After Samajwadi Party leader Safiqur Rahman Burke and All India Muslim Personal Law Board cleric Maulana Umrain Mahfuz Rahmani, Maulana Mufti Arshad Farooqi, the Mufti of Darul-Uloom Deoband and the chairman of Online Fatwa Department, glorified the radical Islamic outfit Taliban for its alleged victory against the USA in Afghanistan.
In a video that has gone viral on the internet now, Maulana Mufti Arshad Farooqi was heard praising the Taliban for their ‘victory’ against the ‘super power’ United States. Hailing the Taliban for ousting the United States of America from Afghanistan, the Deoband-based Maulana said there is something special about the Taliban that even a superpower like America cannot emerge victorious against them.
“Even after severe oppression and subjugation for over 20 years, the United States of America faced severe losses in Afghanistan. They desperately achieved peace in Qatar and withdrew their forces quietly from Afghanistan. Even superpowers like America is accepting defeat at the hands of the Taliban. The 3.5 lakh strong Afghan forces, trained by the US Forces, surrendered in front of the Taliban, which proves that there is something special about them,” said Maulana Mufti Arshad Farooqi.
It is worth noting that the Taliban, which has recently risen in prominence in Afghanistan and effectively controls the country, draws its inspiration from the Deobandi movement. The Taliban’s association with the UP town of Deoband was also highlighted in an article published in the New York Times in 2002. The article titled “Indian town’s seed grew into the Taliban code” has discussed how the ideology of radical Islamism that germinated in a town in Uttar Pradesh went on to influence the jihadist movement on the other side of the Durand Line, the line that separates Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This is not the first time that Maulana Farooqi is making such controversial remarks. In 2017, Maulana Arshad Farooqi had issued a fatwa against a group of Muslim women for performing the aarti of Lord Ram at an event on Diwali in Varanasi.
The Deoband cleric had said the women could not be “Muslim Ulema” for worshipping multiple gods. The fatwa from Maulana Farooqi had come after Muslim Mahila Foundation, and Vishal Bharat Sansthan had worshipped Lord Ram during a Diwali event in Varanasi.
Maulana Farooqi’s praise for the Taliban comes just as several other Muslim leaders, including those from the Samajwadi Party, have openly praised the Taliban. Besides, a large section of Indian Leftist media was even seen hailing the Taliban for their propaganda of “changed” principles with regards to women’s rights and “holding a press conference”.
Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rehman Burq had extended his support to the Jihadist organisation by saying that their conquest was akin to India’s freedom movement against British Empire. Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rehman Burq had attempted to legitimise the radical Islamist outfit after he had claimed that the Taliban have only recaptured the land that originally belonged to them. Drawing an equivalence between the radical Islamist outfit and India’s freedom fighters, the Samajwadi Party leader had said that as our countrymen fought for freedom from the British, the Taliban also wants to free their country and run it.
Besides, Shafiqur Rahman Barq, a senior cleric of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), also extended his support to the terror group. Maulana Umrain Mahfuz Rahmani, the Secretary of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), had praised the Taliban’s offensive against the Afghan government to capture the war-torn country by force.
