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AP may ban Deendar Anjuman

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

The Andhra Pradesh government is contemplating a ban on Deendar Anjuman, a Muslim religious organisation it says is responsible for carrying out a series of blasts in churches across the state.

Indicating this at a news conference here on Monday evening, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that the government is examining the proposal. He also said that all cases related to the blasts would be entrusted to a special court for trial.

The chief minister said Deendar Anjuman is a small sect which was founded in 1924 by Hazrat Moulana Siddique. The Moulana was an eye doctor in Hyderabad-Karnataka region, he said.

Siddique was given five acres of land by the erstwhile Nizam at Asifnagar in Hyderabad where he settled down as chief of the sect and was later buried there.

His followers referred to him as Jagatguru Sarver-e-Alam Deendar Channa Basveshwar Saheb Qibla.

After the Partition, Siddique's sons migrated to Pakistan. One of his sons, Ziaul Hasan, now heads the sect. He stays in Mardan in Pakistan.

Ziaul Hasan visits Hyderabad regularly when the urs of his father is observed.

Members of the sect also visit Mardan in Pakistan to seek the blessings of their spiritual leader.

Naidu pointed out that in the last several years, several members of the Deendar Anjuman visited Pakistan to meet their spiritual leader. During these visits, they were reportedly trained in militant activities.

Police investigations revealed that at a recent conclave in Asifnagar, Ziaul Hasan and his son Zahed Pasha held a closed-door meeting with some important members of the sect. Syed Iqbal, one of the main accused in the bomb blasts, attended this meeting.

Replying to a question, Naidu said that the police were yet to establish any direct links between Deendar Anjuman and the ISI of Pakistan.

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