On 5th February, Sufi Khanqah Association’s president Sufi Mohd Kausar Hassan Majidi applauded the arrest of Mufti Salman Azhari by Gujarat Police for inflammatory speech. Azhari was apprehended recently by Gujarat Police in Maharashtra following an FIR filed in Gujarat. Salman was involved in inciting communal tension and promoting religious hatred among Muslim youth.
In his statement, Majidi expressed deep concerns over Salman Azhari’s actions. He stated that Azhari has been following the pattern of Tablighi Jamaat and escalating communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims. He also accused Azhari of engaging in activities in sync with the “Ghazwa-e-Hind project” which the Sufi Khanqah Association has consistently condemned.
Majidi said that Azhari received his education in Egypt and alleged he is aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood ideology. Majidi accused Azhari of aiming to establish a system similar to Hamas in India to advance the Ghazwa-e-Hind project. He also pointed out that multiple cases against Azhari were filed in Hubli and Dharwad in Karnataka for inciting riots.
Advocating strict action against Azhari, the Sufi Khanqah Association welcomed his arrest. Majidi said that individuals who promote religious hatred should not be tolerated. He also wrote a letter addressing the Home Minister, Chief Minister and DGP of Gujarat on behalf of the association calling for Salman Azhari’s detention in Uttar Pradesh. He also demanded an investigation into Salman Azhari’s alleged connections with the terrorists from Pakistan.
Sufi Khanqah Association emphasized that there is a need for scrutiny of those who support Pakistani terrorists in India. The association urged the government of India to take strict action against those who promote unrest in the country. Furthermore, the Sufi Khanqah Association called for strict punishment for those who damage the communal harmony in India and called for a crackdown on Azhari’s supporters to prevent further escalation of the matter.
Derogatory speech and arrest of Salman Azhari
On 31st January, Mufti Salman Azhari made derogatory remarks against the Hindu community during his 56-minute-long speech in Junagadh city of Gujarat. In the contentious video that went viral on social media, the radical Islamic preacher was heard saying, “The final battle of Karbala is yet to come… a moment of silence, then there will be noise again. The dogs are having their time today. Our time will come tomorrow.”
His provocative remarks against the Hindus were applauded by his supporters, who yelled ‘Labbek ya Rasulullah’ in unison. But this was not the only genocidal comment made by Salman Azhar on that day. Before his ‘dog reference’, Salman Azhari spoke in the context of the Ram Mandir Pran Prathishtha at Ayodhya and the legal battle surrounding the disputed Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi.
“If you keep idols inside a mosque, then, it will not become an idol-worshipping place (referring to temples),” he had stated. Azhari defended the tendency of Islamic invaders to appropriate religious structures of non-Muslims and pagans.
“You have kept one idol ( at Ram Mandir) but there were 360 idols at Kaaba. Even then, the Kaaba belonged to the Muslims. This did not stop the Islamic pilgrimage of Hajj,” he continued. “…Dear Muslims, the revolution will begin from your homes. They (Hindus) do not dare to convert your mosques to idol-worshipping places (referring to temples). You have yourself abandoned the mosques,” Azhari further added.
While referring to the Hindus as ‘dogs’, he emphasized, “We have a saying – When the ground is left open, dogs take over the place. But if you keep using the ground, then, they won’t become the shelter for dogs.”
Following his speech, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him. On 4th February, a team of Gujarat police reached Mumbai and arrested Salman Azhari in connection to his genocidal comments.
The cops also obtained a 2-day transit remand to take the Islamic hate preacher to Junagadh in Gujarat. As expected, Muslim ‘journalists’ came to defend Azhari on social media and seek his immediate release. Islamists also gathered outside the Ghatkopar police station and tried to intimidate the police into releasing the preacher.
