BHOPAL: A state administrative services officer hailing has sought a public apology from a Muslim community leader for burning his fiction novel on triple talaq recently in Madhya Pradesh (MP).
Niyaz Ahmad Khan, ADM in the Guna district of MP sent a legal notice to Nurullah Yusuf Zai, the MP state general secretary of Bhartiya Muslim Sangh for burning copies of his book Talaq Talaq Talaq in public at Guna and Bhopal earlier this month.
In the legal notice sent to Zai, the 45-year-old Guna ADM has given the MP a week's time to publicly apologise over burning the book, failing which he will be forced to take legal action against Zai.
In the notice sent to Zai, ADM Guna has said that burning the book in Guna and later inciting sentiments of community leaders and commoners, leading to burning of the book in Bhopal also has denigrated Khan's reputation.
Khan has mentioned in the notice that the book authored by him is his intellectual property. Tearing and burning the book is a crime that has caused him stress and loss of reputation.
When contacted in the matter by the New Indian Express on Monday, Zai confirmed about having received the notice sent by the Guna ADM.
"I'll reply to the notice within a week. We'll also soon move the MP High Court for banning the book which paints Islam in a bad light and commoditifies the women," said Zai.
The fiction novel penned by Khan is inspired by happenings at three minority community dominated villages in Allahabad district of UP. Importantly, Khan himself hails from adjoining Fatehpur district of UP.
The central character of the novel, a 65-year-old man marries seven times, the last one being a 16-year-old girl. The man dies on the first night of the marriage with the teenage girl.
Prior to this Khan has authored four fiction novels. He was in news in April-May for seeking permission from MP government to stay for a month at a central jail in Navi Mumbai, where mobster and 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Abu Salem is lodged.
Khan wanted to stay at the jail for researching on his upcoming novel Love Demands Blood, which is a romantic crime thriller inspired by love life of Abu Salem and actress Monica Bedi.
His request, however, was turned down by the BJP government.