In his most recent inflammatory remarks, Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, national president of Ittehad-e-Millat Council, claimed that if the rhetoric of those who desire ‘Hindu Rahstra’ is acceptable, then so is the call for Khalistan or a separate Muslim country. “What if our Muslim youth start to demand a separate Muslim state tomorrow,” he asked. We do not want to consent to another division of our nation, he then added.
Interestingly, he didn’t mention that two separate countries carved out from India, exclusively for Muslims, already exist, called Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Islamist leader was speaking against ‘Hindu Rashtra’ in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh.
He also made objectionable statements against Prime Minister Narendra Narendra Modi and called him ‘Dhritarashtra.’ He alleged that the Modi administration frequently supports and applauds those who kill Muslims and are opposed to Islam.
He mentioned that he expects that the female President of the country will listen to his suggestions seriously. He urged her to identify and take stringent action against those who try to incite communal violence in the name of Hindu-Muslim in the country.
“The government should take action by filing sedition cases against those who demand Khalistan,” he opined. “In a similar vein,” he further said, “action should be initiated against those who call for a ‘Hindu Rashtra.’ Otherwise, it will be assumed that calling for Khalistan is similarly legitimate when no action is being done on the demand for the former.”
He declared that the government’s double standards would not be tolerated. He alleged that a survey found that around one million Muslim girls had been lured by Hindu organizations. In the name of ‘Ghar Wapsi,’ they were abducted, threatened, married to Hindu boys, and converted to Hinduism, he alleged. Although the Muslim leader provided no tangible evidence of his claims.
Notably, this isn’t the first time when he has made such outrageous comments. In February, while responding to the deaths of two cow smugglers in Bhiwani, he said, “if the country is going to be ruled by stick (might), then our sticks are not weak either.” He also demanded a ban on Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal.
Last year, he had forewarned Hindus that, the day when rage of Muslim youth will burst, “Hindus won’t find any place to hide in India,” while addressing a massive crowd in Bareilly.
The radical cleric had openly called for bloodshed after the government enacted the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and demanded the centre to repeal the law.
In 2022, he even demanded martyr status for the terrorists killed in the Batla House encounter. He had alleged, that if an inquiry had been conducted, the world would have known that those who were slain were not terrorists and should be considered martyrs.