Anti-Terrorist Front India (ATFI) national president Viresh Shandilya alleged that he had received death threats from lashkar-e-Taiba among others after he uploaded a video clip in which he had announced a bounty of Rs 51 lakh on All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Akbaruddin Owaisi. He averred that though he had informed the State and Central authorities including the union Home minister through e-mails the authorities had remained apathetic to the death threats he had received.
Addressing the Media along with Shiv Sena Hindustan president Pawan Gupta here on Monday, said that on Oct 13, he had uploaded a video clip on internet in which he had announced a bounty of Rs 51 lakh on Owaisi in response to the clip in genocidal statement purportedly made by Owaisi in past which had gone viral on the internet.
He said, “Since then I have received death threats on the phone, through SMS and WhatsApp from the leT and other Islamic terrorists. I informed the Haryana government, police and even e-mailed the union home minister informing them about the death threats but the authorities are yet to respond. I stress that the ATFI has nothing against followers of Islam but we wont tolerate anti-national elements like Owaisi. Since my video clip was uploaded on the internet I have received about 7,000 responses-mostly negative, but seven Muslim callers including one from Saudi Arabia also expressed their support for us,” he said.
He informed that the ATFI had been involved in activism against terrorism since 2002, adding that a rally against terrorism is planned from Delhi to Jammu and Kashmir in March next year.
He opined, “The Central Government and intelligence agencies have repeatedly failed to tackle terrorism effectively. The majority in India had voted for Narendra Modi in the lok Sabha elections expecting strong action against Pakistan sponsored terrorism. They were hoping that the Centre would avenge the Kargil attack and the 26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai but the Centre appears to have gone soft on terrorism. The prime minister should explain why he backtracked on the issue of Article 370 and the reason for the BJP entering into a coalition with the PDP to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir. Considering the situation, the BJP should withdraw from the coalition and go for fresh elections in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.