Maharashtra: International Sufi Caravan chief Mufti Manzur Ziyaee tours state, distributes tricolour among clerics

MUMBAI: International Sufi Caravan chief Mufti Manzur Ziyaee has begun distributing India’s national flag, tiranga, among madrassas, mosques and dargahs (Sufi shrines) in Maharashtra.

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call 'Har Ghar Tiranga', Ziyaee is meeting religious scholars, madrassa teachers and managements of dargahs, appealing to them to hoist the Tricolour between August 13 and August 15 as we celebrate Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav, the 75th Independence Day celebrations.

“We have begun reaching out to the Muslim institutions like madrassas, maktabs, dargahs and mosques and giving tiranga to the people to hoist it there. The Har Ghar Tiranga campaign has picked up and people are welcoming this great initiative which is aimed at infusing a sense of patriotism among our citizens,” said Ziyaee.

Earlier he had called a meeting of religious leaders at his madrassa and spoke about the importance of the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign. At a press conference he said that hundreds of Muslims institutions have shown interest in hoisting the national flag. “These institutions have always hoisted the national flag on August 15 and January 26 but this year they will start hoisting it from August 13 itself as part of the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign,” he said.

Mufti Ziyaee said he is travelling through the state and meeting clerics and other Islamic scholars, Muslim leaders, activists and heads of Muslim trusts and charities and telling them the importance of hoisting the national flag which symbolizes our national pride, patriotism and love for the motherland. “Loving his motherland is part of iman or faith of every Muslim and nobody should be surprised that Muslims are enthusiastically welcoming this campaign and participating in it in a big way,” he said.

Mufti Ziyaee is the first cleric in Maharashtra to have received the tiranga from deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of BJP senior leader Haider Azam.