In this city under scanner after the Mumbai blasts, the vigil continues. Policemen keep a wary eye as nervous citizens watch their backs. All the while, in practically every corner of every street in Aurangabad, there is someone talking about “the right way to lead a good life.”

And security agencies are listening in.

Across the city, hundreds of social organizations are busy with “character building of youth.” Nearly 4,000 new trusts have registered with the Charity Commissioner since 2001, a mix of women’s groups, educational societies, social groups.

The Majlis-e-Ishal-e-Islam is one such group. “We educate people on the teachings of the Koran,” says member Syed Akeel. “Basic religious teaching is imparted to students of Urdu schools—how they should lead their lives.”

Adds Abdul Hameed Khan of the Jamaat-E-Islami-Hind: “People have forgotten about their creator. They need to be reminded about it.”

Such talk may not have raised eyebrows elsewhere. But Aurangabad is a city that hosted the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) national convention in 1999. And with the banned SIMI being suspected of a hand in the Mumbai blasts, all these social groups are under the scanner. Investigators want to know if they are SIMI fronts.

“We have to keep track on some organizations to make sure that they are not fronts for banned organizations,” says ACP Sudhir Dabhade, in-charge of Aurangabad’s anti-terrorist cell. “One organization has been banned but there are so many others that are being formed. Very few do genuine work.”

Officials at the Charity Commissioner’s office say there’s no control over the activities of the groups that register with them. All that the commissionerate does is check if they submit audit reports and pay tax if they are earning more than Rs 25,000.

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