‘Booked for Sedition As I Took on Hindutva’: Minorities Panel Head

An FIR was filed against Zafarul Islam Khan on 30 April for a post on Twitter where he had thanked the Kuwaiti government for taking note of the attacks on Indian Muslims.

(Photo: Erum Gour/The Quint)

Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia

“I must tell you that a lot of people did not like my work because we were taking note of Hindutva politics, of what happened in the north east district, of trishool yatras, of attack on madrasas or mosques. They did not like that. I may also add here, that the real purpose of all this propaganda against me was to deny me a second term and I must tell you also that they have succeeded in this.”

Delhi Minorities Commission Chairman Dr Zafarul Islam Khan was booked by Delhi police for sedition on 30 April, for a post on Twitter, where he thanked the Kuwaiti government for taking note of prosecution of Muslims in India. On 6 May the police landed up at his home in Delhi but left after a while.

In this interview with The Quint he tells us how he has sent a notice to Times Now for distorting his tweet, why this ‘propaganda against him was to ensure he does not get a second term’ and how while he accepts his tweet was ill-timed, he continues to stand by it.

After your initial tweet, for which you’ve been booked for sedition, you put out a series of tweets defending it, clarifying it, apologising for it and then saying you do not take your words back. So for the sake of clarity, I want to understand what is your stance currently on that Tweet and what was this Tweet about?

See the Tweet was about the Kuwaiti government’s decision to take note of the persecution of Muslims in India. They sent a letter to their foreign minister, to take note of this decision and to talk to the world community about the issue. I thought I should thank them for taking note of what is going on here and then I said that what is the reason for them taking note... that Indian Muslims enjoy a lot of goodwill in the Arab world. The last paragraph of my statement was that if Indian Muslims choose to complain to the Arab world or Muslim world there will be an avalanche for Hindutva, that is the word I used, for Hindutva bigots. Not for Indians, not for Hindus. But within hours some channel picked it up and said that Zafarul Islam Khan is inviting foreign intervention in India. He is saying that if Indian Muslims ever complained there would be an avalanche for Indian bigots. I never said that.

The last line of your post reads, ‘The day they are pushed to do that, bigots will face an avalanche’. Why you would say something like this?

You see, you can say that it was an indiscretion. I accept that. I should not have said that and I realised two days later. In another tweet I said it was insensitive and ill-timed. I did not take back my tweet and nor did I delete it. But the media started off again by saying Zafarul Islam Khan has apologised for his tweet. I did not apologise for my tweet, but for the timing. The country is undergoing an emergency, a lockdown, and I should not have said this because all the efforts are towards containing this new kind of plague that is threatening us. So I should not have said that.

Right, sir. Now this is a slightly different question. Do you think there is a difference in the opinion of Dr Zafarul Islam Khan as the Delhi Minorities Commission chairman and the person that you are, the personal views that you hold. And do you think you are able to keep these two views and these two opinions very separate? Or are you not?

You see, you can not separate a person from his history. It is not possible. But I have been very conscious. Every time we took any big decision we always went back to the Act. On my first day, when we held a meeting with the two members, I said that we enter here and we leave our religion at the gate. I am not a Muslim here, you are not a Christian here and you are not a Sikh here. That is what I said in the very first meeting. But I must tell you that a lot of people did not like my work because we were taking note of Hindutva politics, hate politics, of what happened in the north east district, of the trishool yatras, of attack on madrasas or mosques and these kinds of provocative things. They did not like that. I know. I may also add here, that the real purpose of all this propaganda against me was to deny me a second term and I must tell you also that they have succeeded in this.

You had also tweeted that appropriate legal notices have been sent to news channels that distorted your statement, who are the channels you have sent this to?

I have not sent it to all. Right now I have only sent it to Times Now, which has started it all. They championed the process and distorted it as well. They changed things. They said that I am inviting Arab countries to intervene in India. They changed Hindutva bigots to Indian bigots. So many things, there is a long list. I will take this channel to court.

Right sir, you have been booked for sedition. No police can book a citizen for sedition till the state government does not give them the permission to go ahead, for example in the JNU case also where permission was held for very very long, till after the Delhi elections.

I have no knowledge that they have given any permission. Here there are some more complications. According to the Minorities Commissions Act, I am a public servant. To prosecute a public servant you need specific permission from the state government. The Act also says that the commission chairman and members also have indemnity, they can not be sued, that legal and criminal action can not be taken against them for any act which is in good faith. In any case I would like to tell you also, that the top most legal luminaries in the country have contacted me and have said that there is no case here and it will fall flat in any court.

You said this interesting thing about the Delhi government, about how they have to explicitly give permission considering that under the DMC 1999 Act you have certain protections. Have you been able to get any clarity from any Delhi government personnel regarding these, or not yet?

No no no. It is beyond my dignity to go and ask these questions. I will never do that. It is for them to take any action and I will not interfere. I will not use any intermediaries or anything like that. I do not do these things.

Do you think you may be removed before your term ends?

It is up to them. I am not going to lobby or ask anybody. If they want to remove me, no problem. I will sit at my home. I have a lot of work to do which is actually suffering due to these three years. My own work has suffered a lot. I am also an author. Something like forty books are in various stages, I would have completed. If they want to remove me they are welcome, but I am not going to resign.