Two days after being arrested by the Rae Bareli police for staging a shootout against himself in June, Munawwar Rana’s son Tabrez cried, victim. Speaking to Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, Tabrez claimed that he was being “framed” by the Uttar Pradesh police since he was Munawwar Rana’s son, who is often critical about the BJP government in the state as well as the centre. It is pertinent to note here that the individuals who shot Rana were found to be his own associates by the police.
Defending himself, Tabrez said that had he orchestrated the attack on himself he would have never done it at a place that was under CCTV surveillance. “I am not that foolish”, exclaimed Tabrez. He further said that his cousin had introduced him to shooters in passing because he wanted to obtain some property documents. He added that he did not even possess the shooter’s phone number. “Since I am the son of Munawwar Rana many people yearn to meet me. My cousin used to arrange the meeting for me”, said the Urdu poet’s son.
‘My father’s poetry is misconstrued’, Tabrez Rana defends his father’s rant likening Maharshi Valmiki to Taliban
Obliquely defending his Hinduphobic father’s latest display of affinity for the Taliban, Tabrez said that his father is a famous poet, however, his opinions are often misconstrued. Whenever he is in the mood he starts speaking poetically, which is often misunderstood. He wants to says something else and it comes across as something totally different, said Tabrez, adding that there are more Muslims in India than in the Taliban. “I hate Pakistan”, said the controversial poet’s son.
Tabrez was defending his father, who had lately been going around defending the Islamist organisation in multiple media interactions.
Recently, in a wrangled interview with TV anchor Deepak Chaurasia, Rana defended the Taliban tooth and nail. When asked about the Taliban, Rana upheld his ecosystem’s narrative by calling them mere ‘aggressive fighters’ and not ‘terrorists.’ The infamous poet claimed that the Taliban are also Afghanis and they have simply freed their nation from foreign occupation. The Hinduphobic poet went ahead to compare the Taliban with Maharshi Valmiki as he defended the action of the radical Islamic organisation that has taken over Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Tabrez, once again defending himself railed at the Uttar Pradesh police for framing him in false charges. “I was not given a chance to speak. Though I was in front of their eyes the police levelled false allegations saying that I tried to flee. They encircled my apartment. Snatched my mobile phone and wallet”, lamented Tabrez Rana.
Asked about the weapon he possessed, Tabrez Rana inquired- “what is wrong in using a gun if I have a licence for it. Is it not better to use a gun than be lynched by a mob, like Tabrez Ansari was”, exclaimed Rana.
In June 2019, Tabrez Ansari was brutally beaten by a mob in Jharkhand on the accusation of theft. Four days later, he died in police custody. The incident led to widespread outrage where Muslims took to streets across India vowing revenge over his death. Though the chargesheet has stated that Ansari’s death was not a ‘pre-meditated murder’ and that he died of ‘cardiac arrest’, the secular camp still uses this incident craftily to propagate the ‘Dara Hua musalman’ narrative.
Tabrez Rana arrested for orchestering an attack on himself
Two months after Urdu poet Munawwar Rana’s son Tabrez claimed to have been shot at in Rae Bareli, he was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police on August 25. SP Shlok Kumar informed that Tabrez had staged a fake attack on himself to frame his relatives. Rana’s son was arrested from his residence in Lucknow after a Rae Bareli court issued a non-bailable warrant issued against him.
The UP police discovered various inconsistencies in Rana’s assertions after it examined the CCTV footage from the vicinity on the day of the purported shooting, authorities claimed. According to Rae Bareli police, Tabrez Rana was seen in CCTV footage with his alleged shooters.
Apart from the incriminating CCTV evidence, authorities have reason to assume that the shootout was staged after questioning the four shooters apprehended in the first week of July.
The fake attack
Tabrez on June 28 had alleged that two bike-borne people had shot at him when he stopped at a petrol pump under the Rae Bareli city police station limits. He claimed that four people were involved in the attack all of which were arrested on July 02 and weapons recovered from them.
After investigating the case, the UP Police had informed on July 2 that Munawwar Rana’s family had an ongoing dispute over property with their relatives and Tabrez had wanted his relatives framed in false cases. The assailants were found to be Tabrez’s own associates.
