New Delhi: Hours after meeting the Rashtriya Swayamseva Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of All India Imam Organisation (AIIO) Umer Ahmed Ilyasi claimed that the closed-door meeting was for 'personal' purposes and did not involve any political discussions. Speaking to ETV Bharat, the Imam said, "He (Bhagwat) paid us a visit after receiving an invitation from us. We did not meet to discuss politics."
Asked if there was any conversation about the ongoing religious issues in the country including the Hijab and the Gyanvpi row, the Imam, dodging the question, said, "We may have different religions, faiths, and cultures, but our top faith is in humanity. We are all Indians first." He further said that at a time when the 'country is making such progress', his community is simply trying to add value to it. "We all want to see India progress and that is what we talked about," the Imam added.
The meeting, which lasted for more than an hour, was held at Kasturba Gandhi Marg mosque where the office of the All India Imam Organisation is located. Before the meeting, there were speculations across the media that the RSS Chief, who has been holding meetings with the Muslim intellectuals over the past few days, will discuss issues like the Hijab controversy, Gyanvapi, and the maintenance of peace and harmony among religions.
Also read: RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat meets AIIO Head Dr Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi
Asked about these speculations and chances of an alliance of parties in the future, the Imam yet again averted giving a straight answer and said that 'for the nation to progress, we have to raise above politics and religion'. "We are a nation of unity in diversity. We exist with love and peace here and that is what the meeting entails. It had no political overtones," he said, adding that more such meetings are likely to be held in the future.
The All India Imam Organisation is the representative voice of the community of Indian Imams and claims to be the largest imam organization in the world. AIIO chief, Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, who claims to work for peace and harmony across the globe with around half a million Imams as a part of his organization, has in the past shown support for the loudspeaker ban, a controversy created by Maharashtra's MNS chief Raj Thackeray. He had also tagged the Hijab row as an attempt to 'malign the country by foreign bodies and terror groups such as Al Qaeda'.
For the meeting, Mohan Bhagwat was also accompanied by senior Sangh functionaries -- joint general secretary Krishna Gopal, Ram Lal, and Indresh Kumar. Sharing details of the meeting, Suhaib Ilyasi, brother of Ahmed Ilyasi, said, "It was great that Bhagwatji came on our invitation on the death anniversary of our father. It also sends out a good message to the country."
