Hyderabad: CPI Workers Burn Waseem Rizvi’s Effigy

Local leaders and workers from the Communist Party of India (CPI) in Hyderabad on Tuesday staged a protest in Amberpet against former Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi and burnt his effigy over a petition filed by him in the Supreme Court seeking to remove 26 verses from the Quran.

Speaking to ANI, Syed Abid Hussain Naqvi, Hyderabad CPI leader said, “By filing a petition in the Supreme Court, to remove 26 verses from Quran, Waseem Rizvi has not only hurt sentiments of Indian Muslims but the sentiments of Muslims across the world.”

He further said that if such acts were committed by someone in an Islamic country, he would have been immediately sentenced to public prosecution.

Naqvi also alleged that Rizvi is defaming India with his deeds and demanded that he be hanged or sentenced to life imprisonment.

Sheik Nadeem, CPI in-charge of Amberpet, Hyderabad, said that Rizvi is just trying to disturb the communal harmony of this nation by putting up such petitions.

“If people like Waseem Rizvi are allowed to roam free in this nation, then they will disturb the communal harmony of this country,” Nadeem added.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain on Tuesday also slammed Waseem Rizvi for approaching the Supreme Court seeking removal of some verses of the Quran, and said that his party is firmly against those who insult any religious texts.

Hussain, the national spokesperson of the BJP, said Rizvi should not vitiate the atmosphere of the country by indulging in such an act. “I strongly object (to) and condemn Wasim Rizvi’s petition seeking removal of 26 verses from the Quran. It is my party’s stand that saying absurd things about any religious texts, including the Quran, is a highly condemnable act,” Hussain told PTI.