Meerut: On a day when there was all round condemnation of the armed attack on the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which left 12 staff members dead, in India, Haji Yakoob Qureshi a leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh and a former state minister defied all odds, praising the attack as the right approach to avenge disrespect for Prophet Mohammed (pbuh).
Qureshi went several steps forward to offer a monetary reward of 51 cores to the Charlie Hebdo attackers. He had first hit the headlines, when in 2006, at a public rally in Meerut, Qureshi declared a reward of the same amount for anyone who would kill the Danish cartoonist who had created a controversial cartoon of Prophet Mohammed. Charlie Hebdo had reprinted cartoons of the Prophet that had originally appeared in Danish daily Jyllands-Posten.
Reacting to views expressed by Islamic clerics that the religion had no place for violence, BSP leader Haji Yakoob Qureshi told Hindustan Times on Thursday, 8 Jan, Rasul ke ashiq unhe saja de dete hai (followers of Prophet punish them). The Meerut-based leader said the Prophet spread the message of peace and love, but Those who dare insult Prophet Mohammed deserve death and there is no need to initiate legal procedure against them.
Late on Wednesday, he had maintained the same line with journalists who sought his reaction to the attack on the magazine.
Qureshi said, he was ready to pay the reward money of Rs. 51 crore to the attackers involved in the armed assault on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, which is the same amount he had offered in 2006, for anyone who would kill the Danish cartoonist who created a controversial cartoon of Prophet Mohammed. I am ready to pay the money if they come and demand the declared reward, he said.
HT reports that Qureshis statement is likely to come under police glare. Uttar Pradesh additional director general (law and order) of police Mukul Goel said, We can initiate action against him only after examining his statement under the purview of law.
Four of France’s most famous cartoonists were among the dozen people murdered Wednesday when gunmen attacked the Paris offices Charlie Hebdo.
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