BENGALURU: Taking umbrage to JD(S) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda’s remarks against his legislator and former minister leader B.Z. Zameer Ahamed Khan, moulvis staged a protest against the former prime minister outside Town Hall, but the situation almost went out of hand because of a fracas between the protestors and local policemen on Tuesday.
At the protest, Moulvis demanded Mr Gowda to tender a public apology for his remarks against Mr Khan funding a section of poor Haj pilgrims annually and demanded that he refrain from comparing any Muslim leader to traitors. They threatened to launch a state-wide protest against Mr Gowda if he failed to retract his statement against Haj funding.
Speaking after leading the sit-in protest here, Nayeeb Imam of City Market Jamia Masjid, Moulana Maqsood Imran said, "Political leaders like former prime minister, Mr Gowda, must refrain from making remarks against Mr Khan's funding of annual Haj pilgrimage to a section of poor Muslims. Such remarks are uncalled for from a senior and seasoned politician like Mr Gowda."
According to him, Mr Gowda should not have compared Mr Khan to a traitor like Mir Sadiq. “This statement is in a very bad taste. Mr Gowda being the senior most leader in the state as well as of his party, he has all the right to take Mr Khan to task but it is not appropriate on his part to compare him with traitor like Mir Sadiq," Moulana Imran remarked angrly.
After his brief speech, hundreds of Muslim youth who had gathered to extend support to Moulvis, decided to block Town Hall junction during peak hour, which led to prolonged argument between police officers as well as the youth, resulting in minor caning at the venue.
