Huge Demonstrations in Cities Across India Protesting Execution of Sheikh Baqir al-Nimr

Protesters rallied in New Delhi and various cities, including Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad and Chinei.

Photo of protest in India Courtesy: in.shafaqna.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - Demonstrators in several Indian cities denounced the execution of Sheikh Baqir al-Nimr the Saudi religious scholar, in demonstrations held at the invitation of the Council of India Scholars, led by Sheikh Jawad.

Those attending the event included scholars and prominent figures from different Islamic sects.

Saudi Arabia handed down heavy sentences on 02 January against detainees, including the religious scholar who stood up against the Saudi’s Wahhabi government in support of the rights of Muslims in the Hijaz.

He was later sentenced to death under flimsy charges. Relatives of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, said that the court had deprived him of the right to have a lawyer and the right to medical treatment.

In the recent protests, thousands marched, accompanied by a number of religious scholars, in wide demonstrations in New Delhi and various cities, particularly Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad and Chinei.

The president of the Minhaj-ul-Quran Foundation branch in Mumbai, Sheikh Mohammed Shafiq Hanafi, criticized the Saudi government, saying: "Al-Saud claims the protection of the Two Holy Shrines, while they are following the United States, which in turn seeks to destroy the Two Holy Shrines."

The Supreme Court’s lawyer in New Delhi, Mahmoud Paracha, said the Saudi monarchy accused each activist of treason and issued death sentences on what observers described as an "irrational basis."

On the other hand, New Delhi’s Imam, Sheikh Sayed Mohsen Taqawi, criticized the duality of Saudi Arabia's policies regarding terrorism and also condemned the country's destructive role which led to the promotion and expansion of extremism.

Participants in these popular protests sent a message to the United Nations, calling for the rejection of extremism and terrorism in the world as it requests an impartial investigation in the case of Sheikh Baqir al-Nimr’s execution.