Zafarul Islam Khan, the erstwhile chief of Delhi Minorities Commission Wednesday mourned the death of top Hamas leader Haniyeh who was killed in an Israeli strike in Iran.
Khan, known for his apologia for Islamic extremism, took to X, to mourn the death of Haniyeh, referring to him as a ‘martyr’.
“Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioun. Hamas head Ismail Haniyya was assassinated. Most probably by Israel which has a very long history of assassinations starting with the UN mediator Bernadotte in Sept 1948. Here Haniyyah is reading a verse from the Quran saying martyrs are not dead,” Khan tweeted along with the video.
Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioun. Hamas head Ismail Haniyya assassinated. Most probably by Israel which has a very long history of assassinations starting with the UN mediator Bernadotte in Sept 1948. Here Haniyyah is reading a verse from the Quran saying martyrs are not dead. pic.twitter.com/WvogGRghu6
— Zafarul-Islam Khan (@khan_zafarul) July 31, 2024
Even so, the tweet condoling the death of the head of Hamas, a terror group that carried out the deadly October 7 attacks on Israeli kibbutz along the border with the Gaza strip, is not the first instance that Zafarul Islam has displayed his extremist tendencies.
Notably, Zafarul Islam Khan had threatened Hindus in the past. In the year 2020, Khan had written a Facebook post in which he had called Hindus bigots and had praised Islamist hate preacher Zakir Naik. He claimed that people like Naik are respectful household names in the Arab region and Muslim world.
The incident had taken place when Kuwait had taken note of the “persecution of Muslims in India”. Khan then extended gratitude to Kuwait for “standing with the Indian Muslims” and attacked Hindus by referring to them as “Hindutva bigots”.
“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,” he had said.
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).
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.
But then in November 2023, Khan openly supported the death sentence granted to 8 ex-Indian Navy officers by the Qatari government.
In a tweet (archive), he claimed, “There must be no sympathy if these ex-Navy officers spied for Israel. India must properly investigate before jumping to defend them.”
However, perhaps to his chagrin, the Indian government under PM Modi pulled off a major diplomatic coup as the Qatari government agreed to release the 8 ex-Indian Navy officers.
Hamas head Haniyeh assassinated
On Wednesday, April 31, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas confirmed in a statement that their chief Ismail Haniyeh had been assassinated in Iran’s Tehran. The group said that Haniyeh was killed in an Israel air strike on his house in Tehran.
A day before this, Israel’s army confirmed that it had “eliminated” Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander responsible for attacking the annexed Golan Heights where 12 children were killed.
