Political parties slam purported statement by Furfura Sharif cleric on Bangladesh Koran desecration

Political parties on Monday slammed Furfura Sharif cleric and Indian Secular Front founder Pirzada Abbas Siddique for a purported video shot earlier where he is heard telling a crowd that if anyone places a Koran at a Durga Puja pandal marquee he should be beheaded.

Political parties on Monday slammed Furfura Sharif cleric and Indian Secular Front founder Pirzada Abbas Siddique for a purported video shot earlier where he is heard telling a crowd that if anyone places a Koran at a Durga Puja `pandal' (marquee) he should be beheaded. PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video where Siddique is apparently heard making the statement.

Siddique's alleged comment was condemned by the Congress as well as CPI(M) as both parties distanced themselves from the cleric-turned-politician with whom the Left front had a formal alliance in the last assembly election. The TMC and BJP had earlier come out against Siddique's alleged call for beheading. WBPCC President Adhir Chowdhury termed the ISF leader's statement as deplorable and said ''Congress had never indulged in communal politics. For us protecting the harmony of the state and country is more important than vote-bank politics.'' While, Left front leader Sujan Chakraborty, which entered into a formal alliance with Siddique's party, said ''only he can explain why he made such an irresponsible statement. We condemn his utterances about beheading.'' After the video went viral and criticism poured in from different quarters, Siddique had issued a statement on Sunday where he said true Muslims and Hindus will never think of maligning and desecrating other religions and those behind the alleged incident of placing a Koran at a Durga Puja marquee in Bangladesh or those involved in acts of vandalism at Hindu temples should be traced and punished strictly.

Earlier TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh urged CPIM and Congress leaders ''to unequivocally condemn their alliance partner Siddique who has threatened to sever the head.....please say you disapprove such statements,'' Ghosh said.

BJP leader Rahul Sinha added ''the threat of Abbas Siddique is menacing and communal. It is the fallout of appeasement of such hardline elements by other non-BJP parties.'' Abbas' brother and ISF's lone MLA Naushad Siddique also sent a letter to Bangladesh premier Seikh Hasina Sunday urging her to ensure safety of Hindus in her country and conduct a detailed investigation into the entire chain of events and punish those behind the Koran desecration and temple vandalisation incidents.

Asked about the Abbas's video, his brother claimed ''the entire speech was not retained in the video and the comments were twisted out of context.'' Bangla Pokksho, a group promoting Bengali sub-nationalism, filed an official complaint against Siddique at Dumdum police station on Monday alleging his purported comments would disrupt communal harmony and amity in Bengal. The complaint also referred to some purported comments against a particular community by a BJP youth leader.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)