All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Friday appealed Islamic scholars (Ulema) and intellectuals to not participate in television debates those have “sole intention is to make a mockery and insult Islam and Muslims”.
For years, debates in majority of Indian TV channels have been flagged for its islamophobia. Many Muslim activists have recently launched an social media campaign urging for boycotting TV debates, that fuel anti-Muslim sentiments.
#StopGoingToGodiMediaDebates was trending on Twitter last week.
The joint statement of the President, Vice-Presidents & General Secretary of the Muslim body says that by participating in such programs they are not able to do any service to Islam and Muslims; instead, become reason for their own direct insult by involving Islam and Muslims.
In recent days, Indian channels brought Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders, who is known for his anti-Islam and anti-immigration views, as panelist to defend expelled BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her controversial statements on Prophet Mohummad and his wife Aisha.
General Secretary of the AIMPLB, Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, in his Press Note stated that President, Maulana Syed Mohammad Rabey Hasani Nadwi, Vice-Presidents, Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, Maulana Kaka Sayeed Ahmed Oomeri, Maulana Syed Shah Fakhruddin Ashraf, Maulana Syed Arshad Madani & Prof. Dr Syed Ali Mohammad Naqvi have issued the Joint Statement.
Critics have called many TV anchors who vehemly support Modi’s Hindu supremacy, genocide enablers, for frequently vilifying Muslims.
“The intention of these programs is not to reach any conclusion through constructive discourse but to ridicule and defame Islam and Muslims. To gather some legitimacy, these TV Channels need Muslim faces in their debates. Due to their obliviousness, our Islamic scholars (Ulema) and intellectuals become victims of such agendas,” reads the statement.
“If we boycott such programs and channels, not only it will affect their TRP negatively, but they will also fail in achieving their desired outcome through these debates.”
