Ajmer Dargah cleric arrested for calling for Nupur Sharma’s beheading

Nupur Sharma Image Courtesy: economictimes.indiatimes.com

India is still recovering from the shocking beheading of an Udaipur tailor by two Islamic hardliners, and now a cleric of a dargah in Ajmer has given yet another hateful call for violence! Khadim Salman Chishti has now offered his home to any person who beheads suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Chishti made this offer in a video that went viral on social media.Police have arrested the cleric.

“You have to give a reply to all Muslim countries. I am saying this from Ajmer, Rajasthan and this message is from Huzur Khwaja Baba ka Darbar,” said Chishti in the video, referring to the renowned Sufi shrine. It is noteworthy though that the shrine has a rich and proud history of welcoming people of all faiths. In fact, the office of the Ajmer Dargah Dewan, Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, rejected the hateful message of the video soon after it went viral, and said that Chishti’s words cannot be considered a message from the dargah. According to Dargah officials, the statements made by Chishti were highly condemnable.

Meanwhile, Chishti claims this offer was in response to the derogatory remarks made by Sharma about Prophet Mohammed in a television news debate in June. Readers would recall that the remarks had sparked nationwide protests, many of which turned violent.

Rajasthan police have now arrested the cleric. According to syndicated feed carried in multiple publications, Chishti was arrested on the night of July 5, 2022 after an FIR was filed against him based on what he had said in the video clip. Navbharat Times reports that Chishti is what is colloquially called a “history sheeter”, i.e a person who has been previously charged in many cases. Local police said that the accused has previous pending cases of murder, attempt to murder and fighting against him.

The viral video brings back memories of the video by Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad who recorded how they brutally murdered the Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal for supporting Sharma’s comments. Even then, Muslim individuals and socio-cultural groups had condemned the inflammatory statements made by the duo.

However, trolls on social media have used the successive incidents in Rajasthan to raise panic among masses. Still others unearthed the 1992 Ajmer serial rape case wherein local girls were sexually assaulted and blackmailed. As many as 18 serial offenders were charged and eight were convicted for life. Four of those were later acquitted in 2001.

Nupur Sharma

On July 7, some news portals such as ANI posted a video wherein the police advised Chishti to say he was intoxicated while making the video. The news once again enraged a section of people who felt that the administration was trying to protect Muslims.