Religious Leaders Imply Ahmedis not Victims

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Religious Leaders Imply Ahmedis not Victims

By Talib Qizilbash                                          10 JUNE 2010

Drowned in sorrow: Men console each other after the deadly attacks on Ahmedi places of worship on May 28. Photo: AFP

First they condemned the attacks. Religious parties got together after the May 28 attacks on the Ahmedi places of worship and termed them un-Islamic (while tempering their criticism with some conspiracy theories). The News reported this:

Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Syed Munawwar Hasan termed the attacks on the Youm-e-Takbeer a conspiracy to trigger a civil war in the country and justify the US interference in the country. He said Islam strongly prohibited persecuting minorities and causing any harm to their worship places. He said the minorities in the country had always been secure and Islam made it a state responsibility to protect them.

Of course, everyone knows that minorities have NOT always been secure in Pakistan, but at least the religious parties agreed that the attacks on the Ahmedi community “were uncalled for and condemnable”.

But clearly it was false sympathy and crocodile tears. The view that the attacks were also, as reported by The News, a foreign “conspiracy to malign the country in the world in order to put more pressure [on Pakistan] regarding a change in the blasphemy laws” came with a sickening twist yesterday.

A BBC Urdu article reported on a Lahore meeting of leaders of the Muttahida Tehrik-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwat where the attendees concluded that the May 28 attacks on Ahmedis were part of a conspiracy to repeal the laws against them and challenge the finality of the Prophethood. There is an inherent insinuation that Ahmedis were an active part of the conspiracy; that Ahmedis hired terrorists to kill other Ahmedis in order to garner attention because they want to remake Islam. So, Ahmedis are not the real victims here?

This is like 9/11 conspiracy theorists: Americans killed Americans to launch a crusade against Islam.

Further, a Dawn.com report referencing the BBC article said that “the gathering was attended by leaders of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat-i-ulema-i-Islam Fazlur Rahman group, Jamaatud Dawa and Markazi Jamaat-i-Ahl-i-Sunnat among others” and that “Maulana Ilyas Chinioti, a member of the PML-N and the Punjab provincial assembly, condemned Nawaz Sharif’s statement in which he had sympathised with the Ahmadis and called them his brothers.”

Maulana Chinioti seems to be openly preaching that non-Muslims are lesser humans: only certain Pakistanis who are brutally massacred are worthy of pity. Our religious leaders believe Allah to be the most compassionate and merciful (and expect Him to show compassion towards them) but do they not believe they have a duty to love and show compassion in their lives (or even try to show compassion) to all people of all faiths. The people killed and injured on May 28 were innocent people, harming no one, only kneeling before God in peace. What about the verse from the Quran that says “killing one innocent person is regarded as the equivalent to killing all of mankind?”

The US, Israel and India (and whatever other foreign agents are at work) do not have to do anything to “malign the country in the world.” These religious and political ‘leaders’ are doing a fine job themselves.

Talib Qizilbash has been freelance writing since 2003. He joined Newsline in 2006, working as both a writer and editor. He is currently the magazine’s online editor.

URL: www.newslinemagazine.com/2010/06/religious-leaders-imply-ahmedis-not-victims/

Editor’s Note: June 2010

Home » Editorial, Opinion

Editor’s Note: June 2010

By Rehana Hakim                                                   10 JUNE 2010

Pakistan is fast becoming a state that will be habitable only for extremists: religious bigots who hold the view that only Muslims (as defined by them) have the right to live in this country – and that all non-Muslims are kafirs, infidels who are wajib-ul-qatl or deserve to be killed. Further, that all those who kill them are guaranteed a place in heaven, replete with houris and streams of milk and honey.

It’s criminal that those who harbour such hatred are being allowed to operate with impunity, to spout venom from the pulpits of mosques, to train in the Punjab government’s backyard while the head honcho feigns ignorance, even as his own law minister is seen hobnobbing with the Sipah-e-Sahaba at an election rally in Jhang.

Is it any surprise then that two dastardly attacks are carried out in broad daylight on Ahmedi mosques in Lahore, killing 95 people and injuring a 100 more. This is followed by yet another strike by the same terrorist group at a government hospital – to kill or secure the release of an accomplice recuperating in the same emergency ward as the victims of the earlier attacks.

How does this reflect on the intelligence and state of preparedness of this country’s security network that still remains ‘unaware’ of the hideouts of these elements, who have been making life intolerable for Pakistan’s small minority communities for several years now?

Ahmedi mosques, Christian churches and Hindu temples have been vandalised, their properties burnt or seized illegally; additionally, forcible conversions and marriages have taken place. And the culprits have always managed to escape the (not-so-long?) arm of the law.

Ironically, it is these very characters who have been quick to use the controversial blasphemy law to implicate minorities in false cases and make sure that they are lynched by charged mobs or left to rot in jails forever. Any attempts to make amendments to this law have met with stiff resistance from them, forcing the government to back off.

Consequently, the perpetrators of these hate crimes are getting bolder by the day. Three days after the attacks on the Ahmedi mosques, a father and son from the community were stabbed by a fanatic in Narowal wanting to convert them. The father died instantaneously. The hate crimes against the Shias have not ceased either. Yet another young doctor was gunned down – a stark reminder of the murder of 74 other Shia doctors in Karachi between the early 1990s and 2002, which remain unresolved to this day.

Likewise, the victims of the Gojra and Shantinagar incidents in which several Christian families lost their family members and property are yet to get any justice. There are no accused to hold to account – and the few who were arrested have been acquitted for “want of evidence.”

What evidence would be needed to prove an “identified” accused’s culpability? Only recently, Maulana Aziz and his entire family were acquitted of charges of illegally occupying a children’s library in Islamabad for lack of evidence.

Wasn’t this “illegal occupation” one of the causes that had sparked off the whole Lal Masjid furore in the first place? This fact was reported in the country’s major newspapers at the time. If these reports were inadmissible in a court of law, why couldn’t the police find any witnesses to substantiate the charge? Was it the threats from extremist forces or orders from some relevant quarters at the top that made the police and the prosecutor back off?

Rehana Hakim is one of the core team of journalists that helped start Newsline. She has been the editor-in-chief since 1996.

URL: www.newslinemagazine.com/2010/06/editor%e2%80%99s-note-june-2010/

‘Attack on Ahmedis conspiracy to repeal laws against them’

PAKISTAN

‘Attack on Ahmedis conspiracy to repeal laws against them’

Wednesday, 09 Jun, 2010

People from Ahmadi community prepare to bury a casket containing a victim of an attack by militants, at their graveyard in Rabwah, some 150 kilometres northwest from Lahore, May 29, 2010. — AP

LAHORE: A gathering of the leaders of 13 religious and political parties in Lahore claimed that the attack on Ahmedis on May 28 was part of a conspiracy to repeal the laws against them, BBCUrdu reported.

The meeting was held in an office of the Majlis Ahrar Islam in Lahore’s Muslim Town. The parties concluded that a conspiracy was in place to debate the laws against Ahmedis, the report said.

Maulana Zahidul Rashdi, who is a founding member of the Muttahida Tehrik-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwat and also the Secretary-General of the Pakistan Shariat Council, read the joint statement at the meeting’s conclusion: The attack on Ahmedis is being used as an excuse to generate suspicions regarding the concept of khatm-i-nabuwat.

The gathering was attended by leaders of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat-i-ulema-i-Islam Fazlur Rahman group, Jamaatud Dawa and Markazi Jamaat-i-Ahl-i-Sunnat among others.

During the meeting, Maulana Ilyas Chinioti, a member of the PML-N and the Punjab provincial assembly, condemned Nawaz Sharif’s statement in which he had sympathised with the Ahmedis and called them his brothers.

The meeting’s participants demanded that Nawaz Sharif immediately withdraw his statement.

©2010 DAWN Media Group. All rights reserved

URL: www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-libr...us-groups-qs-08

Geo TV chief linked to ex-ISI man’s killing

---IBNLive.com, India

Geo TV chief linked to ex-ISI man’s killing

Surya Gangadharan, CNN-IBN

New Delhi: The Pakistani media was rocked by a controversy after leading news channel Geo TV’s chief Hamid Mir was heard speaking to the Taliban over telephone.

His conversation allegedly led to the killing of a former ISI officer. But Mir has denied all reports, saying, “it’s a conspiracy hatched by President Zardari to defame me.”

Mir is widely believed to have the inside track of every newsworthy story in Pakistan, until he became the story. It began over the weekend as an audio tape purportedly carrying the recording of a conversation between the TV icon Hamid Mir and the Taliban.

In the tape, Mir is apparently heard detailing ex-ISI officer Khalid Khwaja’s links with the CIA and an international Qadiani network. The tape also describes Khwaja’s hand in Mir’s dismissal from the Ausaf newspaper. That information apparently led a Taliban allied group Asian Tigers to kidnap Khwaja and kill him later.

“None of this is true. I never said these things to those people. This is a concocted tape. They took my voice, sampled it and manufactured this conspiracy against me,” Mir told the Guardian.

He claims President Zadari is behind the conspiracy. His aim is not just to tarnish him but to diminish the Jang Group which runs the Geo TV network, Mir adds.

Mir wrote: “For some time, the government has been taking many actions to financially damage the Geo-Jang group because this group has refused to toe the official line. The PPP leadership wants to give a message to the whole media that if they do not behave, this government will treat them like Pervez Musharraf did.”

Mir has sworn legal action against those behind the campaign. He also got some help from the Taliban who dismissed the tape as a fake.

© 2010 IBNLive.com India. All Rights Reserved.
URL : http://ibnlive.in.com/news/geo-tv-chief-linked-to-exisi-mans-killing/115670-2.html

Colleges, universities ‘to be made fronts against US’

	Thursday, November 26, 2009, Zil’Hajj 08, 1430 A.H
Colleges, universities ‘to be made fronts against US’

JI Amir urges students to play their role in safeguarding ideology of Pakistan

Thursday, November 26, 2009
Muhammad Anis

Islamabad

Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Syed Munawwar Hasan calling upon the students community to play their role in safeguarding ideology of Pakistan said colleges and universities of Pakistan would be converted into fronts against America to foil its conspiracies against the country.

JI central Amir was addressing a big anti-America rally, organised by Islami Jamiat-e-Taluba (IJT) in the federal capital on Wednesday.

The rally, which started from Melody Market, concluded at Parade Ground where it was addressed by JI and IJT leaders including IJT Nazim-e-Aala Attiqur Rehman, Mian Muhammad Aslam, Syed Muhammad Bilal and Shamsur Rehman Swati.

The charged students carrying placards and banners were raising slogans against American policies, Blackwaters’ presence in Islamabad and other cities, Kerry-Lugar Act and Pakistan government’s pro-America policies.

The traffic remained suspended for a couple of hours from Lal Masjid Chowk en route to Parade Ground and traffic police had to divert the vehicles to other routes. As the federal capital is passing through strict security measures, the Islamabad Police were not ready to take any risk, therefore, all link roads were also blocked for all kinds of traffic that created problems for commuters.

Munawwar Hasan recalled that the students were in forefront of Pakistan movement, the success of which was not possible without their participation. “The same role is required from them now,” he said.

He asked the government to introduce uniform education system and restore student unions in education institutions of the country.

Strongly criticising US interference in Pakistan, Munawwar Hasan maintained that he colleges and universities of Pakistan would be converted into fronts against America to foil conspiracies against the country.

On Balochistan package, JI top leader said the Baloch leadership had also categorically rejected the package. “If the government believes in Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) with India then why the same policy is not good for Baloch people and their leadership,” he said.

He warned that the United States and India were eying on natural resources of Balochistan while the Pakistan government has been ignoring grievances of people of the province.

He said that India was involved for unrest in Balochistan adding that JI would observe three-day protest from December 14 to 16 against Indian conspiracies against Pakistan.

He said India wanted its supremacy in the continent but the Muslims of Pakistan and Bangladesh would not accept Indian hegemony in the region.

Munawwar Hasan called upon the Pakistan government to call back its High Commissioner from Indian capital for India’s acts of terrorism in Balochistan and other parts of the country.

He said that Baloch leadership should have been taken into confidence before announcing the Balochistan package. “The government should have registered FIR against murderers of Akbar Bugti before announcing the package,” he said.

On NRO, JI Amir feared that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would destroy all record against President Zardari and federal ministers as NAB was working under the Interior minister.

He said that Qadiani and secular lobbies were working against Islamic ideology of Pakistan.

JI Punjab Naib Amir Mian Muhammad Aslam demanded of Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani to fulfil his promise of holding elections of student unions in educational institutions.

He said the United States would fail in implementation of its policies and one day they would have to run away from the region.

IJT Nazim-e-Aala Attiqur Rehman said the students were being victimised and they were being expelled from institutions. He said the students had been deprived of student unions for the last 26 years saying the student fees have also been increased during tenure of democratic government.

Source: www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=210477