A member of the Tablighi Jamaat, Hafeezulla Khan sent a legal notice to Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd, along with its Managing Director, Editor-in chief and Chief Editor (Digital) for publishing article alleging that the Jamaat shares links with terror outfits, on the ground that its highly defamatory and inflammatory.
The notice has been sent through Prime Law Associates, a sum of Rs 1 crore has been sought as liquidated damages for the mental agony caused to him due to the article .
The notice states that the Tablighi Jamaat is one of the largest Islamic movements in the world that works with the Muslim community to increase their awareness regarding the basic principles of Islam and Prophetic traditions and to enable Muslims to live as honest and responsible citizens of the countries they live in.
According to the notice, the article was published by Times Now on April 1 and has stated that the Jamaat has had a long history of association with Pakistan based outfits like Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), these allegations being baseless and malicious.
The notice clarifies that all the programs of the Tablighi Jamaat are organized with due permission from the relevant authorities in a cordial atmosphere. It also states that all the members of the organization are law abiding citizens, and the organization has always cooperated with the authorities, with no run-ins with the law in over 100 years of its existence. The Jamaat has neither encouraged not supported any violation of law by any person from the organization.
The notice also states that the Tablighi Jamaat has never been the subject of any investigation for any connection to terror activities. The Tablighi Jamaat not only has no relation with any terror organization but unequivocally condemns all acts of terror across the world with harshest possible terms
Regarding the blacklisting of members of the Jamaat and denial of visas to the preachers, the notice stated that those assertions were made only to malign the Tablighi Jamaat and promote hatred and enmity towards its members, putting the noticee in immense danger.
The notice has also sought an unconditional apology stating that the Jamaat has no terror links as the article has causes great damage to the reputation of the Tablighi Jamaat.