A police complaint has been filed against Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad and senior lawyer Mahmood Pracha for inciting communal hatred. In a press conference, the two of them announced that they would be setting up a camp in Lucknow to teach Muslims and Dalits about the ‘right to self-defence’ and how to apply for a firearm licence.
#Breaking | Police complaint has been filed against cleric & Mahmood Pracha, who were organising #MuslimDalitMilitia. The complaint has accused them of inciting communal hatred.
More details by TIMES NOW’s @Amir_Haque. Listen in. pic.twitter.com/Sniby9wnFx
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 22, 2019
As per reports, they had announced that a camp would be held on the 26th in Lucknow. The camp would assist Muslims and Dalits in procuring firearms.
Mahmood Pracha cited the incidents of mob lynchings and the Sonbhadra massacre as reasons for conducting the camp. According to him, those events wouldn’t have occurred if the victims had legal firearms to defend themselves. They were basically planning to raise an armed militia to combat ‘mob lynchings’, using licenced weapons.
After facing severe backlash for the announcement, Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawed has taken a u-turn saying that he has asked his lawyer Pracha to postpone the training camp. He added that there will not be any training on how to use the firearms in the camps. He blamed the media for quoting him wrongly.
