memri
February 3, 2009 Special Dispatch No. 2192

In Mumbai, Muslims Launch "Operation Social Combing" Against Terrorists

February 3, 2009
Special Dispatch No. 2192

On July 26, 2008, a series of bomb explosions killed more than 40 people in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. The explosions were preceded by a series of small-scale blasts in the southern Indian city of Bangalore. A few minutes before the Ahmedabad blasts, an email warning of the attacks was sent to some media groups, on behalf of a group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen. intelligence and security agencies traced the email to a rented flat in Mumbai.[1]

India’s anti-terrorism police squads have carried out searches among Muslims in the area. This has created fear among the Muslims in Mumbai and other areas in the western Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Following such fears of terrorism, Muslim groups are trying to create anti-terror awareness among Muslims in India. An anti-terror campaign, comprising a series of conferences, is being led by India’s Darul Uloom Deoband, the second largest center of Islamic learning after Cairo’s Al-Azhar University.[2]

Following the Ahmedabad blasts, Muslims in Mumbai, which was also the scene of a series of bomb explosions in trains on July 11, 2006, have started a unique voluntary campaign to deny hideouts to terrorists in their midst. This social campaign began long before the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

Following are the details of the anti-terrorism activity, which was named “Operation Social Combing.”[3]

According to a report in the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Inquilab, a number of social and religious organizations in Mumbai’s Muslim-dominated suburb Naya Nagar joined hands to launch a movement to deny hideouts to terrorists.

Muzaffar Hussein, the Muslim legislator in Maharashtra state, assisted in getting the imams of 24 mosques in Naya Nagar and a number of non-governmental organizations to take part in the social combing operation. According to the report, Hussein has circulated a communiqué among local Muslims stating that the movement's objective is to create awareness among the local population of suspicious individuals in the area.

A number of monitoring committees of women and men (separately) have been formed to examine suspicious activities in their neighborhoods. According to the report, individuals coming from outside and renting properties in their localities were asked to provide details about their backgrounds.

Umer Choghle, a community leader, told Roznama Inquilab: "If someone comes to rent property in our area, we ask him to get a police clearance certificate. Further background details about him and photographs of his family members are also submitted to the local police station." Local community leaders Ghulam Bhai, Moinuddin, Ibrahim Sheikh and Zakir Chaudhri added that foreigners cannot rent property in the area.

According to the report, a number of local mosques and madrassas have joined the social combing movement, including Al-Shamsh Jama Masjid Mira Road, Azizia Madrassa and Masjid, Naupur Masjid, Ghazala Masjid, Taiba Masjid, Haideri Masjid, Poonam Complex Masjid, Teenwala Masjid, Ahle Hadith Masjid, Aangan Masjid, Gulistan Masjid, Madrassa Hidyatul Islam, etc. The mosques have agreed to take preventive measures against terrorism.

According to the report, Maulana Mansoor Ahmad Bastwi, the Imam of Al-Shams Jama Masjid, noted: "[We] are aware of the situation. In such a situation, it is the responsibility of all of us to keep an eye [watching] our neighborhood." Maulana Bastwi added that local residents should voluntarily report any suspicious activity or threat to the country’s security to the mosque imams, to the police or other community leaders in the area.

Endntotes:

[1] The Hindu (India), July 28, 2008.

[2] MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 1959, ‘’Indian Clerics’ Conference Issues World’s First Anti-Terror Fatwa,’’ Indian Clerics Conference Issues World's First Anti-Terror Fatwa

[3] Roznama Inquilab (India), August 25, 2008.

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