Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi (born Syed Waseem Rizvi) is the former member and chairman of the Shia Central

Waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...

Board of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, India. He had chosen to undergo religious conversion to

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

on 6 December 2021. He is known for filing a petition in India's

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, as well as producing the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film ''

Ram Ki Janmabhoomi ''Ram Ki Janmabhoomi'' () is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Sanoj Mishra. The film is produced and written by Syed Waseem Rizvi, Jitendra Narayan Singh and stars Manoj Joshi (actor), Manoj Joshi and Govind Namdev. The movi ...

''.

Political career

He was elected a

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...

(SP) corporator from the Kashmiri Mohalla ward of Old City in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

in 2000, and in 2008, became a member of the Shia Central Waqf Board. In 2012, Tyagi was expelled from the SP for six years after falling out with Shia cleric

Kalbe Jawad Kalbe Jawad is a Shia Muslim cleric from Lucknow, India. Family background He comes from a family of scholars known as ''"Khandan-e-Ijtehad"'', and traces his lineage from Dildar Ali Naseerabadi (also known as Ghufran Ma'ab), their ancestors c ...

, who accused him of misappropriation of funds. Tyagi termed these charges as "cooked up" motivated by the desire to "weaken his argument". Tyagi later got relief from the court and was reinstated.

Controversies

In January 2018, Tyagi wrote to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the Prime Minister of India, seeking the abolition of

Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

s and said that some of them act as breeding grounds for terrorists instead of ensuring jobs for Muslims. In response, a

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

based religious outfit All India Faizan-e-Madina Council (AIFMC) announced a bounty of Rs 10,00,786 and a free

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

trip for anyone who beheads Tyagi. In January 2020, Tyagi said that, "Some people believe that childbirth is a natural process and should not be interfered with. To give birth to more children like animals is harmful to society and country. It will be good for the country if a law is implemented for

population control Population control is the practice of artificially maintaining the size of any population. It simply refers to the act of limiting the size of an animal population so that it remains manageable, as opposed to the act of protecting a species from ...

." In an interview he said that he did not like being called a Muslim, which to him was like being called a "cruel, wild beast", he added that he was very much a Muslim, but if that placed him in that same category as the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

he would rather identify himself as a human. In another interview, he declared that he has left Islam.

Petition

On 12 March 2021 Tyagi filed a petition in the

, where he appealed to remove 26 verses from the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

. He has claimed in the petition that these verses promote violence among Muslims. The petition says these 26 verses were not part of the original Quran but were inserted at a later stage. In response, there has been condemnation from Muslim bodies of both

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

and

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

sects of Islam. They have demanded Tyagi's arrest. The ruling

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

has also protested his petition. A lawyer from Moradabad announced a reward of Rs 11 lakh for "beheading" Tyagi, while Shiane Haider-e-Karrar Welfare Association, a Muslim organisation in Uttar Pradesh, declared a Rs 20,000 reward for Tyagi's beheading.

Works

* ''Released in November 2021, in which Tyagi has given his viewpoint on why Islam came about and why he considers it a violent religion. He has claimed that he has referred to 350 Islamic books while writing his book.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waseem Rizvi, Syed Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Indian former Shia Muslims Converts to Hinduism from Islam Hindi film producers