As India entered 75th year of Independence, Jamia ‘student’ and Delhi riots accused Asif Iqbal Tanha sparked controversy after openly hailing the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.
During a conversation with fellow Islamists on ‘Twitter Space’ on Sunday (August 15), the riot accused remarked, “Let me give you guys a piece of good news – Ashraf Ghani has resigned. Thanks to Allah! Slowly and gradually, it will lead to the establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (governed by the Taliban). We need to take inspiration from them and learn how to struggle in the pursuit of ‘freedom movement. (Azadi)’.” The topic for the discussion was, “Are Muslims in India free?“
Listen to this
— Flt Lt Anoop Verma (Retd.) 🇮🇳 (@FltLtAnoopVerma) August 15, 2021
Note all these handles
And See what are they discussing
They are all Indian Handles
Quite disgusting & shameful
Arfa, Rana, Saba, Zainab, Farah, Seemi, Sayema & Swara … all think like this pic.twitter.com/Skq5Rd4qVD
The presence of the Delhi riot accused in the discussion was further confirmed from the tweet of another Islamist named Mohammed Tanveer, who was also a part of Twitter space. As evident from the video, the microphone of all speakers was turned off and it was only Asif Iqbal Tanha who was heard heaving praises on the Taliban and thanking Allah for the same.
Tanha’s desire to learn and follow the footsteps of the Taliban to secure Azadi or perhaps the ‘Jinnah vali Azadi‘ (a genocidal slogan that gained prominence during the Anti-CAA protests) is not without reason. In a statement made to the Special Cell of the Delhi Police, he had revealed that he wanted to turn India into an Islamic republic. Tanha, a Jamia Millia Islamia student and member of the Student Islamist Organization (SIO) since 2014, was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in May last year for purportedly being a part of a larger conspiracy behind the February riots in northeast Delhi in 2020.
Besides his desire to turn India into an Islamic country, he has made several other shocking revelations to the police. In his statement to the police, he revealed that he considered the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as anti-Muslim and therefore joined the students of Jamia Milia Islamia in opposing it. He also confessed to setting buses on fire under the garb of ‘peaceful protests.’
As per the report, Asif Iqbal admitted to orchestrating a march of 2500-3000 people from the Gate no 7 of Jamia Millia Islamia on December 12. He revealed that Sharjeel Imam gave a provocative speech to encourage ‘protestors’ to execute a ‘chakka jam’ on December 13.
Asif confessed to organising a ‘Gandhi peace march’ on December 15 from the Jamia metro station to the Parliament via Zakir Nagar and Batla House. He stated that the purpose of naming it after Mahatma Gandhi was to lure more people into joining the march.
Asif Iqbal further admitted that he delivered provocative speeches at several places in the country including Kolkata, Kota, Lucknow, Kanpur, Ujjain, Indore, Jaipur, Patna, Sabzibagh, Araria, Samastipur, Ahmedabad. Reportedly, he urged common Muslims to protest against the Indian and not to shy away from engaging in violence, if such a need arose.
Following his release from jail, he had informed about the development on the micro-blogging site. On June 22, Tanha had tweeted, “Assalam Alaikum Dosto, coming out of jail after 13 months and meeting my mother, family, friends and fellow activists, I feel like a caged bird who found a new sky. This sky is much higher, weather more pleasant and inviting for a long flight.”
It is pertinent to remember that when Tanha was applauding the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, UP-based journalist, Ali Sohrab was heard saying ‘Alhamdulilah’ in agreement in between Tanha’s remarks.
He has been infamous for sharing objectionable and bigoted content on his Twitter page. Sohrab was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police from Delhi in November 2019 for uploading repugnant posts following the murder of Hindu samaj founder Kamlesh Tiwari. He was booked under sections 295A, 295B, 66, 67 IT act and was taken to Lucknow after securing his transit remand.
