Saudi govt has ‘Blood on its hands’ say members of Mumbai muslim community

Prominent members of the Muslim community in the city have condemned the execution of cleric Shaikh Nimr and 47 people in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, saying the Saudi government has “blood on its hands” and accused it of hypocrisy.

Maulana Saeed Noori of Raza Academy, a prominent Indian Sunni organisation, said that the execution of 47 people in Saudi Arabia in the name of Sharia law was just an excuse given by the “hypocritical” Saudi government. “While it claims that the 47 persons were executed as per Sharia law, it does not apply the same rule when a member of the royal family is guilty. Such arbitrary use of Sharia law shows that the Saudi government is doing mockery of Islam,” said Mr Noori.

He further alleged that Saudi Arabia was to be blamed for the terrorist strike at the Pathankot air base early on Saturday which left three jawans dead. Justifying his accusation, he said, “The Saudi government is funding the schools of takfiri and salafi ideology. These preach and propagate extremism in the name of Islam. All terrorist attacks in the world are at the behest of these groups. The Indian government should break off ties till they stop abetting terrorist organisations,” Mr Noori added.

Advocate Dr Shabeeb Rizvi, a Shia scholar and prominent personality said that the Saudi government had “blood on its hands” and should be shunned by the world for killing innocent people in the name of jihad. “Saudi has time and again proved that it is against humanitarian values and the execution of 47 people which included Shaikh Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric from Saudi Arabia is indicative of the barbaric nature of the Saudi government,” he said.