COIMBATORE: They are shocked, scared and hence silent. But about a month after the murder of the admin of the atheist WhatsApp group, ‘No God’, the key members are still active and are steadfast on forming an outfit of rationalist Muslims as he once dreamt. This despite several threats from various outfits and even warnings from the police.
H Farooq, a young man who was active in propagating atheist ideology social media and the WhatsApp group for which he was the administrator, was hacked to death by a group of Muslim youth on March 17.
Coimbatore Police believe he was murdered for the ideological stand that he used to spread, including through the group called Almurdash (no god) that had 40 non-believing Muslims as members.
“All 40 members of the group were active, spreading the ideology among the people in their circle and bringing new members to the group. But the activity was brought to a standstill by Farooq’s murder. Now, about 10 of us are continuing the work while the rest are yet to come of the shock,” Mohammed Ali Jinna, one of the group members, told Express.
The group members were understandably debilitated by the murder. “We did not know how to react,” Jinna added. “We even received threat calls from some outfits, and even from police personnel, asking us to shut down the group. But we explained to them the nature of our work, and also informed the police that we are planning to form a democratic political outfit to work for the minorities,” said another member of the group on condition of anonymity.
Farooq’s murder raised concerns among the members, who became worried about being known as atheistic activists. “Some members from other parts of the State did not even attend his last rites, worried that they would be identified by the murderers. But we believe the situation will change and we will be able to freely campaign our ideology,” he added.
Jinna said that none left the group even after the murder and subsequent threats.
“Farooq’s aim was to form an organisation comprising non-believing Muslims. But we lost him before he could achieve his dream. We will work hard in the coming days to fulfil his dreams,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam will install Farooq’s portrait on Sunday to mark his remembrance.