The West Bengal leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has came down heavily on Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Masjid Syed Md Noor Rahman Barkati for his fatwa on Tuesday, saying that any Muslim who would join the RSS or the BJP would be outcasts.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

“Barkati had made many anti-national statements during the press conference, including announcing a jihad against India and yet he has not been arrested. I believe he breaks the law with impunity because he is in the good books of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” said Pratap Banerjee, the party’s state general secretary at a press conference on Thursday.

Banerjee added that the video of Barkati’s speech had been sent to the party’s Central leadership as well as the Union Home Ministry. “We have requested them to find a way to arrest Barkati. Our demand is to oust him from the country for his anti-national views,” he said.

He said that the state BJP would gherao Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters on May 25, demanding the arrest of Barkati and to stop implicating BJP workers in false cases.

Party state secretary Locket Chatterjee said that Barkati’s words and actions brought a bad name to the entire community. “He has become a blemish to the Muslim community. It is because of him that the community is getting a bad name. The state police files suo motu case against us if we are riding the bike, but Barkati still rides a car with a red beacon atop, flouting the Supreme Court rule. When he is questioned, he says that he has the CM’s permission,” she said.

Another state BJP secretary Sayantan Basu said that BJP national general secretary and Bengal observer Kailash Vijayvargiya, party national secretary Rahul Sinha would be among others who would gherao Lalbazar on May 25. “If they are unable to arrest Barkati they can tell us. We can do it for them,” Basu said.