullah Khan who had fought the case of several accused of the Mecca Masjid blast, including Kaleem, was all praise for the boy: "His good conduct changed the heart of Aseemanand. I know how his family has suffered over the last many years. Now the agencies should admit their mistakes and release all those, including the accused in Malegaon blasts of 2006, currently in prison," demanded Khan who, like most speakers at the rally, alleged persecution of Muslims by the investigating agencies. Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi threatened that Muslims would launch a jail bharo andolan if their boys languishing jails on "false" charges of terror were not let off.
Read more: Blast accused helped Swami soften stand - The Times of India http://timesofindia.
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