07-28-2008, 06:17 AM
<b>Muslim techies cry foul over terror network allegations</b>
Deepa Balakrishnan / CNN-IBN
Arrest of a few Muslims is leading to a bias against the community, says Sherif
Bangalore: In the past 10 years that he has lived in Bangalore, former chief technology officer of Sun Microsystems and current CEO of iCalibrator, K M Sherif has never been accused of being a terrorist.
Until two days ago, when a national daily suggested that Sherif heads a group of terror suspects under the banner of the Muslim IT Professionals Association (MITA). Naturally, Sherif is upset about the matter.
âThe report in the national daily is baseless and has no facts. It defamed me, the Muslim community and MITA. And I am not going to stand it any longer,â said Sherif, who is also the president of MITA.
Sherif has sued the newspaper and says the arrest of a few Muslims is leading to a bias against the entire community.
But Yahya Kammakutty, recently arrested by the city police, was a member of MITA, says an IB dossier. Yahya is a BTech from the National Institute of Technology and had worked for Tata Infotech and Wipro GE Healthcare.
So, now people associated with Yahya are under the scanner.
âThe arrest of Yahya by the Corps of Detectives has shown there's a network â a small one, we suppose â of people in the software industry who were networked among themselves and involved in unlawful activities,â Joint Commissioner (Crime), Gopal Hosur said.
Police though admit that it doesn't mean all of MITA's activities are suspects. In fact, their reports only mention seminars on personality development and entrepreneurship held by the group to uplift poorer people of their community.
Deepa Balakrishnan / CNN-IBN
Arrest of a few Muslims is leading to a bias against the community, says Sherif
Bangalore: In the past 10 years that he has lived in Bangalore, former chief technology officer of Sun Microsystems and current CEO of iCalibrator, K M Sherif has never been accused of being a terrorist.
Until two days ago, when a national daily suggested that Sherif heads a group of terror suspects under the banner of the Muslim IT Professionals Association (MITA). Naturally, Sherif is upset about the matter.
âThe report in the national daily is baseless and has no facts. It defamed me, the Muslim community and MITA. And I am not going to stand it any longer,â said Sherif, who is also the president of MITA.
Sherif has sued the newspaper and says the arrest of a few Muslims is leading to a bias against the entire community.
But Yahya Kammakutty, recently arrested by the city police, was a member of MITA, says an IB dossier. Yahya is a BTech from the National Institute of Technology and had worked for Tata Infotech and Wipro GE Healthcare.
So, now people associated with Yahya are under the scanner.
âThe arrest of Yahya by the Corps of Detectives has shown there's a network â a small one, we suppose â of people in the software industry who were networked among themselves and involved in unlawful activities,â Joint Commissioner (Crime), Gopal Hosur said.
Police though admit that it doesn't mean all of MITA's activities are suspects. In fact, their reports only mention seminars on personality development and entrepreneurship held by the group to uplift poorer people of their community.