Dont attend Iftar hosted by political parties: APMAC

All Pune Masjid Action Committee has called upon Muslims in the city to boycott the Iftar parties organised by political parties.

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All Pune Masjid Action Committee (APMAC) has called upon Muslims in the city to boycott the Iftar parties organised by political parties and the administration,in a bid to express the discontent of the community over the handling of the Haji Makkeshah Masjid issue by the state government and the city police.

The Masjid Action Committee had held a protest on July 29 demanding reconstruction of the Makkeshah Mosque which was destroyed in the 1962 flood. Various Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders,including city mayor Mohansingh Rajpal and Abhay Chhajed had attended the meeting and promised that they would follow up the issue with the chief minister and the urban development department.

Nothing has happened after that. The Congress and the NCP tried to turn this into a political issue. We strongly oppose this, said Jahid Shaikh,president of APMAC.

As the municipal elections in the city are around the corner,various political parties will try to appease the community by organising Iftar parties and Eid milan fuctions. While they are turning a blind eye to our rightful and legal demands,these gathering are nothing but a farce. APMAC,on behalf of the community in the city,decided to boycott such gatherings to register protest. Along with political parties,Iftar parties organised by the Pune Police would also be boycotted as we consider that police in the city are directly responsible for bringing the stay order on the construction of the Makkeshah Mosque though high court had granted the permission, said Shaikh.

This is not a communal issue. We are demanding our constitutional right to worship. This is a fight against the ‘pseudo-secular’ state government which outwardly shows that it cares for the community but doesn’t want to solve this issue, he said.

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