NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal was on Tuesday embroiled in a controversy over his meeting with a controversial Muslim cleric who faced allegations of incitement of communal violence and who set off a huge furore by announcing bounties on the heads of exiled Bengali author Taslima Nasrin and former US president George Bush.

Nasrin lashed out at Kejriwal and the Indian political class following reports the AAP chief sought the support of Barelvi cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan who issued a fatwa to behead her for criticizing orthodox practices of Islam. “A politician goes to a fundamentalist who declared a price on my head knowing it is illegal and against the Indian Constitution,” the author said in an exclusive conversation with TOI.

“I am surprised politicians go to such fanatics and fundamentalists for support. If they need the support of Muslims, why don’t they go to ordinary Muslims? Instead, politicians go to Muslim fanatics responsible for the community’s backwardness,” Nasrin said.

“Since the days after independence, Indian politicians have been seeking help of clerics who don’t respect human rights, are against freedom of expression and the Indian Constitution. This has encouraged the irrational, misogynist fanatics who are against modernity and plurality of thoughts,” she said.

BJP also hit out at the AAP boss for reaching out to Khan who floated Ittehad-e-Millat Council to contest the 2010 assembly elections in UP. “AAP is getting desperate and is rushing to all sorts of people,” party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said. Khan’s outfit won the Bhojpura seat in Bareilly.

The cleric, great grandson of Syed Ahmad Raza Khan, founder of the Barelvi sect, was arrested in 2010 following communal clashes in Bareilly.

He had come under fire in 2007 when he announced a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on Nasrin’s head for her views on Islam. He had also announced Rs 1 crore bounty for killing former US president George W Bush.

'Ran into Maulana'

Faced with the criticism, Kejriwal said he happened to meet Khan when he went to offer a chadar at the Bareilly dargah, adding that he has been visiting leaders and places of worship of all faiths as part of his struggle to eradicate corruption.

Denying that he was playing the “communal card”, Kejriwal said in a statement that he wanted to establish harmony among all communities, and added that the controversy was engineered to distract attention from failures of Congress and BJP.

He denied that he was seeking a partnership with Khan’s outfit, a contention which was supported by a statement issued simultaneously by the Barelvi cleric.

Kejriwal claimed that he was not aware of the allegations against Khan. Significantly, however, he also cited in detail the cleric’s claim that he never issued any fatwa. “Only a mufti can issue a fatwa and I am not one,” Kejriwal quoted Khan as saying.

Nasrin stressed such clerics did not represent the ordinary Muslim. “These clerics are not bothered about education, enlightenment or jobs for the Muslim community. They champion madrasa education and prevent society from moving forward. They encourage building a mosque instead of a school for secular education. Such clerics are guided by blind faith,” she said, adding, “These fanatics are responsible for keeping the Muslim community in the dark ages and reaping benefits at their expense.”

She urged the Indian people to resist the unholy nexus between politicians and religious fundamentalists. “It’s high time the people of India spoke up against fundamentalists who vitiate the society and push communities backward and politicians who encourage them. Else, it is bad news for democracy,” said Nasrin.