Prominent Muslim organisations and clerics have denounced the brutal killing of Kanhaiya Lal by two Muslim men in Udaipur earlier this week. The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board besides the imam of Jama Masjid in Old Delhi have condemned the killing, calling it “brutal, unpardonable and against the tenets of Islam”. Imams in major mosques in Delhi, including the New Delhi Jama Masjid and those run by Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat used the Friday sermon to denounce ‘the dastardly act”.
The Jamiat spokesman called the Udaipur killing “against the law of the land and against the religion of Islam”. “Whosoever has perpetrated the incident cannot be justified in any way. In our country, there is a system of law, no one has the right to take the law into his own hands.” The Jamiat’s President Arshad Madani, on a tour to Malaysia, condemned the incident. “The Udaipur incident is tragic, un-Islamic and an inhuman act. Like we opposed mob lynching and asked the government to form law against lynching and arrest the perpetrators, on the same lines we condemn this instance and ask the law to take its own course. For the sake of our country, we must maintain communal harmony. We must remain patient.” He, however, took the government to task for not taking prompt action against the BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her derogatory remarks against the Prophet. “If the government had tightened its grip on wrong-doers, the situation would have been different in the country.”
Almost on the same lines came the reaction from Jamaat-e-Islami’s Vice President Salim Engineer. “We condemn the barbaric murder of Kanhaiya Lal. There is no justification for such violence in Islam. Those found guilty should be punished according to the law of the land. The government must stop mischief-makers from taking advantage of this incident. Law and order should be maintained.” Mr Engineer also came down at some political leaders’ attempt to fish in troubled waters. “The statements being issued by some political leaders show their ugly intention to play vote bank politics. The political environment of the country is encouraging aggression and hatred. It is time for all peace-loving citizens of our country to join hands to fight against hatred and violence.”
In his Friday sermon, Mohibullah Nadwi, imam of New Delhi Jama Masjid, condemned the Udaipur incident unequivocally and asked the faithful to take a leaf out of the Prophet’s life in case of provocation. “The Prophet did not kill anybody for not accepting Islam. We also know of the lady who used to throw garbage at him everyday and how, one day when she failed to do so because of illness, the Prophet went to her house to check on her well being. Where is the scope for violence in all this,” Nadwi asked.
Meanwhile, K.K. Suhail, Director, Quill Foundation which has highlighted various lynching instances of Muslim men, reminded the faithful of their duty in case of blasphemy. Taking to social media, he commented, “There is no punishment mentioned in the Quran on blasphemy. Instead, the Quran clearly says, ‘Be patient over what they say and avoid them with gracious avoidance’.”
Earlier, Imam Ahmed Bukhari of the historic Jama Masjid in Old Delhi called the murder “an act of cowardice” and “an act against Islam”. This Friday too, the faithful were asked to maintain law and order, and make sure that the killers find no support from the community. On the same lines, the body of Muslim religious intellectuals, AIMPLB issued a statement criticising the incident. It stated, “Taking the law into
one-s own hands and killing a person by declaring him a criminal is a condemnable act. It is against the principles of Islam.”
Lal, a tailor in Udaipur, it may be recalled, was brutally murdered for allegedly supporting the statement of Nupur Sharma against the Prophet. She later apologised for the remarks. However, a video of Lal’s killing went viral on social media leading to tension in and arund Udaipur, following which curfew was clamped in the area and Internet services curtailed in the State.
