Only recently, an FIR was filed against Muslim Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad and Muslim advocate and TV debate fixture Mahmood Paracha after in a press conference, the two of them announced that they would be setting up a camp in Lucknow to teach Muslims and Dalits about the ‘right to self-defence’ and how to apply for a firearm licence. On 26th July, Mahmood Paracha was seen holding that training camp inside a Lucknow Mosque where he was training Muslims about how to fill our licences and acquire firearms.

#Breaking | Muslim Advocate Mahmood Paracha conducted a training camp at a Lucknow mosque to provide assistance to Muslim men in filing up weapon license forms. More details by @scribe_prashant. pic.twitter.com/7SwZyZieKs — TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 27, 2019

Mahmood Paracha can be heard saying that Scheduled Castes, Schedules Tribes and Minorities are under threat in the Nation today and that they are not safe even in Uttar Pradesh. He says that the government of Uttar Pradesh is planning to bring in a new law considering the current laws and police. Paracha says that the administration is not enough (presumably in protecting Muslims).

He says that one cannot get a firearm and to get one, the provisions in the forms have to be met. Mahmood Paracha goes on to tell the Muslims in the Lucknow mosque that there are specified places from where one can learn how to use firearms.

On 22nd July, Mahmood Paracha and Shia cleric had held a press conference where they had proclaimed that they would be teaching Muslim men how to gather firearms.

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Mahmood Pracha cited the incidents of mob lynchings and the Sonbhadra massacre as reasons for conducting the camp. According to him, those events wouldn’t have occurred if the victims had legal firearms to defend themselves. They were basically planning to raise an armed militia to combat ‘mob lynchings’, using licenced weapons. They further accused the RSS of puppeteering mob lynching against the minority communities.

However, after a severe backlash, the Shia cleric had taken a U-Turn and said that the media had quoted him wrongly. He said that he had asked his lawyer Pracha to postpone the training camp. He added that there will not be any training on how to use the firearms in the camps.

After the provocative press conference held by the duo, and FIR was also promptly filed against the Shia cleric and Mahmood Paracha for inciting communal hatred.

However, despite the FIR against them and Maulana Kalbe Jawad’s u-turn, it seems the training camps are going forward as planned. It is reported that Mahmood Paracha is set to hold 12 other such camps across the country.