Muzaffarnagar resumes life after WAQF Bill protests, reopens protests, noting 300-year-old black band

Maulana Shibli showed him notices about the black band protests. |Photo source: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

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A creepy calm prevails in the surrounding area of ​​Sarwat village in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, where authorities issued notices to at least 300 people and asked them to wear bonds in black armbands during Friday prayers in protest against the WAQF (WAQF (Aments) Act).

Lok Sabha passed the bill on Thursday, and the parliament cleared the bill after nearly 14 hours of debate in Rajya Sabha on Friday (April 4).

Continuous surveillance

In Muzaffarnagar, the shops are open and people have returned to work, even as they are concerned about the constant surveillance of police officers in Friday prayers. Founded in 1633 near Sarwat, most people in the Muslim area operate small businesses such as clinics, restaurants, tea stalls or sanitary shops.

Residents wore black armbands during Friday’s prayers in protest of the bill, a move prompting police to act. By the next day, 24 people were issued a notice asking them to provide Rs 2 lakh after appearing in court on April 16.

“Symbol and Peace”

Sitting on the charpoy of his light-filled one-bedroom house, responsible for managing the Ayesha Mosque and making a living medicine, he said it should be a “symbol and peaceful” protest.

“Everyone here plans to wear a black band on their arms and we are strictly told not to raise our voice or yell slogans. Even if the police are around, no one stops us.”

City Magistrate Vikas Kashyap issued a notice based on a police report. Police also said more people are being discovered.

One of the notices, named Five, read: “At the above mentioned opponents can disturb peace by inciting the public and sending wrong messages.”

Fakruddin, 55, returns to his scrap business. Sitting outside his shop, the father of five thought objections were no longer a Muslim topic.

“I just wore a black shirt for Namaz that day and sent a notice and we were told that we were disturbing the peace nearby as we quietly went to the mosque, prayed for five minutes and returned home.”

“Where does it end?”

“This is our democracy and we should have the right to speak out and be able to have a space… Whenever a person in the Muslim community speaks, they are either thrown into jail or do bulldozer operations, and now we are asked to provide bonds…where is it over?” he said.