It should not be difficult to understand that frontline leaders of Muslims from any field are not tolerable to the people in power, wrote Parvez Nadir in a widely circulated article
Waquar Hasan | Clarion India
NEW DELHI – The arrest of popular motivational speaker Munawar Zama by the Hyderabad police in a case related to idol vandalism at a temple in Secunderbad is being seen as unjustified as he has no track record of making provocative statements.
Zama, who is also the founder and CEO of the English House Academy, was arrested by the Telangana Task Force on 22 October from Maharashtra after a man Salman Thakur was accused of vandalising idols at the temple. Thakur was among the attendees of Zama’s Personality Development Workshop held at a hotel in Hyderabad.
Mushtaq Malik, President of Hyderabad-based Tahreek Muslim Shabban, said Zama’s arrest is unjustified as he has no track record of making the statements he has been accused of by the police.
“He has no track record of making any provocative statements. He has never made such statements. However, he was implicated in the case as Salman happened to be related to him. People are assuming that he was framed,” said Malik while speaking to Clarion India.
According to the details available about Zama on his social media platforms, he has trained 300,000+ individuals across India and Gulf countries. He conducts Personality Development Workshops at schools, colleges, universities and hotels. Five chief ministers of India applauded his services towards nation-building. He also trained IPS Officers of Delhi and Hyderabad. He imparts skills such as personality development, communication skills, public speaking skills, leadership skills, voice and accent.
His works were appreciated by the US Embassy, the British High Commission, the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, and Aligarh Muslim University.
Malik said Zama’s arrest was a conspiracy and unjustified as he has never hurt the religious sentiments of anyone.
“There are conspiracies being hatched against Muslims in India. Many things are being turned upside down. We will have to counter this. Zama’s arrest is a conspiracy. Whichever party rules, the administration does not change,” he said.
Criticising Zama’s arrest, Parvez Nadir, a journalist based in Maharashtra, called the allegations levelled against him “ridiculous and an absurd script”.
“How ridiculous and absurd script was prepared to take legal action against Munawar Zama. The absurd script is that a man is taking inspiration to vandalise idols from the personality workshop after spending thousands of rupees…The case of Munawar Zama shows that Muslims who are taking even a soft route of social and educational services are not being spared. It should not be difficult to understand that frontline leaders of Muslims from any field are not tolerable to the people in power,” wrote Nadir in his widely circulated article.
The writer pointed out that whether it is the government led by so-called secular party or a communal party, Muslims are made scapegoats whenever there is a possibility.
“On the other hand, the people who make abusive remarks against Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) are roaming free. They have neither fear for arrest nor court’s punishment even after disturbing law and order,” he pointed out.
The police had initiated suo motu action against Zama along with two others. He was booked under Sections 299 (deliberate insult or outrage of religious feelings), 192 (malicious or wanton provocation with the intent to incite a riot), 196 (promoting enmity and hatred between different groups based on various grounds), 223 (disobeying orders from public servants that can lead to obstruction or danger) and 49 (abetment to commit a crime) of the BNS.