Thousands have signed petitions on change.org demanding YouTube to restore the deleted official channel of renowned late Islamic scholar Dr Israr Ahmed.
Recently, in a major shock to the Muslim world, YouTube had taken down the official channel of Dr. Israr Ahmed named “Dr. Israr Ahmed’s Official Channel” for its alleged anti-Semitic content.
YouTube did so after surrendering to the pressure of Israeli media outlets as ‘The Jewish Chronicle’, the world’s oldest and most influential Jewish newspaper, is claiming to have led the campaign which resulted in the removal of Dr. Israr Ahmed’s Official Channel.
Enraged by the move, thousands of people have signed multiple petitions on change.org, a renowned activist petition platform, to make YouTube to reverse its decision. One of the petitions started by M.A Sheikh three days ago reads: “Youtube removed Dr Israr Ahmed’s youtube channel. The channel had 2.9 million subscribers with Bank of Islamic Videos. It was removed against wrong allegations of anti semitism by Jewish community. YouTube is biased. Help and support us in this pious cause.”
The petition was signed by over 22,000 people at the time of writing this article. According to change.org, if the petition is signed by at least 25,000 people, it will become one of the top signed on Change.org!
Another petition started by one Sheharyar Rana just a day ago has already been signed by over 21,000 people. The petition “WE DEMAND YOUTUBE TO REINSTATE DR. ISRAR AHMED’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL” reads: “The Muslim Ummah is enraged and deeply concerned over sudden deletion of Dr. Israr Ahmed’s YouTube channel with over 3M subscribers. We demand immediate reinstatement of Dr’s YouTube channel with all its content, including short clips, long tafseer programs and Quran classes. Dr. Israr Ahmed’s lectures have been beneficial for the Ummah ever since they were uploaded at a single place under his official channel. YouTube’s appalling behavior prior to Holy Month of Ramadaan has left Muslims in utter shock and disgust.”
There are a few more petitions started on the platform demanding reinstating of the channel that was an ocean of knowledge for millions.
Also read: Dr Israr Ahmed’s Official Channel deleted by YouTube: Here is why it happened
According to details, the channel of the renowned late Islamic scholar was operated by his son, Asif Hameed. The channel had around 3 million subscribers and over 370 million views.
The Jewish Chronicle, the London-based weekly newspaper had started the campaign in June 2021.
Tanzeem-e-Islami, a movement founded by Dr Israr Ahmed, tweeted out to YouTube calling the move a blatant act of Islamophobia.
Tanzeem-e-Islami also stated that it has commenced a robust legal and procedural action in response to YouTube’s termination of the channel.
Even after his death, Dr. Israr Ahmed’s teachings are revered by Muslims all over the world. Muslims have condemned the removal of his channel from YouTube and accused the tech giant of undermining its policies of freedom of expression.
Dr Israr Ahmed passed away in 2010 in Lahore at the age of 77. He migrated to Pakistan from Haryana after the partition in 1947. Initially, he was a member of the Jamaat-e-Islami but in 1957, when the party decided to participate in electoral politics, he resigned because he believed that it was irreconcilable with the revolutionary methodology adopted by the Jamaat in the pre-1947 period.
