SP Leader Abu Azmi Meets Controversial Cleric Mufti Salman, Who Was Arrested For Hate Speech. BJP Reacts

Another controversy broke out in Maharashtra just a day before the Assembly elections in the state as the Bharatiya Janata Party lambasted the Maha Vikas Aghadi over Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi’s meeting with the controversial Islamic cleric Mufti Salman Azhari. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla hit out at the MVA over the meeting saying that Abu Azmi was seeking bleesings of the same Mufti Salman who promotes Ghazwa-e-Hindi and was arrested for hate speech. 

“After Sajjad Nomani, who spoke about ‘love jihad’, and after MVA candidate Fahad Ahmad Bhaskar’s meeting, another significant meeting has taken place. Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi, who had visited Uddhav Thackeray’s house, a part of the MVA, is now seeking blessings from Mufti Salman. He is asking for blessings to win elections from Mufti Salman, who has previously said that ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ will happen,” Poonawala said.

Abu Azmi’s meeting with Mufti Salman comes after NCP-SP leader Fahad Ahmad and his wife and Bollywood actress Swara Bhaskar’s meeting with Maulana Sajjad Nomani created quite a stir, sparking backlash from social media users. 

“This is the same MVA who has Uddhav Thackeray who has now become Uddhav bhaijaan…The shop of vote bank is running such that he has forgotten completely about Balasaheb Thackeray and his vision…Say that you are with people who support vote jihad and protested against the mandir [Ayodhya Ram Temple], you are with those who support Ghazwa-e-Hind, who are aginst CAA, who are against the abrogation of Article 370, who want to distribute cylinders to infiltrators,” Poonawalla said targeting Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddav Thackeray.

He further hit out at Thackeray for not reacting to Fahad Ahmad and his wife and Bollywood actress Swara Bhaskar meeting Maulana Sajjad Nomani, demanding him to express his stance on the meeting between Abu Azmi and Salman Azhari. “Take a stand now atleast and say that you will break alliance with Abu Azmi and Samajwadi Party,” he demanded.

The BJP leader shared a video of the Islamic cleric Azhari where he can be heard making a hate speech along with a visual from Abu Azmi’s meeting with Mufti Salman. Poonawalla wrote: “MVA ally Samajwadi Party takes “blessings” from Mufti Salman who wants Ghazwa E Hind who was arrested for hate speech threatening Hindus. First Mr Fahad Swara Bhaskar meets vote jihadi Sajjad Nomani and now this.”

“But Ek Rahenge Safe Rahenge is communal and this is secular!” he added.

On November 18, SP’s Maharashtra unit chief Abu Asim Azmi met Mufti Salman Azhari, who is known for his hate speeches against Hindus.

Sharing a video from their meeting, Azmi wrote on X: “Today, I had a special meeting with Mufti Salman Azhari and discussed the issues of Govandi. Namoos-e-Risalat is our mission, our demand is that an anti-terror law should be made against anyone who disrespects the evening of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and we will not rest until this law is made.”

Notably, Azhari was arrested from Mumbai earlier this year in February in connection with a hate speech, following which he was taken to Ahmedabad by a team of an Anti-Terrorisr Squad from Gujarat. Another FIR was filed against him for allegedly delivering a hate speech at a religious event in Kutch in the same month.