Abu Sham Azmi (24)

On visit from Sharjah, accountant boarded Ulema Express

• An accountant in a construction firm in Sharjah, UAE, Abu Sham Azmi (24) came to Azamgarh for a visit a week ago. He says that he faced all sorts of difficulties at Mumbai airport, where he was “grilled” by the cops, who he claims singled him out because of the Azamgarh address on his passport.

“When I reached my village in Azamgarh, I heard about this rally and I knew I had to come. What is happening in India is unacceptable. We as a Muslim community and as people belonging to Azamgarh are being targeted and it really has to stop,” says Azmi, who has a BCom degree from Jyoti Niketan College in Azamgarh.

Azmi has been working in Sharjah for over a year and says he has never faced any harassment there. “When I heard my fellow students complaining that MNCs in India had kicked them out, I was shocked. How can a thing like this happen in this country? We need to make ourselves heard, because such a thing cannot take place in a civilised society,” Azmi says.

Mohammed Arif (14)

‘Atif was my neighbour, couldn’t have been Batla House mastermind’

• Mohammed Arif (14) is a Standard VIII student. He also works as a part-time undertaker

in a cemetery near his village. He says that he came to the Capital with the group in order to protect his future.

... contd.