Muslims slam Bukhari's comments

Delhi’s Jamia Masjid chief cleric Syed Ahmed Bukhari has drawn flak from community leaders for asking Muslims to stay away from Anna Hazare’s movement. Bukhari described Anna’s slogans as “anti-Islam” and accused him of working at Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and BJP’s behest a day earlier. All India Ulema Council general secretary Maulana Mehmood Daryabadi described Bukhari’s appeal as his “personal view’’. He sarcastically described Bukhari as a royal imam of a mosque that an emperor had built and implied that he did not reflect a common Muslim’s view. Bukhari did not find many supporters even outside Delhi’s Jama Masjid. Hawker Mohammad Irfan said he supports Anna whole heartedly. “At least someone is standing up for the country,” he said. But another hawker Mohammad Rehman dismissed Anna’s movement as a drama. “He wants BJP to rule.” In Mumbai, Muslim NGO representatives and clerics said they would take out a rally from Crawford Market to Azad Maidan on Tuesday. The Maharashtra Urdu Writer’s Guild too condemned Bukhari for his “misleading statement.” It said Vande Matram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai slogans are ways of expressing love for the country. “Muslims may not worship the motherland but their love for it is second to none. Bukhari is needlessly communalizing the movement against corruption,” said Guild president Salam Bin Razzak.