55YROLD TAXI OWNER HELD FOR DESECRATING CROSSES IN GOA
low as ₹500 with free meals and boarding.
Khareji madrasas also came under police scrutiny after one of them was used for imparting arms training to alleged perpetrators of the 2014 blast in Burdwan district that left two people dead. A probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) led to the unearthing of a flourishing ‘jihadi’ network run by Jamaatul-Mujahideen Bangladesh in West Bengal’s four districts.
Calls for renewed scrutiny have once again grown, following the Basirhat violence. “We have been long demanding modernisation of madrasa education system. These madrasas are vulnerable to fundamentalist and jihadi infiltration that can disturb the social fabric,” said Biplab Pal, a spokesperson of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
While some are demanding modernisation, others want the khareji madrasas closed down. “These unregulated madrasas should be closed. Many that operate near the India-Bangladesh border are used as centres of jihadi indoctrination,” alleged Sachin Sinha, Kolkata secretary of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).
In 2002, then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had voiced similar concerns. But government critics say successive administrations have been reluctant to order a crackdown as it may be seen as an affront by Muslims who account for 27% of the state’s population.
But not everyone agrees that unregulated madrasas are rotten. “They provide basic education to Muslim children from poor families. The students get education in religion and are able to pursue religious career,” insisted Jamat e Ulema e Hind leader-turned-ruling TMC minister Siddiqulah Chowdhury.
A day after a cross was desecrated in south Goa, a 55-yearold taxi owner named Francis Pereira from Kudchade village in Curchorem was nabbed by the police for carrying out the act.
Pereira was caught desecrating the cross near Macazana at around 3am. His tools were recovered from his Maruti Van that he used as a taxi during the day.
After being arrested, Pereira reportedly told the cops that he carried out the act to release the souls trapped in the graves.
His house was also raided by the police, where more evidence of his involvement was recovered.
“He has confessed that he was doing this since the past five years. He said he believed that the spirits trapped in the graves and statues became devils who helped politicians and hence, he destroyed them,” said a senior police official.
Meanwhile, Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral has declared a reward of ₹50,000 for the police team led by inspector Ravi Desai that nabbed the culprit.
Pereira’s arrest brings to an end a series of desecrations in south Goa.
Chief minister Manohar Parrikar had announced that the cyber cell and the ATS would investigate the case.
On Friday, Vijay Sardesai of Goa Forward Party had said the culprit should be put behind bars as the attack on the community was against the principles on which he had made an alliance with the government.