Main organiser of August 11 rally arrested

who is raza, what he did

A Bihar native, Raza has lived in Kurla all his life doing sundry jobs. A few years ago, he completed a correspondence course from Hyderabad-based Maulana Azad University and moved to the UK after clearing International English Language Testing System Certificate. He moved to UK as a preacher. On returning from UK in 2011, he started a madrasa out of a rented shanty in Kurla.

Raza has told the police that he was approached by a friend and a scrap dealer, Rizwan Khan, to organise a community protest at Azad Maidan. NGOs and mosques showed support once the news spread. In an interview to this paper, he maintained that he was unaware of the background of the rioters, but admitted delay in updating the police on the crowd estimate. Raza in his application to Azad Maidan police station cited that the idea of the foundation was to "create awareness" of matters that affect the community.

The only purchases he made after he got police permission were mini-amplifiers and a mike. It was only when he started getting calls from mosques and NGOs that he went for speakers.

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