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Rajasthan Minorities Minister lambasted by Muslim leaders
Rajasthan Minister of State for Minorities Affairs Amin Khan has come under criticism from Muslim leaders for his take on abandoned masjids. Speaking at a divisional level official meeting about minorities’ affairs and Waqf properties at Ajmer on Thursday, Khan had said that a masjid could not be considered a masjid if regular namaz was not being held in it.
His remark almost instantly raised eyebrows among the leaders present there. Leading the attack, Maulana Hafizur Rahman Rizvi, Immam of Jama Masjid at Bhilwara, said that the Minister’s remarks were uncharitable and were against the tenets of Islam.” Once built a masjid, it would always remain a masjid whether namaz is held or not in the building”, he said.
This was a signal for other Muslim leaders present in the meeting to target the Minister for hurting the community’s sensitivities. Sensing the atmosphere turning bitter, Amin Khan left the meeting in a huff.
On Friday, several other Muslim leaders, including Salim Engineer, national secretary of Muslim Jamaate-e-Hind, said that the Minister should have refrained from making such an un-Islamic uttering.
Khan, however, remarked that he was read out of context. He told The Pioneer that he was emphasising on the need to take care of the masjids which had been abandoned.
In 2010, Khan was sacked from the Ministry by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for making unsavoury remarks about President Pratibha Patil. Though Khan apologised for his remarks, he was kept out of the Ministry for about a year before being inducted again in December.
Khan had landed himself in another controversy when he he boarded the Thar express to Pakistan from a stop that was arranged specially for him. As normal practice, people who go to Pakistan by the weekly express train have to board it from Jodhpur. But on the recommendations of the Rajasthan Government, the Union Home and External Affairs Ministries relaxed this condition for Khan, who was allowed to board the train from Munabao in Barmer, from where it crosses the boarder to reach Khokhrapar.
Rajasthan Minister of State for Minorities Affairs Amin Khan has come under criticism from Muslim leaders for his take on abandoned masjids. Speaking at a divisional level official meeting about minorities’ affairs and Waqf properties at Ajmer on Thursday, Khan had said that a masjid could not be considered a masjid if regular namaz was not being held in it.
His remark almost instantly raised eyebrows among the leaders present there. Leading the attack, Maulana Hafizur Rahman Rizvi, Immam of Jama Masjid at Bhilwara, said that the Minister’s remarks were uncharitable and were against the tenets of Islam.” Once built a masjid, it would always remain a masjid whether namaz is held or not in the building”, he said.
This was a signal for other Muslim leaders present in the meeting to target the Minister for hurting the community’s sensitivities. Sensing the atmosphere turning bitter, Amin Khan left the meeting in a huff.
On Friday, several other Muslim leaders, including Salim Engineer, national secretary of Muslim Jamaate-e-Hind, said that the Minister should have refrained from making such an un-Islamic uttering.
Khan, however, remarked that he was read out of context. He told The Pioneer that he was emphasising on the need to take care of the masjids which had been abandoned.
In 2010, Khan was sacked from the Ministry by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for making unsavoury remarks about President Pratibha Patil. Though Khan apologised for his remarks, he was kept out of the Ministry for about a year before being inducted again in December.
Khan had landed himself in another controversy when he he boarded the Thar express to Pakistan from a stop that was arranged specially for him. As normal practice, people who go to Pakistan by the weekly express train have to board it from Jodhpur. But on the recommendations of the Rajasthan Government, the Union Home and External Affairs Ministries relaxed this condition for Khan, who was allowed to board the train from Munabao in Barmer, from where it crosses the boarder to reach Khokhrapar.
