Fewer people turned up for the Friday prayers at the Mecca Masjid in spite of the Old City remaining peaceful. The tight bandobast notwithstanding, residents and traders were apprehensive of disturbance. Business establishments and schools remained open and many locals wondered why people stayed away from the mosque.
The historic Mecca Masjid which registers around 8,000 namazis for Juma prayers noted a significant drop in the headcount this Friday. Khaja Nayeemuddin, superintendent of Mecca Masjid said, “There was a drop of roughly 1,000 people. The number of worshippers last week was better.” The youth and the elderly chose to stay away on account of the spate of communal disturbances and the heavy barricading of roads restricting vehicular movement till a hundred metres from the mosque gates.
A bangle seller from Laad Bazaar, at a stones throwaway from the historic mosque, noted that youngsters stayed away fearing reprisals by the police if any untoward incident were to occur, their fear rooted in the many instances of the police randomly picking up innocent youth in the past. “The turnout over the past eight Fridays has been sporadic. The youth don’t want to get caught in the crossfire between police and anti-social elements. Also, the two road blocks – one near Farasha Cafe and the other at Charminar Bus Stop – have forced the elderly to go to mosques close to their houses,” he said.
Some locals questioned the heavy duty bandobast for the Friday prayers and said that the police believe that the purana shaher can never be safe. “We admit that the mosque has been the epicentre of harsh protests over the past few years. But this does not mean that the worshippers will be provoked by the smallest incidents and engage in stone-pelting and slogan-shouting every Friday.”
Manish Kumar Sinha, DCP, South Zone, maintained that the deployment of policemen in large numbers was justified due to the ‘paradigm shift in policing’ of the Old City. “Because of the trust deficit between communities, it is unlikely that communal one-upmanship will be resolved in the near future. The presence of police is necessary.”
There was a drop of close to 1000 people at Mecca Masjid which normally records around 8000 devotees every Friday. Locals feel that the fact that police have randomly picked up youth in the past have now made them stay away in fear of being caught in the crossfire.
Courtesy: TOI