LUCKNOW: Many Muslim leaders in India have made statements endorsing the Taliban and then withdrew them too swearing support to India’s policy over the issue.
A day after a member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Maulana Sajjad Nomani, praised the Taliban for its takeover of Afghanistan, the board sought to distance itself from Nomani’s statement terming it as one made in ‘personal capacity.’ It clarified that it was not the official stand of the Muslim body.
In a statement issued from the official Twitter handle of the AIMPLB, the board said: “All India Muslim Personal Law Board has neither expressed any view nor given any statement on Taliban and recent political situation of Afghanistan.
Opinion of some board members has been portrayed as the board’s stand by few media groups and wrong things are being attributed to it. These practices are against the spirit of journalism. Media groups must refrain themselves from such acts and no news regarding the Taliban should be attributed to the AIMPLB.”
Earlier on Wednesday, spokesperson of AIMPLB Maulana Sajjad Nomani had issued a statement on his personal YouTube channel praising the Taliban. “We salute the Taliban fighters, they have defeated the strongest army. An unarmed nation has defeated the strongest army. They entered the palace of Kabul. The whole world saw how they entered Kabul. There was no pride or arrogance in them. There were no big words. Those young men are kissing the soil of Kabul.
Congratulations, this Hindi Muslim salutes you. I salute your courage. Salutes your spirit,” Nomani had said. Moreover, the Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, Shafiqur Rahman Barq had also endorsed the Taliban on Tuesday. He had equated them with Indian freedom fighters.
Barq had said that the Taliban was a force that did not allow even strong countries like Russia and America to settle in their country.
However, after UP Police registered an FIR against the Samajwadi Party MP under non-bailable Sections 153A, 124A, and 295A of the IPC, he denied having given any such statement. He said that his statement was misinterpreted.
Meanwhile, senior clerics of Darul Uloom Farangi Mahal rushed to condemn the statements made in favour of the Taliban. Darul Uloom believed that the Taliban should not be endorsed in a hurry. As per the sources, the biggest Islamic seminary backed the view that the Taliban should be watched if they followed what they claimed this time. The Darul Uloom said remarks should be made in consonance with the foreign policy of India and how things evolved between the two nations.
Meanwhile, noted Urdu poet Munawwar Rana on Thursday again kicked up a row by refusing to recognize the Taliban as a terrorist organization and instead called them an aggressive group.
“The Taliban has done the right thing. So, possession of your land can be done by any means. If the Taliban liberated their country, Afghanistan, then what is the problem with that? This cannot be seen from an Indian point of view. If you want to understand, then you have to think of India under British rule,” Munawwar Rana said while talking to media persons.
He also said that he did not consider the Taliban a terrorist organization. “If they are fighting for their country then how can they be a terrorist? There is no particular definition of a terrorist, how can we say who is a terrorist and who is not,” he added.
Munawwar Rana is known to have a penchant for making controversial statements. Recently, he had threatened to leave Uttar Pradesh if Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister again in 2022, after which he had to face criticism from a section of people.