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Lucknow cleric calls off camp to train Muslims, SC/ST members to apply for firearms
A written complaint was filed in Chowk police station against Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad and the organisers of the camp.
Buckling under pressure, prominent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad has decided to call off his plan to organise a camp on Friday in which Muslims and members of the SC/ST community were to be trained on how to apply for a fire-arm licence here in Lucknow.
The move had drawn widespread criticism.
A Muslim woman advocate Subhi Khan on Monday gave a written complaint to the Chowk police station to lodge a case against the maulana and the organisers of the camp, which included senior advocate Mahmood Pracha and Sunni cleric Maulana Mannan of Tile Wali Mosque in Lucknow.
Subsequently, Maulana Jawad in a press comminique issued a statement announcing his decision to call off the proposed camp.
“Since both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath have gone on record saying they would be bringing a strict law to prevent mob-lynchings and take action against the perpetrators, we have decided to defer the July 26 camp, which was scheduled to be held inside Bada Imambara,” said Jawad.
Earlier in a joint press conference at Jawad’s house, advocate Mahmood Pracha had said that incidents like Sonebhadra in which 10 tribals were massacred would not have occurred if those killed also possessed licensed fire-arms to defend themselves. He had said that apprising members of the weaker sections about the right to self-defence and how to apply for a fire-arm licence had become imperative in the wake of the recent attacks on ST/SC and Muslims in different parts of India.
“While the oppressors or the influential class can easily obtain weapons licence, the underprivileged section, like the tribals in the Sonbhadra case, don’t even know how to apply for one,” he said adding that this was precisely the objective of the camp.
After Lucknow, a similar camp will be held in Kolkata, he had said.
