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Morden man fears for brother named on Ahmadiyya Muslim murder list in Pakistan
12:25pm Friday 5th August 2011
By Omar Oakes »
Fears: Chaudhary Nawaz shows a list of names of people, including his brother, who are “liable to be murdered” in Pakistan
The brother of a Pakistani man whose name was published on a religious murder list by Muslim fanatics has said he is distraught with worry.
Chaudhary Nawaz, from Hillcross Avenue in Morden, said his brother Dr Muhammad Nawaz, a technology college academic in Pakistan, had gone into hiding for fear of being murdered for being an Ahmadi Muslim.
Ahmadi Muslims are not considered Islamic in Pakistan under the Government’s strict blasphemy laws and this list of prominent Ahmadis is being widely distributed in Faisalabad, a textile hub in the Punjab province.
The list is published on a pamphlet given out widely in shopping areas and claims: “To shoot such people is an act of jihad [struggle of faith] and to kill such people is an act of sawab [reward].”
Mr Nawaz, 48, said: “I can’t tell you how worried I am. Sometimes I try not to think about it because I am so frightened about what could happen.
“My brother is a good man, an educator. He doesn’t deserve to be targeted like this.
“I feel helpless because he is thousands of miles away and I can’t help him.”
Mr Nawaz, a senior member of the Morden district of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, said his brother cannot leave Faisalabad because he has to care for their mother, an 82-year-old Alzheimer’s sufferer.
A similar list of Ahmadis was published two years ago in Faisalabad. Three people on that list were murdered by militants in a crowded market bazaar in April 2010.
Nearly two months later, 94 Ahmadis were murdered in mosques in Lahore.
Last October, the Wimbledon Guardian revealed how religious hatred by hardline Muslims towards Ahmadis was being demonstrated on a much smaller scale in south London, which is home to their UK headquarters, the massive Bait-ul-Futuh mosque in London Road, Morden.
Our investigation revealed Sheikh Suliman Gani, imam at the Tooting Islamic Centre (TIC), had told worshippers to boycott Ahmadi businesses, leading to financial hardship for shop owners and the sacking of a worker who would not renounce his religion.
The Khatme Nabuwwat Academy, an East London-based religious group affiliated to the Pakistan-based Khatme Nabuwwat, was invited to talk at the TIC last year.
The Khatme Nabuwwat’s Pakistani-based website describes Ahmadis as “nothing but a gang of traitors, apostates and infidels”.
Chaudhary Nawaz, from Hillcross Avenue in Morden, said his brother Dr Muhammad Nawaz, a technology college academic in Pakistan, had gone into hiding for fear of being murdered for being an Ahmadi Muslim.
Ahmadi Muslims are not considered Islamic in Pakistan under the Government’s strict blasphemy laws and this list of prominent Ahmadis is being widely distributed in Faisalabad, a textile hub in the Punjab province.
The list is published on a pamphlet given out widely in shopping areas and claims: “To shoot such people is an act of jihad [struggle of faith] and to kill such people is an act of sawab [reward].”
Mr Nawaz, 48, said: “I can’t tell you how worried I am. Sometimes I try not to think about it because I am so frightened about what could happen.
“My brother is a good man, an educator. He doesn’t deserve to be targeted like this.
“I feel helpless because he is thousands of miles away and I can’t help him.”
Mr Nawaz, a senior member of the Morden district of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, said his brother cannot leave Faisalabad because he has to care for their mother, an 82-year-old Alzheimer’s sufferer.
A similar list of Ahmadis was published two years ago in Faisalabad. Three people on that list were murdered by militants in a crowded market bazaar in April 2010.
Nearly two months later, 94 Ahmadis were murdered in mosques in Lahore.
Last October, the Wimbledon Guardian revealed how religious hatred by hardline Muslims towards Ahmadis was being demonstrated on a much smaller scale in south London, which is home to their UK headquarters, the massive Bait-ul-Futuh mosque in London Road, Morden.
Our investigation revealed Sheikh Suliman Gani, imam at the Tooting Islamic Centre (TIC), had told worshippers to boycott Ahmadi businesses, leading to financial hardship for shop owners and the sacking of a worker who would not renounce his religion.
The Khatme Nabuwwat Academy, an East London-based religious group affiliated to the Pakistan-based Khatme Nabuwwat, was invited to talk at the TIC last year.
The Khatme Nabuwwat’s Pakistani-based website describes Ahmadis as “nothing but a gang of traitors, apostates and infidels”.
Copyright 2001-2010 Wimbledon Guardian, UK. All rights reserved.
URL: www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/news/9180679.Man_fears.../
URL: www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/news/9180679.Man_fears.../
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