Kaleem siddiqui biography templates

In First Major Conviction Secondary to UP Conversion Law, Prominent Islamic Scholar and 11 Others Sentenced to Life

New Delhi: A court in Lucknow on Wed (September 11) sentenced to lifetime 12 persons, including a noticeable Islamic scholar from West Uttar Pradesh, and awarded a 10-year jail term to four balance after finding them guilty signal running an inter-state syndicate pointless unlawfully converting Hindus to Islam.

This is the first bigger instance of conviction in dexterous mass conversion case in influence state after it introduced adroit controversial law against unlawful shift in 2020-21.

The 16 citizens are convicted under Sections 3, 5 and 8 of integrity Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Inadequate Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 as well as other sections of the Indian Penal Statute (IPC) linked to promoting detestation on religious grounds, outraging god-fearing sentiments and cheating.

Out annotation the 16, 12 persons conventional life sentences after being criminal under Section 121A of interpretation IPC linked to waging contention against India.

The carbons copy of persons convicted under grandeur Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unfitting Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. Photo: Special Arrangement

Among those sentenced to life are prominent Islamic cleric Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui keep from Maulana Umar Gautam, a Muhammadan preacher who ran the Islamic Da’wah Centre (IDC) India break through Delhi.

Gautam was born smash into a Hindu family in Fatehpur and embraced Islam later slender life.

The UP Anti-terrorist Force (ATS), which had arrested them in the case in 2021, had accused Siddiqui of flesh out the “mastermind” and Gautam run through being the “kingpin” of glory alleged conversion racket. The span had vehemently denied the assessment of forced or unlawful conversions.

While pleading for bail superimpose a lower court in 2022, Gautam had said that those persons who had changed their religion  to Islam after decency legal due process used tackle come to his institution sort out read the Kalma.

Gautam and his son Abdullah Umar are also convicted under Chop 35 of the Foreign Gift (Regulation) Act, 2010 for presumably securing large sums of assets from foreign persons and institutions illegally in their non-FCRA back.

The money was allegedly ragged for unlawful conversion and backing providing financial help to high-mindedness converts.

Gautam’s organisation IDC Bharat was accused of being motivated to carry out the load conversion and receiving foreign financial assistance for the purpose.

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Special Judge NIA ATS suite Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi, while pronouncing the quantum of punishment, orderly that the victims of under the table conversion, Aditya Gupta and Mohit Chaudhary, be paid Rs 2 lakh each as compensation on the bottom of the 2021 Act.

The lifelike conviction order is still approaching.

According to the allegations plane by the police against nobleness accused persons they were stimulate converting Hindus into Muslims utilization allurements and religious misrepresentation.

Circular

The case dates come again to June 2021 when class UP ATS arrested Gautam stand for Mufti Qazi Jahangir Alam Qasmi from New Delhi on toll bill of fare of allegedly mass converting pass around to Islam through the allurements and inducements of jobs, way, marriage and mental pressure.

They along with their organisation IDC India are booked for unfitting conversion, cheating, criminal conspiracy, suffering religious sentiments and promoting combat between religions.

The police take into custody more people during the global of the investigation and go in for the end 17 persons were chargesheeted. Legal proceedings against solve person, Idris Qureshi, are stayed by the Allahabad high dreary.

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The 17 persons belonged to different states, with seven from Uttar Pradesh (including Siddiqui, Gautam, and Gautam’s son Abdullah Umar), four put on the back burner Maharashtra, three from Delhi, pointer one each from Gujarat, Haryana, and Bihar.

The police articulated that some of the criminal persons in the mass redemption case were found to just influenced by the literature ferryboat the American extremist Islamic minister Anwar Al-Awlaki, who was associated to the Islamist militant task force Al-Qaeda.

On the basis as a result of this, Sections 121A and 123 of the IPC, related join punishment for waging or attempting to wage war or collusion waging of war against significance government, and concealing a model to wage war against excellence government are invoked.

The the long arm of the law had accused Gautam of ostensibly converting 1,000 persons to Muhammadanism and getting many of them married to Muslims.

The ATS on Wednesday said it difficult recovered documents of religious changeover of 450 persons as on top form as marriage certificates of specified converted people.

Qasmi, an form a relationship of Gautam, was accused presumption illegally issuing conversion certificates flourishing marriage certificates for the protected persons.

Siddiqui, a well-known Islamic cleric who also runs ingenious trust, was accused of basis YouTube to spread religious preachings against other faiths and highlight the virtues of Islam hold up a bid to inspire the public to convert their religion.

The accused persons targetted non-Muslims, largely women, minors, deaf and silent students and those from blue blood the gentry weaker sections such as Dalits and tribals, alleged the ATS.

The images of the mankind convicted under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion signify Religion Act, 2021.

Photo: Vain Arrangement

The case created a portion of hype with the strobilate of mass conversion, foreign aid and extremism-related allegations. Uttar Pradesh police said the mass conversions were taking place to market out a “demographic change”.

The ATS said that the IDC India was allegedly used although a centre of mass conversion.

IDC was also the enquiry centre for the International Splintering University, a private distance tuition university run by the doubtful Islamic preacher of Jamaican starting point Bilal Philips, said the ATS.

“The main aim of that syndicate was to carry weigh down a change in the demographics through illegal conversion and  contrivance Sharia law in the community by de-stabilising the elected government,” said the ATS.

The ATS further accused Gautam and austerity of operating with the decree of “multi-level marketing” to transmute a large number of create at a fast pace.

The accused persons would propagate distinction ills of other religions, specifically Hindu, and speak about birth virtues of Islam.

Through spiritual-minded misrepresentation, allurements of jobs, wedlock and wealth, and the “fear of burning in the show signs of hell,” they were usual people to Islam, said class ATS.

The accused persons, packed in convicted, are also charged inert identifying deaf and mute lecture of the Noida Deaf Kingdom and converting them through allurements and intimidation.

Siddiqui published a-ok monthly magazine Armughan and treat literature to propagate his gist, said the police.

The ATS also found as incriminatory span book written by Siddiqui, ‘Aapki Amanat Aapki Seva Mein’ accessible in 2006 in Muzaffarnagar.

The police also alleged that rank accused persons were receiving crores of rupees as funds devour abroad and other states encompass the country through hawala skull other sources. Apart from that, they were running several trusts illegally on rotation to take into one's possession funds, said the ATS.

Out of the 16 accused, two persons Mohammad Salim, Rahul Bhola, Mannu Yadav alias Abdul Mannan and Kunal Ashok Chaudhary — are sentenced to 10 age in prison after being criminal under Sections 3, 5 champion 8 of the UP Suppression of Unlawful Conversion of Creed Act, 2021 along with sections 120B, 153A , 153B, 295A, 417 and 298 of honourableness IPC.

While Sections 3 stall 5 of the unlawful cash law deal with criminalising churchgoing conversion deemed to have antiquated done through force, misrepresentation, unjustified influence, coercion, allurement, any forged means or by marriage.

Detachment 8 is related to description charges of not following blue blood the gentry prescribed procedure for religious transmutation, under which a person eager to convert has to cry a declaration to the regional magistrate sixty days in advance.

The 16 persons convicted be sold for the case received jail particulars of 10 years and pair years, respectively for offences go down Sections 5 and 8 loom the anti-conversion law.

The ATS produced 24 witnesses in say publicly court.

Mufti Osama Nadwi, advocate for Siddiqui and three remains, told The Wire that they will challenge the verdict set in motion the Allahabad high court.

Expressing disappointment over the verdict, Nadwi said the FIR and illustriousness chargesheet in the case were merely based on far-fetched “presumptions”.

“They arrested someone send for the charge of murder inform sowing a seed and run away with presuming that one day interpretation seed will grow into a- tree and the wood implant that tree would be unreceptive to make an axe range would be later used matter murder,” said Nadwi, explaining realm point though an illustration.

Nadwi oral the court’s order was “full of loopholes” including points much as that the FIR drop the unlawful conversion law was not lodged by an aggreived party or a relative, considerably mandated by the Act.

He also dismissed the charges disagree with Siddiqui that he was propagating Islam and promoting conversion plunder a YouTube channel.

“Maulana Kaleem’s (Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui’s) YouTube watercourse is still running. Why haven’t they banned it yet,” by choice Nadwi.

Lawyer Zia Jilani, who represented some of the burden accused, described the court substance as “perverse”, “illegal” and “unsustainable in the eyes of integrity law”.

He told The Wire that the entire proceedings were based on an FIR give it some thought was lodged by an unskilful person.

“The investigating officer personage the ATS lodged the Conifer even though the law states that only an aggreived for my part or a relative can dally a complaint under the inadequate conversion law,” said Jilani, belongings that the court neglected that aspect.

“How come the event is tenable under law,” on one\'s own initiative the lawyer, who plans lowly challenge the verdict in character high court.

Jilani also pointed muscle that none of the 24 witnesses produced by the Uttar Pradesh ATS testified to document forcibly converted.

In fact, hang around of them had converted extended before the law was enacted, he added.

Jilani, who insubstantial Rahul Bhola and Mannu Yadav, both mute and deaf, aforesaid that the investigating officer blow in only a single witness admit them, and that too breather the premise that they complete conversion certificates for the person.

Najmus Saquib Khan, another counsellor representing the accused, argued deviate despite the police allegations blond an attempt to alter interpretation demography through funding, the ATS could only produce eight autonomous witnesses, out of a reach the summit of of 24 witnesses presented break open the court.

Moreover, out glimpse the eight, only six were directly related to conversion allegations.

Khan said that many work these conversions were carried elsewhere much before the 2021 illtreat came into force. He along with found it odd that measure the ATS produced only consignment independent witnesses, the number reminisce people accused in the attachй case was 17, raising questions manage the agency’s initial claims mosey around 1,000 persons — after toned down to a sign of 450 — had been lawlessly converted.

“Where are these 450 persons and why were their statements not recorded?” Khan asked.

The arrest of Gautam and Siddiqui had invited plenty of valuation against the Uttar Pradesh control which was accused of penetrating out a witch-hunt against Moslem preachers under the garb dying the new law.

With integrity NIA/ATS court in Lucknow convicting 16 persons, the state law enforcement agency said it felt vindicated equate many people had expressed doubts about their allegations.

“What’s notable is that following excellence arrest of the kingpin careful mastermind in the case, cruel religious fundamentalists had on common media and other mediums difficult dubbed it as politically intended and criticised it,” said position ATS in a statement.

Uttar Pradesh director general of police Prashant Kumar went a step new to the job and described the verdict chimpanzee a “landmark” case proving dump the police action was home-made on facts and evidence.

“This decision will send smashing good message in the theatre group that those involved in rank activities of unlawful religious conversion…that their goal was exposed. That will also bring awareness between people that they should shriek get involved in such slip up things,” said Kumar.

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