Branded an Ahmadi, hakim is expelled from district

Pakistan KP & FATA

Branded an Ahmadi, hakim is expelled from district

By Muhammad Sadaqat
Published: November 3, 2011

Police denies expulsion, claims to have closed the clinic to avoid unrest.

HARIPUR: A hakim accused of being an Ahmadi and proselytising was expelled from Haripur on Wednesday. The police, however, denied expelling Sheikh Arif from the district and said he had decided to leave himself.

Chased out or left voluntarily?

Haripur police officials said that local ulema, accompanied by officials of a local intelligence agency, visited Arif’s clinic some days back and found Quranic verses painted on its shutter along with a picture of one of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed’s companions.

When they asked Arif why he had painted the picture of an Ahmadi over Quranic verses, he initially said the picture was his ancestor’s but later confessed that he had made a mistake.

The ulema accused him of violating the law that restricted Ahmadis from openly preaching their religion. They demanded a complete ban on his business and his expulsion from the district.

A delegation of the ulema met District Police Officer (DPO) Haripur Muhammad Ali Gandapur, who, according to them, ordered an inquiry against the hakim and expelled him from the district.

Deputy Superintendent Police Raja Abdul Saboor rejected the ulemas’ claim and said the decision to leave was his own.

An inquiry into the allegations against the hakim is yet to be completed, he said.

“Since there was some indication of violation of section 298C of the Pakistan Penal Code (which prohibits Ahmadis from behaving as Muslims), the police has asked the dispensers to close the clinic to avoid unrest,” he added.

Proving otherwise

Talking to The Express Tribune Arif rejected the allegation, “I’m a Barelvi Muslim. I consider [Ahmadis] unbelievers,” he said.

“I met DPO Haripur and took an oath declaring that I was not an Ahmadi and that the painting was copied from a picture on a book on traditional medicine,” he said.

He added that the DPO asked him to avoid Haripur unless he was called for an inquiry.

Arif said he was a qualified hakim and some of his business rivals had conspired to malign him. “The police have arrested two of my staff members.”

The terrified 60-year-old hakim sent two religious decrees issued by Jamia Ashrafia and a mosque Arif frequented for prayers in Lahore, acknowledging that he was not an Ahmadi. He also claimed to have contacted religious scholars to prove his innocence.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2011.

Copyrighted © 2011 The Express Tribune News Network
URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/286912/branded...district/

Hint of Ahmadi ties gets hakeem ‘banished’

Pakistan KP & FATA

Hint of Ahmadi ties gets hakeem ‘banished’

By Muhammad Sadaqat
Published: November 1, 2011

‘Religious’ leaders decide to expel Sheikh Arif from Haripur for hanging up a picture in his shop.

HARIPUR: For some bigots, putting up a portrait of a man vaguely associated with the founder of the Ahmadi sect is enough to deserve being ‘punished’ with exile from the district and a ban on your business.

That, at least, has been the experience of Sheikh Arif, a hakeem (practitioner of traditional medicine) in Haripur. A gathering of so-called ‘religious’ leaders took place in Haripur on Monday, where they ‘decided’ to ‘expel’ Arif from the district and ‘banned’ his business.

Arif’s supposed ‘crime’ was to have a picture on his shop’s signboard of Hakeem Muhammad Hussain, allegedly an associate of the founder of the Ahmadi sect, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani. It was not immediately clear why the so-called religious leaders found the portrait quite so offensive. Where they felt they got the authority to ‘ban’ a business and ‘exile’ a person also remains unclear.

The meeting was attended by representatives of all factions of the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam, the Aalmi Majlis Tahafuz Khatm-e-Nabuwat, the Shaban Khatm-e-Nabuwat, the Ahle Sunnat Waljamaat, and Wafaq ul Madaras. Attendees warned the district administration of agitation if the government failed to ban Arif’s entry into the district.

Without offering any evidence, the gathering accused the hakeem of preaching the beliefs of the Ahmadi sect, which they claimed was unconstitutional. They seem misinformed on that front: Article 20 of the constitution states “every citizen shall have the right to profess, practise and propagate his religion.”

Arif himself, meanwhile, appears to have disappeared. His shop was closed when this correspondent visited, though the ‘offensive’ portrait had been removed.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2011.

Copyrighted © 2011 The Express Tribune News Network
URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/...hakeem-banished/

Sect Families Facing Island Exile Ungrateful for Rejecting Aid Offer, Indonesian Official Says

NEWS

Sect Families Facing Island Exile Ungrateful for Rejecting Aid Offer, Indonesian Official Says

Fitri | November 14, 2010

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. Ahmadiyah families in danger of being evicted to a remote island have been criticized for opposing the move and an offer to buy assets they were forced to abandon in a previous eviction.

The West Lombok administration plans to buy the assets left behind by the families when they were forced to move out of Gegerung village in 2006, after other villagers attacked them.

District spokesman Ispan Junaidi said on Saturday that Rp 710 million ($80,000) had been set aside to buy the houses and furniture of the families.

“We are trying to help them,” he said. “They have not responded positively to our offer. We feel they are trying to make it difficult for us to find a solution that will resolve this matter once and for all.”

Twenty-two families from the minority Muslim sect have been living in the Transito evacuee shelter in Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara, since the 2006 eviction. They have made frequent requests to village and district leaders to be allowed to return to Gegerung.

But last month, the head of West Lombok said they were moving the Ahmadiyah families to a remote island, a decision many have called discriminatory and inhumane.

“We are trying to protect Ahmadiyah members,” district head Zaini Arony said.

He said he had discussed the situation with religious figures and it had been agreed the families would be sent to Teluk Sepi Island. He defended the decision by saying the local administration feared a repeat of the violence in February 2006, when thousands of Muslims burned down the families’ homes.

Ispan said there was no possibility of the families returning to Gegerung because the villagers were adamant they would not let them live among them.

“We have offered to pay Rp 710 million for their assets,” he said. “Instead, the families are now asking for Rp 1.5 billion. They do not seem to want to sell us their assets.” He added that only two of the homes had proper documentation so that their value could be assessed.

“So it is difficult for us to increase our offer above Rp 710 million,” Ispan said. “We believe some of the leaders of the Ahmadiyah in West Nusa Tenggara don’t want to help themselves or their followers. They reject whatever solutions we offer. Our offer is to buy their assets and relocate them to Sepi Island.”

Jauzi Djafar, a spokesman for the provincial chapter of Jemaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia, said the West Lombok administration had never sat down with them to discuss the offer.

“How are we supposed to evaluate the offer when they have never called us to sit down and discuss this offer with them?” he said. “What assets are they specifically referring to is not clear to us.”

He said the most important concern of the families was their safety and security.

“We want our people to return home to their own backyards,” he said.

“People should be made aware of the law, so that differences are not used as a reason to attack Ahmadis. No one has talked to us, whether about buying our assets or moving us to Sepi Island.”

Ispan has said at least 20 families will be moved to the island next year. “There’s enough land on Teluk Sepi for them to farm,” he said. “It’s better than letting them get attacked or killed. It’s the humane thing to do.”

He had previously acknowledged that the families had not been consulted about the plan.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/sect-families-...offer-indonesian-official-says/406636