Fatwa against Kerala youth for mocking Muslim League leader during elections

A fatwa was issued against CPI (M) party worker Labeeb Anapara, a native of Wayanad, by the Khidmathul Islam Sangam for allegedly insulting the community. Labeeb had posted a morphed picture of Muslim League leader Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal with BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharan on his Facebook account. 

 

After the counting of votes for the Kerala Assembly on May 19, Labeeb, a member of the CPI(M), had posted a picture mocking and alleging that there was a secret understanding between the Muslim league and BJP during the polls. The post portrayed Shihab Thangal as a bride and Kummanam Rajasekharan as the groom.

 

However, the post did not go down well with the Mahalla committee. A fatwa was issues against Labeeb and his family and mentioned that community leaders would refrain from attending any function that involves Labeeb or his family.

Labeeb, however, told The News Minute that he had no intention of insulting the community and the post was only meant as criticism to politicians.

 

“I just uploaded a post that was already doing the rounds on WhatsApp and Facebook during the election time. It is not the first time that I have spoken against the Muslim League. I have been openly criticising them. However, I mean no insult to my community,” said Labeeb.

 

Further, he said that it is not right to take political revenge by misusing religion. “People across the state have been putting up trolls and memes against every political party and political leaders in the state. Why is it that only I have been issued a Fatwa?” he asked.

 

Labeeb, who got married on Sunday, told that the community leaders did not attend any of the functions and that they tried to prevent other people from attending it. The community had also asked Labeeb to apologize for his post but he refused to do so.

 

He also claims that he has been getting threat calls since Monday evening from the Gulf for insulting the community.