An uneasy calm grips Muslim areas of the city, especially in south Mumbai, even as the leaders of the two warring schools of thought in the majority Sunni sect have thrashed out a temporary truce. The leaders from both sides met here about a week ago and issued a joint appeal for peace.

 Days have passed since two brothers were done to death by some irate Barelvis after they emerged from the Jama Masjid in Umerkhadi having attended a congregation of the Deobandi-backed Tableeghi Jamat.

 The local Barelvi leader, Maulana Abdul Quddoos Kashmiri, however, likes to tread a cautious path. "Some external forces are trying to divide Muslims here", he alleges. "They could be Jews, the United States or even the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but who knows ... ", he says evasively. According to him, although the Barelvi-Deobandi differences are decades old, the recent skirmishes between the followers of the two rival schools of thought were triggered after the Shiv Sena openly supported the Tableeghis to organise their religious congregation (Ijtema) at Bandra late last year. Mr. Bal Thackeray and Mr. Sabir Sheikh, extended them active help," claims Maulana Kashmiri ...

"It is surprising that the Shiv Sena, which claims to be against anti-national Muslims, should support such India-haters as Deobandis," says Mr. Noorie.

Maulana Kashmiri, the milder among the Barelvi leaders, stresses that amity is the need of the hour. "We want a peaceful settlement to the raging imbroglio, " he says, claiming that some prominent leaders from both the sides, including him, had met in the city about a week ago to thrash out a truce ...