NCM chief condemns Zafarul Islam’s communal remarks

Condemning DMC chief Zafarul Islam Khan's statement about the persecution of Muslims in India, NCM Chairman Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi said his statement is an attempt to tarnish the country’s image and therefore, strict action should be taken against him for his hateful comments.

New Delhi: National Commission of Minorities (NCM) has condemned Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) chief Zafarul Islam Khan's statement about the persecution of Muslims in India and demanded strict action against him from the Delhi government.

NCM Chairman Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi said, “National minorities Commission condemns the statements made by Zafarul Islam which are divisive in nature. He should not have forgotten that people of all religion have been living in harmony for centuries in India and have faced all calamities together."

"He should also not forget that despite opposition from the country like Pakistan, many Arab nations have honoured our PM Modi with the highest civilian awards of their countries," NCM chief added.

Rizvi said that Zafarul Islam's statement is an attempt to tarnish the country’s image and therefore, strict action should be taken against him for his hateful comments.

On Tuesday, DMC chairman Zafarul Islam took to Facebook and asserted that Indian Muslims enjoy huge goodwill among Arab nations and warned the 'Hindutva bigots' of an 'avalanche'.

"Thank you Kuwait for standing with the Indian Muslims! The Hindutva bigots calculated that given the huge economic stakes involved the Muslim and Arab world will not care about the persecution of Muslims in India,” Zafrul Islam posted on Facebook.

"Bigots forgot that Indian Muslims enjoy huge goodwill in the eyes of the Arab and Muslim world for their services over centuries to Islamic causes, excellence in Islamic and Arabic scholarship, cultural and civilisational gifts to world heritage," Khan added.

However, when several BJP leaders hit out at Zafarul Islam for his controversial post on social media and demanded his removal from the post of chairman of DMC, he gave clarification and said that he has not complained against his country to any foreign government or organisation, nor does he intend to do so in the future.

"This tweet is in the background of how the issues of Muslims have been dealt within our country, be it lynching, riots, media-bashing or redressal of their problems in political and administrative processes," Khan said.

He further added that while he never complained about India to any other country, he was vocal about the problems in the country.

Notably, BJP spokesperson Sonkar Shastri said that Zafrul Islam is trying to tarnish India’s image in the Arab world.

He also demanded the removal of Islam from the post of chairman of DMC from Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra and party spokesperson Sambit Patra also slammed Zafrul Islam over his Facebook post and demanded similar action from the Delhi government.