Aligarh: AIMPLB spokesman Maulana Khalil-ur-Rahman Sajjad Nomani Friday said some media houses are carrying his photos instead of Tablighi Jamaat head Maulana Saad’s in their reportage on the Nizamuddin Markaz controversy and warned of legal action.
“Despite disclaimers, these media reports are carrying my photograph which compels me to conclude that this is being done to defame me, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board spokesperson said, asking media houses to not carry his pictures in their Markaz-related reports.
He urged the media to act with “restraint and responsibility while covering issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.
“If, despite my request, deliberately planting of my picture continues, I will have no option but to take legal recourse,” he added.
“At this stage, I do not wish to go into the details of this unfortunate sequence of events because there is no point in stoking any further controversy at a time when the entire country is battling against this huge calamity,” he said.
Nomani said he was among the first people “to categorically and unequivocally support the Prime Minister’s call for a nationwide lockdown (announced) on March 24”
Even before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a lockdown, I had taken the initiative of building up a consensus among all leading Islamic jurists and clerics on the urgent need of stopping all congregational prayers including Friday prayers,” he told PTI.
He said the need of the hour was for all sections of society, irrespective of class, colour or creed to join hands in this national endeavour to contain the pandemic.
We cannot allow any fringe elements from any section to spread discord or provoke religious sentiments at a time when the world is looking upto our country to confront this catastrophic situation,” he said.