Ahead of UP polls, 18 Sunni Barelvi bodies join hands

BAREILLY: Eighteen social and religious organizations of Sunni Barelvis across the country have decided to come together and form an organization ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections due next year.
The office-bearers of these organizations said they would lend support to a political party in November this year in exchange for meeting their demands if it comes to power in the state.Representatives of these organizations said they want more Barelvis in UP Haj Committee, Sunni Waqf Board, Urdu Academy and UP Minority Commission.
All India Tanzeem-e-Islam, a Barelvi organization, has contacted 18 other such organisations to form an umbrella body for the upcoming state assembly elections.
“The office-bearers of these organizations have lent their support to us and we are in the process of coming under one big body. The idea is that for the development of the community, there should be more participation of Barelvis in the government. Though we will not contest elections, we will help a political party in campaigning and forming a government in the state,” said Maulana Shahbudeen Razvi, national general secretary of All India Tanzeem-e-Islam.