Ahmadi leader’s family offered to withdraw case: accused

---Daily Times, Pakistan

Friday, January 22, 2010

Ahmadi leader’s family offered to withdraw case: accused

*	Claim they want Khatam-e-Nabuwat Youth Wing dismantled
*	Family deny allegation, say accused conducting anti-Ahmadi propaganda

LAHORE: The four men accused of murdering Professor Muhammad Yousaf, an Ahmadi leader from Ferozewala, have claimed that the man’s family has offered to withdraw the case against them if the Khatam-e-Nabuwat Youth Wing (KNYW) is shut down. Muhammad Ahmed Faridi, Inamullah – the president of the KNYW — Ashraf and Haji Arshad, all currently being held at the Ferozwala Police Station, told Daily Times on Thursday that the complainant had sent them various messages, offering to withdraw the case against them provided that the men guaranteed that they quit the KNYW and dismantled its operations, a claim that the complainant denies. Faridi said Inamullah had been “indirectly” contacted by the complainant, with an offer to withdraw the case against the men if they would quit the KNYW. They said they would never quit the KNYW, going as far as saying that they would prefer to die before they thought of leaving the organisation. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Member of the Provincial Assembly Pir Ashraf Rasool, who is allegedly favouring the accused, told Daily Times that the complainant had asked him to offer the compromise to the accused. He said the accused had informed him that they were ready to face imprisonment or even the death sentence for the sake their beliefs. Fatehul Din, Yousaf’s son, told Daily Times that no one had made any such offer to the four men, adding that the accused were trying to divert attention from the real issue. He said they were trying to gain sympathy in the public and were trying to fuel public bias against Ahmadis. rana tanveer

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\01\22\story_22-1-2010_pg7_31

Ahmadi leader’s murder suspects ‘visit’ police again

---Daily Times, Pakistan

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Ahmadi leader’s murder suspects ‘visit’ police again

*	None of the accused have moved court for bail despite being named in FIR 8 days ago
*	Complainant denies SP’s claim that he had asked police not to arrest accused
*	MPA says four men are innocent and he advised them not to get bail

By Rana Tanveer

LAHORE: All four men accused of murdering a local Ahmadi leader in Ferozewala appeared before the Sheikhupura superintendent of police (SP) (Investigation), accompanied by a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) member of the provincial assembly, to “prove their innocence” on Wednesday.

Eight days have passed since the victim’s family nominated the four men in the FIR but the police have yet to formally arrest the suspects despite getting two chances – when the men visited the police station with PML-N MPA Pir Ashraf Rasool to ‘prove their innocence’. It is important to mention here that the suspects have not moved the court for bail so far.

According to details, two assailants gunned down 70-year-old Muhammad Yousaf while he was at his general store on January 5. A first information report (FIR) was registered at the Ferozewala Police Station, wherein Muhammad Ahmed Fridi, Inamullah son of Shaukat Ali, Ashraf and Haji Arshad were named as the accused. The two assailants were not named in the FIR.

Consent: Syed Amin Bukhari, the SP, told Daily Times that the accused were not on bail and according to the law they should be arrested, but with the consent of the complainant the police had given them a chance to prove their innocence.

The SP said both parties had appeared before him, adding that he had given them a few days to resolve the matter through a local panchayat. He said the accused had guaranteed their cooperation and would not evade the police.

Influence: However, Faatehul Din, the complainant and son of the murdered Ahmadi leader, told Daily Times the accused had been given undue favour by the police and PML-N MPA Pir Ashraf Rasool. He said he had never asked the police not to arrest the accused. He said the MPA accompanied the accused to the office of the SP to influence the police.

Suspects are innocent: The MPA told Daily Times that the four men were innocent. He said he had advised the four not to get bails as they were innocent, adding that the competent authority to decide the case were the police and the courts. Ashraf said he was ready to hand over the men to police custody.

Saleemud Din, a spokesperson for the Jamaat-e-Ahmadia, told Daily Times the accused were being given undue favour.

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\01\14\story_14-1-2010_pg13_1

Protect Ahmadis [Editorial]

---Daily Times, Pakistan

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Second Editorial: Protect Ahmadis

The recent incident of murder of an Ahmadi leader in Ferozewala, a city of Sheikhupura district situated near Lahore, is a sad reflection of how society chooses to treat a section of the minorities, variously known as Mirzais or Qadianis in Pakistan. What is more disconcerting though, is the apathy — rather collusion — of the state, which not only allows such incidents to take place under its very nose, it tends to protect the perpetrators. According to a series of reports published in this paper, Professor Mohammad Yousaf, leader of the Ahmadi community in Ferozewala, had sought police protection against sectarian zealots in his locality who had been threatening him. Allegedly, in response to this, two unidentified assailants shot him dead while he was at his general store. It was with some effort the family managed to lodge the FIR against the two murderers and four abettors known to the victim, who live in the same area. Instead of arresting the accused and investigating further, it is reported that the police let the four abettors go when they visited the police station with PML-N’s member of the Punjab Assembly Pir Ashraf Rasool. Meanwhile, both the police and the nominees in the FIR have been pressurising the family to withdraw the murder case. Alarmingly, even after the ghastly retribution visited upon Mohammad Yousaf, Khatam-e-Nabuwat Youth Wing’s signboard on the main roundabout of the town, which urges believers to kill and maim Islam’s enemies and to socially boycott Ahmadis, has not been removed.

While we are witnessing the gruesome consequences of promoting extremist Islam in the form of suicide attacks, this incident shows another dimension of the free rein given to hate-mongering mullahs. Most often the paranoia and hatred against Ahmadis inspired by self-styled Islamic leaders has taken a murderous turn. Not long ago, a TV presenter incited the wholesale murder of Ahmadis by declaring it an obligation for Muslims, as a result of which two targeted killings took place in Sindh. This continues unabated because of the failure of the concerned authorities to take action against the culprits. Apparently, it is due to a deep bias that runs through the entire system. There is a visible nexus of protection as demonstrated in this case. Whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim, the state is responsible to protect all citizens of Pakistan against oppression. It is these kinds of cases that really require judicial activism, as the legislature and executive have both been found siding with the perpetrators rather than the victims. *

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\01\13\story_13-1-2010_pg3_1

Ahmadi leader killed in Ferozwala: Police let suspects leave with PML-N MPA

---Daily Times, Pakistan

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Ahmadi leader killed in Ferozwala: Police let suspects leave with PML-N MPA

* IO says nominated suspects allowed to leave on guarantee of MPA Pir Ashraf Rasool
* Complainants claim efforts being made to exonerate Yousaf’s killers

By Rana Tanveer

LAHORE: Four suspects – who remained at large for six days after their nomination in a first information report in the murder of a local Ahmadi leader were brought to a police station on Monday, but police let them leave with a member of the provincial assembly instead of arresting them, sources in the Ferozewala Police Station told Daily Times.

The sources said the MPA, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had brought the four suspects – Muhammad Ahmed Fridi, Inamullah, Ashraf and Haji Arshad – to the police station, and they remained there for more than an hour. They said the investigation officer listened to their side of the story, wherein they claimed they were innocent and had been wrongly implicated in the case. Following this, the police – instead of arresting them on the basis of their nomination in the FIR – let them go with the MPA, said the sources.

According to the FIR registered with the Ferozewala Police Station on January 5, two armed assailants attacked 70-year-old Muhammad Yousaf while he was at his general store in the presence of Yousaf’s sons, Fatehuddin and Mahmood Yousaf. The FIR said Yousaf was shot six times in the chest and arms and he died immediately. Yousaf was allegedly killed for reporting the assailants to police over their reported involvement in the spread of religious hatred against the Ahmadi sect and provoking people to kill Ahmadis. According to the FIR, Muhammad Ahmed Fridi, Inamullah, Ashraf and Haji Arshad abetted Yousaf’s murder.

The policeman in charge of the investigation, Sub-Inspector Rai Zulfiqar Ali, told Daily Times that the suspects came to the police station with PML-N MPA Pir Ashraf Rasool, and conceded they were allowed to leave, “as the complainant party did not come to the police station”.

MPA’s guarantee: He said the suspects were summoned to the police station on Monday to listen to arguments from both sides. He said although the four men had been named in the FIR, they were allowed to leave on the MPA’s guarantee. “The MPA will bring them to the police station on Tuesday (today),” he said.

Zulfiqar said police were trying locate the two assailants – who had not yet been identified. He said after three raids were conducted to arrest the four suspects named in the FIR, the MPA brought them to the police station.

Exonerate suspects: Yousaf’s son Fatehuddin told Daily Times that police and the MPA were giving the suspects “an undue favour”. He said efforts were being made to “exonerate the suspects because they are influential”.

He claimed that the MPA had been “sheltering the suspects since the day of the murder … they have been living with him”. He said while police summoned his family to the station on Monday, they did not go because “we were feeling insecure because of their influence”.

Azhar Siddique advocate, an expert in criminal law, told Daily Times that the police decision to let the suspects go was “gross misconduct and illegal”. He said the development showed that police were biased against the complainants.

Meanwhile, the Jamaat Ahmadia Lahore adopted a resolution against the murder of a member of their sect. Spokesman Munawar Shahid told Daily Times that his group strongly condemned the role of “extremists spreading religious hatred”. He said that with such incidents on the rise, the government must take serious notice of alleged atrocities against Ahmadis.

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\01\12\story_12-1-2010_pg13_1