Mamata intervenes, imam removes beacon
With chief minister Mamata Banerjee sending her emissary on Saturday, Noor-urRehman Barkati, the imam of Kolkata’s Tipu Sultan mosque, removed the red beacon from his car, only a day after he told the media that he will take it off only if the Prime Minister and cabinet colleagues got rid of their security cover.
According to a close aide of Barkati, urban development minister Firhad Hakim met him in the afternoon with a message from the chief minister, following which the imam quietly removed the beacon.
However, the imam faced mounting criticism from various sections including prominent Muslim bodies that staged agitation against him. Community leaders such as Qari Fazlur Rahman (who conducts the largest Eid prayer in Kolkata) and minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury were irked with the imam.
Though the imam removed the beacon, minister in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet, Siddiqullah Chowdhury, stuck to his agitation programme in front of the Tipu Sultan mosque in the evening.
Chowdhury’s opposition also made it quite clear that the chief minister Mamata Banerjee did not approve the way the imam’s reckless comments made on May 9 and May 12.
On May 9 Barkati, who loves to flaunt his proximity to the chief minister, told a TV channel that he is just not ready to remove red beacon – seen as a mark of authority and clout – and proceeded to attack both the Union government and judiciary.