Senior IAS officer Mohammad Iftikharuddin has found himself in the midst of a raging controversy after un-dated videos went viral on social media platforms of him carrying out propaganda against Hinduism. In one of the videos, Iftikharuddin can be seen preaching to a group of skullcap-wearing Muslims about ‘religious conversion’ at what appears to be his official government residence.
Establish authority of Allah in the world: Mohammad Iftikharuddin
The allegations were first leveled by the National Vice President of Math Mandir Coordination Committee Bhupesh Awasthi. The 1985 batch officer who was posted in Kanpur between 2007 and 2018 in various positions and is currently posted in Lucknow as chief of the state’s Road Transport Corporation espoused the vitriol with some nuance and assuredness, despite being a civil servant.
In one of the videos, he can be heard as saying, “Declare to the people of the world that the sovereignty and authority of Allah are to be established in the whole world.”
#कानपुर : सीनियर आईएएस इफ्तिखारुद्दीन की विवादित वीडियो हुआ वायरल। वीडियो में कथित मंडलायुक्त पद पर तैनाती के दौरान सरकारी आवास में मुस्लिम कट्टरपंथियों को बुलाकर धर्म परिवर्तन को बढ़ावा और इस्लाम की कट्टरता का पाठ पढ़ा रहे है @Uppolice pic.twitter.com/WgxLmU00DA
— UttarPradesh.ORG News (@WeUttarPradesh) September 27, 2021
IAS officer partaking in fictitious stories of conversion
In one of the other videos, Iftikharuddin is seen sitting on the floor and basking on the radicalism of another speaker, supposedly a Maulvi, preaching about conversion. The speaker cites a derogatory and by most estimates, the fictitious story of a man in Punjab who converted to Islam.
Read more: https://tfipost.com/2021/09/iitians-turned-ias-officers-is-nothing-to-be-celebrated/
He remarks, “Recently, a man from Punjab converted to Islam. When I asked him the reason behind conversion, he said the death of his sister. When I asked for details, he said that when his sister died, she was burnt. Her clothes burnt off and she was naked. People were seeing the naked dead body of my sister. I could not bear that and come out. I thought the same would happen to me. People would watch me naked. The thought of such a thing happening in the future made me convert to Islam.”
राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष मठ मंदिर समन्वय समिति ने सीएम योगी @myogiadityanath से की शिकायत pic.twitter.com/kP7ng5GVKF
— UttarPradesh.ORG News (@WeUttarPradesh) September 27, 2021
An inquiry ordered into the matter
After the ‘conversion’ controversy snowballed, the Uttar Pradesh government ordered an inquiry by an SIT, or Special Investigation Team, from state police against Iftikharuddin.
Kanpur Police Commissioner Asim Kumar Arun gave the responsibility of investigating the entire matter to Addl DCP (East) Somendra Meena.
Taking cognizance of the matter, Police Commissionerate Kanpur Nagar tweeted, “The investigation of the viral video of IAS officer Mohd Iftikharuddin taken at Kanpur Commissioner’s residence has been entrusted to ADCP East, Police Commissionerate Kanpur Nagar. It is being investigated whether the video is authentic and if there is any crime in it.”
कानपुर आयुक्त आवास में लिए गए #IAS मो. इफ्तिखारुद्दीन के एक वायरल हुए वीडियो की जांच @kanpurnagarpol के ADCP East को दी गई है, जांच की जा रही है कि क्या वीडियो सही है और क्या इसमें कोई अपराध हुआ है। @Uppolice
— POLICE COMMISSIONERATE KANPUR NAGAR (@kanpurnagarpol) September 27, 2021
Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said in a statement that the matter is serious. He said, “This is a serious matter. If there is anything like this, it will be taken seriously.”
UPSC Jihad?
Iftikharuddin’s narrow worldview regarding other religions and the supremacy of Islam doesn’t make him fit for holding a space in the civil services sphere. Questions need to be raised on UPSC for failing to do its job and screen a candidate which must have carried such notions throughout his training and later postings. The IAS association needs to distance itself from Iftikharuddin as well.
Meanwhile, the controversy regarding ‘UPSC Jihad’ that had ignited last year by Sudarshan TV’s Suresh Chavankhe has once again come to a full boil as netizens warm up to Chavankhe’s hypothesis.
