Anger rising against Maulana Nurur Rehman Barkati, process on to sack him as Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque over anti-India rants

Kolkata: Controversial cleric Maulana Nurur Rehman Barkati, the Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque, may be sacked from his post for making highly objectionable and inflammatory remarks against the country.

“We condemn his (Barkati’s) recent statements. Those remarks were highly objectionable. We have decided to remove him,”Muhammad Shahid Alam, the co-trustee of Prince Ghulam Mohammed Shah Waqf Estate, was quoted as saying by News18.com.

Alam further informed that a letter is being drafted at the moment and Barkati will be served with a notice regarding his removal as Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque for his anti-national comments soon.

He also alleged that Barkati’s supporters had forcibly taken the keys to the Imam’s office and are refusing to vacate the premises.

“We have informed the Kolkata police and lodged a complaint against his supporters,” Alam said.

The development comes in the backdrop of caustic comments made by Barkati against the Narendra Modi government and the Centre's ban of using red beacons for ministers, bureaucrats and dignitaries.

Barkati had rejected the Centre’s April 19 directive against the use of “lal battis” on non-emergency vehicles from May 1 and threatened to launch “jihad if one tries to make the country a Hindu rashtra”.

On May 12, Barkati had said he would take off the red beacon from his vehicle if the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues were ready to live without security guards. There have been at least three police complaints registered against him in West Bengal.

A leading Muslim cleric, Maulana Qari Fazlur Rahman, who leads the Id prayer on Red Road in Kolkata, has slammed Barkati saying, “The damage has already been done. Whatever he said was wrong and I would like to warn him to not make such comments in the future.”

Meanwhile, Bengal Imams Association and Welfare Trust had also condemned Barkati’s statement. 

Several Muslims scholars, Imams and Maulanas have come together and disapproved Barkati's anti-India comments.