Sedition Charges against a Patriot
By Dr Aslam Abdullah
Fontana, CA
Delhi police registered a case of sedition against Dr Zafarul Islam Khan under Indian Penal Code sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 A, the chairman of the Delhi Minority Commission. The Police charged him with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and for doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.
Delhi Police that comes under the central home ministry run in a mafia-style by once jailed Amit Shah took action based on a tweet published by Dr Zafrul Islam. In the tweet, deleted later, Dr Khan thanked the parliamentarians of Kuwait for taking a stand against the Hindutva bigots. He explained in the tweet that the Arab and the Muslim world appreciates the contribution of Indian Muslims to Muslim intellectual thought. He also praised the Muslim community for not taking their grievances against the bigots and hate mongers who claim to represent Hindutva forces in India to the Muslim world.
His praise of the statement disturbed the home ministry that alerted the Hindutva forces represented by the RSS and the BJP to file an FIR against the chairman.
What Dr Khan wrote is rational and genuine. Muslim Indians under the BJP have suffered the worst since the independence of the country. The ruling elites representing Hindutva forces have supported and encouraged parliamentarians and party workers to bark at the Muslims loudly and violently. They did not spare even a non-political group, the Tablighi Jamat, from their poisonous propaganda against Muslims and Islam. They targeted the Jamat members and accused them of spreading coronavirus deliberately to destroy the country. They called for the boycott of Muslim businesses and they shouted slogans to shoot them because they were traitors. The RSS and the BJP have unleashed an unprecedented attack on Muslims of India that has been noticed by the world all over. Not only the Arab world but the Western world too has expressed its dismay over the lynching and other violent acts against Muslims.
The RSS and the BJP have a significant presence in the Middle East. They have used the business opportunities in the Gulf to support the Hindutva ideology that promotes hatred against Islam and Muslims through social media and secret paramilitary training camps organized under the name of religious gatherings in temples and other places. The RSS and BJP have designs to enhance their political influence in the Gulf to ensure that the upcoming leadership in the area succumbs to the interests of the Hindutva forces. The statements issued by the Kuwaiti parliamentarians and other prominent individuals in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar were an acknowledgment of the reality that the Hindutva forces have infiltrated the Gulf society and may pose a danger to their security.
Dr Zafar rightly appreciated the statements in solidarity of Muslims in India and applauded the efforts to restrain the Hindutva forces in the Gulf the same way as millions of Indians, Hindus included, have stood against the RSS led Hindutva ideology. The RSS is a nefarious group of people who believe in violence. This organization was banned twice in India for its anti-national activities. Its members openly praise the murderer of Gandhi and advocate violence against Muslims and Christians. The RSS and its outfits are said to be responsible for targeted violence against Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, and Muslim communities. The attempt by the political elite to silence any opposition to the Hindutva forces is not only to intimidate Muslims but to crush any voice of dissent.
The Hindutva forces want to consolidate their political power and crush all opposition to become the dominant power in Asia subjugating the Gulf states and forcing others to serve Hindutva interests. Dr Zafarul Islam has stood for the pluralistic values of Islam and championed secularism like his father. Maulana Waheedudin Khan, a prolific writer on Islam. Like millions of Indians, he is opposed to the Hindutva ideology and considers it a threat to national security. He is being punished by the RSS supporters for taking a stand against bigotry and religious hatred.
(Dr Aslam Abdullah is resident scholar at islamicity.org . He is editor in chief of Muslim Observer and a trustee of American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin. He gives Friday sermons at Islamic centers in California and other states)
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