Hazrat Maulana Tauqueer Ahmed Raza Khan is Ittehad-e-Millat Council, Bareilly Sharif and a Congress ally who recently made a controversial statement by asking the Prime Minister to read Kalma while addressing a huge gathering at Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly. But this repeat hate offender has a history of making communally inflammatory statements.
While raising slogans such as “Gustaakhi ki ek hi sazaa… sar dhad se juda” (Translation: The only punishment for sinners is decapitation), he demanded for the arrest of suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her controversial remarks against Prophet Muhammad.
As reported by Times Now, in his speech he said that the Muslims don’t have any hopes from the incumbent regime, and warned of approaching the United Nations to highlight the plight against the minority community in India.
Instigating the crowd, the Muslim cleric further threatened, “Jo mahaul aaj bareily mai dikhaya hai, agar meri baat par tavajju nahi di gayi toh inshallah Hindustaan ke har soobe mai yeh mahaul banakar dikhaya jaega” (Translation: If you ignore my words, the atmosphere you see in Bareily today, will be recreated in different parts of India.)
In an interview, he made yet another controversial statement on the two terrorists killed in Delhi’s infamous Batla House encounter of 2008. He reportedly claimed, “If an enquiry into the 2008 encounter took place, then people would know that the slain persons were actually martyrs.”
With respect to the Gyanvapi mosque issue he told Times of India, “Calling what was found in the Gyanvapi mosque a Shivling is actually making a mockery of Hinduism. There are many mosques in the country where there were temples before. Those temples were not razed… just converted (into mosques) when people adopted Islam. The mosques shouldn’t be touched, and if anything is done forcefully, Muslims will oppose the government.” He further said, “Muslims don’t need any legal fight as they have seen the judgment in the Babri mosque case. This time, we won’t appeal in any court. The PM is acting like Mahabharata’s Dhritarashtra. He has not uttered a single word on this matter. He should decide whether he is with ‘justice’ or ‘injustice’. Hatemongers will find a Shivling at every mosque in the country with a fountain. If they have their way, they will encroach all of them. I would like to see where these people will stop. Muslims have remained quiet to ensure peace in the country.”
This is not the first time Maulana Tauqeer has made such communally inflammatory statements. In January 2022, while addressing a public rally in Bareilly, he had reportedly said, “I see the anger within my Muslim youths and I am afraid that the day this anger bursts out, the day I lose control over them… I want to warn my Hindu brothers that I’m scared that the day my Muslim youths are forced to take the law into their hands, you will not find a place to hide anywhere in India.”
Then again in April 2022, while addressing the issue of demolition of encroachments in Bareilly, he had said, “The day Muslims come to the streets, one must understand that they will be uncontrollable. Therefore, I warn the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular of consequences if he fails to correct this way of taking action with immediate effect,” reported the pioneer.
What’s concerning is that Raza, who aims to provoke Muslims against Hindus has a huge following. Fortunately, the Jamiat-Ulema-i-Hind (JUIH) has distanced itself from the controversial Islamic cleric, they even rejected his call for anti-Nupur Sharma protests on Sunday, June 19. Senior members of the JUIH passed a resolution to not engage in such protests, especially on Friday. The Muzaffarnagar district president of JUIH, Maulana Muhammed Nazar told TOI, “We held a meeting because Maulana Raza called for protests. We have nothing to do with him and would not heed to his call for protest.”
Related:
Jamiat rejects Maulana Tauqeer Raza’s call for protests on Sunday
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What does Prakash Ambedkar hope to achieve by organising anti-Nupur Sharma protests?