Malegaon, the city synonymous with communal conflicts and everything that is wrong with the Muslim community, has given an admirable account of keeping peace under what has been termed by many as a grave provocation.

"Many people seemed to have branded us rabble-rousers. Things could have gone the same way this time also. But I believe that the youth were moved yesterday by the call of Mufti Ismail's call for the community to introspect and not play into the hands of mischief makers," says 26-year-old Mohammed Mustafa, a lab technician at the city's ATT High School.

Mufti Ismail is the head of the Malegaon chapter of Jamiat Uluama-e-Hind, a socio-religious organisation, with more than 8,000 dedicated members here alone.

In a town famed for its pitched political battles between Malegaon's patriarchal politician Nihal Ahmed and incumbent Congress MLA Rashid Shaikh, the Jamiiat Uluma-E-Hind seems to have filled the leadership vaccum that has been created in Malegaon. "The Muslim youth of this city are fed up with the politics that is played under the name of the community. Look at what these politicians have done, there are no jobs in the city, an almost negligible infrastructure. People don't like to return to this city again. The youth are despondent and the only source to vent their ire is when such events happen and they get a chance to attack authority," says 30-year-old Irfan Ahmed who runs a fabrication business.

Many like Ahmed say it is the Jamiat, which is providing people spiritual as well as material direction in life. Many see the Jamiat as a lobbying force in bringing a civil hospital to this town of seven lakh people. The Jamiat is also seem to be lobbying hard with the present authority for setting up a textile park in the city.

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