Kejriwal meets Muslim cleric behind fatwa on Taslima, sparks row

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal came under attack from the BJP and Congress for meeting controversial Muslim cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan in Bareilly recently and was accused of playing the ‘communal card’. While the Congress dubbed AAP as the “B team of BJP”, the BJP lashed out at Kejriwal saying the meeting had exposed him. Tauqeer had in 2007 announced a reward for Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen’s head. The cleric has reportedly promised to address some AAP rallies in Delhi, which votes for a new Assembly on 4 December. [caption id=“attachment_1204749” align=“alignright” width=“380”] ![AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal. AFP](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ARVIND-KEJRIWAL_AFP_1-NOV1.jpg) The BJP lashed out at Kejriwal saying the meeting has exposed him.. AFP[/caption] The AAP chief, however, sought to downplay the meeting saying he had gone to Bareilly on a religious tour and met the Muslim leader because “he is a respectable person in the town”. “I had gone to the dargah to pray for a corruption free India and met Mualana Raza Saheb as he is a very respected man there. I met him and appealed him that everyone should come together to save the country as it is going through a sensitive phase,” Kejriwal said. Congress spokesman Meem Afzal alleged that Kejriwal whose politics originated with the backing of the RSS was trying to make Muslims “a football” for electoral mileage. BJP also hit out at the AAP boss for reaching out to Khan who floated Ittehad-e-Millat Council to contest the 2010 assembly elections in UP. “AAP is getting desperate and is rushing to all sorts of people,” party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said. On the accusation of playing ’the communal card’, Kejriwal said he has been visiting temples, mosques and meeting many people. He clarified that he was not aware of the charges against the Maulana of issuing a fatwa against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen. Tauqeer had come under fire in 2007 when he announced a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on Nasreen’s head for her views on Islam. He had also announced Rs 1 crore bounty for killing former US president George W Bush. In 2010, he was arrested and jailed for allegedly making inflammatory speeches during communal riots in Bareilly. He was later released. Kejriwal, however, said that he spoke to the Muslim cleric and he told him that all that is being said about him is wrong. “I spoke to him and he told me that he can never issue a fatwa as fatwa is issued by Mufti. He told me that the head of a board of hundred people, of which he too was a member years ago, had issued the fatwa. He also told me that just because he is more known and respected among the people, his name came into the picture,” Kejriwal said. The AAP chief said that he and his party followers don’t believe in the politics of violence and they have entered politics to change it. Moreover, he said, that his party is not getting into any alliance with the Maulana. When asked about the meeting, Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan said that he always liked Kejriwal for initiating the India Against Corruption movement. “To stem the rot in the system, one has to get into the system. To clean the garbage, we need ‘Jhadu’ (broom–AAP’s poll symbol),” the Maulana said. Meanwhile, Taslima Nasreen lashed out at Kejriwal and the Indian political class. “A politician goes to a fundamentalist who declared a price on my head knowing it is illegal and against the Indian Constitution,” the author said in an interview to Times of India. “I am surprised politicians go to such fanatics and fundamentalists for support,” Nasreen said. With inputs from PTI

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Kejriwal meets Muslim cleric behind fatwa on Taslima, sparks row

Accused of playing communal card, AAP chief says he did not know that Tauqeer had raised a storm in 2007 by announcing a reward for the beheading of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen

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