Prophet Muhammad Act: Maharashtra Muslim Organisations Demand Act to End Hate Speech

Muslim Organisations of Maharashtra Demand Prophet Muhammad Bill to End Hate Speech

MUMBAI: Three prominent organizations in Maharashtra have demanded a special law banning objectionable and defamatory comments against Prophet Muhammad.

In the meanwhile, these organizations have drafted a bill christening as 'Prophet Muhammad Bill and presented it to the state government " We have prepared the draft of the Bill and presented it before the state government and seek passing of it.

We hope that the government would take steps to pass the Bill. We want the end of all forms of hate speech", said a member of the Raja Academy which is among the three organizations that seek the new law.

The other two organizations are the Tahaffuz Namoos-e-Risalat Board and the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Agadhi(VBA). The office bears of the organizations opined that they should take steps to end all forms of hate speech. " We want the well-being of all. Our society should be free of all forms of hate speech," they said.

They also informed that the title of the Act would be the " Prophet Muhammad and Other Religious Heads Prohibition of Slander Act, 2021 or Hate Speech(Prevention) Act, 2021.

Maulana Moin Ashraf Qadri (Moin Mian), president of All India Sunni Jamiatul Ulema, said, "It is our suggestion, but the government can name whatever it chooses to. Our demand is that there should be a strong law to stop vilification, mocking, and insult to our holy prophet and all deities and religious heads. Communal clashes have happened because the existing law against hate speech is insufficient to stop miscreants."

Though there is no law against blasphemy in India, there is a law that provides the provision of imprisonment and a fine against those who deliberately hurt the religious sentiments of anyone. Section 295(a) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has the provision of fine and imprisonment up to 3 years if the accused has hurt religious sentiments "with deliberate and malicious intention".

The history of Section 295(a) is fascinating. It all began in 1923 when Muslims published two highly offensive books titled "Krishna teri geeta jalani padegi" with derogatory and vulgar language against Shri Krishna and other Hindu deities and "Uniseevi sadi ka Maharshi" which contained derogatory remarks on Arya Samaj founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati (incidentally written by an Ahmadi). At that time, 295(a) did not exist.

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