Will not give up 'lal batti', says Kolkata Imam who had issued fatwa against PM Modi

Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque, Maulana Nurur Rehman Barkati.

New Delhi: An Islamic cleric in Kolkata, who had once issued a fatwa against PM Narendra Modi, has now said that he would continue to use the red-beacon on his vehicle as permission for it was given by the erstwhile “British Government.” Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque, Maulana Nurur Rehman Barkati, on Tuesday,  he would continue to use the red beacon despite the instructions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not use it. “I will remove red beacon once everyone does the same. I will continue to use as I have got permission from the British Government,” Barkati said. When asked why he is following the British laws, Imam Barkati said, “The Indian Government first needs to make its own law, they have not formulated any laws.” Imam added, "I challenge the RSS to stop being eunuchs and be brave enough to fight like men." He also asserted that Bilkis Bano did not get justice but 'Nirbhaya' got. "Bilkis did not get justice because she was a Muslim." Imam Barkati is infamous for issuing a fatwa against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision to demonetise old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes. He had offered a reward of ₹25 lakh to anyone who will “cut off Modi’s beard, shave his head and smear him with black ink”. The controversial cleric is considered to be close to the ruling Trinamool Congress. He had also then said that most people who kept a beard were religious scholars, “but Narendra Modi keeping a beard is only an act of falsehood”. Reacting to the cleric's defiance,  Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo on Wednesday asserted that Barkati proved that the Bengal was the land of “lawlessness.” “This ‘gentleman’ Barkati has been saying such kind of things for a very long time. He has been making inflammatory statements. We have reasons to believe this couldn’t and cannot happen without approval and appeasement from the highest level, which he himself named the Chief Minister of Bengal. Not only is it illegal, but also showcases the dangerous appeasement politics of Mamata Banerjee, that she’s carrying out in Bengal in order to win over the votes and to remain in power,” Supriyo told newsagency ANI. "This is actually dividing the society and it is a ploy of hers to showcase the BJP as the hard right Hindutva party. It is Mamata Banerjee, who is making Bengal a very unsafe place. The fight for the BJP is to establish the essence of our Constitution, and the fact that we are the secular country. Minority and majority terms exist on the papers, but when it comes to development, there cannot be any such divisions,” he added.