Kashmir, March 13, 2021: Discontent and anger has brewed across Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir after Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court dema nding deleting 26 Ayats (verses) from the Holy Quran.

Rizvi’s outrageous remarks of recommending omission of certain verses of the Holy Quran and his appeal in the court are not only condemnable but unpardonable as well. This vile man has shown disregard for the Holy Quran and hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims across the globe. We condemn his acts and urge the government to put him behind the bars immediately,” said a spokesman of Majlis-e-Ulmae Imamia in a statement.

The spokesman said Rizvi is an agent of anti-Muslim forces and with the CBI investigating corruption in the waqf board; he is doing all in his imagination to hold on to their support.

The Holy Quran is the word of Allah and the sacred book in Islam. And even if Muslims have different sects and schools of thought, all of them have a firm belief that this is the final book revealed by Allah to his last Prophet (SAW) and that not a single word has been altered or tampered with in the Quran since its revelation some 1400 years ago,” he said

The spokesman said people like Rizvi are being imposed on Muslim institutions to carry out the agenda of Sangh Parivar. “Members of Waqf board are also culprits who back Rizvi and maintain silence over such grave issues. Their silence is a candid confession of their involvement in such crimes,” he said.

Condemning Rizvi’s blasphemous moves, Anjuman Sharie Shiayan President Aga Syed Hassan called on authorities to register a case under Section 295A of IPC against Rizvi for hurting sentiments of Muslims.

“We strongly condemn the recent statement of Wasim Rizvi of Lucknow, against the Holy Book Quran. This man has become a tool of conspiracies of the enemies against Islam & Shiaism. Indian Muslims have already kicked him out of their midst and he has been excommunicated from Islam”, tweeted Ittehadul Muslimeen President Maulana Masroor Abbas Ansari.

Top Shia leader and former minister Aga Ruhullah Mehdi called Rizvi a servant of Sangh. “I don’t believe in Takfir, 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 Sangh and I suggest he should be left alone,” he tweeted. (India Tomorrow)

Terming Rizvi an apostate, Shia scholars have demanded his immediate arrest for hurting the religious sentiments of the Muslims.

Addressing Friday congregations, Shia clerics lashed out at Rizvi for the blasphemous move.