Pathaan starring Shah Rukh Khan was released in theatres on January 25. Prior to its release, the film was met with fierce opposition in several parts of the country. During the widespread protests, a Muslim cleric from Mumbai’s Raza Academy stirred controversy by calling on the protesting groups to kill the actor.
According to Raza Academy cleric Khalil-Ur-Rehman, the film has nothing to do with Muslims, and neither Bollywood is Muslim. He stated that if the Hindu outfits like Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) truly want to protest against the film, they should go to the Bollywood megastar’s home and shoot him dead. However, he warned them against using objectionable words against Prophet Muhammad.
“You do whatever you want to do with Shah Rukh Khan, but if you utter objectionable words against our Prophet Muhammad, then we will not tolerate it,” the Raza Acadamy cleric reportedly told Times Now.
“Former BJP leader Nupur Sharma was responsible for all of this and had she was arrested, there should not have been such an environment of tension,” Khalil-Ur-Rehman added, over reports of ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ slogans chanted in Indore against alleged derogatory words uttered against Islamic Prophet.
It has been alleged that during protests against the movie in Indore in Madhya Pradesh by Bajrang Dal, some protestors had raised objectionable slogans against Prophet Muhammad. Following these protests, many Islamists had gathered outside the Badwali Chowki and the Khajrana Police Station in Indore and raised the contentious Islamist slogan ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’.
On Wednesday, January 25, Vishwa Hindu Parishad national spokesperson Vinod Bansal took to Twitter to share two videos wherein Muslim men, including young children, were heard shouting “Gustakh-e-Rasool ki Ek hi saza, sar tan se Juda, sar tan se Juda” (call for the beheading of those who allegedly disrespect Prophet Muhammad) and “Allah ho Akbar” slogans.
Raza Academy and its role in inciting communal violence
Meanwhile, for the uninitiated, Raza Academy, to which the cleric who called for the Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s death belongs, is a hardline Muslim organisation that has been responsible for multiple violent incidents in Maharashtra.
In 2012, it came to light that the organisation did not have any registration. The most surprising aspect of Raza Academy is that its founder and President Saeed Noori did not even receive a formal Islamic education. The organisation has led several protests, which often led to violence, injuries and deaths.
Raza Academy was involved in the violent riots at Azad Maidan in Mumbai in 2012 when several Muslim rioters indulged in vandalism, attacked police officials and had broken the war memorial honouring fallen Indian soldiers.
On July 3, 2021, Raza Academy and VBA MLC Kapil Patil announced that they would table a private member bill against ‘blasphemy’.
In September 2021, Raza Academy ran a campaign on social media platforms, urging King Salman of Saudi Arabia to impose a ban on cinema halls in Madina Shareef.
In July 2020, the Islamist outfit forced the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to write to the Centre, seeking a ban on the online streaming of the Iranian movie ‘Muhammad: The Messenger of God.‘
In October 2020, the radical outfit demanded that Muslim countries issue a fatwa against French President Emmanuel Macron after cartoons on Prophet Mohammed by Charlie Hebdo were projected onto government buildings