On Tuesday, March 28, the Delhi High Court partially overturned the trial court’s February order to discharge 9 of the 11 accused, including Sharjeel Imam and Safoor Zargar, in a case related to the violence that took place at Jamia Millia Islamia in December 2019.
Partially reversing the trial court order, the bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma charged accused Mohd Qasim, Mahmood Anwar, Shazar Raza, Umair Ahmed, Mohd Bilal Nadeem, Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, and Chanda Yadav under different sections related to rioting and unlawful assembly.
While pronouncing the verdict, the judge said the right to peaceful assembly is subject to reasonable restrictions and that acts of violence or ‘violent speeches’ are not protected. “Prima facie, as seen in the video, the respondents were in the first line of the mob. They were raising slogans of Delhi police murdabad and were violently pushing the barricades,” said the court, while referring to some of the accused.
Notably, the Delhi Police had moved to the High Court against the discharge granted to Sharjeel Imam and other accused in the Jamia Violence case by the Delhi trial court in February, calling the findings flawed and harmful to further inquiry.
Sharjeel Imam is named in many serious cases
Besides the 2019 Jamia violence case, Sharjeel Imam is charged under the stringent UAPA in the conspiracy case related to the February 2020 Delhi anti-Hindu riots. He is also facing other cases for the speeches he gave during the anti-CAA protests, including instigating Islamists to cut off North Eastern region from the rest of the country by blocking the ‘chicken’s neck’ in North Bengal.
Jamia violence case of 2019
On 15th December 2019, there was violence at Jamia and in the surrounding vicinity in Delhi. The violence erupted as the protesters clashed with the police over the Citizenship Amendment Act. The mob damaged public and private properties including several vehicles during the riot in Jamia Nagar. Around 1500 demonstrators blocked the road and did not listen to the people who urged them to clear the road, public buses and police vehicles were set ablaze during the violence.
A case was registered at Jamia Nagar Police Station in connection with the violence in December 2019 with police naming 12 persons as accused in the case. Delhi police charged the accused with rioting and unlawful assembly while also booking them under IPC sections 143, 147, 148, 149, 186, 353, 332, 333, 308, 427, 435, 323, 341, 120(B) and 34.
Sharjeel Imam was arrested in January 2020 after he delivered several provocative speeches that were blamed for triggering violence during anti-CAA protests in Delhi and several other states. He has also been booked under UAPA for being one of the main conspirators of the Delhi anti-Hindu riots that took place in Northeast Delhi in February. It is notable that two speeches given by Sharjeel Imam in December 2019 were included in the charge sheet.
The first speech was given on 13th December 2019 in Delhi while the other was given on 16th December 2019 in Aligarh. According to the police, his speech provoked violence at Jamia Nagar in Delhi on December 15, 2019, during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) which became the Citizenship Amendment Act after getting passed in the parliament.
Liberals tried to protect Sharjeel Imam
Sharjeel Imam and Safoora Zargar face serious charges, but some liberal ideologues, leftist portals and usual Islamists consider them ‘heroes’ and claim that they are victims of growing ‘Islamophobia’ in India. These individuals and portals have attempted to absolve them of all accusations since their arrests. They went so far as to pass off the seditious speeches of Sharjeel Imam, a former JNU student, and columnist for the leftist propaganda website The Wire, as “freedom of expression”. This was the leftist liberals’ hero-worshipping for their foot soldiers.
Speech by Sharjeel Imam on 13th December 2019
Sharjeel Imam gave a speech on 13th December 2019 in the Jamia area of Delhi. The speech is included in the police charge sheet. It is as follows (emphasis ours):
Well, in a period from 1955 to 1995, you will see that Muslims were sent back, and their properties were seized. And not just one or two cases, lakhs have been sent back (to East Pakistan that is Bangladesh). The population of Muslims was evacuated from Tripura. All this is the data of the census in the Congress rule, so I am just reminding you that if the majority does not agree with you, keep calm, and be patient. Okay?
There is no need to doubt why the majority is not coming with us. Not at all. Will nationalism come to us if we talk about it? Won’t we talk about the constitution? It is said in the Quran, that they will not come with you unless you obey them. Isn’t it? Of course, we will remember this thing, right? Now, what should be our plan of action? So we are the students of JNU. 100-200 Muslim students of JNU have created a platform to do all this. We have been doing this for 2 weeks. Our wish is that Delhi should come to a standstill. Let there be a chakka jam in India, and not only in Delhi but wherever a Muslim can do it. Muslims can do a chakka jam in 500 cities in India, isn’t it?
Now, who is the roadblock to achieving this? BJP is not a roadblock. Congress is not a roadblock. Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind is a roadblock. They are in thousands. You are reading their statements every day. So, you first understand who is a roadblock. Aren’t Muslims potent enough to shut down all the cities in northern India? They are. They definitely are. More than 30% of the urban population of Uttar Pradesh is Muslim. Despite these 30% being there, why these cities are still functional and not shut down? You should be ashamed of this. Secondly, in that part of Bihar from where I come, this percentage is 6%, and the urban Muslim population is 24%. Do you understand? Indian Muslims live in cities. So shut down the cities and oppose those who suggest you some other way. Tell them that you are not our people. You are not thinking about our welfare.
I will give you one more example of secularism. We were with Yogendra Yadav Ji a few days ago. Muslims too have this virus (of secularism). It is everywhere. We said that we want to do a chakka jam. We said that we shall bring 50000 Muslims onto the streets. Isn’t it written in Quran that if someone drags you out of your house, then you fight him and drag him out of his house? So we said that we want 50000 Muslims on the roads. Do you know what did he say? He said, ‘No. It will be better if we bring 10000 Hindus and 10000 Muslims.’ Are you seeing this idiocy? It is not even idiocy. It is wickedness. He knows that this is not going to happen. All he knows is to go to Jantar-Mantar and become a leader. He wants to become a Gandhi. We don’t want to become Gandhi. Not at all. You first understand this. We have to work against this law. We don’t need to show any secularism. Remove all this from your head. Remove all the insecurities and inferiority complexes you have. We do not need their approval. Haven’t you seen the effects of seeking their approval in the last 70 years? Did you get any approval?
Now, let me add one more thing. There are slogans being raised about fascism nowadays. But, remember, this constitution allowed fascism right from the beginning. Be it provisions of cow protection, the president’s rule, methods of elections, the definition of a Hindu, or anything else. This constitution has always been fascist. Totally fascist. You do seek support from it in the courts, cases, and everywhere. But it cannot be the last resort of your hope. Because it failed you so many times. Not for just one time, it failed you so many times. Nehru alone was enough to show the magic of this constitution. He jailed Abdullah (Sheikh Abdullah), toppled a government in Kerala, and attacked Manipur. Is fascism anything different than this? Central government suspending an elected government for no reason is nothing but fascism. Totally. Completely. Absolutely. Keep it in your mind. As long as the constitution is concerned, we need to use it as much as we can. Constitutionality and constitution are two different things. Remember that constitutionality means we shall not burn the properties, okay? We will not kill people, okay?
But, we can certainly disrupt things. Disrupting is an easy task. Is disrupting that difficult? We need to organise ourselves for that. Today we did this. It was just a small spark. there were around 3000 to 4000 people. If this is done in an organized manner, more people will join in. This was done a bit earlier. You know that if this is organised on a Friday, more people will join. Because the news will spread. For the last two weeks were distributing pamphlets in the mosques. We will now distribute more pamphlets on Fridays and all the prayers during the day. Inshallah, there is one more favourable thing. The fear of getting beaten more than Hindus is correct. There is no doubt that they will beat us more than Hindus. But, also remember that we will be beaten less than what they did in Assam. It is a disappointing thing if you are not getting this. Delhi is the national capital. If this flyover collapses, the whole world will come to know it, do you understand?
Third thing is, don’t be afraid of the lathi charge. If someone’s hand or leg is broken then it is a different story. What if someone is beheaded? Don’t be afraid of the lathi charge. Someone may have an allergy to tear gas. So, you can run away at that time. But, no one should shy away from or fear the lathi charge. You are bound to get hit by the police stick two to four times at least. So, learn the art of surviving a lathi charge. Are you getting it or not? Learn to get fewer injuries in the lathi charge. Know how to face the lathi charge so that impact is less and what should you wear to achieve this. You may also wear a belt inside. Unless you do all this, everything will be ineffective. How long will this spark sustain? How can this be turned into a wildfire? We can do two things to turn it into a fire. One is to get ready for a lathi charge. The second is to organise ourselves.
If you feel that we should make a disruption, then we shall organise ourselves first. It is okay even if we start as a group of five. Let these political parties go to hell. Totally. These parties will ask you to join them at Jantar-Mantar and protest. Tell them loud and clear that nothing will be achieved in that way. Not at all. So that’s all. I request everyone in Jamia to organise. Don’t rely on Aam Aadmi Party. Don’t rely on AISA. Stop differentiating between Congress and the BJP. So, remember this.
Now, what do we have to do? You tell in your hostels that you want to do a chakka jam protest. Okay? Tell this in every hostel, every colony where students live. I don’t know much about the geography of Jamia. You can at least have a representative saying that these are the people who agree on this and we want to do chakka jam. You create groups by yourself. There should be no grievances in this. What if they don’t listen to us? It is okay. You at least give it a try. There shall be no ideological talks. You shall talk about chakka jam only. And you shall talk about who is ready for it and who is not. Only these two things are to be spoken. Okay? Who is ready for this and who is not? And organise those people who are ready for this. And friends, you only have to do this. No one is a born leader.
Yesterday, a friend made me read about Iqbal Ahmed. He was from Bihar. In 1947, when he was a kid, many people like him from Bihar went to Pakistan. Iqbal Ahmed wrote the story of migration and said that our group left from somewhere in Uttar Pradesh and wanted to go to Lahore. Initially, there was an opium addict, who wanted opium every now and then and used to ask people for it during the first three days. Iqbal Ahmed has written that on the seventh day, he was leading that group of people. He forgot opium. And do you know what were the hurdles in that journey? There was cholera, and people getting killed, in Punjab and other places. So always remember that leaders can emerge from anywhere. These people you see, are not leaders. They are commission agents. Situations create leaders. So will you get it done from each other or run after the political parties?
Allah knows that we will achieve nothing. My only request to you all is that you should be organised. Hostels, departments, universities, and wherever you know you can – you should organise. But what is the goal? We want to do a chakka jam in Delhi. There should be no milk distribution in any colony of Delhi. there should be no water as well. And you say this clearly.
Do you know how many people we are? There are 55000 just in the detention camps. I don’t know how many of them are Muslims. So, there are 55000. There are 28000 in Jamia too. So let these 28000 get arrested. Is the value of a person’s life different from that of the other? So, please pay attention to this. Assam is on fire. Do something here. I will recite just a couplet to conclude this. Muslims in Bihar were brutally attacked in 1946. More than 2000 were killed. Nature has bestowed such flexibility on Islam that it will rise even more if it is suppressed. Nara-e-takbir Allah-hu-akbar.
Sharjeel Imam gave another speech on 16th December 2019 in Aligarh
According to the police charge sheet, Sharjeel Imam continued to further the conspiracy and went to the Aligarh Muslim University to mobilise Muslim students against CAA/ NRC. On 16th December 2019, he delivered a speech in Aligarh. This speech was aimed at disturbing the unity, integrity, security, and sovereignty of India. The speech is as follows:
Hello, I am Sharjeel Imam. I am doing Ph.D. in modern history from the JNU. Before this, I was a computer engineer by profession. I visited here on 10th and 11th December. I told the same thing at that time that we have to jam the streets. I will now pointwise clarify the things I said the other day. So, you must be aware of the debate going around about secularism. It is just a small thing. Had India been secular, would Dalits become Muslims? You won’t need much time to understand this. There would have been no definition of Hindu in the constitution and no one would lose his status by changing his religion. This works against us both ways.
Secondly, the most backward groups of Muslims and Christians will not get the Dalit status. You know that. So, this automatically ends the debate about whether India’s constitution is secular or not. There is no need to argue on this any further. Because it is the poor Muslims who are suffering from this secularism the most. Okay? It has been the history of India for the last 70 years.
So, this is the first thing. This is a very fundamental thing and I don’t know why people don’t understand this. The state apparatus does not differentiate between people on religious lines, at least on paper. But, it does differentiate between the people on the basis of communities, because this gives an affirmative action. There is discrimination against the ones who are denied any affirmative action. If it is denied on the basis of religion, then it is discrimination for sure. So, first of all, if we want to go ahead, we all should keep this in our mind very clearly that the constitution of India is discriminatory against Muslims. So, that’s all about the first thing called secularism.
The second thing is democracy. If this country was Democratic, the elections would not have been like what is in front of us, which is called first past the post. There was a lot of debate in the constituent assembly debate and whoever was making his point on this, the answer from the Congress used to be ‘Go to Pakistan’. That’s it. Ambedkar’s name has been used in it, but it happened that everything was passed from the majority and the majority was with the upper caste Hindu. The second thing is to come to cow protection, it is clearly a fascist idea, and no one can doubt it. Because it is there in the directive principles.
From such things, you will understand that this tradition has never been democratic and secular. Unless we understand this, we will not be able to find a way forward. We will not understand how we fought elections, how we formed parties, how we formed alliances, and we will not understand this. Well, even an educated Dalit scholar realises that he was cheated by the Poona pact. They had to compromise on the Poona pact. If Dalits… That is, Gandhi clearly said that ‘we will not allow Dalits to choose their leader. I will die but will not let Dalits choose their leader.’ This is the Poona pact of 1932. The Poona pact is also in the Constitution, in the form of reservation. I am talking about electoral reservation, not bureaucratic and instituted reservation.
Electoral reservation ensures that the upper caste will choose the Dalit representative. This is very basic. So if you look at this tradition, this rule, then it is neither secular nor democratic. I am talking about this on paper. You also know what is in reality. But confusion about theory is what is this on paper. So even on paper, it is not secular and democratic. If you make it your support, you will not move anywhere. You will be trapped there.
There is no way to get out of it if the Constitution is our only support. Constitutionality things are different anyway. That means there is a political leader who talks about constitutionality that we do not have to damage property. We do not have to attack anyone other than in self-defence. Don’t take up arms against anyone. These things are there, and the constitutional debate that is going on among us is what is the constitutional way or constitutional spirit. Spirit can be talked about to an extent, but it would be more of our suicide to trust this document.
Let me tell you this, this is a document written by educated pandits. You should know that educated pandits are more dangerous than illiterate pandits. They have written this. It has been written very promptly that we Muslims should not get any kind of right. And as far as the Mandal Commission is concerned, it also came against Congress. You all know this. So the whole idea of India that has been built in 100-150 years has been built on the graves of Muslims. First thing. And second, it was basically a “unification project by the Pandits”. “Centralization”. Well, I forgot one thing, Center State Relations. If you have 10 lakh votes in an area, you can’t influence the center, you can’t influence the state. So if the state has autonomy, your votes will be valued. If the state does not have autonomy, then your votes are not even valued.
Right from the very beginning, since 1950, Congress has ensured that the state has no rights. There was a Sikh MP, I am forgetting his name, he says in the constituent assembly that you did not even give so much strength, okay. So this thing has been there since 1950. You have seen its implementation in Kashmir, in the North East, and also in Kerala and it is a matter of the 1950s. These things are what I said in detail that day. I am explaining in short that these things are what we have to make clear to our people about the constitution, Congress and “Idea of India”, secularism, and Gandhi. These people are not going to do it. This responsibility is ours.
If someone has not read the Constitution, then he should not praise the Constitution. First, read it, then after reading, he has a stand to praise or condemn. So, in short, these governments are against us. We don’t have to gain anything from elections and parties. And this thing has to be remembered – Congress is our enemy number one. Had it not been our enemy number one, this government would not have been in front of us.
Now let’s look at specific things that happened in the last year, which happened in the last 6 months, such as lynching. So my argument is that lynching has been going on for many decades. In fact, this has been going on for 100 years. It is just that with the arrival of the Internet, its visibility has increased. Videos are made, not made earlier. First, there would be a small column in the newspaper. Two people were killed. No one knows how they were killed. You know only what the police will report. Now, visibility has increased. And the second is that mobilization has also become easier after the Internet. If you want to catch someone in a village, and the car is going from there, then it is not possible without the internet. Earlier, it was not possible. So both mobilizations from the Internet increased and the visibility of the mob increased. Muslims themselves can see what is happening to us. What happened in the last 6-8-10 years is not very unique. This used to happen before. We just got the news now. The news has now been received by the people, earlier the news did not go even to the adjoining district. So these are all things.
Focus on the past year, in which some ground-breaking things happened. The same thing was happening for the first 70 years. Some new things have happened in the last year. For example, when the BJP got a full majority, came the issue of Kashmir, the issue of triple talaq came, the issue of Ayodhya Babri came, and now the issue of CAA AND NRC came up. NRC is also there since 1951, you guys know. This came to the old debate. So after these 4-5 things that happened continuously, our people are on the streets. And they themselves are on the streets today, they did not come by anyone’s call. Whichever city you go to, people are upset. People are taking out rallies. There are processions after Friday prayers. Something keeps happening. People are on the streets on their own. And there should be no hesitation in speaking that Muslims are on the streets. Muslims are on the streets, not the people.
Now I come to the matter of Delhi. Even before coming here, when we were in Delhi, from 5th December to 6th December, we had started distributing pamphlets on NRC-CAA. And we were debating on the means of protest – what could be done. No one had the opinion of going to Jantar Mantar. At least the majority of us did not believe that we should go to Jantar Mantar. Or sometimes we went there to keep our point. There is a crowd, we gave our message to them for 10 minutes and left. That was all. That is not the way of protest.
The two steps should be kept clear. One is sensitization, awareness, or whatever and the other is the plan of action. No one has a plan of action. Everyone talks about sensitization. We have to do sensitization. But the plan of action should also be in parallel. If we have accumulated a critical mass of people, then what should we get done from them, what should be done, and what can be done?
If we have 10000 young boys in Jamia, what can they do? Here is the plan of action. It has thousands of routes, in which even if a team of 100 boys works hard, it can sensitize an entire city. So this is it. So, from the 5th of December to the 13th of December, the Friday Jamia protests, we were roaming everywhere shouting ‘Chakka Jam Chakka Jam’ and did the same on the night of the 14th.
It happened on the morning of the 15th that after Jauhar (evening Namaz at around 5:30 pm), people came out from Jamaat’s Masjid, which is Markaji (central) Masjid of Jamaat-e-Islami, towards Abul Fazal. So a crowd was coming from there. That crowd was stopped by some people who were with us and were locals. They stopped and said, ‘look, these are the people of JNU, just listen to them.’ After that 2 people lifted me on the shoulder. I was given a mic (to make my appeal). I said we want to do Chakka Jam.
We went a little further. We went to Kalindi Kunj’s turn number 9. When they started barricading, the news came that another crowd is standing ahead, under the leadership of Amanatullah Saheb who is the MLA there, of the Aam Aadmi Party. We said that it is okay to go there and merge. We merged with that crowd. Then everyone gave arguments. We also said something. Then after 2 hours, MLA Saheb says that now we should get up and that next Friday we will march to Amit Shah’s house. This is the same useless mode of protest.
You will not even be allowed to cross Mathura Road. And you will create a crowd, spend your energy, go home, and sleep. So we argued against it that ‘no, we should sit here, sit till dawn, sit till morning, tomorrow is Monday, sit till tomorrow so that there is traffic jam’. A scuffle took place in this chaos. Those two groups then got separated. Still, we were sitting.
An incident happened at night which is very interesting and it gives us a lesson. That is, at the behest of the police, one side of the road was made empty. And as soon as it was evacuated, a guy in a beard and a turban came with a tricolour – a very big tricolour – and started shouting, ‘throw stones’. Ok. After that 4-5 boys came and said, ‘Violence in Jamia just happened’. The violence in Jamia happened at that time. There was violence in Jamia on Sunday night. There was mild violence on Friday night. My spectacles were also broken and tear gases were released. People were scuffling with the policemen. But the major violence was on Sunday night.
We sat on the road on Sunday night. The news of Jamia had come. At the same time, the police also came, saying that ‘you vacate this side’. The bus was burnt there after 6 pm. So as soon as we had cleared the road there, around 9 o’clock this man came and started pelting stones. None of the vehicles that passed from that side crossed safely. Every vehicle’s glasses were broken. Ok. So the police started lathi charge. Thousands of people… 20-25 people were saved. I was also dragging 2-3 people to say ‘Chalo bhai maare jaoge’ (come brother, else you will be killed). The rubber bullets then started from the opposite side. In the end, when 10 people were left, we also retreated. We do not know whether those 10 people were ours or theirs. It was my first and second day in the locality.
Till morning when the police left, the boys again blocked the road by themselves at 3-4 o’clock. And called us and said ‘Let’s come and you start speaking’. Since then we kept talking. Now, this means of protest is seen to be effective because we do not have any other way to convey our message to you. You stood at Jantar Mantar for one year, the government does not care. It may make a little difference to the international media if a piece of news is published, but more than that, it will not make any difference.
If you have to do something, you have to shut down India. And we advise the same. Now we understood the problems involved in this only after staying in Shaheen Bagh for 20 days. The first thing is that – in the first 10 days when we were on the stage – the international media did not come for the first 10 days. National media came after that. International media came first. So until the international media did not come, who used to speak on the stage? Those who have been there will remember it. Muslim boys used to speak on the stage. Some from JNU, some from Jamia, some from Aligarh, and some local Muslims from Shaheen Bagh. And who used to come when we called? The leftists did not come, I called the leftists. Because I have so many friends in JNU only. We have been together for 6 years. We do everything together. But they did not come. They said that ‘the party has forbidden us, because this is an Islamic forum, we will not go there’. So who was coming? The people of BAPSA used to come, they had also come here a month ago. The people of BAMSEF used to come with us. The people of the Bhim Army have come, haven’t they? On the 6th… I think Chandrashekhar Azad had come on the sixth day.
It is very important to note that until there were no media, who were coming there? Who was ready to sit and block the road? Who else sat there all night? Which 10-15 women slept there? The figure increased to 25-30 at night. As long as we were there, 30-40 women used to sleep in that tent every night. And 30-40 boys used to sit on both corners for signalling. Because if the police will find the tent empty, then it will take them 5 minutes to remove that tent. So this happened. On the tenth day, the international media arrived. Everyone reached there 2-3 days after that. I saw half of CPI’s Politburo standing on the stage. I got surprised. And a man from Politburo was speaking with the mic. An hour passed. We ourselves do not speak for more than 5 minutes. 5 minutes only. He spoke for one hour. So I got on the stage. I whispered in his ear, ‘Sir, please make it shorter’. So he handed over the mic to me and said, ‘you speak first’. So I said, ‘I am telling him to tell in short’. Then I gave back the mic to him. Now, what way is this? This is their way. You understand this. They don’t come to help you, they just come to get their photos clicked.
I have often seen this in protest. This is what happens. What was happening in Jamia that day? We sat on the night of the 13th. We were behind the barricade in the evening. A person from each party was standing on the barricade carrying an emblem. It was being said, ‘get down there, move forward, we will also move forward’. So we said ‘we will be detained’. We said ‘ok, you come here’. No, they would stand on the barricade. Neither would they allow the barricades to be removed, nor would they move forward themselves. So, see this. These people are your roadblocks. All parties are your roadblocks. If any party was our sympathizer, then this situation would not have happened to us. There is no single party, no democratic force in India. They lie that India is democratic. In 20 days, we got more evidence of these small things. We were already knowing this but got more evidence that these parties are camera-hungry, vote-hungry, etc.
Secondly, it was understood that from the very first day in Shaheen Bagh, we were saying that the people of Delhi should block their roads. Attempts were also made in some places. An attempt was also made in Seelampur Jaffrabad, and RAF chased it away. There was an attempt in Old Delhi, there too the forces chased them away. But you will see that after the arrival of this international media, the footfall in Shaheen Bagh started becoming like this one lakh, two lakhs a day. 50 thousand. Hundred Thousand. Hey brother, if there were even 500-odd people out of that, it would have been enough to shut down Delhi. You understand this. No one is your friend. They have come for an exotic trip. See how the kebabs are available here. Now it is also safe for non-Muslims because if there is media attention nothing will happen. Girls are also roaming all night, so we can also roam. Yes, it is. It is an exotic place for them, for the civil society of Delhi. They did this one thing.
Secondly, all kinds of leaders started coming on the stage again. After the 11th day, Allah knows who all came. Salman Khurshid. Without any invitation. Okay, this is also a very important thing, he came uninvited. No one called him to come here. As soon as he… I saw that people uploaded the picture of this iftar, and within half an hour the leaders of Delhi started coming in a rush. Because there were 10 thousand people in the Iftar. Okay, so they have the opportunity to address 10,000 people, have cameras, etc. So we understood these things. So for the last 10-12 days, this has been our effort in Delhi city and this should happen elsewhere.
But this is not happening. Firstly, the government is also ready, the forces are ready. And secondly, our non-Muslim allies are not allies. They tell lies. If those were our allies Delhi would have been shut down by now. So we understood this thing. We don’t have any allies. No group, no gang is our ally… A person can be. I am not talking about persons. But if you talk about any gang or any group, then no one is your ally. First of all, why do we have to close Delhi now? Now many types of arguments come that many people are facing inconvenience. So you open one side, do this, do that. The experience of opening one side, which I have told, is dismissed from the debate itself. But we have to shut down Delhi because of inconvenience to the public. This is very… We achieved our goal by working hard for 20-25 days. Now that Noida is there, people coming from Noida to Delhi would have been late for at least 3 hours, right? So this is an achievement. If another road is closed, there will be a delay of 6 hours. If one more road is closed then water will be stopped in Delhi, isn’t it? This is a very important thing. We have to do this. If we don’t, we can’t go anywhere.
The second thing is, what are the threats now? Now like what happened on the first night of the protest, that Maulana-like person was never seen again. He appeared on the same day. After that never saw him, the one who incited pelting stones. So you have to remember that if our crowd is unorganized then BJP or RSS benefits. Even Congress because Congress also benefits from polarization. Where there are 40 percent Muslim votes, due to polarization, Congress will feel that they will get something. This is a very important thing. So Congress and BJP would like to do riots, like what happened in Muzaffarnagar. In Muzaffarnagar, it was not BJP who had organized the riots, isn’t it? So both these parties would like to get riots started. So we have only one way to avoid riots. That is, we have such a strong cadre that we can keep it under control. Otherwise, an unorganized crowd means you are giving a feast to the person in front of you. So one thing was understood. It was our weakness, our negligence that we did not have enough people who know and understand these risks. We had a plan on New Year that we will sit here in any case.
On new year’s eve, the police called me and told me that ‘now there is an order from above that we do not have to intervene’. Meaning, sit as long as you have to sit. Now it meant that they want to push it till the elections. And that will happen. Now even after the opening of the High Court, no order has come. So it means, they want to push the road of Shaheen Bagh till the elections. And what will be its result, Allah knows. Or we are not aware of the plans of the Home Ministry. But it is sure that they would like to take advantage of it till the elections, which is not a very big concern for us. We don’t care if BJP wins, or Congress wins. This thing I am talking about myself and don’t know about others. It doesn’t matter much to me if Aam Aadmi Party wins. Yes, it matters to an auto driver because Kejriwal has given him a lot. Electricity has become free, that is one thing. But in the larger narrative, whether Congress wins or BJP wins does not make much difference to us.
What makes the difference? The punishment that Shaheen Bagh will get, or that locality will get is a big thing. If Shaheen Bagh stands alone, then they will be punished. Because make a list of the rest of the protests that are happening and keep Shaheen Bagh aside. Here the highway is blocked. Elsewhere the highway has not been blocked. Where else has the road been closed for a month? You tell me. An attempt was made for a few days somewhere, near Darbhanga, and somewhere else. People go there and will come back in the evening. That’s a different story. Here now you have kept the road closed for a month. The property has been damaged after that.
Well, there is one more thing that bothered us. And which is a very easy way to sabotage. That is, if you are running a big movement, then put money into it. Ok? The meaning is to put an end to the cash collection. Cash collection problem. It is a gift for the police. You cannot account for cash. You can give the account of the goods that we had ordered 100 blankets. Now, will I make bombs out of it? But cash cannot be accounted for. So that too has become a problem after international media attention on that road. Until international media attention did not come, our movement was successful in this matter because we were running a cashless economy. Nobody needed cash. Everything used to come by itself. You have to bring Biryani, you bring Biryani, it used to be like this.
The locality was doing this by organizing itself. This organic organization did not need cash in any way. But ever since the media came, the mainstream media came, we faced the problem that now people are giving money on their own. And it’s a very troublesome thing because we didn’t have people to manage. And when a crowd of 10 thousand comes, then will anyone manage anyone from there? Everyone is giving money to each other. When everyone is giving money to each other, the police are informed. We don’t even know who is giving money to whom. So a very easy way to sabotage this is by introducing cash. Introduce cash transactions. Cash transactions can be read. This is a very easy method that we have to run any big movement, in that you have to stay away from cash. This is very basic. But now I am just repeating. Because all this is going on for a month. Ok.
Now the next thing is, what can we do? So in my view, we have to get organized and shut down Delhi. Ok? You know the rest of Aligarh better. Geography and communal relations. But Delhi is Delhi. In Delhi so easily…. cases will be lodged against everyone, but so easily by sending a mob…. The incident of JNU is also funny. Well, the JNU incident happened because of some other reason, ordinary boys got crushed in it. There was a crisis of fee hikes, which was going on continuously for 2-3 months. JNU shutdown was done. Left parties, BAPSA, all parties together, and common students had observed a shutdown. Then the negotiation that was going on with MHRD for 2 months. And some negotiated price was kept on the table so that there should be a consensus on it. The party people here did not agree. They said, ‘We want back what was original’. So violence started in this again. The first guards were sent to dislodge. When guards did not work, ABVP people came. There was a fight. The ABVP here beat first. Then the next day the leftists scuffled. Then after that, the goons came to JNU. Something around 100. Well, on the same day, I returned to JNU for the first time from Shaheen Bagh at 5 in the evening. And I didn’t know there was a fight going on here. When I entered, I saw that 34 people are entering.
I thought, there is such a crowd here, it will handle them. Who knew that there are hundreds more to come? Within an hour a hundred more came. So this was it. We were a little far away, in another hostel. By the time we came back, the mob had done its work. By the time we reached back, we saw. We came back at 7:30. Their violence started at 6 o’clock. When we came back by 7:30, we saw that the main gate is completely under the control of the police. All the roads are empty. Streets empty. Nobody is here. At the main gate, 40-50 policemen had already taken control of the gate at 6 o’clock. Those goons were entering. And when we took a U-turn from there and started walking back towards the hostel, we saw that a crowd of 60-70 people was coming to a short distance away. We were 5-6 people, on bikes. A crowd of 60-70 is coming, all of whom have metal rods and sticks etc. And two policemen are escorting them ahead. Ok? And told us to get out of there.
So we went around from behind and then ran back and brought 10-12 people so that something could be done. But, by then 150-200 policemen were coming from there. And then they surrounded the students who were mobilizing for the march and drove the rest away. Well, in this, the homes of Kashmiri children and Muslim children, that is, their rooms, were targeted. Their rooms were broken. Many boys ran away by jumping from the balcony etc. So I am just requesting you to understand that CPM has also been a violent party in this. Its history is violent. It kills people. The way ABVP kills. You remember this thing. Both parties are extremely violent. I will talk about the left later. But remember that CPM is a violent party. You can read the history of Kerala and Bengal. This is more to show masculinity, isn’t it, that you are beating 3 people like a crowd, just because… And you complain. This means there is a way.
And if you are fighting, then be ready to fight. Don’t disappear so that ordinary boys get beaten up. The campus is being attacked because of you, so stand like a wall. Everyone was missing. This thing is very important to be noted. Common boys were beaten up. Their heads were broken. It was the courage of the President – IC Ghosh – that she stood in front of all and went ahead. All the rest who were going to fight were missing as far as I can guess. Because I was standing there since 7 o’clock…. But like the organized forces they have always blocked your way. They never let you go ahead. This is one thing that is political history.
Ideological debates are different, but dialectic materialism is an old ideology and deserves to be kept in a museum. Their understanding is so limited that they cannot talk about us at all. So that is different, it will be discussed later. Urgent issues should now be dealt with. Who are our allies and who are our enemies? Now there is one more thing. Let us try it in Delhi. Look, we are scholars. If we are scholars, then we can do at least this much, that we can bring a non-Muslim with us. This is the responsibility of the scholars of Delhi. So if we make a team of 500 Muslim scholars in Delhi, then 500 Hindus will come with them whenever there is an urgent matter. We spent our life there, at least this much can be done. At least one person can be brought. Our effort should be that if we are 500 scholars in Delhi, then we should make 500 Muslims, and 500 Hindus stand on the road for our cause on our terms. Hey brother, you can bring a Hindu on your terms. We do not need anyone else’s help, if we have to avoid this fear of not being tagged communal.
Even the communal tag doesn’t matter. Brutality makes a difference. It makes a difference when we are the only community in a crowd and the police beat us mercilessly. That can make a difference. Do your duty. One argument was coming again and again in Delhi. That’s why I am keeping this point. So it has been our endeavour in Delhi that we can create such a crowd in which non-Muslims chant ‘Nara-e-Takbeer’ with us. Ok? And they stand with us on our terms and conditions. If they are not standing on our terms, then it means they are using us, and using our crowd, which they have done for 70 years. Now is the time, that we tell non-Muslims, that if you have sympathy, then come and stand on our terms. If you cannot stand on our terms, then you should not be considered a sympathizer. This is one thing. Second, I saw it in Bihar. I will give the example of Bihar only. Many rallies have taken place in Bihar. Every day one or two big rallies take place. You people should see the rally of Kanhaiya. There were 5 lakh people in Araria. And his point is only that much. I have probably already requested that if we have 5 lakh people organized, then we can permanently cut off India and North East. If not permanently, then at least for a month or so it can be cut. This means pouring so much filth on the tracks, on the road, that it will take them a month to remove it. Is it not? Let them go by air.
It is our responsibility to cut off Assam. Assam and India should be cut and separated, only then they will listen to us. You know the condition of Muslims in Assam. CAA has been implemented there. People are being put in detention camps. Isn’t it? And there, well, the butcher of common people is going on. In 6-8 months it will be known that all the Bengalis were killed. Be it Hindu or Muslim. Ok? If we have to help Assam, then we have to block the way to Assam for the army. Do you understand? Whatever is being supplied for the army and whatever is being supplied from here, stop it. And we can stop it because chicken neck belongs to Muslims. That area is mostly Muslim. What will a leader like Kanhaiya do? They will go and raise slogans of the revolution, get photographs clicked, and come back. There will be applause from our people, but their faces will be there as leaders. And not a single productive thing has come out of it to date. Not a single productive thing has come out to date. Remember this thing. Remember this thing if the public is angry, then it is the responsibility of the politician, scholar, whatever it is, to make productive use of that anger. We can use it productively. Rather than waste in the photo session. Ok.
Well, I understood one more thing – even the matter of sensitization is not in our control till now. It is under the control of those who worship the Indian nation. Whether it is Left or Congress. Everything is under their control. It will come under our control if we form a group of Muslim scholars. And make such a group in which there is no debate among ourselves whether we are nationalist or not. Ok? The mask to be kept in the front is a different matter. That we have to remain silent for a few days, brothers. India secular… or not to speak at this place, not to speak at that place, that is a different matter. Or today the situation is not good, or tomorrow the situation is not good, it can be said the day after tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow does not mean after ten years. I mean, as I am talking about daily affairs now, I am standing in this locality, but this clarity should be there in those scholars. We are troubled by the government and constitution of India. If there is this much clarity, then only we can move forward, otherwise, we cannot move forward, believe me. There is no way to move forward.
So now if the public is on the streets and the public is ready to listen… It happened in Shaheen Bagh that I used to speak against the Congress 2-3 times every day from the stage. I might not have taken the name of BJP-RSS even once in 20 days. Because people know. People are on the road because they feel that BJP has done something new against Muslims. That’s why they are on the road. They don’t even know about CAA yet. NRC is not known to many. Many do not know about CAA in Delhi itself. Leave aside Bihar, it is not known in Delhi itself. So the people are not on the streets because… It is a misconception of the people that they have come for CAA, or they have come to save the constitution, or they have come again to save the country. Hey Muslims, save yourself, it is a big deal. And if we save ourselves, the country will also be saved. And if we cannot save ourselves, then the country will also be ruined. If Muslims are not able to respond in an organized manner, then we will give an unorganized response. And if Muslims give an unorganized response, then this country will be destroyed. You also know this. So if the Muslims organize themselves, then we will save the country by that only. Inshallah, we have so much power. But first, we have to organize. This thing is very important. Well, now that the people who are currently roaming on the roads are in fourth gear, we will also have to be in fourth gear. More than sensitization of the campus, we are talking about the public’s sensitization. CAA is being discussed. So, on this pretext, the complete history of citizenship from 1951 should be narrated. Enemy property act, how people were sent back, or how they were killed, the Nellie massacre…. Whatever it is, the whole story has to be told on this pretext. Because no one else is going to tell the public. The one who got the Nellie massacre done will tell nothing. Are Indira Gandhi and the others going to tell you what was the Nellie massacre? You will have to tell. And that Dalit Muslim issue, I said in the beginning. Since the public is still in fourth gear and is ready to listen. I have realized in Shaheen Bagh, that if I was speaking against Congress, or speaking against Gandhi, they were listening. After getting down, they used to ask what is it and tell the details of it. This thing might not have been possible even two years back. People put you down very quickly. There was also an attempt to bring me down. I was also pulled down many times. But I used to go back. And I had to speak my own. The matter has to be kept the same.
So the situation now is that if you speak like this, then the majority will often come with you. Because they know that everyone has cheated on them. Not a single party helped him. They have realized this. So this is not the story of CAA. This is the story of a long betrayal. Some say 6 months. Somebody says 6 years. Someone says 60 years. But this is not about CAA at all. You should also understand this. I came to understand this after staying on the streets for a month, that this is not a matter of CAA. It is a matter that what has been going on for 70 years, how long will it last brother? That’s the point of it. And we have this one chance. And when their atrocities will increase with the advent of the internet, our reaction will also increase. With the advent of the internet, we will be free. Earlier this could not happen. Earlier it had to be printed after taking permission. Now they (protestors) can be removed only after taking permission. Can you see the difference? There has been a huge difference. First, they need to take permission whether they can get us removed or not. One thing is that we can tell the story of our citizenship from 1951 on the pretext of CAA. And the second thing is the police brutality which is happening now and the brutality of armed forces which is happening, be it Kashmir, Jamia, or Aligarh. On the pretext of this, we can open the story of the entire PAC in front of the public, which is not known to the public. So we have found these two good things relevant. Let us talk about citizenship on the pretext of CAA and talk about the state-sponsored violence of the last 70 years on the pretext of police brutality. Whether it starts from Jammu, whether it is about Hashimpura, Moradabad, or it is about Nelle, there are thousands, and you people would also know them. Well! Aligarh. Aligarh is the most riot-prone district in India. Read paul brass only. They say that there have not been as many riots anywhere else as here. Be it urban or rural. So this is our chance to write pamphlets, make videos, and get them organized and delivered to our homes. If 1000 boys from Aligarh, 1000 students from here, and 1000 students from Jamia form a group, then they can spread their message all over India. Isn’t it? We have to convey our message to the people. And it is the responsibility of the students who are on the campuses to study themselves and work further on it.
There is not much time to waste here. I want to tell you that if you can explain to 3 people here, in that time you can probably explain to 3000 people in public. We have understood this thing. If you are going to the public and saying that we have neither come to ask for votes from you nor have we come to ask for money from you, then it has been an experience that people will listen to you. Will listen to you, because you have not come with any hope or expectations. They will also abuse you, you will go away, then you will come again, and then they will listen to you again unless they have any vested interest in this government system as many people have. So those who have vested interest, you have to stay away from them. Don’t just stay away, have to talk to them in strong words. Don’t just stay away, have to talk in strong words. The one who speaks more nationalism is our enemy. Brother, it’s clear. I mean, how can you not understand this thing? He is forcing you to worship the same idol again and again, which should not even be centralized, which should not be in this form, in the form in which it is. This has been done for us, imposed on us and we have to break it. It is our responsibility to break it. It may take a long time to break it, but it will start with the fact that our people should understand that they are trapped in this system. They are not stuck in any 5-year election cycle. They are stuck in this system which was formed in 1950. For example, let me give one or two examples of this, and things will become clear. The judiciary, executive, legislative….. During the British Raj, the supreme court, here was the high court, supreme court was in London, and there were courts here too. The executive is here, the Government of India, totally, and the rest is legislative which was in London. Ok? Keep legislative aside, it used to run on the votes of the British. The judiciary and executive both were more impartial before independence than after independence. We should know this, Muslims did not get freedom. An enemy command was imposed on Muslims. This is a very important thing, if this is not understood, then we will not go anywhere. Understand this thing. Be it executive, be it judiciary, it is our enemy since 1950. I am not talking before 1757, 1757 to 1857 was the East India Company.
The British Government’s Government of India means British India, it was formed after 1860 and would be reporting directly to the queen and reporting to the British Parliament. This is a matter of the last hundred years. You can also talk about the period after 1890 etc. when industrialization was completely set and India has become a market for them. While it was a matter of the last 60-70 years, after World War One, more problems arose that the local capitalists also had to be given something to them that ‘yes, you too can set up factories’. For example, Tata was given an iron and steel factory and someone else opened a clothing factory in western India. After World War One, it was not so gross for the British that they could take goods, weapons, and people from the boats. World war I was a wonderful thing. Then you will see the breaks. This is the last 25 years, especially from 1905 to 1947, in that you will see that the British government is more impartial towards us than what comes after it and what happened before. What comes after has been more colonial than the last 50 years of colonial rule. What comes after, what comes after 1950 has been colonial. We should say this without fear. We didn’t get freedom. We were thrown into a new and more severe slavery. The condition of some people in it must have been fine. Some of the landlords, some of the Nawabs, still have money. Do they need to show the papers to NRC? They should take citizenship in Canada. Ok? So those who have wealth and can take their relatives abroad should do that. That’s a different matter. But for the common Muslim, across communities among Muslims, the period after 1950, has been a period of more troubles for us in terms of colonialism. So we, who repeatedly talk about freedom, should not do this thing, this is my own belief. If we don’t, and we start speaking very clearly in the capacity of a scholar, then the public will follow. Either the people will follow, or we will be killed and annihilated. Both cases are fine. No one can leave quietly. What is there to praise in that? So now according to me the plan before us should be that we should create our intellectual cell which should not have any attachment to Gandhi, Nation, and all these things. That cell should have clarity that all of them are our enemies.
You should know that the biggest fascist leader of the 20th century is Gandhi himself. You should know who promoted Cow Protection, who brought Ram Rajya, tell me who was that? Who made Congress a Hindu party? Moderate nationalism and extremist nationalism these misnomers are given. The difference was, who were the moderates? Jinnah, and Gokhale, were moderate people in the early times. Isn’t it? They were considered the spokesperson of moderate nationalism. What did they have to say? They used to say that we know English better than the British. They used to say that the British are 90 percent illiterate. 2-4 percent are educated. We are also 2-4 percent educated. We know better English than you. So now we can come to Parliament in London as well. Isn’t it? This was their nationalism called moderate nationalism. Dadabhai Nauroji went and contested the election. Got elected too. Used to ask for equal rights, for whites and Indians. And he said that system is not bad because it is running from London, your system is bad because you treat whites and browns differently. It was as simple as that. This was moderate nationalism.
And what is extremist nationalism? That we, this is our land, we are India, and the white man is our enemy. This is extremist nationalism. And have to see this more, and understand the picture correctly. Then some people came with drums, shouting Jai Shri Ram and Gau Mata Ki Jai. This is Gandhi’s nationalism. There is a huge difference between moderate nationalism and extremist nationalism. It is not extremist nationalism, it is Hindu nationalism. The foundation of Hindu nationalism had already been laid in 1890. But it flourished under the patronage of Gandhi. Well, one more thing is History writing. Our entire history was written by pundits. Ok? And some Muslims who are in sympathy with the Pandits. Ok? They wrote history. Irfan Habib also comes from them, although he has done more work on medieval history. But it is necessary to interfere forcefully in modern times, because of the nation, nationalism, Tipu Sultan, etc. Yes, this is a very wrong thing. Speak about what is your expertise. Why are you saying nonsense things that you probably don’t even know? Or do you want to reap political benefits? Or you wanted to get help from the government in the times when Congress ruled? Whatever the reason. You have become so old but this thing can never be accepted, that you support the nation of India and you are an intellectual scholar, isn’t it? this cannot be possible, brother. this is a clear lie.
A fascist project is kept in front. Mushrikeen’s (idol worshippers’) biggest project to date. I don’t know what you are calling it. So this whole history was written by the pundits. We have to write our history. And it takes a lot of effort to write history. You can’t write just like that. If someone takes up only one issue, he will have to work for 10 years. Only then such a thesis can come out which can be proved. So as I was taking an example. For example, take the case of the elections. 1937 election, and the 1946 election. None of us remembers the results. Does anyone remember? If someone is studying then only he will remember. But no one knows the result. No one even knows how many men voted, how many women voted, and which party got how many votes. Everyone says that Jinnah united the Muslims under the Muslim League in 1946. So this illusion is created as if before that Muslims were voting for Congress. Isn’t it? This illusion is created. Even in 1937, Muslims did not vote for Congress. In 1937, if you know, there was a regional party in every province that got votes. In every province. The peasant’s party in Bengal was KPP (Krishak Praja Party). Muslim Independent Party in Bihar. Muslim nationalist party in UP. The unionist party in Punjab belonged to the landlords. Ittehad was the party in Sindh. Where did the Muslim League get votes? Khudai Khidmatgar in North West later allied with Congress. Muslim League got votes only in 2 states in 1937, in Bombay and Madras Presidency. Bombay was Jinnah’s home ground. There he got votes at that time also and in Madras Presidency also got majority votes of Muslims in 1937. In 1946, the rest of the parties merged. Well, there is one more little thing on History Writing, but no one knows it. In this whole process, Muslims never voted for Congress. Why do we say today that Congress is secular? We never voted for congress till partition happened. And there was a compulsion. And what has become compulsion? Many leaders of the Muslim League who did not want to go to Pakistan also went to Congress. What to do then? Sitting idle, there is no work to do, so they joined Congress.
Things like this have happened. So who is ours and who is a stranger, even it is not understood in that. But this story is just like this. Look at the lack of history on one hand. The major loophole is that Congress has oppressed us so much. Have you heard about the role of Deobandi Ulema in the freedom struggle? Everyone must have heard. The role of Deobandi Ulema has been in the freedom struggle. But that has been much before. Even before 1890. There was a massacre before 1890. And in that, from jail in Andaman to getting hanged to death, Ulema faced everything. But after 1890 and 1900, I am telling from my research on the Bakrid riots, by 1920, the same Ulema would be folding hands before the British to save them. Be it any big attack on Muslims, or an attack on Mewatis, Ulema must be on the run. Wildly. When will the police come, when will the force come to save us? Do you understand what a big difference there has been in 50 years? The Ulema who used to consider the British as their enemy understood in 30-40 years who is our big enemy. Aljamiyat newspaper would get published from ‘Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind’. It is written in an issue of 1928 that there used to be a fair of Garhmukteshwar, a place near Meerut, in which three to four hundred Muslims were killed in 1946. In 1928, 100-150 shops were burnt and 4-5 Muslims were killed in the fair and some others were killed nearby. Do you know? Maulana Modudi was the editor of Aljamiat at that time. So I think he must have written the editorial. Maybe someone else has written. The editor at that time was Maulana Modudi. He wrote that we have told the Muslims not to go to the Hindu fair again and again. Keep them away from your fair and do not go to their fair yourself. So see here, which secularism is this? That party or that gang which speaks for a joint electorate, they are not able to accept joint fairs. It does not agree that we will organize fairs together. By 1928, the situation had become such that even the fair could not be held together, because you would be killed. Ok? The role of the Deobandi Ulema in the National Struggle has been exaggerated by Congress. And a very good section of Deobandi Ulema was indeed engaged in Khilafat.
But it is a surprising thing that in the entire history that was written in India, there was no mention of the role of Barelvi Ulema. What is told? They were agents of the British. The matter ends in just one line. Why? Because they were against Congress. You should understand. They were always against Congress and still remain against it. It was not that they were against Muslims. They had also given equal contributions. They had also roamed in riot control. They were also making pamphlets. They were going to the police, they were going to the hospital, and they were also doing the same work. There was an attack on Muslims in 46, yet the poor people were roaming from door to door, to take you away from there. That too, same as others were doing. But since they were always against Congress, it was said that you are an agent of the British.
Take the issue of cow protection. Cow protection has been going on violently since 1890. Violently means – an attack on the villages. And the biggest attack that has taken place on the villages in the past, started around Azamgarh. This was an urban phenomenon in Punjab. Then it became a rural phenomenon in this area. One of the reasons for this is also that the rural population here will be Muslim majority. First, make a map in your mind where is the rural population of Muslims. Muslims are primarily urban. Ok? In my opinion, the population of Muslims, take the example of UP, is above 30% in UP. While the overall will be 18 percent or 19 percent. But the urban population in that is above 30%. In the area from which I come – Bihar, 7% rural population, and 25% of the urban population. So Muslims are primarily urban. Somewhere there is also a rural population. So where is the rural Muslim population? It was in Punjab, which got divided. It is in western UP. Apart from that, in some areas of Kerala.
It was bigger than this world level. According to that, they used to decide whether to kill Hindus or whether to kill Muslims. They did not decide from the local disputes whether to take someone’s side. Isn’t it? They were moving one level above. So remember that the attacks that took place before independence must have happened in those places where the Muslim population was 10 percent or 15 percent. Muslims also constitute 17-18 percent of the population in the Aligarh district. They didn’t have much courage to attack where the population of Muslims was above 40 percent in rural areas, not even then. Not to date. Too little Without state support. State Support. That is why PAC (Provincial Armed Constabulary) was formed. Why is the role of PAC so important in western UP?
Musalsmans hold a lower rural population. That’s why PAC was formed. Otherwise, there was no need for PAC. The mob would have got the work done. Congress saw that where mobs are not working, an institute should be made there to kill Muslims. Ok? In Bihar, where I come from, they used to work with mobs only, because there is a 6 percent rural population. Brother, ours is one village among 10 villages. They will kill us in 9 villages. They have killed in 1946. They will kill whenever they want. But here in Meerut, it is not that easy to kill. I am telling you that you would need a different mobilization. It will lead to civil war. Isn’t it?
So this was History. Remember that though cow protection violence started in cities, its first dangerous face has been seen in the villages of Eastern UP. Because the rural population of Muslims in Eastern UP is very less. We live in the city. we don’t live in the countryside. After that, it was seen there in Bihar, in the Bhojpur area, in South Bihar, and it kept spreading like this. So whenever a Maulana enters on Cow protection, I will start talking from there. It started through Khilafat. In cow protection, Maulana’s entry takes place only from the Khilafat movement. Brother, if you help us in Khilafat, we will help you with cow protection. And you will see this compromise only through fatwas. There are many fatwas. Fatwas will come like this, now see how much bullying is there in this. Is it apt to sacrifice a cow on Bakrid? If you ask them this question, is it apt to sacrifice a cow on Bakrid? So what will be his answer? No. It is not apt. But it is not reasonable. You can kill any animal. When Ahmed Raza Khan, who was Ala Hazrat Barelvi, is asked the same question, he says why are you asking the wrong question? Ask the question of whether under the pressure of a polytheist, can we give up cow slaughter. So absolutely we cannot do this. The answer is very clear. Don’t twist the facts. Keep it as it is. The question is – I agree that it is not a compulsion, but under the pressure of polytheists, you are being told to give cow slaughter. We will never give it up. That’s why he is called the agent of the British. Okay? So I do not agree with everything he says. But the attitude of him and his disciples on cow protection is much better than the attitude of the Deobandi. Deobandis got a compromise done. I will not name every one of them. But, there are these people and you know them very well. Maulana Azad and other people.
There were people like Khwaja Hasan Nizami who were not Deobandis but had supported cow protection too much. That support has today become poison for us. Don’t know what they might have thought, or what their intentions might have been, but we have to point out the mistake. Even if you give them up your right, even this little bit, they will do it, they will snatch it completely from you. The same happened to us. You showed a little weakness, showing that there are divisions among Muslims regarding this issue, so they made cows forbidden for you. Isn’t it? And to date it is haram. Can eat only in some provinces and cannot eat anywhere else.
There was one more funny thing. This is the fatwa of Ahmad Raza Khan when he was asked about this cow. He said that look, no matter what food a person eats, he gets bored in a week. If someone is fed the same food for more than a week, he starts hating it. What is this? But he said that a person can eat non-vegetable food for their whole life and will never get bored. So this is our basic working-class diet which we will talk about later.
They entered our homes in 1890. Now it is too late. Now 130 years have passed. They entered your house at the same time. And who made them enter? People like Gandhi. And some of our Maulanas helped him. This is the thing. It is very important to understand this. And that’s why there is no Barelvi mentioned in Indian history writing. And they are sometimes remembered just as agents of the British, while their attitude has been very strict in this matter and even on Khilafat. We all know that for Ahle Sunnat, the Khilafat ends with Hazrat Ali. There is no Khilafat for Shian-e-Ali. They believe in Imamat in the attitude of Hazrat Imam Ali. Khilafat is not for both of them. So why was it named Khilafat Movement? Tell me, won’t this Islamic question be asked? Why was it named Khilafat? Were Ottoman Turks our Caliphs? No. We believe that he was not our Khalifa but a ruler of a place. And he was being attacked by colonials. We had to support him accordingly but made it a religious issue as if it is related to Islam. That is absolutely false. So the death of the Tipu Sultan and the death of the Ottoman Sultan both are equal. Isn’t it?
There is no Khalifa. And he was not our Khalifa for sure. We were betrayed in this case too. It was made a religious matter. And we don’t doubt the intentions of those who were involved in this, but we will point out the mistakes. This is our responsibility. So in this also you will see the Deobandi-Barelvi-Shia triangle. There are some Deobandis who are saying that there is a Khilafat movement. The rest of the people are Shias. So anyway! Today the debate is not expected among us. We don’t care. And in Barelvi also it is being said that there is a war between Turk-e-Usmani. We can help them as Turk-e-Usmani as a Turk, saying that it is a Muslim community, it is being oppressed. Then we will help him. This is not an issue of Khilafat. So I am talking at such length so that we can understand that our history has not been written. It will take another 50 years to write our history. That too when we realize that we have to write our history. If we do not realize this then it will never be written again. And after 500 years maybe only what Gandhi’s disciples have written will be considered correct, which will be our failure. And on judgment day, the question will be asked only for you people, who are educated people, whose job is to read books, read newspapers, and clear the concepts.
I lost faith in history writing long back, 4-5 years ago. I had come to understand that all these books are not only useless but they mould our minds in such a way in early childhood itself. I have talked about Jamia. There was so much fighting on ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ in Jamia. You guys would know. There was a scuffle they would not allow Namaz on the road. Why? No, some Hindus will feel bad. Will let them worship as well brother. This is a Muslim university and we cannot even offer Namaz. Second thing, which Hindu worships 5 times a day? If a thing is part of our daily schedule, if it disturbs us in our work, if we have to go far away, then we will offer Namaz wherever we are standing. This is part of our discipline, isn’t it? Which Hindu has to worship 5 times a day? You tell me. For us, it is a matter of the public. For them, it will be a matter of the Pandit, who will be doing it. The Pandit can do it sitting separately. For us, it is a matter of the public. So it has to be kept boldly. Namaz and Pooja are not equal. This is a matter of our daily schedule. You will offer Namaz where you are standing, will you not? If the Masjid is 5 KM away, will you run away again and again? Where we are standing there is a mosque.
This is an old method. There was a fight on this in Jamia. As soon as the fight was over, they called me and said that you people should also come. We were around somewhere. So 10-15 people reached. By then the battle was over. Namaz was over and after that everyone gave speeches. So an AISA person said that you people are spreading discord. Are we spreading discord? Okay. Let me tell you about the JCC that they made. I have come back twice from the door of JCC. They said that we are very inclusive, and everyone is in our group except Allahu Akbar. Okay? Understand their inclusive nature? Except for Allahu Akbar – the group of Allahu Akbar, which will be at least 400 boys and girls – except them, everyone is in their group. We said how is this inclusive? Wouldn’t it have been inclusive with them? They are the kind of people who hate Allahu Akbar. And they are called inclusive. They would have been inclusive when they would have given space to Allahu Akbar too. When my mic was broken on the first day, Sunday, I was talking to Amanatullah in the debate and said that I have to sit. When the mike broke, these poor people shouting ‘Nara-e-Takbir’ had come running to take the mic. There has been zero contribution from Jamia, except for these students who have worked on the roads. Right now some people of Jamia are distributing pamphlets here and there. But their contribution as a university is negligible on the streets of Delhi. We are watching for the last month. And same is the condition of JNU. I am watching the JNU fee hike matter. In that matter, they are being told for two months that ‘brother, finish this now and get out on the road. Because the matter is very hot on the road right now.’ These people are not ready. These people are busy with their own things. The same is the condition of Jamia. Right now Jamia’s protest is going on for 20 days. 25-30 days, it’s been a month. Jamia’s protest has been going on for a month. And what do they do while standing on their road? They just keep standing with pamphlets and posters. So they have been doing this for a month. Can you imagine how much energy those people have wasted on this? To whom else are you showing it? The same people who pass by there every day? They have been watching it for a month. Does it have any advantage? There is something called marginal utility. Or you did it for 3 days, or you did it for 4 days. Have you checked what is being achieved? Nothing is being achieved by this.
The university has a strength of 17000. Even if 5000 students of the university come to the streets, Delhi will come to a standstill. Because every boy who is a scholar, and is saying ‘I don’t want votes and money’, 50 people will immediately stand behind him. We have felt this recently. This is the condition. Just stand on the road. For example, I am going to any street in Delhi, and I start talking to a shopkeeper, I am from JNU, and I am a Muslim, at first only one will listen to me, then two will sit, and in 15 minutes 20 people will be there. Just coming to listen. If you are a scholar then your responsibility is on the roads, not here. You have studied enough. You have to teach the public now. I did not like the pattern of Jamia’s students. They don’t have any plans. They don’t even have a plan for sensitization, leave the rest. So protesting inside the university is not a matter of great courage. It is a matter of courage to protest outside the university. Isn’t it? So there have been debates with the people of Jamia. I keep trying to make them listen. Some people also came out. The method of protest should be such that we all can make full use of our energies and our own skills.
Like what is our skill? We are scholars. Ok. We are young people. We have energy. We can run. can run. Can sustain 2-4 injuries in lathi charge. Can tolerate 2-4 tear gas. Well, you guys did a lot here. Civil war has happened, man! What do we have other than that? We can write pamphlets. We can speak. We can make videos. we can do video editing. We can do all these things. We can argue by going door to door. A common man cannot do it. The common man doesn’t even know what to say. We can argue. Our first job is to argue and sensitize on the streets, and our second job is to make a plan of action. And a separate plan of action will be made for the whole of India, for every locality, and for every region. As there was a highway near Shaheen Bagh, it was possible that the crowd could be made to sit, just convince them to sit there. Whatever one can do, do it. Someone can make a poster, someone is a graphic designer, and everyone has his own skill.
We will also manage to visit the other streets of Delhi. Boys will be ready even in two or four mohallas, they will also reach there by themselves. Be it the neighbourhoods of Delhi, the neighbourhoods of Aligarh, or the neighbourhoods of western UP cities. Western UP can be covered from Aligarh. From Delhi to the surrounding areas of Delhi, means all the areas between Delhi and Aligarh can be covered by Delhi and Aligarh. We have so many people. We have so many young people that we can cover the road from Delhi to Aligarh. This is one thing. The second thing is that according to every locality, we have to make a strategy that will be an effective mode of protest so that there is pressure on the State Institutions. So imagine – like we blocked the highway in Delhi. There are 4 major routes from Delhi to UP. We blocked one and already the load on the remaining 3 has increased a lot. If you block one more, the condition will become so bad. And if DND gets blocked someday, it will be fun. If DND is absolutely no man’s land way, and there is no one on both sides, then what can we do? We will wait for the police if many people arrive early in the morning and sit down. We have to reach during peak time, 8-9 o’clock, so that even the police could not come. No one will be able to come till evening. Even if they come, we will disperse them. Delhi will remain closed for two days. Things like this – we have to think about what strategy we can have at which place, and we have so many people that we can shut down India on our own. On this note, I will end my talk. Thank you very much.
