On January 2, Chattisgarh state BJP leader and ex-minister Brijmohan Agrawal levelled serious allegations against the Congress-led Chhattisgarh government over the allotment of 25-acre land to Pakistani extremist outfit Dawat-e-Islami. After a massive outrage against the move by the BJP, the allotment of the 25-acre land in Raipur has been cancelled by the state government.
Earlier, the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh had decided to allot 25-acre land to the Pakistan-linked extremist Islamic organisation Dawat-e-Islami. The outfit’s Chattisgarh wing had requested the government to allot 10 hectares(25 acres) of land in the Boriakhurd area of Raipur to construct a community centre. After the primary allotment, the additional collector at the district court had issued an advertisement for claiming objection against the allotment. In the advertisement dated December 22, 2021, respondents were asked to file objections in court before January 13, 2022.
Following the development, the state BJP unit led a massive uproar over the allotment of a huge piece of land to an Islamist Organisation with Pakistani links. Brijmohan Agrawal, ex-Cabinet minister in the state government tweeted, “The Chhattisgarh government is allotting 25 acres (10 hectares) of land in Raipur to an organization named Dawat-e Islami. Dawat-e-Islami is a Pakistani organization, and Congress is enabling them to open their branches in our country”
छत्तीसगढ़ सरकार रायपुर में दावते इस्लामी नाम के संगठन को 25 एकड़ (10 हेक्टेयर) जगह आवंटित कर रही है। दावते इस्लामी एक पाकिस्तानी संगठन है, जिसकी शाखाएं हमारे देश में खोलने का काम यह कांग्रेसी कर रहे हैं। दावते इस्लामी के ऊपर मतांतरण और आतंकवाद फैलाने व चंदे के जरिए फंडिंग के(1/4) pic.twitter.com/BxyqaFSKuB
— Brijmohan Agrawal (@brijmohan_ag) January 2, 2022
Agrawal alleged that several allegations have been made against Daawat-e-Islami over forced conversions, influencing voters and spreading terrorism through donations. Their members have been earlier identified as terrorists and spies who have been caught by the special cell of the Delhi Police. He noted that the Facebook page of Dawat-e-Islami has photos of its Pakistani founder Ilyas Qadri and that the logos of The original Pakistani organisation and its Chhattisgarh wing are also similar.
He questioned, “The government has gone ahead to donate 10 lakh,76 thousand square feet space to a Pakistani organisation for building a community centre. Has any community in history been allotted such a large space for building a community hall? Does it take 25 acres to build a community hall?”
12 acre govt owned land in Raipur Chhattisgarh allotted to Dawat-e-Islami, a Karachi based organisation.
— Rahul Kaushik (@kaushkrahul) January 3, 2022
Application given on 28th December, approved same day by minister Mohammad Akbar and allotted the very next day, 29th December by Raipur DM.
Amazing speed! pic.twitter.com/kfmFOW2MCJ
Following the controversy, the Govt. cancelled the allotment and in defence said Dawat-e-Islami’s request was declined in the first place. The Government has also set up an enquiry against the officials who had initially passed the allotment. Devendra Patel, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Raipur said that the application was made by a man named Syed Kalim in the collector’s office on behalf of the organisation.
He stated, “As per the preliminary process, on receipt of the application, a memorandum was issued by the Additional Tahsildar for publishing an advertisement. After the publication of the advertisement, the applicant appeared in the court of the Additional Tehsildar and withdrew his application saying that he had mistakenly written the area as 10 hectares, whereas he needed only 10,000 square feet.”
Finally, the SDM stated that the application in the Tehsil has been dismissed on 01 January 2022 and the case has been finally closed. He assured that notice is being served to the Officer-in-Charge of Land Allotment (Collectorate) and the Additional Tehsildar for errors in the publication of the advertisement.
Daawat-e-Islami and its links with Pakistan
Founded in 1981 by Maulana Abu Bilal Muhammad Ilyas Attari, Dawat-e-Islami (Invitation to Islam), is a Sunni Islamic organisation with its base in Pakistan. The extremist organisation has spread its wings in India and is active in many countries in the world. Started as a revivalist organisation inspired by Sufi doctrines, it has developed into an extremist Islamist outfit with brazen terror links. While it claims to be involved in social work, its activities have been long curtailed by Pakistani military authorities after the assassin of a Pakistani politician was found to be a DIE member. Recently in 2020, one of the terrorists who were involved in the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris named DIE founder Ilyas Attari as his guide.
A Pakistani terrorist named Md Ashraf, who was arrested in Delhi in October 2021 was also found to be linked with this organisation.
The Facebook page of Dawat-e-Islami Chhattisgarh can be seen heaping praises for its Pakistani founder Ilyas Attar. Raipur Mayor Ejaz Debhar is also seen praising the activities of the organisation in a video. In India, Dawat-e-Islami has garnered criticism from other Muslim sects over their open links with terrorism. Voices have been raised earlier against the objectives of Dawat-e-Islami to hold religious congregations (Iztema) in Kanpur and Hyderabad.
