Swara Bhaskar and her NCP candidate husband meet Maulana Sajjad Nomani: An Islamic zealot who thinks girls going to school turn them ‘kafirs’, supports Taliban, and more

Swara Bhaskar is known for mouthing platitudes about 'feminism' and women's empowerment. Yet she chose to meet a radical Maulvi, who is opposed to sending girls to schools and colleges.

Ahead of the Maharashtra elections, actress and ‘feminist’ Swara Bhaskar met radical Islamic cleric Sajjad Nomani along with her husband Fahad Ahmed.

Nomani had been calling upon the Muslim community to vote en masse for the NCP-Congress-Sena alliance (Maha Vikas Aghadi). The NCP has fielded Fahad Ahmed as a candidate from the Anushakti Nagar Vidhan Sabha constituency.

Swara Bhaskar thus caught up with Sajjad Nomani in the hopes that he would appeal to his fellow radical supporters to vote for her husband Fahad Ahmed.

Swara Bhaskar is known for mouthing platitudes about ‘feminism’ and women’s empowerment. Yet she chose to meet a radical Maulvi, who is opposed to sending girls to schools and colleges.

Sajjad Nomani on education for girls

In one of his videos, the member of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board announced that sending girls to schools and colleges alone is forbidden (Haram) in Islam.

Sajjad Nomani also declared that those parents who send their daughters to educational institutes alone will be condemned to Hell (Jahannum). He added that Muslim girls should not be left unaccompanied, even if they wear a hijab.

He said that it does not matter even if the daughter is wearing a hijab and going to college, she is not to be left unaccompanied.

While encouraging a new form of vigilantism, the cleric said, “If you are a father, a Muslim or a good person, it is Haram to be careless about your daughter.”

The speech by Sajjad Nomani could be seen as an extension of his conspiracy theory about Hindu men entrapping Muslim women. Other than provocating his community to ‘do something’ against such men, he was seen advocating keeping Muslim women restricted to their homes.

In another video, he claimed that Muslim girls were somehow giving up on purdah and modesty and urged parents not to send their daughters to schools and colleges.

“Teach women at home…Don’t send them anywhere and find a female teacher…” he added.

The cleric then went on to show his fundamentalist mindset when he said, “I swear on Allah that it is better to keep your daughters uneducated and illiterate instead of sending them to such colleges.”

Loves the Taliban

Sajjad Nomani has been a fan of the brutal Islamist regime of the Taliban in the war-torn country of Afghanistan. After the Talibs managed to capture Kabul, he sent his congratulations from India.

“No one can defeat a community which is ready to die in its pursuit of power. Congratulations to the Taliban! I, as a Muslim from Hind, salute your courage, calibre, religious zeal and determination,” the cleric remarked.

“The whole world has witnessed this historic event. I want to extend my heartfelt greetings and love to the clerics (Ulemas) of Afghanistan and the leaders of Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, Hazaras and that of Northern Afghanistan,” he was heard saying.

Sajjad Nomani peddled Bhagwa Love Trap conspiracy theory

In one of his videos, he was heard saying, “8 lakh Muslim women have turned infidel and left Islam after meeting their Hindu partners. RSS has created a team of Hindu youths who are trained in Islamic teachings and Urdu…They are then instructed to lure Muslim women into a love trap.”

Sajjad Nomani claimed that such Hindu men are then rewarded with ₹2.5 lakhs, a house and a job, which is supposedly serving as an ‘incentive’ for the Hindu community at a time of high unemployment.

“Several Hindu youths are fixated on this mission but we are sleeping…Billions of funds have been allocated to take away our Faith,” he alleged. The AIMPLB member urged his fanatic followers to ‘wake up from their deep slumber and take action’.

“As per my estimates, at least 5000 girls have run away with Hindus, married them and changed their religion to Hinduism. And these are the children of those people, who are considered ‘religious’ in their neighbourhoods,” he was heard claiming in another video.