Shia Waqf Board chief booked in Uttar Pradesh for hurting sentiments of Muslims
LUCKNOW: An FIR was lodged against UP Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi for hurting religious sentiments after he allegedly made some statements against the Caliphs of the Muslim community.
The case was lodged against Rizvi on the basis of a complaint of the Sahaba Action Committee at Lucknow 's Chowk Police station on late Sunday evening.
In the complaint, the Sahaba Action Committee claimed that Rizvi had offended the members of Sunni sect of Islam by his remarks over their Caliphs.
"Waseem Rizvi has been making derogatory remarks about Sunni community and Caliphs for quite some time. So, after proper consultation, we decided to file a complaint against him. Thousands of people have gathered to protest and are demanding that National Security Act be slapped on Rizvi," Sahaba Action Committee president Maulana Abdul Wahid Farooqui said.
Following the FIR against Rizvi, thousands of Sunnis took out a protest march in old city areas of Lucknow demanding his arrest within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, reacting to the FIR filed against him, Rizvi called it the desperation and frustration of Muslim litigants in the vexed Ayodhya case.
"I have just called spade a spade. Those who have field FIR consider the extremist forces their Caliphs, they should migrate to Afghanistan and Syria," he said, adding that he would not succumb to Wahabi forces and took vow to continue his struggle for Ram temple.
Rizvi said he had already got his grave dug as sections of Muslims were out to eliminate him. He lamented that the level of security he had demanded was not provided to him.
"I may be killed through mob lynching, or by the bullets of extremist forces in Islam, or I may be sent to jail, but I shall not stop favouring a Ram temple in Ayodhya as it is the right of majority Hindus," he maintained.
The Shia Waqf Board chairman alleged that his words were being twisted to malign his image.
"I have only spoken about Abu-Baqr Al Baghdadi of Islamic State and Mullah Mohammed Omar of Taliban. These are concerted efforts to malign my image," Rizvi claimed.