Days after the Mumbai police cracked down on Islamists rioting in the Mira Road area, former Delhi Minorities Commission Chairman Zafarul Islam Khan shared an old video from Hyderabad to allege police brutality in Mumbai.
In a tweet (archive) on Friday (26th January), Zafarul Islam claimed, “Unbelievable. Indian police following Israeli tactics for local Indian Muslim youth harassment.”
The tweet was accompanied with a video of cops thrashing a few young men with batons. “Bombay High Court, please take note,” the former Delhi Minorities Commission Chairman tweeted, suggesting that the video is from Mumbai.
Unbelievable. Indian police following Israeli tactics for local Indian muslim youth harassment. @bombaybench
— Zafarul-Islam Khan (@khan_zafarul) January 26, 2024
Please take note. pic.twitter.com/Aod0dEu1pX
On listening closely to the audio, it becomes clear that the concerned video is not from Mumbai. Popular Twitter handle ‘Radical Watch’ pointed out that the video is 2 years old and was recorded in Hyderabad city of Telangana.
As per a report by Siasat Daily dated 25th August 2022, the Hyderabad police arrested 50 men from their homes in Shalibanda after they carried out protests (including stone pelting) against the release of BJP leader Raja Singh.
Zafarul Islam shrewdly withheld this key piece of information and passed the 2-year-old video as a recent development in the hopes of stirring sympathy for his co-religionists involved in recent riots in Mira Road.
Firstly, this claim by the X account @khan_zafarul is misleading. He failed or chose not to disclose information that this video was recorded in 2022.
— Radical Watch (@RadicalWatchOrg) January 27, 2024
According to The Siasat Daily, this beatdown of Muslim youth by police ensued after a quick bail of BJP leader Raja Singh.
1/n pic.twitter.com/o8Xnt6bDUY
On 21st January this year, Hindus carrying out a procession on the eve of Ram Mandir Pran Prathistha were attacked by an Islamist mob at Mira Road in Mumbai.
While the members of the Hindu community were taking out a procession via Mira Road with flags of Bhagwan Ram and Bhagwan Hanuman on their vehicles and chanting, “Jai Shri Ram”, an Islamist mob attacked the procession.
Zafarul Islam is not new to controversies. In October 2023, he called for the persecution of 8 ex-Indian Navy officers, who were handed the death penalty by the Qatari government.
In April 2020, he shared a provocative post on Facebook to thank Kuwait for “standing with the Indian Muslims”. Zafarul Islam Khan attacked the Hindus by referring to them as “Hindutva bigots”, who according to him miscalculated the reaction of the Arab world to the “persecution of Muslims in India”.
In his post, Khan went on to assert that Indian Muslims enjoy huge goodwill in the Arab and Muslim world for their services over centuries to Islamic causes. His post comes amidst reports that Kuwait had expressed concern regarding the alleged atrocities against Muslims in the country amidst coronavirus outbreak.
He also hailed notorious radical Islamist and terror sympathiser Zakir Naik in his post as he claimed people like Naik are respectful household names in the Arab region and Muslim world.
“Mind you, bigots, Indian Muslims have opted until now not to complain to the Arab and Muslim world about your hate campaigns and lynchings and riots. The day they are pushed to do that, bigots will face avalanche,” the ex-Chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission added.
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police reportedly had booked Zafarul Islam, the then Chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission, for sedition (IPC Section 124A) and promoting religious animosity (IPC Section 153A).
Kam se kam jo link diya tha use khol kar to dekhte, Turant fake news bata diya, Ye lijiye Video bhi hai uska. https://t.co/aOgVEzCtJH
— Vikrant ~ विक्रांत (@vikrantkumar) April 19, 2022
Later, he tendered an apology saying that his statement was a little ‘out of proportion’ and that he would continue to defend India on crucial issues as doing otherwise would be against the Constitution and his religious beliefs.
In April 2022, Zafarul Islam Khan went on to downplay the atrocities perpetrated by Islamists in Khargone during Ram Navami. He took to Twitter to call out a Hindu victim of the Khargone violence who had spoken to the media about the betrayal he faced from his Muslim neighbours. Despite there being video evidence of the Hindu victim’s confession on the public platform, Khan went on to insinuate that the Hindu victim was lying.
