Soni Satti
The Supreme Court will hear a petition filed by former Chairman of U.P Syed Wasim Rizvi seeking top remove 26 verses of the Holy book Quran, which he claims is being used by Islamist terrorist organisations as “justifications” for attacks on non-believers and civilians.
The plea alleges that certain verses in the Holy Quran contradict the law of the nation, encourage extremism and terrorism, and pose a direct threat to the country’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity and therefore the plea seeks an order declaring such verses unconstitutional, ineffective, and inoperative.
The Supreme Court’s divisional bench comprising Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, B.R. Gavai, and Hrishikesh Roy, will hear the petition, which also asks for guidelines to select a committee of experts/religious experts to have an opinion on the petition’s subject matter.
The petitioner contended that the message written in (a) to (e) of number 42(1) in the Quran makes it clear that Allah is sending a message to any human being not to fight among themselves, quarrel with one another, kill one another, or disagree with followers of other religions, as preached in the 109.1 Holy Quran, which mentions “LakumDeenakumWaliyaDeen” or “To you, your religion, to be mine.”
Contrary to this the same number of verses written in (a) to (z) of number 42(2), conflicts with the notes of verses written in number 1.
The plea asks, why are there such differences in Allah’s messages?
The petition claims,
“What is being taught in the madrasas all over the world, including India, is in furtherance of the disputed verses and suras in the name of the message of Allah and misreading and explaining the message of Allah that is against humanity, due to which terror and extremist thoughts were imbibed in Muslims all over the world including India.”
The plea further contended that the case involves the whole Muslim religion, which is mocked around the world because of the interpretations of the said verses, which have no foundation or nexus with the principles of the Holy Book.
Lastly, Syed Wasim Rizvi in his petition stated,
“it is the fundamental duty of all the citizens as per Article 51A part e to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women,”