Mohammed Muzahir, who works as an ‘Imam’ at Aksha Masjid mosque in Loni town of Ghaziabad, was let off by the Delhi Police on Saturday. He was detained on suspicion of having links with the banned outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammed.
“We were dubbed terrorists with AK-47s, bombs and links to terror outfits. This is not true. I always want to spread the message of aman and shanti (peace). This detention will dent my reputation. I don’t know if the society accept me,” he said.
An Imam in Loni for the past four years, Muzahir earns Rs 8,000. “I also teach 90 boys and girls at the mosque. People don’t know that Muslims prefer to send nearly 80% of their children to school. Only the rest go to madrasas. My father has been an Imam at Saharanpur. He had to rush here when he heard that we (Mujahid and Mohammed Tahir, brothers) were picked up,” he said.
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He is hopeful that his brother Tahir, who has three children, will be freed soon.
{{/usCountry}}He is hopeful that his brother Tahir, who has three children, will be freed soon.
{{/usCountry}}“We were not allowed to sit, sleep or move as per our wish. The police kept us in groups of 3-4. We weren’t allowed to speak and made to sit in groups in different corners. But we weren’t tortured and got good food. Once the police cleared their doubts, they let me off, ” he said.
He says it would be difficult for him to gain social acceptance after the incident. Three of the four men, who were detained and let off on Saturday, hail from Delhi’s Chand Bagh colony, while Muzahir is from Ghaziabad.