By Justice Markandey Katju–
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman, Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own)
These days the speeches of — and news about — an Indian cleric, Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan of Bareilly, are going viral on the social media. There is no doubt that many of his statements about atrocities on Indian Muslims are true. But then he goes much further. For instance, in a recent public speech he said that before the coming of Islam, people were naked and lived in jungles. By implication this means that non Muslims all over the world, including the majority Hindu population today in India, were, and still are, naked, and live in jungles.
Can there be anything more insulting to non Muslims? I am all for religious freedom, but such freedom cannot include insulting other peoples’ faiths. In fact, this is a criminal offence under section 295A of the Indian Penal code, which states:
“Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine,
or with both.”
In the same speech, he insulted Hindus by saying that they are taking society backwards, while Muslims are taking it forward, which is a criminal offence under section 153A IPC, which states:
Whoever:
(a) by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, promotes or attempts to promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will between different religious, racials, language or regional groups or castes or communities, or
(b) commits any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, and which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity,
shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
In the same speech he said that there is no ‘oonch neech’ (i.e., caste system) among Muslims. This is a total lie. Theoretically, there may be no caste in Islam, but in practice Indian (and Pakistani) Muslims follow the caste system as much as Hindus.
The problem with many Muslims is that they get horrified if someone tells them the truth. For instance, if someone says that in North India Muslims have castes, this truth horrifies them, because they have been taught that Islam does not recognize caste. But then, what are Ashrafs, Ajlafs and Arzals? (See my blogs ‘Islam and Indian Muslims’ and ‘ Caste among Indian Muslims ‘ on my site Satyam Bruyat)
They may all pray together, and even dine together, but when it comes to an ashraf marrying an arzal, or even an ajlaf, toba toba! Tauqeer Raza Khan is probably a Pathan, as his surname ‘Khan’ indicates. So he is an ‘ashraf’ or upper caste Muslim, like Syeds, Sheikhs or Moghuls. Did he or any of his children marry an ‘ajlaf’ or intermediate caste Muslim, like an Ansari, Qureshi or Siddique, far less an arzal (dalit convert)? If this question is put to him, he will probably run away, like a cockroach running away when light is shone on it.
In other speeches, he made provocative and controversial statements like saying, “Ladai hamaare khoon mein hai” (Fighting is in our blood), and, “If the country is going to be ruled by the stick, then our sticks are not weak either” and. “If we take the law into our own hands, Hindus will have no place to hide.”
He had earlier offered ₹500,000 for beheading Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin, and ₹250 million to anyone who beheads former president George W Bush. I have a strong hunch and suspicion that while posing to be a representative of Indian Muslims, Raza is a secret
agent and hireling of the communal parties and entities who are bent on keeping the communal pot boiling, to polarize society and get votes.
