Two days after a 2017 video of a Darul Uloom Deoband’s Maulana Abdul Latif Qasmi from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh laying claims on Badrinath went viral on social media, an FIR has been filed against the cleric in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The sections evoked against the Maulana are IPC 153 A, 505 and 66F of the Information and Technology Act 2000. Although the FIR does not name the accused, the person in the viral video has been identified as the Maulana.
In the FIR dated July 27 (Wednesday), the complainant, one Acharya Jagdamba Prasad Pant, has accused the Maulvi of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. He accuses Qasmi of making false and offensive claims against the religious Hindu shrine. He further adds that the Maulvi has attempted to ignite communal tensions by laying claims on the shrine which is extremely sacred to several Hindus, including him and his family.
“The claim set forth in this attached video that the holy shrine of His Holy Baba Badrinath actually belongs to a Muslim preacher Badruddin Shah is false and vexatious”, read the FIR adding that the tone, language of the content in the attached video has hurt his and his families sentiments and shaken their long-drawn faith in the holy shrine. It read that the Maulvi’s outrageous claims are enough to ignite communal riots in Uttarakhand and outside.
The complainant has urged Dehradun police to take down the offensive video from all digital platforms with immediate effect and take appropriate actions against the Maulana.
OpIndia reported on July 25, how a 2017 video of a Darul Uloom Deoband’s Maulana Abdul Latif Qasmi from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh laying claims on the Hindu shrine has now gone viral on social media.
Old video of Mufti laying claim on the Hindu shrine goes viral on social media
In the video, the Maulana said the Hindus should hand over the ninth-century shrine to Muslims. “Yeh Badrinath nahi Badruddin Shah hain” (it is not Badrinath, it is Badruddin Shah), says the Maulana adding that merely suffixing “nath” at the end of the name will not convert the place into a religious shrine of the Hindus.
The Mufti went on to audaciously say that the Hindus should hand over the shrine to the Muslims as it originally belonged to Muslims. He asked Hindus to look back into history before claiming possession of the shrine.
In the end, the Maulana threatened Hindus that Muslims would lay hold of the shrine if not given back to them. “If it is not given back to us, we Muslims would march to the shrine and capture it”, says the Uttar Pradesh Maulana.
Maulana had laid claim on Badrinath in 2017
It is pertinent to note here that this video which has resurfaced on the microblogging site today is originally from 2017. On November 15, 2017, Maulana Abdul Latif Qasmi has made this obnoxious claim. Reacting to these remarks, UP CM Yogi Aditynath had then said: “It is an attempt to disturb the harmony and peace in society. The government has taken cognizance of the matter and surely action will be taken such elements.”
