Ahmedabad, August 16, 2023 (PPI-OT): The police detained a Muslim cleric, Wasid Raza, over his alleged remarks about the Indian flag and anthem in BJP-ruled Indian state of Gujarat. The detention comes after an audio clip surfaced on social media in which Wasid Raza expressed views on the 15 August about how freedom of expression, religious sentiments, and patriotism is attacked by Hindutva organizations including BJP and RSS.
The Indian police lodged case at the Kirtimandir police station on the Muslim cleric over allegations of disrespecting the Indian flag and anthem in his audio clip. Wasid Raza, who serves as an Imam at Nagina Masjid in Porbandar, was reportedly a member and one of the administrators of a WhatsApp group called Bahar-e-Shariat. This group primarily focused on religious discussions, with members posing questions in audio format and Raza responding with audio messages. The controversy arose when Raza addressed queries about whether Muslims should hoist the Indian flag and whether they should sing the Indian anthem based on Hindutva ideology.
To this, he replied that they can unfurl the flag but should not salute it. The second question was whether they can sing the Indian anthem or not. To this, the cleric replied in an audio clip that Muslims should not sing the Indian Anthem due to words like ‘Bharat Bhagya Vidhata’ and ‘Jay He Jay He’. These audio clips were circulated on social media on Friday.
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