Kashmir BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur on Saturday became a butt of social media ridicule after he asked the Iranian government to “arrest” a Shia leader from Uttar Pradesh over his “blasphemous remarks”.
Thakur later blamed the blooper on a “typing error” and said his intention was to urge the Indian government to act against Waseem Rizvi, former chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Shia waqf board.
Social media poured scorn on Thakur. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha. He must be from B J P — Bharatia Jokers Party,” wrote actor poet Bashir Dada.
A journalist taunted Thakur, saying he had “dropped a bombshell” by asking “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intervention in Uttar Pradesh!”
Shia and Sunni groups in Kashmir had on Saturday united to condemn Rizvi, who has filed a public interest plea in the Supreme Court seeking the removal of 26 verses from the Quran that he claims preach terrorism.
Kashmir’s Grand Mufti, Nasir-ul Islam, has asked the Centre to arrest Rizvi for “hurting the sentiments of millions of Muslims across the world”. He said the Quran preaches peace, not violence.
Senior Shia leaders have accused Rizvi of being an RSS agent bent on dividing Muslims and said he should be ignored.
“I don’t believe in takfir (declaring others as infidels) but this person, Wasim (not) Rizvi has brazenly let his belief known and his belief is absolutely not that of a Muslim. He is a known servant of the Sangh and I suggest he should be left alone,” Ruhullah Mehdi, a former minister, tweeted.
Amid the outrage against Rizvi, Thakur had emailed a media statement saying: “Rizvi’s remarks are unacceptable and that Quran teaches love, brotherhood and peace, not violence.”
He added: “Iran government must act quickly against Rizvi and arrest him for his blasphemous remarks and hurting the religious sentiments of billions of Muslims across the globe.
“I demand that he should be taken to task and reprimanded by Iran government. There is no place for people like Rizvi in Islam.”
He later regretted the “inconvenience” and “typing error”, but did not explain why the same typo had occurred twice.
