Hyderabad: Prominent city folk from Hyderabad issued a statement against the charges leveled upon Zafar-ul-Islam Khan, Delhi Minority Commission, under section 124 A and 153 (promoting enmity between different group on of religion, race, place of birth). The police even raided his house prior to Iftar on May 7.
After taking to social media speak out against the ruling dispensation’s selective targeting of Muslims before and during the pandemic, the mainstream media slandered him with labels like “anti-national.”
The statement reads: “How can such a patriot like him who has contributed to resolving many issues of the Indian religious minorities under his able chairmanship of the Delhi Minorities Commission be charged for sedition. Dr. Zafarul Islam has always upheld the constitutional democratic values of India. He has defended India many times in the Arab World on crucial issues. Such a person’s integrity is questioned now just on the complaint of a person who could not even understand what his tweet meant?”
Among many of Hyderabad’s known activists who signed the are Achyutha Suneetha, SQ Masood and Khalida Parveen.
Khan is the son of the renowned Islamic scholar and translator Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. A renowned author, journalist, renowned and religious scholar, he founded the Indo-Muslim centric English news outlet, Milli Gazette. His work is not solely revered by Indians but by the international community as well.
Born in Azamgarh UP in 1948, after gaining his early education at Madrasa-tul-Islah in Azamgarh, he then went onto study Dar-ul-Uloom Nadwatul Alama in Lucknow. Later he studied at the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo from 1966-1973. He also had a stint as a translator and editor for the Libyan Foreign Ministry. Adding to these credentials is his PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Manchester.
His has authored books in Urdu, Arabic, and English such as the Hijrah In Islam and Palestine Documents.As a frequent commentator on Islamic and South Asian issues on outlets like Al-Jazeera, he further cemented his status as a thought leader of Muslim issues.
He was then appointed as the Chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission in July 2017. Besides this body, Islam was the President of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, an umbrella body of Muslim organisations in the country.
The Minorities Commission says that that he has been a lightning rod for the BJP’s IT cell.
The statement expressing solidarity to Islam also demanded that all the charges against Khan be dropped and action be taken against those defaming him. Although as per Khan’s lawyer, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the police not to take any coercive measure against the Delhi Minorities Commission till June 22.