Thousands of Muslims here on Mar. 3 staged demonstration against a law introduced
by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government in IndiaÕs
     largest populated state of Utter Pradesh (UP), aimed at to prevent construction of
mosques and madrassas.The UP Regulation of Public Religious Buildings and
Places Bill, passed by the state legislature on January 6, has made the official
permissionmandatory for the construction of religious places. Around one lakh
converged at Jamia Masjid and marched towards prime ministerÕs residence after on
Mar. 3 prayers.  Syed Ahmed Bukhari Naib Imam of Shahi Jama Masjid in
New Delhi addressed the On Mar. 3 gathering. All roads within a three-kilometer
radius of the mosque were jammed with tens of thousands of Muslims, shouting
anti-government slogans. ÒThe constitution grants every Indian not only religious
freedom but also freedom to preach and propagate his religion,Ó said Bukhari.
ÒBut this bill attempts to kill this freedom ...We demand its immediate withdrawal.Ó
Earlier in the day, prominent Muslim leaders submitted a memorandum to
President K.R Narayanan, asking him to withhold his assent to the controversial bill.

     The delegation led by former MP and vice-president of All India Muslim
Majlis-e-Mushawarat Syed Sahabuddin and including former union minister
Saifuddin Soz, former cabinet secretary Zafar Saifullah and scores of former
senior bureaucrats and politicians said that the law constituted the
     most serious interference with freedom of conscience and of religions enshrined in the constitution. Muslim leaders, who petitioned President Narayanan apprehended that
the law would strangulate religious institutions. The Utter Pradesh houses world
famous Islamic seminaries like Darul-Uloom in Deoband, Nadwatul-Ulama in
Lucknow, Mazahirul Uloom, Saharanpur and Darul-Uloom founded
     by  Maulana Syed Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi in Bareli city. They said that the hasty
passage of the bill by the UP legislatures on 6 January, without any discussion and
by voice vote has antagonised the Muslims, who constitute 20 per cent of the stateÕs
population and 23 per cent of the total population of the country. The UP chief minister
Mr. Ram Prakash Gupta has publicly justified the bill by saying, that it was a measure
to curb the ÒISI activitiesÓ on the Indo-Nepal border.