Journalism of Courage
Two days after announcing that he will leave the mosque, and Asansol itself, if there is any retaliation to the killing of his son, Imdadulla Rashidi, a popular imam of Noorani Mosque in the city’s Chetladanga Nadi Par area, on Saturday asked followers to ignore rumours and start a campaign against false news spreading alarm.
“I am just doing my duty as an imam. Before every prayer, I talk to the people (and) I asked them to start a campaign against rumours. I told them not to pay heed to rumours,” Rashidi told The Indian Express.
“I told everyone — if you cannot see it or verify it, consider the rumour false,” Rashidi said, sitting in a second-floor room in Noorani Mosque and surrounded by a large number of local people — both elderly and young. “There are so many baseless rumours — this has happened, that has happened, this area attacked, that house burnt…. Such false words spread tension at a time when things are slowly getting back to normal here.”
Through Friday and Saturday, tens of common people kept visiting Rashidi, some to pay respect and share their condolences, others to congratulate him on his stand after the riots.
Rashidi’s son Sibtulla, 16, who had written Class X Board examinations this year, was reported missing after the communal clashes in Rail Par area of Asansol on Tuesday afternoon. His body was recovered late Wednesday night and identified on Thursday. He is suspected to have been beaten to death.
On Saturday, police officers said that they have detained several people in connection with Sibtulla’s death and are interrogating them. “Several people have been arrested in the rioting cases, too,” a senior officer said. “We are also looking into whether some of those already arrested had a hand in this case (the teen’s death) as well.”
Soon after his son’s burial on Thursday, Rashidi had addressed a congregation of nearly 30,000 people and said, “I want peace. My boy has been taken away. I do not want any more families to lose their loved ones. I do not want any more houses to burn…. I will leave Asansol if there is any kind of retaliation. If you love me, you will not raise a finger.”
