Mufti Salman Azhari, an Islamic preacher, was arrested by Gujarat police from Mumbai in connection with a hate speech he delivered on 31 January. The video shows Mufti inciting people against Hindus while speaking at a Muslim community event in Gujarat’s Junagadh.

Mufti Azhari’s hate speech

“Abhi to Karbala ka akhiri maidan baqi hai…Kuch der ki khamoshi hai, fir shore ayega… Aaj kutton ka wakt hai, kal hamara daur ayega.” (The final battle of Karbala is yet to come… a moment of silence, then there will be noise again. Today is the time of the dogs, tomorrow will be our time),” Azhari says in the video. He begins his speech with Junagadh’s history, emphasising that the state never fell into anyone’s hands. He concluded with chants of “Labbek Ya Rasulullah”, with the crowd repeating after him.

“This tribe bows only when Allahu Akbar is said. This is our speciality. I want to tell those who show me a lollipop of wealth and ten years of power: Come, keep your head at my feet. Only the traitor may come to you; the one who is loyal to Nabi will step on your head and say – Mere Nabi Se Mera Rishta kal bhi tha aur aaj bhi hai (I always had ties to my God and will continue to have these ties),” Azhari said continuing his vitriol.

Throughout his speech, Azhari is heard inciting Muslims by making claims that Muslim morality is being destroyed using the internet. He further asks Muslim youth not to take ‘Hazur-e-Akhlaq’ lightly (akhlaq is the Urdu word for morality).

“The world is telling us that you are right; why are you being killed, being cut down, Palestine, Iran, Burma being cut down and killed? Answer those oppressors that we are the servants of Muhammad Rasoolullah, and the servant is born only to die. If we are killed, remember that our death will not destroy Islam. It would have been destroyed in Karbala if it were to be destroyed. But he comes alive after every Karbala,” he says.

“Don’t panic Muslims, abhi khuda ki shaan baki hai. Abhi Islam Jinda Hai. Abhi Quran baqi hai. Aa jalim kafir kya samhate hai jo roj hamse ulajhte hai, abhi to karbala ka akhiri makam baqi hai. Kuch der ki khamoshi hai, shore ayega…..Aaj kutton ka wakt hai, kal hamara daur ayega,” Azhari concludes.

Islamists whitewash Azhari’s speech

After his speech, Salman Azhari faced legal action as an FIR (First Information Report) was filed against him for his inflammatory remarks. FIR was registered against Azhari and local organisers Mohammad Yousuf Malek and Azim Habib Odedara under Indian Penal Code sections 153B (promoting enmity between different religious groups) and 505 (2) (making statements conducive to public mischief). On Sunday, a team of Gujarat police travelled to Mumbai and arrested the Islamist preacher regarding his incendiary comments. They obtained a 2-day transit remand to transfer him to Junagadh, Gujarat. Predictably, Muslim ‘journalists’ rallied on social media to defend Azhari and demand his immediate release.

One such figure, Mohammed Asif Khan, notorious for spreading misinformation, asserted that Azhari was wrongly accused based on a manipulated video. Khan shared a clipped segment of Azhari’s speech, suggesting that his words were not aimed at the Hindu community but rather addressed the ongoing conflicts in Palestine and other Muslim regions. However, Khan conveniently omitted Azhari’s derogatory references to Hindus, including calling them ‘dogs’ during the same speech.

In the part of the speech Khan shared, the radical Islamist preacher spoke about Muslims’ readiness to die for their faith, seemingly in reference to the situation in Palestine. However, he failed to mention Azhari’s disparaging remarks towards Hindus, especially in the context of the Ram Mandir and Gyanvapi disputes.

Azhari defended the historical practices of Islamic invaders appropriating non-Muslim religious sites, contrasting them with the Hindu community’s perceived lack of courage to convert mosques into temples. He referred to Hindus as ‘dogs’ in this context, insinuating that they had no claim to Muslim grounds.

This deliberate omission by Mohammed Asif Khan and others like him reflects a pattern of absolving fellow Muslims of any wrongdoing through misinformation and conspiracy theories. Their attempts to whitewash Azhari’s remarks are part of a larger strategy to evade accountability and sow discord.

Supporters create a ruckus outside the Ghatkopar police station

After the Mumbai police detained him, the radical Islamic preacher’s supporters gathered at Ghatkopar police station. They made a ruckus outside the police station, demanding the release of Azhari.

They even blocked roads, affecting the traffic flow. The crowd refused to leave despite police repeating announcements asking them to clear the area. Police had to resort to a mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd. The Gujarat police have transported him to the state for further action.

This is not the first time Azhari has delivered hate speech. In an earlier video, he was seen spewing venom against Hindus. There, too, he is seen giving the same venomous speech, calling Hindus dogs and vowing that their (Islamists’) time will come.

He also talks about Ghazwa-e-Hind to loud cheers from the audience. Ghazwa-e-Hind is an Islamic notion of turning Bharat into an Islamic nation after wiping out Hindu Dharma.

These radical Islamist preachers continuously spew venom against Hindus because they know that the state apparatus wouldn’t act against them, and even if it did, then brainwashed Muslims would run amock, forcing the state into submission, a glimpse of which was seen at Ghatkopar on Sunday. Islamic radicals keep issuing Sar Tan Se Juda (STSJ) threats. It is high time the state action against Islamic preachers who are radicalising their community members.