Bangladesh holds rally against Quran petition in India

Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh's largest religious-political party, organized a rally in the capital Dhaka on Monday to condemn a petition filed in the Indian Supreme Court seeking the removal of 26 verses from the Muslim holy Quran.

Waseem Rizvi, former chairman of the Shia Central Board of Waqf (Trust) in Uttar Pradesh, India, as well as a Bollywood film producer, filed a petition two days ago claiming that parts of the Quran are "provocative of violence" and incite people to "jihad," which he interpreted as armed struggle.

Hundreds of Jamaat supporters came to the capital's business hub of the Motijheel area in small and large groups, and later rallied on the main road amid full-throat slogans against Rizvi.

The protesters also demanded that the Indian court immediately reject the petition and bring Rizvi to trial for hurting over a billion Muslims' religious sentiments around the world.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Jamaat leader Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said no Muslim would dare submit such a petition on the Quran as "Allah Himself has taken the guarantee to protect this book from any alteration."

It is the extreme audacity of Rizvi, the so-called Shia leader, who approached the court for the expulsion of 26 verses from the Quran, which remained unchanged for the last 1,500 years, Rahman added.

"Leave aside 26 verses, no one has the authority to alter even a single digit of the holy Quran," Rahman said.

He urged the Indian government to immediately arrest Rizvi and bring him to trial for hurting the religious sentiments of the world's Muslims.

According to Islamic scholars, the term "jihad" in Islam refers to struggles or strivings for some good cause, such as education, social change, or preaching Islam.

"Jihad is the name given to all-out attempts to accomplish some good aim. It never entails the killing of people or the use of terrorism. However, some anti-Islamic forces use the term as a synonym for terrorism as part of their Islamophobia propaganda," according to Rafiqul Islam, associate professor at the Arabic Department of Dhaka University.