Chhattisgarh Waqf Board on Friday sermons: ‘Any political statement or remarks against govt… can lead to FIR’

Raj said the committee had requested the BJP authorities successful the authorities to supply astir 50 radical for the enactment of vetting the sermons, which would person to beryllium shared by the muttawalis with the Waqf Board connected WhatsApp. “To commencement with, we person appointed 10 people. The speeches volition person to beryllium sent to america 3 to 4 days earlier the sermon. One idiosyncratic volition spell done 100 sermons successful a day’s time.”

Raj claimed helium was getting “threats” since helium issued the order, which volition travel into effect from November 22. “People are calling maine a kafir (non-believer) and non-Muslim.” However, helium said, galore Muslim spiritual leaders are connected board. “Nearly 1,822 mosques, dargahs and khanqahs (a spiritual oregon spiritual place) person already joined our WhatsApp groups,” Raj said. There are astir 3,800 mosques crossed the state, arsenic per the Chhattisgarh Waqf Board.

Appointed to caput the Waqf Board by the BJP government, which replaced the Congress successful Chhattisgarh, Raj has been associated with the Sangh Parivar for long. He has headed the Haj Committee successful Chhattisgarh, was vice-chairman of the Haj Committee of India, and is presently in-charge of the BJP’s number compartment successful Chhattisgarh.

Countering the disapproval by the Congress connected the vetting of sermons, Raj said: “The Waqf Board has made this regularisation to support societal bid and harmony, and to guarantee that mosques are not turned into governmental addas. Mosques indispensable beryllium constricted to worship and spiritual activities. But during elections, mosques are misused to harm societal harmony.”

He accused the erstwhile Congress authorities of doing the same. “For example, the issuing of fatwas connected which campaigner the Muslim assemblage indispensable ballot for. Since the Muslim radical are guiltless and gullible, they judge that everything said from a masjid is Allah’s order. And that, arsenic it has been said by the mosque, they should ballot for the Congress… This needs to stop.”

Raj claimed that mosques were utilized by the Congress to besides dispersed “misinformation” connected the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and that it was wrongly announced that the CAA was a instrumentality to thrust distant Muslims.

On the Congress questioning the Waqf Board’s jurisdiction to contented specified an order, saying its occupation was “to look aft waqf properties”, Raj said: “I americium acting arsenic per The Waqf Act, 1995. The Act defines the authorization fixed to a muttawali who is the in-charge of a mosque, and helium does not person the authorization to springiness governmental oregon immoderate specified statements.”

The Chhattisgarh Waqf Board president besides welcomed the Centre’s Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which has been objected to by the Opposition. “Several experts crossed India, highly knowledgeable officials person framed this authorities aft a batch of probe and survey… and a parliamentary committee is looking astatine it. Modi ji is bringing this for the Muslim community’s trust, improvement and progress. If this Bill had been introduced 25 years ago, the representation and destiny of Muslims would person been different. Today, Muslims are much backward than Dalits,” Raj said.

The waqf spot has ne'er been utilized for education, with radical staying successful immoderate of them for the past 30-40 years astatine a meagre rent of Rs 30-Rs 40,” helium said. The absorption to the Bill was politically motivated, Raj added. “Some Muslims are opposing it due to the fact that Modi ji is bringing it. Otherwise, they would person supported it, similar they did successful the past erstwhile amendments were made to the waqf law… Till today, the waqf committee has not done immoderate enactment successful the society’s interest… It has been successful the possession of politicians who enactment arsenic contractors of religion.”