On Saturday, several Muslim social media users took to Twitter to trend a bizarre hashtag #WeStandWithRazaAcademy to express their support for the radical Islamic organisation – Raza Academy that has been under fire for launching a hate campaign against one of the country’s closest allies France over its decision to wage a war against radical Islamic terror.
Many Islamists posted tweets in support of Raza academy amidst strong calls across social media expressing support for the radical Islamic organisation.
Defending the actions of Raza Academy, one user Shahid Mansoori said that Muslims can go to extent of beheading people, however, will not tolerate the act of ‘blasphemy’. He said that the life and death of a Muslim are dedicated to their god. “God willing, France will see an end,” he added as he tweeted in support of Raza Academy.
One user claimed that Raza Academy was a religious organisation that worked for the welfare of the public and criticism against the organisation was an attempt to discredit them. He urged fellow Muslims to support Raza Academy.
Suhail Raza, another fan of Raza Academy, said why do people provoke Muslims in the first place and then blame for their ‘reaction’. He referred to the terror attacks in France by Islamic terrorists as a ‘reaction’.
The radical Islamic organisation Raza Academy, which itself was posting tweets using the hashtag, thanked fellow Islamists for standing behind them and making their campaign a top trend even as several social media users slammed them for pushing hatred in the name of protecting Islam from condemnation.
In fact, the social media trend in support of the Raza Academy came after the radical Islamic organisation was subjected to intense criticism for waging a hate campaign against France.
Raza Academy launched the campaign against France, had asked Islamic countries to issue Fatwa
The Islamic organisations such as Raza Academy, along with organisations such as AIMPLB, had shockingly deviated from the country’s official stand of supporting the French government in their ongoing fight against the radical Islamic terror and had instead protested against the French government over its alleged ‘Islamophobia’.
India has come out strongly in support of France which has been receiving severe backlash from Muslim countries after President Emmanuel Macron declared war against radical Islamic terrorism following the beheading of a teacher by a Muslim immigrant terrorist two weeks ago.
However, taking inspiration from the fellow Muslims across the world, the Islamic organisations like Raza Academy had initiated a campaign against France after Islamic countries such as Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar had started a worldwide boycott campaign against France.
Raza Academy had demanded that Muslim countries should issue a fatwa against French President Emmanuel Macron for displaying cartoons on Prophet Mohammed by Charlie Hebdo were projected onto government buildings.
The Raza Academy also demanded that all French embassies and consulates in Muslim countries be shut down and all ambassadors to France be called back in light of recent events. It also urged people on social media to exercise their freedom of expression against the ‘Satanic minded president’ using the hashtag ‘Macron the Devil’.
In a similar trend as above, the Islamist organisation had also trending #MacronTheDevil and had urged Muslims to tweet against Emmanuel Macron ‘Huzoor ki Muhabbat mein’ (for love towards the prophet). Several Islamists on social media had heeded their call and had spewed venom against France and its President.
Raza Academy had hailed Muslims for posting Macron’s posters on streets of Mumbai
Shockingly, Raza Academy had hailed the actions of Muslim protestors in Mumbai, who had put up images of French President on the streets of the city, walked and drove on these posters as a mark of protest against Macron. The protests had come after Macron had condemned the Islamic terror attack on a French teacher who was beheaded by his student for showing Charlie Hebdo caricatures.
Maulana Abbas Rizvi of the radical Islamic organisation Raza Academy said that he welcomed the actions of garlanding Macron’s posters with shoes as a mark of protest against French President. “The disrespect shown by Emmanuel Macron is condemnable and he deserves strict punishment,” said Maulana Abbas Rizvi.
फ्रांस के राष्ट्रपति ने मुसलमानों के साथ जो गुस्ताखी की है, उसको ऐसे ही सज़ा मिलनी चाहिये :
— News24 (@news24tvchannel) October 29, 2020
मौलाना अब्बास रिज़वी (Raza Academy) ने मुंबई की सड़कों पर राष्ट्रपति मैक्रॉन के पोस्टर लगाने का समर्थन किया… #FranceBeheading #franceattack @deepakdubey_dd pic.twitter.com/net8r0e2ou
The appalling nature of these protests by ‘Indian’ Muslims had come just a day after India had openly expressed its support to France.
The dark and violent history of Raza Academy
The Raza Academy has been one of the notorious radical Islamic organisations that has instigated violence on the streets of the country in the past.
In August 2011, Raza Academy had staged a morcha at Azad Maidan ground to protest against the alleged atrocities on Muslims in Assam and Myanmar, which later turned into a riot. The protest turned violent after one of the notorious group attacked the policemen leading to police firing in which two persons were killed and 63 persons including 58 policemen were injured.
Raza Academy which had organized the protest had earlier assured the Mumbai Police that only 1,500 people would turn up. However, more than 15,000 people assembled at the Azad Maidan and later the crowd swelled to over 40,000 people resulting in Muslim mobs unleashing violence on the streets of Mumbai.
The most shocking incident of the Azad Maidan Riots was the desecration of Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial by the Muslim mobs. The war memorial is dedicated to the fighters of 1857 – the First Indian Freedom Struggle. The riots had caused approximately Rs 2.72 crores worth of damages to various public properties.
Earlier this year, Raza Academy had threatened with ‘law and order situation’ if the movie ‘Muhammad: The Messenger of God’ was not banned. The movie depicts the life of the prophet from birth till the age of 13. The Islamic organisation had issued a fatwa against AR Rahman, the music composer of the movie, and Iranian director Majid Majidi in 2015 as well.
“A Muslim will die in honour than to see or hear even the slightest insult on his Holy Prophet,” the Raza Academy said threateningly.
FIR against Arnab Goswami
The same Raza Academy has also filed FIR against Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami, accusing him of spreading ‘communal hatred’ while he was reporting the Palghar mob lynching of two sadhus.
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal has represented the Raza Academy in Supreme Court when Arnab Goswami had approached the apex court seeking the quashing of FIRs against him.