A Hindu man named Ashish Kumar has been living under fear ever since he complained to the police about hoardings, featuring radical hate preachers from Pakistan, which were put up on the occasion of Milad-un-Nabi.
A resident of Mehdawal Nagar Panchayat in Sant Kabir Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, Kumar found hoardings of Khadim Hussain Rizvi and his son Saad Hussain Rizvi on full public display in September this year.
He tweeted about the matter and then filed a police complaint in this regard. Two Muslim men were arrested based on his complaint. However, Ashish soon became the subject of death threats.
Open display of Pakistani maulvis on banners in India
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) September 19, 2024
Banner featuring Peer Ajmal Raza Qadri and Khadim Hussain Rizvi, right next to @asadowaisi’s picture, was put up for Eid Milad in UP’s Sant Kabir Nagar two days ago
What’s the message here? pic.twitter.com/LCtEURfSes
According to the victim, two men came to his house on 24th September and threatened him with drastic consequences. On Thursday (3rd October), Ashish received another threat to his life.
Forced by circumstances, the Hindu man appealed to the SP Satyajit Gupta to provide him with police protection. In his application, Ashish informed that his family was scared and that those who issued threats were roaming freely on the streets.
He lamented that no action has been taken so far by the police administration. On receipt of his complaint, the SP handed over the case to the circle officer of Mehdawal. A probe has now been initiated into the matter.
Hindu organisations in the area have meanwhile expressed solidarity with Ashish Kumar.
Khadim Hussain Rizvi, STSJ and its influence in India
Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the Pakistani cleric featured on the hoarding in Sant Kabir Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, is the founder of an extremist party called Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).
During his lifetime, Rizvi launched several campaigns to preserve the draconian blasphemy laws in Pakistan. He was a follower of 19th-century Islamic preacher, Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi (the founder of the Barelvi sect).
TLP has been involved in several violent protests in Pakistan. They have killed law enforcement authorities and even coined the dangerous slogan of ‘Sarr Tann se Juda (beheading)’ for committing blasphemy (often described with Urdu terms such as ‘Toheen-e-Mazhab’ and ‘Gustaak-e-Rasool’).
Khadim Hussain Rizvi has been taken into protective custody by police and shifted to a guest house.They insisted to come to Rwp refusing Governments proposal for alternative arrangements
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) November 23, 2018
It’s to safeguard public life, property and order and has to do nothing with Asia Bibi case
TLP founder Khadim Hussain Rizvi has been the inspiration for several criminals, who committed murders of alleged blasphemers. In March 2019, a Muslim student named Khateeb Hussain stabbed his English Professor in Bahawalpur City of Pakistan after falsely accusing the latter of blasphemy.
“Hussain’s eagerness to take credit for the murder paints an alarming picture of a boy who was inspired by videos of preacher Khadim Hussain Rizvi and possibly radicalised through social media,” a report in Dawn stated.
In 2018, another student in Chārsadda town of Pakistan shot dead his school Principal after accusing him of committing blasphemy. “I committed this murder and I accepted it. It was ordered by God (Allah),” the unnamed student confessed. He had attended meetings conducted by TLP in 2017.
Kanhaiyalal like incident in Prayagraj. Ashiq-e-Rasool Lareb Hashmi, a B. Tech. student after the attack 👇 pic.twitter.com/zQqbs9BkGc
— Sanjay Dixit ಸಂಜಯ್ ದೀಕ್ಷಿತ್ संजय दीक्षित (@Sanjay_Dixit) November 24, 2023
The war cry of ‘Sarr Tann se Juda (STSJ)’ has been weaponised by radical Islamists residing in India to orchestrate attacks against the Hindu community.
In November 2023, Lareb Hashmi attacked a 24-year-old Hindu bus conductor with a cleaver on allegations of ‘blasphemy’. He was inspired by the teachings of Khadim Hussain Rizvi.
Islamists have also killed Kamlesh Tiwari, Kanhaiya Lal, Kishan Bharwad and other Hindus in the name of ‘Gustaak-e-Rasool.’
