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."
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