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The 'Muslim fundamentalist' who was Hindu

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

A Hindu devotee, who visited the Guruvayoor Srikrishna temple in Kerala, found the cops and temple authorities hot on his heels.

His name, you see, sounded Muslim. And the entry of non-Hindus is strictly prohibited in the temple premises.

The man concerned is a student of the Kerala Agriculture University. Though bearing the name Jaleel, much in vogue among Muslims, the devotee is a Hindu. On a routine visit to the temple with his mother on December 6, the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, the trouble started when he lost his identity card.

A fellow devotee who found the card took one look at it and ran to the temple authorities, who immediately raised hell. The cops, posted in large number in the temple complex in connection with the sensitive day, were alerted.

The police were not prepared to take any chances. They proceeded to track down the youth, believing him to be a Muslim troublemaker who has sneaked in to create trouble.

Meanwhile, news spread like wild fire all over the neighbouring Thrissur, where last year's protests against Babri demolition had led to bomb blasts. Security was already tight in the entire district as it was identified as one of the trouble spots.

Soon several Hindu organisations gathered at the temple and took up positions to face any situation. A pro-BJP paper even put out the news with the banner headline 'Terrorist sneaks into Guruvayoor temple'.

Fortunately, the police traced the youth, who after some struggle, managed to establish his Hindu identity.

In another development, the Students Islamic Federation of India hoodwinked the police at Manjeri in Malappuram district and took a pledge to liberate the Babri Masjid. Defying the police ban on public meetings, the SIFI activists gathered at a mosque. All-India SIFI president, Kerala zone leaders and other Muslim leaders were present.

The Muslim outfit, known for its radical postures on religious matters, had held the meeting as part of an all-India campaign to press for the reconstruction of the Babri mosque. It asked Muslims to wage a relentless struggle to 'regain the Babri Masjid from the Sangh Parivar.'

For its part, the People's Democratic Party, led by Abdul Nassar Madani, arrested under the National Security Act in connection with the Coimbatore blasts, held a state-wide hartal. The strike, however, evoked only partial response.

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