Clerics call for unity among Barelvis for 2017 polls

BAREILLY: Addressing one of the biggest congregations at the Bakarganj Eidgah here, clerics on Tuesday called for unity among Sunni Barelvis, "who form nearly 80% of the total Muslim population in the state", ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections. The clerics accused previous UP governments of neglect towards the community and urged members to only vote for parties that will support them and their cause.
"We did not have much knowledge about politics in the past. We have suffered and it is time that we unite. Previous governments have nominated anti-Barelvis as chairpersons of the Waqf board and many dargahs and mosques were illegally occupied. Our vote bank is our primary strength and we need to choose only that party which will support us," said Maulana Shahbudeen Razvi, secretary of Eidgah committee, during the Eid Al-Adha speech.
Before the main prayer at the Eidgah, Ravzi also said, "Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have formed governments in UP several times in the past 60 years with support from the Sunni Barelvis. But we have always been abandoned. Considering our large population, none of the political parties have given us tickets, portfolios or prime posts in the UP Haj committee, Sunni Waqf Board, Urdu academy or the UP minority commission." ?
Soon after Razvi's speech, Mufti Mohammed Akhtar Raza Khan, the chief cleric at the influential Dargah Aala Hazrat, conducted the namaz and maulana Asjad Raza Khan, the Bareilly city qazi, read the khutbha (sermon).