After CM Mamata Banerjee attempted to whitewash the violence perpetrated by Islamists during Ram Navami in the state’s Howrah region by invoking their faith, West Bengal Islamic cleric Pirzada Nazimuddin Hossein employed similar rhetoric to justify the carnage.
While Mamata Banerjee insisted that Hindus should not venture into “Muslim areas” to carry out processions, West Bengal’s Furfura Sharif cleric Pirzada Nazimuddin Hossein subtly gave a clean chit to the Islamists for the mayhem they unleashed on the Hindu devotees in Shibpur, Howrah on March 30, by pinning the blame on the timing of the ‘Sobha Yatra’ taken out by the Hindus.
According to Pirzada Nazimuddin Hossein, who spoke to ABP News, the violence erupted in the evening during Azaan. According to him, the Ram Navami procession should have gone through the neighbourhood before or after the Azaan hour. The Hindus should have obeyed the time to avoid the violence, which is essentially what the cleric suggested to rationalize the carnage carried out by radical Islamists on March 30.
When the reporter asked the cleric his views on the violence unleashed in Shibpur, Howrah on March 30, the cleric said that this is the month of Ramzan and when the Hindus were taking out the procession, it was time for Muslims to break their fast with Iftar. It was the state administration’s duty to make sure that the ‘Sobha Yatra’ passed the area either half an hour before or after the Muslims broke their Roza.
Around 1.08 minutes into the conversation, the journalist queried the cleric about the indiscriminate pelting of stones following the afternoon Namaz. The cleric, here, cleverly veered from the question and instead of addressing the stone pelting, he again began complaining about the time of the incident. He stated that the incident occurred in the evening during Maghrib Azaan. He claimed that if the procession had been held in the afternoon, this would not have happened. The violence occurred since Hindus chose an evening schedule for the ‘Sobha Yatra,’ which clashed with the Azaan time, he claimed.
Laughably, even though Hindus were attacked in the violence that happened on March 30 in West Bengal’s Howrah district, the cleric bemoaned that members of a particular community are being targeted in the state. He accused the BJP of engaging in sectarian politics in West Bengal, which is causing Muslims to be targeted.
Insinuating BJP’s involvement in the violence, he claimed that the nearby Muslims were too busy practising Azaan and breaking Roza to engage in stone-pelting. “Ek bada politics chal raha hain, raajneeti chal raha hai,” Pirzada Nazimuddin Hossein said, cleverly shrugging the blame on the BJP, the state’s main opposition party, to legitimise the Ram Navami violence in WB.
It may be recalled that on Thursday (March 30), stones were pelted on a Ram Navami procession from the terraces of the buildings in the Shibpur area of Howrah. This led to a clash between the Hindu and Muslim groups, leading to violence and arson. Vehicles and shops were also torched during the attack.
Several disturbing videos of the incident went viral on social media. A large contingent of police was deployed to maintain the law and order situation in the area. The cops conducted a flag march, fired tear gas shells and chased away the rioters.
Hours after Islamists ran riots against Hindus celebrating Ram Navami in Howrah, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had attempted to give a clean chit to the perpetrators by first invoking their faith and second, blaming the violence on ‘outsiders.’ She insisted that Hindus should not venture into “Muslim areas” to carry out processions.
However, a day after Mamata Banerjee accused Hindu devotees of carrying out the Ram Navami procession on ‘unauthorized routes’, the organisers of the rally came forward to refute her claims.