Recently an FIR (First Information Report) was registered against two organisers Muhammad Yusuf Malek and Azim Habib Odedara as well as the speaker Mufti Salman Azhari for making an inflammatory speech at a Muslim community event in Gujarat’s Junagadh. Afterwards, the organisers were arrested while authorities were searching for Azhari, according to the local police.
On 3rd February, District Police Chief Harshad Mehta informed about this matter. He stated that following the filing of a formal complaint, two of the program’s organisers were taken into custody while the Mufti, who is a resident of Mumbai, is still being hunted. Police stated, “We have arrested Malek and Habib and efforts are on to arrest Azhari. The organisers took permission from the police claiming that the gathering was being arranged for de-addiction and Mufti would deliver an address about the Azhari Madhhab (school of thought). However, he gave a provocative speech.”
The Junagadh B Division Police Station has filed a case against the three accused under sections 153B (promoting enmity between different religious groups) and 505 (2) (making statements conducive to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code. The speech was recorded at the occasion which took place on 31st January at Narasimha Vidyamandir in Junagadh, and it rapidly became viral on social media.
The Muslim cleric could be heard declaring, “Abhi to karbala ka akhiri maidan baqi hai. Kuch der ki khamoshi hai, fir shore ayega. Aaj kutton ka wakt hai, kal hamara daur ayega.” (The final battle of Karbala is yet to come. A moment of silence, then there will be noise again. Today is the time of the dogs, tomorrow will be our era).” He proceeded to shout “Labbaik Ya Rasulullah” (we insist on being obedient to the Prophet of Islam) and the crowd also repeated it.
OpIndia released an exclusive story after the 22-second clip gained traction online as the netizens also demanded strict punishment for the perpetrators. The local police then took quick action and submitted an FIR.
We later obtained a video of the entire speech and confirmed that it contained other offensive remarks including, “Mosques don’t turn into temples merely because idols are placed there,” “Dogs rule mosques if they are left empty,” “Don’t panic Muslims, the glory of Allah remains, Islam is still alive and Quran continues to exist. What do these tyrant infidels think as they fight us? The last battle of Karbala is yet to descend upon us” and “Islam won’t end with our deaths,” among other things as communal slogans are raised intermittently.
Azhari began his speech by recounting the history of Junagadh, but his speech soon took an inflammatory tone as he started to urge the Muslim community not to succumb to external influences.
