'If you strike back I'll leave'

The imam of a mosque in West Bengal's Asansol town has appealed for peace and restraint hours after his 16-year-old son was found dead following the violence that started in the industrial town and other areas in the state after the Ram Navami celebrations last Sunday.

The body of Maulana Imdadul Rashidi's son, Sibtulla Rashidi, was found on Wednesday after he went missing following a clash on Tuesday in Asansol's Railpar area.

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Sibtulla was the younger of the two sons of Rashidi, who has been performing the duties of the imam at Noorani Mosque for about 30 years.

Rashidi made an impassioned plea to the people gathered at the Idgah Maidan where his son was buried on Thursday.

“My son has died, but I don't want anyone else to lose his child. If you strike back, I shall leave this town,” the imam told the crowd.

“I only want peace to return here. I have made the same request to the people who gathered on Thursday,” he repeated his request on Friday.

Local officials and senior leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress said Rashidi's comments will help the administration in restoring peace and normalcy in the area but questioned the circumstances surrounding his son's death.

“It is not yet clear to the administration whether the son of the imam was killed or he died due to some other reason. But we do recognise his exemplary gesture in maintaining peace in the region,” Tapas Banerjee, Trinamool Congress MLA of Asansol South, said on Friday morning.

“If he could utter those words in such a state of shock, disobeying him would amount to dishonouring him,” Prabal Roy Chowdhury, the sub-divisional officer of Asansol, said.

Former Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Kabir Suman lauded the cleric and said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should not only organise a public function to honour him, but also recommend the Bharat Ratna for him.

“Mamata Banerjee, why aren't you saying it out loud that Bharat Ratna should be bestowed on this imam… We should all go and touch his feet,” Suman said in his Facebook post.

The industrial towns of Raniganj and Asansol hit the headlines after clashes between Hindus and Muslims erupted in West Bengal since Ram Navami, the birthday of god Rama, celebrations on March 25.

A man was killed and several injured after Ram Navami procession allegedly tried to enter a Muslim-dominated locality in Raniganj on March 25. Three others also lost their lives in related incidents across North 24 Parganas and Purulia districts around that time.

There have been no further incidents of violence over the past two days as the state government ensured heavy police presence in the affected areas and suspended internet services.