Gujarat: Maulvi charged for calling prophet bhai', urging others to follow

Ahmedabad: An FIR was registered against a maulvi from Saraspur in Gujarat, for calling the Prophet ‘bhai’ and urging others to do so.

According to a report, the Gujarat High Court cleared the grounds to charge the maulvi Kari Ahmedali Hussainali Battiwala with attempt to hurt religious sentiments, after he appealed the court to quash an FIR registered against him in this regard.

The incident occurred in 2009, when Battiwala addressed several gatherings, where he encouraged followers to call the prophet as ‘bhai’ only, and allegedly equated himself with the Prophet. He is also accused of inciting people against sufi saints, and urging them to destroy their shrines.

An FIR was registered against Battiwala by the Secretary of Sunni Awami Forum in 2010 and he was briefly arrested before being let out on bail.

He later challenged the case against him in the Gujarat high court, citing freedom of speech and freedom to propagate one’s faith. He also claimed that he made the statement on the basis of the Hadiths, where Prophet purportedly terms his followers as brothers, and added that the charges did not stand as there was no one in the gathering raised any objection to his statements.

Battiwala, who belongs to the Tabligh Jamaat also maintained that no one’s sentiment’s were hurt as the case was filed an year later and that no one from the complainant’s end was present for the hearing.

Speaking on behalf of the complainant, advocate Rafik Lokhandwala asserted that ‘the Prophet can equate himself with others by terming the Muslims as his brothers, but it is unfair on the part of a person to draw this comparison.’

After hearing both sides, the court ruled that it would not interfere in such cases, and that since a chargesheet was filed, the accused must face the trial.

Battiwala’s counsel said that they would appeal the Supreme Court regarding the matter.