Hyderabad: For the longest time in the city, anytime Muslim youth came onto the streets, it would be backed by the All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) majorly. It was not surprising given that the AIMIM and its president Asauddin Owaisi are popular among youngsters, especially men. However, over the last few years that seems to have changed over the last few years now.
With social media democratising access to amplify one’s voice, new faces have emerged to change the game entirely. A good example of this were the recent protests against suspended BJP Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh for passing derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad in August. He is currently in jail after being detained under the Preventive Detention Act by the Hyderabad police.
After he posted the video of him passing the derogatory remarks on August 22 on YouTube, many Muslim youth had immediately mobilised outside the Hyderabad police commissioner’s office the same night. In fact, no political organisation was behind it, and young men came out on a call given by some Muslim social media influencers from Hyderabad.
The young Muslim leaders and social workers, who managed to get people onto the street are mostly devoid of any political affiliation in Hyderabad or Telangana. In fact, over the next few days as protests continued against Raja Singh until his arrest on August 26, many Muslim youth who had participated had come out on the call from the new age social media voices.
New voices emerge
This new trend of local social worker’s leading protests, which otherwise was the domain of political parties (or affiliates) earlier has surprised many. Thanks to the social media platforms, Muslim youth are forming groups on Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp and other platforms to announce, plan and organize protest Hyderabad. This was also seen during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and anti-National Register of Citizens (NRC) protests in 2019-20.
Hyderabad Youth Courage is one of the social groups which organised protests in the past. Three of its members were taken in preventive custody and detained for three days by the Hyderabad police for organising a protest against Raja Singh in August. The protest call outside the Hyderabad police commissioner’s office On August 22-23 attracted Muslim youngsters from all over the city.
Their protest over remarks against Raja Singh, and against suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma at Mehdipatnam’s Azizia Masjid earlier in June are recent instances of such mobilisation. HYC’s social initiatives include helping people in self-employment, medical treatment of poor families, marriages of girls and others in Hyderabad.
Mohd Salman from HYC has time and again said their group is not affiliated or linked to any political party. The organisation has maintained that it wants to bring a change in the ‘system’ by roping in Muslim in Hyderabad.
Abdahu Kashaf, now detained at Central Prison Chanchalguda under the Preventive Detention Act, was instrumental in leading a flash protest in front of the Hyderabad Police Commissioner office at Basheerbagh over Raja Singh’s protest.
New leaders emerge from Anti-CAA and anti-NRC protests
Having previously worked with the AIMIM’s social media team, he was earlier involved in anti-CAA and anti-NRC protests in Hyderabad. Due to issues cropping up while working with the AIMIM, he started working as a social activist. In fact, many new Muslim faces of social movements came up during
During the anti-CAA and anti-NRC protests in 2019-20, several youngsters from across different religions and communities came onto a common platform to protest. The biggest demonstration was the ‘Million March’ by the Tehreek Muslim Shabban, which formed a Joint Action Committee.
Except during the program, there were no politicians involved in the gathering, which was in lakhs. Social media platforms helped in spreading the message and drawing huge crowds in Hyderabad. On its part police registered cases against the organisers. The interesting part to note is that in a protest led by Muslims, the AIMIM was missing and not part of it.
In fact, political analysts believe that the huge gathering had alarm bells ringing in the AIMIM camp, which later organized a protest program from Mir Alam Eidgah to Shastripuram against the /NRC as well. The rally too attracted huge crowds, but the ‘Million March’ drawing lakhs without political mobilisation was a watershed moment in Hyderabad.
“It was truly a spectacle then that unfolded. Until the ‘Million March’ I had not seen a mass Muslim protest by any other organisation other than the AIMIM in Hyderabad. That definitely scared them. In fact, even during the recent protests against Raja Singh, Alauddin Owaisi and his MLAs barely were able to influence the youth who had begun protesting initially,” said a political analyst who did no want to be named.
The overall political situation, coupled with anti-minority hate-crime like lynchings in India by right-wing Hindutva elements, had led to a lot of political frustration among young Muslim men, added the analyst.
Khalida Parveen from Hyderabad, is also another new face that has emerged after the anti-CAA protests. An active social worker, her calls for peaceful protests against injustice and other issues began gaining momentum over the last few years in Hyderabad.
During the protests against the CAA and NRC in Hyderabad, Muslim youngsters also started the trend of ’night vigil or protest’ with protests organized at key junctions or points in the Hyderabad at night. The same trend continued during protests against Raja Singh protest .
Social media has also however created other things as well. Those who want more followers or fame, do their best to attract attention. A small-time social worker, Mohd Imran alias Caller Imran is one such example. After calling legislators or others who are known, he posts the audio conversation online for his followers to listen.
His ‘calls’ give jitters to public representatives and others. “I question their response to public or community issues and post the conversation audio on social media.I was attacked by local party workers and cases booked. I questioned rightwing leaders and was attacked by them also recently at Jummerath Bazaar,” Imran told Siasat.com
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