Iraq bound cleric to seek release of ISIS held Sikhs off-loaded, says Centre gagging Muslims

New Delhi: The government issued a Look-Out Circular (LOC) against prominent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad Naqvi and prevented him from taking a flight to Baghdad today morning. This has put Jawad Naqvi on the same pedestal as the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and other law evaders.

Maulana Jawad Naqvi, who along with five other members of Anjuman-E-Haidari, a Shiite religious organization, were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the wee hours on Monday, and were barred from boarding their flight. It’s again a hope dashed for the families of 40 Sikh workers from Punjab, who were reportedly abducted from Mosul town in Iraq by the terrorist outfit Islamic State (previously called ISIS).

A delegation of six led by Jawad Naqvi were heading for Iraq to discuss with the Iraqi government over the release of Sikh workers and simultaneously offer their voluntary social service in the terror-hit war zone in Iraq. An LOC is issued to trace an absconding criminal and also to prevent and monitor the entry and exit of persons, who may be required for the law enforcement authorities. “We were illegally detained by Delhi Police on the basis of an LOC issued against me by the Intelligence Bureau (IB). We have sufficient evidence against the rogue elements inside the IB, who want to keep the government in dark about the anti-terror efforts of Anjuman-E-Haidari.

“Recently, I went to Iran and I’m living in Lucknow. It’s not that I’m a fugitive or absconder, whom the police have been searching for. It’s a deep-rooted conspiracy to gag the voice of Muslims, who talk against terrorism. It seems to be the policy of all political parties, and I faced it in Lucknow, when we organized an anti-terrorism rally, and it was banned by Samajwadi Party government,” Jawad Naqvi told Firstpost.

“I’m not aware about this development, but this is very unfortunate. The families of the Sikh workers had met the ministers and officials in Delhi on this issue and has been pursuing for their release, which couldn’t happen yet. It was a humanitarian approach of AEH, who wanted to take our case by speaking with the Iraqi government after visiting there,” Shiromani Akali Dal’s national secretary, Kuldip Singh Bhogal told Firstpost. The AEH has raised question on the way the prominent Shia religious leader was forcibly detained in the police station for two hours, along with five other members. Even, the immigration officials have put ‘Off-loaded’ on Jawad Naqvi’s passport. This will bar Naqvi from leaving the country, as he is expected to visit Kuwait in December.

“Without filing an FIR, an LOC can’t be issued against a person. It’s issued only when an accused evades an arrest, but in this case neither there’s any FIR against Maulana Naqvi, nor he evaded the law. Moreover, LOC can’t be issued by IB; it can be done only through a court order or designated central or state government official or MHA,” said senior advocate Mehmood Pracha of Legal Axis Attorneys & Solicitors.

The AEH has demanded the government to conduct an inquiry into the matter and come up with its report in 48 hours.

“Otherwise, we’ll move high court. We’ve been in correspondence with the PMO, home minister and external affairs minister since July. If at all they had any objection to our visiting Iraq, they should have told us clearly, instead of initiating this illegal action. Personally, I had been in regularly communicating with the police and government officials on this issue, and kept the government of India informed at every stage,” said AEH general secretary Bahadur Abbas Naqvi.

“Nowhere, the government gave any permission in writing to the delegation to go to Iraq and have talks or to condemn the act of terrorism. The government can’t put the life of its citizens at risk, as the situation in Iraq is beyond control and any untoward incident may happen,” a government source said on condition of anonymity.

The delegation claimed that they had lined up meetings with Iraq’s Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, ministers of other respective departments and religious leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Siestani. “We wanted to discuss on how our Sikh brothers abducted by the ISIS could be released, how we can offer our services to safeguard our Holy shrines at Karbala, provide humanitarian services through our volunteers registered with us and create a worldwide campaign against terrorism,” said Abbas Naqvi.

Giving a political spin to the situation, Maulana Jawad Naqvi was quick to add, “Earlier we didn’t oppose Narendra Modi and the BJP during general election, and they won by majority. But considering the present situation, we’ve to see whether we can lend support to them for the forthcoming Delhi and J&K elections.”