Not allowed to speak in Jamia event because I am in BJP: Shazia Ilmi

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shazia Ilmi on Wednesday claimed that she was not allowed to speak on the issue of triple talaq.
Shazia Ilmi | PTI
Shazia Ilmi | PTI

NEW DELHI:

BJP leader Shazia Ilmi on Wednesday alleged that she was denied permission to speak at an event after the organisers were pressurized by the Jamia Milia Islamia University. The varsity has denied the allegations.  

The allegations from the BJP leader come in the backdrop when another university in the national capital is facing the conundrum of freedom of speech. Ilmi was supposed to speak on the controversial topic of “Triple Talaq”.

"There was a lot of pressure on the organisers. First they changed the topic from triple talaq to women empowerment. Then they wanted me to be dropped from the speakers list. In the first initiation my name was there but in the second card, my name was removed" Ilmi alleged.

Denying the statement made by the BJP leader the university administration said they had nothing to do with the event.

“The event was not organized by any department or anyone affiliated with the university. We only rented out the space for the program, we had nothing to do with the cancellation or invitation to anyone, it is the organizers who should be held responsible if anything has happened” Jamia spokesperson told Express.     

According to the BJP leader , she was invited by RSS supported Forum for Awareness of National Security (FANS) to speak at a seminar on "Triple Talaq" and the university had pressurised the organisers to change the subject to "Muslim's women's empowerment: Issues and challenges" and drop her name from the list.

The forum, which has RSS ideologue Indresh Kumar as its patron, confirmed the sequence of events even as Jamia Millia Islamia authorities rubbished the allegations.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com