Allahabad High Court issues notice on Muslim Association's plea against ex-Shia Waqf Board's Chief for controversial religious statements

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The Allahabad High Court has issued notice on a plea seeking restrictions on Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi, formerly known as 'Waseem Rizvi' against posting content against Prophet Mohammad and Holy Book Quran on social media. 

A division bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Piyush Agarwal issued notice to Tyagi and sought his reply in the matter. The matter will be next heard on April 13, 2022. 

Tyagi was the former Chairman of Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board, Lucknow and has accepted Hinduism recently i.e. on December 6, 2021. Tyagi has been in news due to his controversial remarks. 

The bench was dealing with a plea filed by Mohammad Yusuf Umar Ansari, Secretary of Hazrat Khwaja Garib Nawaz Association, who has alleged that, Rizvi has continuously been making controversial statements on the Islamic faith and cuture, which is harmful to the peace and security of the society. 

As per the plea, besides social media posts and comments on digital platforms, Tyagi's book, 'Mohammad', also contains 19 such references including terms like 'Islami Atankwad' and 'Husnain ka Balatkar Kand' which are hurtful to the Muslim community.

Against this backdrop, the plea demands that Tyagi be prohibited from making any such hate speech in future and also seeks the removal of Tyagi's earlier social media posts. 

The plea says that that Tyagi being the 'former Chairman of the Waqf Board and responsible citizen cannot give a disputed religious statement'. However, subsequently it adds that Tyagi is a hate monger and does not even belong to the society. 

According to the plea, with a total of 27 criminal cases lodged against Tyagi, he is a "criminal-minded person and an anti-social element for society."

The plea also emphasizes the holiness and correctness of the Quran and says that in Islam's 1400-year-old history, no question has ever been raised against Prophet Mohammad and Quran. It adds that there is no defect in the Islamic Book which is an international book as well. 

Stressing that Tyagi's comments are blasphemous in nature and he has no faith in any religion, the plea alleges that Tyagi's comments are not justified and therefore should be removed from everywhere. 

Furthermore, the plea also mentions that the petitioner, Ansari, has also made a complaint about Tyagi's behavior to the Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi to take strict action against him. 

Cause Title: Mohammad Yusuf vs State of U.P. and Another