Italy Zulfikar Khan: Italy has issued an order to expel 54-year-old Pakistani Imam Zulfikar Khan from the country for his fundamentalist, anti-Western, anti-Semitic and homophobic statements. Khan started living in Italy in 1995, but from 2023 his ideology and activities were moving towards radicalism. He openly praised Hamas and posted hateful videos against Western countries. Italy viewed him as a potential security threat, and his permit was revoked.
In Italy, the Giorgia Meloni-led government has signed the papers related to Zulfikar Khan on October 8, 2024, after which it will be easy to expel him from the country. Zulfikar Khan was continuously giving such statements, which were against the rules of the Italian government. Anti-women sentiments were also reflected in his speech. The limit was reached when Zulfikar started speaking good and bad against Italy.
Muslims protest against government taxes
Zulfikar Khan publicly made such statements which were considered harmful for the country that had given him refuge. That was to advocate Muslims’ opposition to paying government taxes. He claimed that all the resources of the country should remain within the Muslim community. Apart from this he termed homosexuality as a disease and said that it needs to be cured.
Statement of support for Hamas
Khan posted several videos from November 2023 to April 2024, after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. In these videos he labeled people from countries like America, Germany, France, Britain and Italy as supporters of the nefarious Zionist agenda. Apart from this, he praised Hamas while preaching in a mosque in May 2024. He argued that Hamas was defending its land and branded Americans and Israelis as terrorists and murderers.