Police are investigating an activist once nominated for a Muslim of the year award after she was filmed preaching to a rally that “jihad is the only solution”. Sumaira Farrukh made this statement during a demonstration in Birmingham last month, attended by hundreds of people protesting against India’s plans to revoke Article 370 which gave Kashmir a special status.
However, the journalist and founder of Muslim channel Noor TV has defended the phrase and said that “jihad” simply meant “a struggle”. According to the Daily Mail, she claims to have been singled out because she is “an outspoken woman in a headscarf”.
In the video she is seen on the steps of the city’s Council House, telling the crowd: “There is only one slogan for today. It is to remove curfew from Kashmir”. But she denies accusations of inciting violence and now the police have examined the footage and visited her at her home.
