Decks cleared for Islamic scholar's Karjan visit

VADODARA: Decks have been cleared for noted Islamic scholar from Pakistan, Tahir ul-Qadri, known for his strong views against terrorism and extremism, to speak at Karjan. His proposed public address at this little-known town saw a string of controversies and the permission for the programme was in a limbo till Thursday night.

Sources said the permission for the event was granted on Thursday night after a round of consultations in Gandhinagar. The meetings also involved leaders from BJP's minority cell. President of BJP Minority Morcha and chairman of the state Haj committee Mehboobali Chishti said he and others had met the top brass of the government in Gandhinagar on Wednesday and explained the work of Qadri and the nature of the event in detail.

"It seems that there was some misunderstanding over the issue. There is no reason to stop a person speaking against terrorism and for peace at a public event. He has spoken in the parliaments of around 100 countries in the world. Only a handful of persons, who fear that they will lose ground and following if a scholar of Qadri's calibre gains, are opposing the event," Chishti said.

While the speech by Qadri is the most keenly awaited event, he will also be laying the foundation stone of the India headquarters of his organization Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) at Karjan.

MQI, India, president Nadeali Saiyed said after the uncertainty ended, they were now busy ensuring that Qadri's programme was a successful event. "The preparations had lost momentum due to the uncertainty. But that is not an issue now. People are keen to attend it," said Saiyed.

Qadri is scheduled to arrive in the city on Friday night. He will go to Karjan on Saturday. He has programmes in Vadodara and other places too in the state. He will also be addressing a convention of MQI workers in the city.

District collector Vinod Rao said. "We have called for additional police force from Bharuch to ensure that law and order is maintained during the programme. We also had a detailed meeting to discuss the security measures to be taken on Friday."

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/Decks-cleared-for-Islamic-scholars-Karjan-visit/articleshow/12023852.cms

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