Askar Ali who was attacked for leaving Islam, says madrasas teach students not to join Indian Army

Kollam : A 24-year-old Muslim youth, Askar Ali, who left Islam after 12 years of religious studies, was brutally attacked by a group of Islamic fundamentalists in the Kollam district of Kerala. The police registered an attempt to murder case against a group of men on a complaint filed by Askar Ali.

Askar Ali, a native of the Malappuram district, has completed a 12-year Hudawi religious programme at a leading religious academy in the district. However, he left Islam and became a ‘free thinker’, joining a community of Ex-Muslims in Kerala.

According to Ali’s complaint, a group of people, including his relatives, tried to kidnap him to prevent him from speaking at an event organised by esSENSE Global, a Freethinker group. He was supposed to deliver a speech on why he left Islam.

After being rescued by the police and locals, Askar Ali hosted a Facebook live and said that the assailants took him to the beach in Kollam and brutally thrashed him there. They also destroyed his mobile phone and tried to lock him inside a car.

Ali also said that his family and local people in his village were up in arms against his decision to abandon Islam. As per the information shared by Islamists on social media last week, his family is said to have lodged a complaint in Malappuram stating that Ali was missing. He was produced before a magistrate court, where he said he wanted to live as per his wish. “Ali did not want to go with his family, and the court allowed him to live as per his wish. He has not sought any protection,” a police official told the media.

Later, speaking at the event organised by the esSENSE Global, Ali said that Madrasas in Kerala teach students that Muslims should not join the Indian Army because Jihadis coming from Pakistan are real Muslims! In a startling revelation, he said that Madrasa students are being taught that ‘Pakistani terrorists, who come to Jammu and Kashmir to avenge the killings of Indian Muslims, are real Muslims. As a Muslim cannot kill another Muslim so we should not to join Indian Army.’