On Thursday (September 23), a political analyst by the name of Masood Hashmi courted controversy after he claimed that Hindu parents teach their daughters to lure Muslim men to avoid dowry during marriages.
He made the contentious remarks during the ‘Shankhnaad’ show that was aired on Thursday on Zee Hindustan. At about 37 minutes and 40 seconds into the show, Hashmi alleged, “Hindu parents get their daughters hitched to Muslim men. Because Hindus take dowry while Muslims don’t. So, they tell their daughters to marry Muslim men over Hindus.” His comments were preceded by claims of attaining ‘Jannat (paradise)’ if one converted to Islam.
A furious Rohit Ranjan interrupted Hashmi and asked him to get out of the show. “People with such crooked thoughts are not welcome anywhere. Who are you to question the Hindu religion? Do you have any proof of what you just said? Sitting on a debate and making baseless claims,” he stated. At that point, Hashmi claimed that the anchor was furious only because he had said ‘truth’ to his face. Rohit Rajan kicked him out of the programme and made it crystal clear to his audience that mockery of the Hindu Faith will not be tolerated on his show.
In a tweet, he wrote, “Make fun of Sanatan Dharma, speak against Hindu daughters and still expect us to remain silent? Have removed you out of show now. Hold your tongue. We neither speak ill of anyone nor tolerate anyone speaking ill (of our religion).”
सनातन का मज़ाक़ बनाओ, हिंदू बेटियों के ख़िलाफ़ बोलो और हम ख़ामोश रहेंगे? अभी तो बस शो से बाहर निकला है… ज़ुबान पर लगाम लगाओ… ना ग़लत कहते हैं ना सुनेंगे… pic.twitter.com/cbrv2XM8y2
— Rohit Ranjan (@irohitr) September 23, 2021
The show was based on the recent conversion racket that was unearthed in Uttar Pradesh. On Wednesday (September 22), the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had arrested one Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui from Western UP on charges of forced conversions. The 64-year-old Islamic scholar runs Jamia Imam Waliullah trust that funds several madrassas for which he received huge foreign funding, the police had said.
The UP ATS initiated a massive investigative operation after the arrest of one Umar Gautam and his aide in June. Reportedly, the duo ran an organisation named Islamic Dawah Centre (IDC), along with their other associates, to mass convert people into Islam through inducements such as marriage, job and money and mental pressure. They were accused of targeting differently-abled children to convert and use them as human bombs. Moreover, the investigation has also revealed the illegal foreign funding received by Gautam and his accomplices.
