Father of Umar Khalid, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas will contest 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Murshidabad’s Jangipur seat in West Bengal. Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas is the former member of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which is a banned Islamist organization in India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act He is the current president of Welfare Party of India. His son, Umar Khalid is a JNU student activist who had organized the anti-nationalistic event on February 9, 2016, leading to Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest. Moreover,
Welfare Party of India is a staunch Muslim party masquerading as a secular platform. One of their pet issues is a complete liquor ban, in compliance with Sharia law. Promotion of Sharia law in a common law democracy is nothing short of an anti-nationalistic activity stemming from religious extremism. The seat at Jangipur was previously secured by former President Pranab Mukherjee’s son, Abhijit.
Ilyas cited “worsening” condition of electors of Murshidabad, predominantly Muslims, as the reason for contesting from Jangipur. He stated, “Seven to eight lakh people migrated to Kolkata from this area and there are very little employment opportunities despite the fact that Jangipur produces good quality jute or mango. But those can’t be processed locally and they had to go to Kolkata. I’m highlighting such issues in my campaign.”
Although the TMC, Congress, CPM and BJP are also expected to enter the fray, Ilyas seemed confident that the Welfare Party of India will not split the Muslim votes, which might make easy for the BJP to make its way into the district. Therefore, the underlying factor of the nomination is to defeat BJP.
Not only is Ilyas’s son a JNU activist but he was also suspected to be a part of the Maoist plan to assassinate the Prime Minister last year. It is no secret that Umar Khalid is a leftist and a communist with Maoist associations. In 2018, the Maharashtra government had uncovered a plot by Naxalites operating in Pune. The plot, hatched by Maoists, was to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi “Rajiv Gandhi style”. An FIR was launched against Umar Khalid when his name was discovered in one of the letters recovered during uncovering of the conspiracy. Thereafter, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas had attended the Iftar party hosted by Pakistan High Commission during the same time his son was undergoing charges.
West Bengal has been the hub of Muslim appeasement politics of the state government. Rampant illegal immigration from Bangladesh and utter disregard for Indian democratic systems and have led people to question the very state establishment they voted to power. As such, it is fitting on the part of Ilyas, father of ‘tukde tukde gang’ member, to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from the state of West Bengal instead of Maharashtra where the family is from. Welfare Party of India is known for its extremist Islamic views in addition to propagating Sharia law. By contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Jangipur, where the Muslim population is more than 61%, the party aims to bank on the minority votes.
The elections in the state of West Bengal will begin on April 11 and polling would be held over seven phases. followed by counting of votes for all seats on May 23.