Days after the former chairman of Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf board Waseem Rizvi moved the Supreme Court seeking the removal of 26 verses from the Quran, claiming they promote violence, his younger brother Zaheer Rizvi said his family has ousted him years ago.
“He (Waseem Rizvi) has gone mad. Neither I, nor my sister or my mother hold any relations with him now. We ended it three years ago,” said Zaheer Rizvi, in a video statement.
He further said that Waseem is committing a grave sin and alleged that he doesn’t practice fasting, praying etc. “There have been many attacks on the Quran in the past and there has been the insistence that Allah will help himself. Not even a nukta (dot) will be removed from Quran,” Zaheer added.
On March 11 Waseem Rizvi, filed public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court seeking the removal of 26 verses from the Holy Quran.
Huge resentment among the Muslim community followed and several Shia, Sunni scholars and official functionaries disassociated and condemned from Rizvi’s plea. Several Muslim organizations organized protests against Rizvi.
An FIR under IPC sections 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 153A (Promoting the enmity between different groups on the ground of religion) has been registered against Waseem Rizvi in Charminar police station and an investigation is underway.
National Commission for minorities too issued a notice to Rizvi, asking him to withdraw his plea and issue an unconditional apology within 21 days.
Rizvi remains unrepent
In a video release on some social media platforms Wasim Rizvi said that though his mother, brother and other close members of the family have disowned him, he would not go back on his plea with Supreme Court on deleting 26 verses of the Holy Quran.
He said he would only need four persons to take to the graveyard in case he dies. “I have four friends who may not agree with on my stand the 26 verses of the Quran, but would come forward to lay me down in the grave.
The controversial Shia politician also said that he would prefer to kill himself but not budge from his position on the verses.