Maulana Qamar Gani Usmani was arrested by the Gujarat ATS on January 30 in connection to the brutal murder of a Hindu man named Kishan Bharwad in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad. Usmani has been accused of aiding and abetting Shabbir, the person who had killed Bharwad over alleged ‘blasphemy’.
Several videos have surfaced on social media where Usmani is seen instigating Muslims for violence and even murder if someone insults Prophet Muhammad.
More videos of the Islamic hardliner Maulana Usmani have surfaced where he is seen openly instigating the Muslim community for violence and armed offensive over alleged ‘oppression’.
Usmani says CDS Bipin Rawat’s death was Allah’s answer to govt’s plans against Muslims
In a video available on Facebook, uploaded on January 3 this year, Usmani is seen addressing a gathering of followers. He is seen saying, “Our main enemy is the RSS. RSS is so powerful that at first glance it would seem it is foolish to face them. But we (Muslims) have the blessings and courage given by Allah. If we have faith in Allah, we can face even 10 such powers like RSS. They put me in jail for 19 days. They can jail one Qamar Usmani and one Salman Azhari. Because the world will see our love for our religion. The media should record this statement. If one faithful Muslim gives a call for Jihad, all your missiles and all your Armies will be powerless to face the force of Islam.”
He further says, “It was our mistake that we kept silent when ISIS, with its terrorist actions, made the world believe that jihad is a bad thing. We should have corrected them. We should have told everyone that Jihad is not terrorism but standing upright and doing justice. The day when a real martyr of Islam stands up to inspire Muslims, no forces, no commander can keep Muslims oppressed any longer. They (the Indian government) had appointed one commander for all the three armed forces (CDS Bipin Rawat). See what Allah did to him. All your efforts will fail before the will of Allah”.
Usmani further says that Muslims should not just sit and keep praying, they should act and fight.
Video 2: Usmani says Muslims should prepare to become either Ghazi or Shaheed, Islam doesn’t need people who are concerned over their personal safety
In another video, Usmani is asking Muslim political leaders and lawmakers to make Islam their priority. He says that all the power and positions are useless if the political leaders do not use that for Islam. He adds that political power should only be used to serve Allah and his cause.
He further says that there are some Muslims who fear police arrests and lathi charges. He adds that the cause of Islam does not need followers who are so calculative about their own safety, but it needs fanatics who forget about themselves for the cause.
Usmani says that during the Delhi protests, he had told Muslims that they should forget about personal safety. “We need people who come to the ground with the mentality of sacrifice. Wapas aye to Ghazi, naa aye toh Shaheed (if we return, we are Ghazi and if we fail to return we are martyrs (of Islam).”
Ghazi is an Islamic word that means a warrior who kills for Islam.
He further instigates his Muslim followers to be prepared to sacrifice themselves for the Islamic cause. In this video, Usmani effectively admits that he had instigated the violence during the anti-CAA protests and Delhi riots.
Maulana Usmani wanted to avenge ‘insults to prophet’, was greeted with ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ slogans
While the central government and most state governments take calls to violence seriously, for some reason, open calls given to behead people over alleged instances of ‘blasphemy’, frequently done by one particular community, are often ignored by the authorities. The open calls to kill anyone who mocks or criticises Muhammad, or even shares a social media cartoon, have resulted in the Bengaluru riots, and several murders over the years.
Maulana Usmani was seen not just instigating Muslims to take law in their hands and indulge in violence, he had been endorsing the ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ slogans. In a video from August 2021 that was shared on Twitter by journalist Swati Goel Sharma, the Delhi police personnel were seen desperately trying to stop Maulana Usmani from holding anti-blasphemy protests. “We will go anyhow (to protest) since we have made a call to the public,” he was seen announcing.
In February 2021, Usmani had justified the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari. He had said, “There is a conspiracy to ruin the lives of Muslims. There is an attempt to make India just like Spain. To achieve it, they are testing how much Muslims in India love their Prophet. “
Usmani and the murder of Kishan Bharwad
Kishan Bharwad had in the past shared a social media post that was seen as an insult to Prophet Muhammad by some Islamists.
Usmani was earlier arrested for instigating violence over the fake news of mosque vandalism in Tripura. The murderer Shabbir has reportedly told the police that Usmani had told him that it was his right to kill someone whom he sees as anti-Islamic. Usmani is associated with Tahreek Farogh-e-Islami or TFI. Reports say that ATS suspects Usmani’s organisation is associated with Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Labbaik.
In the murder case of Kishan Bharwad, the Gujarat ATS has so far arrested the killers named Shabbir and Imtiyaz, a Maulvi from Ahmedabad named Ayyub, Maulana Uslamni from TFI, and another few suspects for helping the killers.
