SakeenaSuliman – Cii News | 20 January 2014/18 Rabi ulAwwal 1435
Five musallees (masjid attendendees) were arrested and several others
“man handled” after about 15 to 20 Metro Police officers stormed Durban’s May
Street Masjid during Friday (Jumuah) prayers on January 17.
Two metro police traffic officers – who had been ticketing cars in the
area – requested back up to arrest one musallee who managed to “escape” into
the masjid after they allegedly assaulted him and attempted to arrest him.
Shameer, the man only wished to be identified by his first name, said he
approached the officers when he noticed them ticketing cars that were double
parked. He tried explaining to one of the officers that it was common for them
to double park on Fridays because of the lack of parking especially due to an
illegal taxi rank in the area
“… He verbally abused me and said ‘just go away and don’t tell me what
to do’ so I said to him that if he’s ticketing all these cars then he has to
ticket the taxis also.”
Shaffie Osman who was walking to the masjid noticed the police officer
and Shameer arguing. “When the argument broke out the cop grabbed him by the
throat and shoved him back. The man lifted his hand to prevent the choke when
the female cop came in and started accusing him of assaulting the police
officer.”
Shameer said he noticed they were not wearing badges and they refused to
give him their badge numbers. “There were a few musallees standing outside the
masjid and when they saw this commotion they all came towards us and they said
to him that you can’t do this. The female police officer intervened and it
became a bit of a scuffle where she started getting violent also, raising her
voice and verbally abusing us.”
The group of musallees managed to get the man into the masjid. According
to several people who spoke to Cii Radio, the officers could be heard swearing
and shouting outside the masjid, wanting to enter the prayer hall with their
shoes. Anyone entering the prayer hall is obligated to enter without shoes.
But the already “rough” situation only proceeded to get worse once
backup had arrived explained Durban attorney, Imraan Shah who witnessed the incident
and attempted to “subdue the situation”. Shah told Cii Radio that he explained
– to no avail – to the officers that once the prayer was complete they could
arrest the man.
“Salaah had commenced and being one of the last persons to enter the
masjid I had to read salaah in the wash area. There was another brother who
stood along side me, he was also a late comer that was listening to the
conversation that I had with the police officers. While we were in our second
rakaah we heard the sirens bellowing and it was a clear indication that the
back up had arrived and within seconds the brother that was standing beside me
was grabbed and hauled out of the masjid and there were at least six policemen
that tried to get into the main prayer area and it got to a stage where there
were just too many people and they could go no further,” said Shah.
Once the prayer was over Shah says he stepped out and tried to calm the
situation but was “shoved violently from side to side”. The officers had formed
a man made chain to cordon off the foyer area.
“… As though they had some kind of terrorist that was going to come out
of this masjid, it was so tight. They shoved people around, they pushed people
around until they reached the circumference of the cordon and exited… As far as
I’m aware every single police officer that was present did not have an identity
tag. And each of the officers that were requested for their names refused to
divulge their names.”
Many musallees had removed their phones to switch them on after the
prayer and some began taking pictures and recording the incident. This sparked
the arrests, including Shah’s 20 year old son.
“The very first person they arrested was an elderly man, if I’m not
mistaken he is a cardiac patient, he was violently shoved around, cuffed and
there were some musallees who went to his assistance and they were also handled
by these policemen. It was like thuggery [sic] that was taking place. The more
people that tried to take video footage the more of them they arrested. In fact
they were treated like criminals.”
They were all released shortly after their video footage was deleted and
they had signed “some kind of warning”. “We had one brother that was quite
severely assaulted and he was in turn charged for assault and a docket was
opened for that however, the person responsible in making the decision as to
whether that docket should be registered or not refused to do it because there
was absolutely no merit in it.”
Durban’s Metro Police Department’s (DMPD) spokesman, Eugene Mosmi says,
“… the matter is currently under investigation. A senior officer is in charge
of this and should advise in due course. Metro Police strongly discourages
ill-discipline within its ranks, where found, strong action shall be taken
against those involved.”
The incident comes at a time when racial tensions between the Indian and
majority black community are brewing in the region. During the same week news
of the anti-Indian group, the Mazibuye African Forum, calling for the ban on
Indians from the state tender process and from benefiting through black
empowerment, made headlines.
The DMPD has also recently come under the spotlight for being a
“shambles”. In November last year SA Metropolitan Workers Union secretary
general, Jaycee Ncanana was reported saying the department needed to be
“overhauled”.
“What we need to address is respect, respect of human beings, respect of
religion, the unnecessary abuse by Durban Metro Police, in certain instances
it’s this bully boy thuggery [sic] taking place and what I have seen and it
appears as though intimidation is taking place. We’ve got elections coming up
it very well might be some kind of a destabilisation process as well,” said
Shah.
