Maulvi Wasif Raza, hailing from Porbandar, has been apprehended for disseminating messages that ‘the tricolour should not be saluted’ and ‘the national anthem should not be sung’. This fatwa issued by the maulvi faced opposition from several Muslim youths, resulting in their harassment. Disturbingly, three of these young individuals resorted to consuming phenyl attempting to commit suicide. However, they were rescued and hospitalised. In response to these events, one of the youths lodged a formal complaint against the maulvi.
According to the complaint, Maulvi Wasif Raza of Porbandar insulted the national flag and the national anthem while answering questions asked in a WhatsApp group called Bahaar-e-Shariat at 12:45 am on January 29, 2023. Two persons asked him whether the tricolour should be saluted or not and whether the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana…’ could be sung or not. In response, the maulvi forbade both. The cleric had said that although Muslims can hoist the national flag, they must not salute it, and they must not sing the national anthem.
On the basis of this complaint, a case was registered and the police arrested the maulvi. At the press conference, district police chief Bhagirathsinh Jadeja said, “A WhatsApp group called Bahar-e-Shariat is being run by the Muslim community, in which Wasif Raza who is the Maulvi of Nagina Masjid and others are the admins. In this group, people ask questions through voice clips and maulvi answers them only through voice messages.”
The cleric confessed to the police that the audio clip, which went viral, was his own. It may be recalled that after the three youths consumed phenyl, the mosque had claimed that the cleric had not said anything like this and had also questioned the audio clip.
On Friday night, 11th August 2023, three youths from Porbandar, Shakeel Yunus Qadri, Imtiyaz Harun Sipahi and Sohil Ibrahim Parmar, made a video on Instagram and drank phenyl. They were then rushed to the hospital after the family members came to know about it. They alleged that the cleric defamed them and threatened them with expulsion from Islam for questioning and objecting to the viral audio clip.
In fact, after the audio of the cleric went viral, some Muslim youths, including these three, went to the mosque and raised objections. But the maulvi told them that his opinion is correct and the youths are wrong. The maulvi and his men clashed with the youth as they stood firm in saluting the national flag and singing the ‘national anthem’. A police complaint was also lodged against the youths opposing the maulvi after which the three young men drank phenyl.
