January 18: Five persons were stabbed after clashes broke out between two sub-sects of the Muslim community, the Sunnis and the Ahle-Hadees, over the sighting of the Id moon.Members of one sect barged into and ransacked the office of the Roy'at-Hilal committee (sighting of the moon committee) at the Juma Masjid, Crawford market, at around 7 pm. Five persons were stabbed in the melee and subsequently admitted to GT hospital. Police reinforcements were called in to control the situation and senior police officials were recording their statements till late evening.
This is the first major incident of violence in the precients of Mumbai's most sacred mosque.
The dispute arose between both the sects when the members of the Ahle-Hadees at Bhiwandi sighted the ID moon on December 30 and began roza the following day. This was disputed by members of the Sunni community, who sighted the moon on December 31 and began their roza on New Year.
Meetings between both parties to resolve the issue failed as Maulana
Zahiruddin of Raza Academy representing the Sunnis refused to agree to a compromise formula decided earlier, under which the Sunnis would have observed an extra roza and brought about uniformity in observing Ramzan with the Ahle Hadees. At a meeting held today to discuss the issue in the Juma Masjid, tempers boiled over with members of both sects attacking each other.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
