Suspension of GO on funds for Tablighi Jamaat sought

Mohammed Afsar Pasha, a resident of Bheemnagar in Jogulamba Gadwal district, filed a writ petition seeking the suspension of GO 123, issued by the secretary of the Minority Welfare department in Hyderabad on December 13, 2023, sanctioning an amount of Rs 2,45,93,847 to M/s Tablighi Jamaat, for holding an Islamic religious congregation at Zemath Nagar in Parigi mandal of Vikarabad district on January 6, 7, and 8, 2024.

The writ petition is scheduled to come up for hearing before a single judge on Tuesday. The chief secretary had directed the CEO of the Telangana Waqf Board to release the amount to the Vikarabad District Collector for executing civil works to facilitate infrastructure and other arrangements for the congregation.

The petitioner contended that Tablighi Jamaat had organised a similar event Ijtema (Islamic congregation) in January 2020 in Nirmal town, which resulted in communal violence and law & order issues in Bhainsa. Furthermore, the petitioner cited international concerns, noting that in 2009, the Supreme Court of Russia labelled Tablighi Jamaat as an “extremist organisation,” leading to its ban as a threat to national and confessional stability, and territorial integrity.

The governments of Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan have also banned this organisation. In 2020, the Enforcement Directorate registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, against Maulana Saad and others in Delhi. The respondents in the writ petition include the secretary of the Minority Welfare department, chief secretary, Vikarabad Collector, CEO of the State Waqf Board, and M/s Tablighi Jamaat, including its leaders Maulana Saad and Banglawali Masjid, New Delhi..