New Delhi: Dr. Mohammad Aleem, well-known author, journalist and Sahitya Academy award winner, in an interview has exposed corruption in Madrasahs and how pulpits of Mosques were used to emotionally blackmail innocent Muslims forcing them to attend the politically motivated and funded Deen Bachao Desh Bachao conference held on April 15 at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan. The Interview “A critical analysis of religious leadership in context of Deen Bachao Desh Bachao conference” was conducted by prominent journalist and TV anchor Shahabuddin Yaqub, Editor-in-chief of News Nexxt online video news channel.
Dr. Mohammad Aleem, while exposing the rampant corruption in Madrasahs and the need for accountability, said that Mullahs running Madrasahs consider it as their personal properties and don’t want to disclose financial resources and expenditures, which comes from public charity in the form of zakaat, fitra, usra and atiyah.
Dr. Mohammad Aleem in a telephonic conversation with me told that he knows Khalid Anwar, who was gifted MLC chair by anti Muslim Bihar chief minister Paltu Ram Nitish Kumar for organizing the conference, quite well as he gained initial education at Madrasah Imam Ibn Taimiya in his native Chandanwara village. He said that Khalid Anwar is a highly controversial personality and a known qabristan land grabber. Anwar, a close associate of Ameer-e-Shariat and General Secretary of All India Muslim Personal Law Board Maulana Syed Wali Rahmani, the chief organizer of Deen Bachao Desh Bachao conference, operates his Azeemabad Printing Press on grabbed land of a qabristan (Muslim graveyard) and publishes a daily Urdu newspaper.
Dr. Mohammad Aleem has critized the nefarious role of Maulana Syed Wali Rahmani and accused him of cheating and backstabbing Muslims in the name of Deen Bachao (Save Islam) for petty political gains. According to close sources, Maulana Syed Wali Rahmani has for quite long been pressuring the chief minister to use state machinery and help him acquire a large portion of land in Kishanganj by dislodging settled Adivasis. Maulana Rahmani is reported to have bought around 300 acres of land from a person to open a university, but is in possession of only 100 acres, and that too without paying adequate compensation to person from whom the said land has been purchased.
Dr. Mohammad Aleem stressed that there is paramount need to expose prevailing large-scale corruption in Madrasahs across India and bring all Madrasahs under one government body to make them accountable. He also said that there should be a sustained campaign to expose the Mullahs (Muslim clerics) indulging in corruption and bartering the interests of the community. He also said that the organizers of the conference should make public how crores of rupees collected in donation has been utilized.
(Danish Ahmad Khan, Founder-Editor Indian Muslim Observer, New Delhi)