Slipper patterns raise dust

Restiveness grew in the local Muslim community over the alleged sacrilege as the word spread in the city a few days ago. Checking squads sprang up in areas dominated by Muslims. Passers-by using the offending slippers were immediately asked to change them.

Most had no choice but to concede and hundreds of pairs were cut into two, to be thrown into the river or on garbage dumps.

Footwear dealers and stockists withdrew stocks with the offending design for fear of attack on outlets. The fears were confounded by leaflets pasted at prominent places, cautioning the faithful against buying or using the slippers. No one is sure who printed the leaflets andhad them pasted.

Apprehending trouble, leading members of the community and clerics held a meeting on Tuesday to take a stand on the issue before it went out of hand. They decided to warn the shoe company, a Karnal-based manufacturer, and Naaz, a Delhi-based company, to alter their sole design, failing which legal action could be taken.

8220;If it is done deliberately, then it deserves to be condemned strongly. If it is by mistake, the mistake has to be rectified swiftly and the existing stocks withdrawn by the manufacturers immediately,8221; said Mufti Abdul Qayyum, who took part in the meeting. He made it clear that the Muslim clergy did not want to create sensation and excitement, but prevent the minority community8217;s feelings from being hurt. Rafiqbhai, a footwear seller said the fake brand was selling at around Rs 35, with a little improved version at Rs 75, while the original one, produced by the company was sold at Rs 150.

8220;But all shopkeepers have withdrawn the stocks and the dealers and stockistshave replaced these stocks with other products,8221; he said. Mushtaqbhai, a trader, sees an international conspiracy to distort Islam. Yet, he does not agree with the idea of checking squads taking over the roads and harassing the people.

But even as opponents to the design are in the majority, opinion is divided, as is evident from what Mufti Shabbir Alam Siddiqui of Jama Masjid here said: 8220;I have seen the design and found nothing objectionable in it. Some people want to stretch things8230; the word Allah8217; cannot be read in the design as the final letter H is not joined, which is necessary to make it a complete word.8221;

He feels that instead of getting worked up and raising a big hue and cry, the community leaders should simply ask the company to alter its design. But others do not agree with him. According to Mufti Qayyum, Arabic is a language which has numerous styles in calligraphy and this design does contain the word Allah in one of the styles not well-known in India.

8220;It is not an anti-Muslim lobbybut an anti-Islam lobby which seems to be testing the level of awakening among Muslims, but it should know that there can be no compromise on things like this,8221; he said.

Liberty stockist for Gujarat Sunil Somani said he was not aware of the controversy about his product. 8220;I do not think there is any controversy after our product has been cleared by the Imam of Jama Masjid,8221; Somani said.