A senior IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh (UP), Mohammad Iftikharuddin, was accused of spreading 'anti-Hindu propaganda' after videos of him allegedly preaching about 'religious conversion' at his official residence in Kanpur, were shared online.
The UP government consequently ordered an inquiry by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by state police, to look into the matter, and asked it to submit a report within seven days.
Iftikharuddin is presently posted as the state's Road Transport Corporation chief in Lucknow.
The video was reposted by verified user account of Neeraj Jain, who is the deputy mayor of the municipal corporation in Rajasthan's Ajmer and reportedly a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker.
Speaking on the matter, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya said that the matter will be taken seriously. He stated, "This is a serious matter. We will go to the bottom of it and get the matter investigated seriously. If anything related to the IAS officer comes to the fore, then we will definitely take action."
UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said the issue was very serious, reported The Print.
“This is unacceptable in the Yogi Adityanath government. Strict action will be taken if this video turns out to be true,” he said.
The Police Commissionerate Kanpur Nagar took to social media and said, "The investigation of the viral videos of IAS officer Mohd Iftikharuddin taken at Kanpur commissioner's residence has been entrusted to ADCP East, Police Commissionerate Kanpur Nagar. It is being investigated whether the videos are authentic and if there is any crime in it."
More About the Viral Video
The 106-second visual reportedly shows Iftikharuddin seated on a chair, while 10-15 other people sit on the ground in a room. The IAS officer can be reportedly seen quoting the Quran and speaking about the teachings of Prophet Muhammad.
Iftekharuddin said, "Recently, a brother from Punjab converted to Islam. But I didn't give him Dawat. However, we go and work around. When he accepted Islam, I asked him what made him convert to Islam. He replied telling me about his sister’s death. When I asked him about her death, he started saying that when they were burning her, her clothes were burnt. He added that she became naked and everyone was watching. He added that he felt very ashamed and left from there. Then he realized that today people are watching his sister. He said, I also have a daughter, people will see her too. She will also burn like this. Then he understood that there is no better religion than Islam, he should accept it."
Iftekharuddin further talked about the various ways people are accepting Islam and the things that lead them to it.
He added that Allah has given them such a centre, or so to speak an Islamic state, because of which they can work anywhere in the world.
Further, Iftekharuddin is reportedly heard translating a Quranic verse into Hindi and saying, "O Muhammad, declare, tell the people of the whole world that I am the prophet of Allah. For all of you I am Allah. I am the Messenger of Allah. Muhammad Sahab is the last prophet (Prophet) of Allah. After him no Rasool (Prophet) will come. So who will talk about Dawat (Spreading Islam)? We have to follow the way of Muhammad. Carry out their mission... Those who are sitting here should do these things, otherwise Allah will surely catch them."
Mohammad Iftikharuddin was the divisional commissioner of Kanpur from 17 February 2014 to 22 April 2017. As per reports, the videos related to him that are going viral, are from the time when he was the divisional commissioner of Kanpur.
(With inputs from NDTV and The Print.)
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