Wafaqul Madaris al-Arabia President Mufti Taqi Usmani has condemned the arrest of Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui by Indian authorities.
Mufti Taqi, the recently elected unopposed president of the powerful board of religious seminaries, tweeted that Maulana Kaleem is a widely respected and non-political personality.
“His arrest is a vindictive demonstration of Muslim enmity by the Indian government,” the tweet said.
Indian police arrested Siddiqui in September for his alleged connection to the forced conversion of Hindus to Islam. According to the media, Uttar Pradesh Police claimed that Maulana Siddique had received funding from Pakistan.
Muslim scholars and organizations from all over the world have condemned the arrest, declaring it a conspiracy of the Indian government to create a divide among the population ahead of state elections in India’s most populated state of UP.
Many say that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), took the step to damage the Muslim-Jat alliance in the state. There are widespread protest demonstrations in UP against the arrest of the scholar.
Hailing from Phulat in Muzaffarnagar India, Siddiqui, 64, had cleared the pre-medical test as a student, securing 57th rank to enter the medical field. However, he developed an interest in Islamic studies and graduated from Darul Uloom, Nadwatul Ulama, an Islamic seminary in Lucknow, reported Indian media.
According to Siddiqui’s website, he has established and runs a trust that is engaged in charity and Da’wah (act of explaining the teachings of Islam) work. He also runs a World Peace Organization that works for communal peace and harmony in addition to running madrassahs in many states and publishing Islamic literature.
Indian police arrest him a week ago from Meerut, India. Regarding the development, Mufti Taqi also said, “Mualana Siddiqui’s only crime was that many non-Muslims embraced Islam at his hand.”
