hyderabad a convention to boost the morale of muslim youth who were wrongly implicated in the mecca masjid blast case will be held in the city on january 13 national leaders including mani shankar iyer lalu prasad sitaram yechury and d raja will participate in the convention which will focus on the need to protect the rights of muslim youth who were accused of being terror suspects and illegally detained by police a helpline will also be set up for the benefit of victims of police harassment the decision to hold the meet has come at a time when the role of rightwing fundamentalist groups in orchestrating the 2007 blasts have become apparent the convention is being held by an umbrella organisation peoples campaign against politics of terror comprising of social activists civil society groups and politicians the convention was announced at a media meet held in the city on thursday former parliamentarian syed azeez pasha said the convention will be held at imperial gardens in chaderghat police picked up more than 100 muslim boys in the mecca masjid blasts case and branded them as terrorists many were tortured and their careers and lives destroyed pasha said while pointing out that there were more than 500 communal clashes recorded in the country till september 2012 speakers said that in the convention victims and legal counsels will narrate accounts of their arrests and their time in police custody along with chronology of proceedings of various courts in which they were tried social activists adil mohammed and major sgm quadri noted that the helpline would provide counselling to victims so that their rehabilitation becomes easier for instance ibrahim ali junaid and abdul kaleem were falsely implicated in the mecca masjid blast case but later freed by courts another victim who was a promising jewellery salesman was rendered jobless and is now a fruit vendor observed quadri they demanded that the home ministry develop monitoring mechanisms which would direct security forces carry out an impartial investigation of terror cases and resolved to include the security for muslims on par with that provided to the scs and sts on their agenda they noted that acts like uapa were being misused just like pota before its repeal in 2004 ngos have been working at the grassroots level in various neighbourhoods such as sultan shahi and kurmaguda which witnessed communal clashes earlier this year while sensitising residents against violence speakers said around 10000 flyers in the old city have been distributed to create awareness of the conference among residents around 100 people were picked up and subsequently detained in connection with the mecca masjid blasts out of the 30 who were tried in courts and at least 22 have been acquitted