Clerics demand action against Rizvi
LUCKNOW: Muslim scholars and clerics of both the Shia and Sunni sects on Wednesday demanded the arrest of UP Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi for his controversial remarks that ‘some madarsas were a breeding ground for terrorists.’
Prominent Shia cleric of Lucknow Maulana Kalbe Jawad has even threatened to launch a protest movement if Rizvi is not put behind bars. “Why is the UP government giving such a long leash to this man (Rizvi), who has been indicted in inquiries for corruption, bungling and fraud in waqf properties,” said Maulana Jawad, who has a long history of crossing swords with Rizvi on waqf properties.
The cleric said such baseless and provocative statements (on madarsas) could disturb the peace and harmony and may lead to riots in the state. “We will launch a protest from Lucknow to Delhi if stern action is not taken against him,” Jawad said.
A Shia body in Mumbai, Mujtamae Ulama Wa Khotaba, too has endorsed the stand of Maulana Kalbe Jawad and demanded action against Rizvi.
Zafar Sareshwala, chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu university, too has come down heavily on Rizvi, saying his statement shows that he knows nothing about the functioning of madarsas.
“Rizvi has no idea how a madarsa functions. There are several corruption cases against him but he won’t speak on it. He must be jailed for spreading hatred,” Sareshwala said to ABP News.
Rizvi was virtually hounded on social media sites and platforms for his controversial remarks. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief and Hyderabad MP Asadudin Owaisi called Rizvi a stooge of the RSS on the social media.
“If he has proof then he should go and show it to the Union home minister,” Owaisi said.
Maulana Khalilur Rehman Sajjad Nomani, spokesperson for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, too chided Rizvi over his ignorance about the role and contribution of madarsas in the country’s Freedom Movement.
“There cannot be a bigger insult to these madarsas, which had played a key role in the freedom movement,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Shia Waqf Board chairman, in a letter to PM Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath, alleged that the education imparted in madarsas encouraged students to join terrorist ranks.
“I never said all madarsas are involved in such activities. I was talking about only some madarsas in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and along the Nepal border, in which Bangladeshi clerics teach and which are getting funds from Pakistan,” Rizvi said in his defence.