Ahmedabad’s Juhapura based ‘Muslim Fighters Club’ organised a meeting on Sunday, November 27, 2022, a week before the polls, where about 3,000 Muslim families pledged their allegiance to the Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party. In presence of a Maulana who recited Islamic verses and amid ‘Naara-e-Takbeer, Allahu Akbar’ chants, ‘Muslim Fighters Club’ extended their support to Arvind Kejriwal.
‘Muslim Fighters Club’ also coined two slogans for AAP. “Haath ma jhaadu leelu leelu, AAP-Muslim ilu-ilu’ which loosely translates to green broom (AAP election symbol) in our hands, AAP and Muslims have ilu-ilu (ilu is often used for I-Love-You) and ‘Vote for MAGI’ where MAGI stands for Manish Sisodia (M), Arvind Kejriwal (A), Gopal Italia (G) and Isudan Gadhvi (I).
The Muslim community that had gather there also accused Congress of taking advantage of Muslims. Imranbhai, who runs the club, claimed that the Muslim community has always been the victim of hate and only Kejriwal is the true well-wisher of Muslims. I have spoken to our Muslim brothers in Delhi and they have said their situation has improved. Arvind Kejriwal takes care of Muslims from every part of the world. He even takes care of Muslim refugees, he said. He said that he will not specify which ‘refugees’ he means, but asked the Muslims present in the audience to make calculated guesses.
In January 2020 it was reported how Aam Aadmi Party’s Amanatullah Khan and Kejriwal’s Delhi government was systematically settling illegal Rohingya immigrants in Delhi. Moreover, they have settled on the land of irrigation department of the Uttar Pradesh government which is about 5.2 acre land. The Khasra number 612 land is worth crores of Rupees which has now been taken over by illegal Rohingyas and Bangladeshis.
OpIndia had also reported how the poor in Okhla had alleged religious discrimination in ration distribution in Amanatullah Khan’s constituency. The locals had alleged that they were not provided ration because they were Hindus and ‘did not vote for AAP’.
Imranbhai further said, “Today we announce that we only have one leader, Arvind Kejriwal. Only he can take us forward. Today ‘Muslim Fighters Club’ has 3,000 families, tomorrow there will be 30,000 and then 3,00,000. But we are announcing that till our last breath we will vote for Aam Aadmi Party.
2002 rape survivor Bilkis Bano was also present in the meeting where she said that Kejriwal is an educated leader and has done good work in education sector. Hence, Muslims should vote for AAP, she said.
AAP candidate Bholubhai Patel’s cousin Parag Patel, who was also present there thanked the Muslim community for the support. “We Hindu-Muslims are brothers and we will always need each other,” he said. The Maulana present on the dais then recited Islamic prayers and also chanted Allahu Akbar.
What is Muslim Fighters Club?
Imranbhai of Muslim Fighters Club claims that it is a group of about 3,000 families which fights for the rights of Muslims and helps each other out during weddings and other such situations. The club has long been an AAP supporter but ahead of elections, they have come out vocally in support of AAP. They claim that the members of the club have influence over 7-8 constituencies of Gujarat. They have appealed to all Muslims of Gujarat to vote for AAP.
(With inputs from OpIndia Gujarati. You can read the report in Gujarati here)
