New Delhi: BJP’s Minority Morcha president Jamal Siddiqui’s wait for security cover seems to be getting longer with each passing day. After unsuccessful attempts to get security from the Delhi Police and the Maharashtra government last year, a desperate Siddiqui, a resident of Nagpur, has now placed his hopes in Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
In a letter to Shah on 18 April, Siddiqui has alleged that he is facing threats from “kattarpanthis” (fundamentalists), and urged him to provide security cover.
“I have requested for a security cover keeping the constant threats that I have been getting. I had received a threat from the Hizbul Mujahideen and I had even registered an FIR. So far, no cover has been provided by Delhi Police or Maharashtra government,” Siddiqui told ThePrint.
The BJP Minority Morcha chief said he has an armed guard for protection at his residence in Nagpur, provided by the local police. However, that security is only for Nagpur, and the guard is not allowed to travel with him on tours.
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‘No specific threat’
According to a letter from the home ministry to the chief secretary of Maharashtra dated 26 October 2021, accessed by ThePrint, Siddiqui had earlier requested the ministry — in a letter dated 10 August 2021 — to provide security cover to him because of alleged threats from “kattarpanthis“.
“The request of Shri Jamal Siddiqui has been examined in this ministry, in consultation with the central security agency. As per the report, there is no specific threat to him. However, a general threat to him from fundamentalists cannot be ruled out,” the ministry’s letter stated. A copy was also sent to the special commissioner of police (security), Delhi.
The home ministry had also requested the state government of Maharashtra and the Delhi Police to “suitably address the security concerns of Shri Jamal Siddiqui based on local threat perception”.
Siddiqui claims, however, that he failed to get a response from both Maharashtra government and Delhi Police, and finally wrote to Shah Monday.
The BJP Minority Morcha chief had also moved the Bombay High Court last year, claiming he was granted police protection by the Maharashtra government in 2017, but the present government was not allowing him security. Siddiqui had requested for restoration of security cover, citing security threats, but the court had rejected the petition.
ThePrint reached Special Commissioner of Police (Security), Delhi Police, Madhup Tiwari, over calls and Whatsapp messages, but received no response till the publication of this report. The copy will be updated once he responds.
‘Pressurising me to join another party’
Siddiqui, in his fresh letter to Shah, has claimed ‘kattarpanthis‘ have been giving him open threats and are also pressuring him to join some other party, instead of the BJP.
“Kattarpanthis (fundamentalists) have become my enemies and are after my life since I have been working as the national president of BJP’s Minority Morcha. Your department had written a letter dated 26 October 2021 to the Maharashtra government and the police commissioner in Delhi, asking them to provide proper security, but no security was given,” Siddiqui has alleged.
“In today’s time, kattarpanthis in the country who want to break the society are creating riots. A lot of pressure is building on me too from people of fundamentalist ideologies, telling me to work for some other party rather than BJP. If I fail to do this, the threat of losing my life looms large. They are openly giving threats,” Siddiqui has written in the letter, accessed by ThePrint.
“You are requested to provide adequate security cover to me to work in such adverse situations,” he added.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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