Hyderabad: Sunni board sore at losing Ramzan platform

Hyderabad: The All India Sunni Ulema Board was not allowed to conduct its scheduled meeting in the Macca Masjid on the grounds that the election code of conduct was in force.

Since it is not a political organisation, members of the Board are aggrieved and have threatened to stop all political parties from conducting meetings in mosques during the holy month of Ramzan.

President of the Board, Moulana Syed Hamid Hussain Shuttari, said they have been conducting Youm-ul-Quran on every second Friday during Ramzan in Macca Masjid for the last many years. This time, it fell on May 17, when polls were still on.

He said though the organisation is a purely religious one, they were not allowed to conduct the meeting in Macca Masjid this year because the model code of conduct was in force.

“Our contention is that the model code of conduct applies to political parties not religious organisations, but the Minorities Welfare Department adopted a deferral attitude.

Narrating the sequence of events, Moulana Shuttari said an application was made to the MWB on March 29 while a reminder was sent on May 10, but the petitions were ignored.

“We approached the High Court and said we were willing to conduct the meeting on the third Friday i.e. May 24, so the honourable court in its interim order directed the principal secretary to decide the matter before May 20. But the authorities moved slowly and the third Friday has also passed.”

He said that the court on Wednesday said they should make a fresh application for conducting the meeting on the last Friday i.e. May 31.

“Within one hour we submitted the petition, but after an hour, counsel for the police department submitted before the court that the department had granted permission to the AIMIM on May 28 for conducting Youm-ul-Quran on the last Friday.

Moulana Shuttari says officials are acting under political pressure and not allowing them to conduct the meeting.

He has threatened to launch a movement against allowing political parties to conduct meetings in religious places, particularly mosques.