clashes continue at baitul Mukarram for third Friday

Dhaka, Jan 23 (bdnews24.com) – Hundreds of devotees clashed in the national mosque, Baitul Mukarram, prior to Juma prayers for a third consecutive Friday since the newly-appointed Khatib took charge. A number of people sustained injuries during two bouts of clashes in and outside of the sprawling mosque compound between the supporters and the opponents of Khatib Maulana Mohammed Salahuddin Ahmed. As the Khatib entered the mosque, a group of devotees shouted slogans against him. The Khatib's supporters attempted to stop them, kicking off the first phase of the scuffles around 1pm, witnesses said. When Salauddin was addressed the devotees before beginning his sermon, his opponents once again protested and began shouting. Witnesses said the supporters of the Khatib tried to quell the opponents, triggering the second phase of the chaos including fistfights and shoes-hurling. In the five-minute clash, the Khatib's supporters chased his opponents out of the mosque. Plainclothesmen who had taken position inside the mosque played the main role in driving the opponents out, a source inside the police said, requesting anonymity. The dissenters regrouped at the north gate of the mosque and offered prayers led by Hafez Maulana Mufti Abdullah on the Comrade Moni Singh Road. The dissenters, mostly students and teachers of Kaomi madrasa, shouted slogans against the Khatib. Deputy police commissioner of Motijheel zone Mazharul Islam acknowledged the clash. Asked whether the law-enforcement agencies would take measures to prevent a repeat of such incident every Friday, he said the mosque is a sensitive place. He said the police had little to do when the devotees create chaos. However, officer-in-charge of Paltan Police Station Md Farid Ahmed denied any untoward incident in or outside the mosque. "I was not inside the mosque, but I didn't hear of any chaos there. But a few devotees took part in a procession on the street carrying shoes," Farid said. Witnesses said general people also took part in the chase driving the Khatib's opponents out of the mosque. "Every Friday when I come to say my prayers, these people create chaos in the mosque. It is not our headache who is the Khatib. So I took part in chasing the trouble-mongers out," Arif, who gave only one name, told bdnews24.com. Salahuddin, the Khatib, told bdnews24com on Friday night, "I had said immediately after my appointment that I would move to stop political activities in the mosque being a sacred place. "Those who perpetrate these sort of mosque-based acitivities are opposing me." The government appointed Salahuddin, former principal of Madrasa-i-Aliah, Dhaka, who had been the Khatib of Gausul Azam Mosque at Mohakhali, in Jan. 2009 amid howls of protests by a section. The national mosque has been witnessing clashes between the Khatib's supporters and opponents since.