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Place of worship sealed by order. 12 Ahmadis booked, 3 arrested and four detained without charge.
Chak No.5, District Badin, Sindh: In order to settle a dispute of personal and social nature, the Muhajirs of the locality decided to invoke anti-Ahmadiyya prejudice and intervention by clerics. They telephoned Muhammad Yaqub the mulla of Majlis Tahaffuz Khatme Nabuwwat. He took some others along and raided the Ahmadiyya mosque at Chak 5, which was not locked at the time. Mullas stole a few copies of the Quran, Hadith and other books, went back and reported to the police. The police should have charged the mullas for theft, but strange as their ways are, they decided to carry out raids at Ahmadi homes at night to make arrests. At the application of mulla Muhammad Yaqub, the ‘resident activist of Jamaat Khatme Nabuwwat, Badin Office’ the police registered an FIR dated May 21, 2008 against 12 Ahmadis under sections PPC 298C, 295A, 147 and 149. The named Ahmadis are: Messrs Bashir Ahmad, Basharat, Mushtaq, Riaz, Saeed Ahmad, Tahir, Mansur Jat, Nasrulla Jat, Waseem, Alam Jat, Asaf Arain and Ghazi Jat. They accused them of:
Based on the above ridiculous accusations, which are partly fabricated, the police earned the shame of registration of a criminal case under which the victims could be imprisoned for ten years. Amazing! The police arrested three Ahmadis and detained four. But the worse was still to come. The District Co-ordination Officer, Mr. Agha Wasif Abbas thereafter ordered the sealing of the Ahmadiyya place of worship. Civil servants of the elite service used to take pride in their high education and understanding of social issues. This incident in Badin is indicative of dangerous decline in the quality of these officials. |
In the last week of May, Ahmadis were celebrating, in an innocent manner, centenary of the Ahmadiyya Khilafat. The mulla took exception to that, and agitated vigorously. The authorities responded favorably to the clerics’ outrages and put pressure on Ahmadi residents of Rabwah and their community officials to restrict severely their personal and community expression of joy and happiness. This situation was unbecoming to a civilized society. Ahmadiyya Khilafat is the institution of succession in the worldwide Jamaat. It is a spiritual and community institution; it has no political role. The system continues to promote “Love for All, Hatred for None”, tolerance, peace in all spheres of life, universal justice and higher spiritual and moral values (Alfazal May 24, 2008 : pp. 3, 4). Ahmadis have benefited greatly from Khilafat and are grateful to God for it. They have a cause to feel happy, and celebrate. Their celebration was as fair as the cause. They planned to clean sweep their town and homes, share food with the poor, offer thanksgiving prayers, visit the graves of their ancestors, put on new or neat clothes, decorate their homes with paper buntings and light them up with earthen lamps with wick to save on the short supply of electricity. What was there for the mulla to protest against, and for the authorities to take him seriously? The mulla launched a campaign of slander and threats through the vernacular print media. They issued press releases and statements regarding alleged Ahmadiyya Jewish fellowship (Qadiani Yahudi gath jor قادیانی یہودی گٹھـ جوڑ), dire consequences (khatrnak nataej خطرناک نتائج), direct action (rast iqdam راست اقدام), taking law in their own hands (kafan bandh kar khud rokain gai کفن باندھ کر خود روکیں گے) etc. They commandeered falsehood in bulk for the occasion; it reminds one of 1953 when during the anti-Ahmadiyya agitation they circulated pamphlets that 1000 men had been killed at Jhang and Sargodha by the security forces in one day; while the prestigious high level judicial inquiry subsequently found and mentioned it in its worthy Report that ‘not a single bullet had been fired on that date in either of these places’ ( p. 156 of The Report , Punjab Disturbances of 1953). In crafty but essentially futile reaction to imagined Ahmadiyya incentive, the mulla held 80 jalsas according to his own count, held a big convention at Alhamra, a state facility in Lahore, where “the prime minister and the four chief ministers would participate” (sic), issued a series of articles in vernacular press wherein the 20th century state-sponsored killings of numerous Ahmadis in Afghanistan was eulogized. Slanderous accusations were made and published against Ahmadis, and highly provocative threats were made. The aim was to create an artificial threat to peace of the society and to provide an excuse to the authorities to trample upon fundamental rights of Ahmadi citizens of Rabwah. The authorities predictably responded as the mulla wanted. It is amazing that the officialdom that looks the other way when a big mosque in the centre of the nation’s capital is converted into a veritable arms depot, becomes active to deny Ahmadis decoration of their town with colored paper buntings. Who are these mullas? Most of them are from the notorious Majlis Ahrar or their sympathizers in the Majlis Tahaffuz Khatme Nabuwwat. Some of them are from the banned organizations that indulge in terrorism. Political support comes from influentials who either have an Ahrari past or those who find it politically advantageous to cohabit with mulla. The administration looks towards Lahore for the wink. This type of drama was played earlier as well, when in 1989 the District Magistrate Jhang forbade Ahmadis celebration of their community’s Centenary and denied them even “distribution of sweets and service of food”. That shameless ‘Order’ brought great embarrassment to the country in international circles. The duet of irresponsible mulla and official charged the entire Ahmadiyya population of Rabwah in an FIR dated December 15, 1989. It has remained open ever since. Rabwah is the only town in Pakistan where all jalsas, rallies, even organized sports remained banned for Ahmadis for the last 20 years; the mulla, however, has blank cheque to do what he likes in Rabwah — and he cashes this cheque often, even regularly. Recently, in January 2007, the UK Parliamentary Human Rights Group mission looked into the Rabwah situation by on-the-spot visit, published its report, and titled it: RABWAH: A PLACE FOR MARTYRS? The DPO visited Rabwah on May 25. He met no Ahmadi community official. The police arrested an Ahmadi for selling Ahmadiyya badges etc. They also put pressure on Ahmadi elders to see to it that no Ahmadi displays in public any joy and cheer about Khilafat. How can any community official do that? Joy is in the heart and shows itself on the face of the carrier who takes it along in the air around him wherever he goes. No mulla, administration or police can deprive a man of his happiness with his instant situation. The state that insists on depriving a section of its own people of fundamental rights shoots itself in the foot. Martin Niemoller summed it up well in a statement: “In Germany, the Nazis came for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn’t speak up because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionist and I didn’t speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I was a Protestant so I didn’t speak up. Then they came for me…. By that time there was no one to speak up for any one.” (Congressional Record 14 Oct. 1968) Eventually the will of the mulla prevailed — partially. All parties agreed that no jubilations be undertaken on 27th May, the date of the Centenary. A heavy police contingent was deployed in the town on high alert and the press reported total inactivity (hoo ka alam ھو کا عالم) on account of the shutter-down in the bazaar. The gloating mulla declared to the print media, “The country has been saved by the ban on the Qadiani centenary”, the daily Jang; May 28. According to a press report, mulla Allah Yar Arshad told Ahmadis “to restrict themselves to their homes and places of worship so as to avoid religious provocation.” The mulla did not realize that Ahmadis, being practical and reasonable people, could postpone their celebrations for one day (even though it is like the state forcing Christians to celebrate their Christmas on Dec 26). So, to every body’s great surprise the citizens of Rabwah celebrated their Centenary on 28th May. By the time the mulla realized what was going on, it was too late. He fumed, protested and ran around, but by the time he got some audience, the day was over. In frustration and failure he demanded of the authorities to put a stop to all that on the following day. The authorities told Ahmadis to light no earthen lamps thereafter, and Ahmadis said, ‘OK’. The mulla’s flurry reminds one of the adage: Much ado about nothing. The mulla is now demanding action against the local DSP. He wants an inquiry into the entire episode and action against all the officials responsible. A number of these clerics of Chiniot Tehsil met the DPO Jhang “who assured the ulama that an inquiry is underway against some irregularities” The daily Ausaf; May 31, 2008. The DPO met the Nazir Amur Aamma, an Ahmadi community official. There were reports from many other locations e.g. Kot Momin, Golarchi etc. where the police accompanied by agents of religious extremism and hatred raided Ahmadiyya get-togethers for the Centenary, and harassed the peaceful participants extensively. Goth Ahmadiyya, District Mirpur Sindh; April/May 2008: Four Ahmadis, Messrs Bashir Ahmad s/o Nasir Ahmad, Rashid Ahmad, Mubarak Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad were booked under Ahmadi-specific PPC 298C and 298B. What happened is less interesting and more appalling; it points to the disastrous goals the Pakistani state and society are heading for. It happened on April 11, 2008 that Mr. Bashir Ahmad went to the local flour mill (chakki چکی) to buy some flour. The mulla already sitting there greeted him with the traditional Salam to which Bashir responded in the normal way. Thereafter the mulla asked Bashir to introduce himself further. On learning that Bashir was an Ahmadi, the mulla flew into a rage and blamed him of being instrumental in breaking his vow that he will never socialize with Qadianis. The mulla lost his balance, became violent and attempted to assault the Ahmadi with a chair that was nearby. The situation was saved from worsening by intervention of some other men present there. Later, the mulla mustered a few dozen of his own type and proceeded to report to the police station. There, the police registered his report but not an FIR. The police subsequently raided and detained two Ahmadis namely Bashir Ahmad and Naseer Ahmad. At the police station the two learnt that a report had been filed against four Ahmadis. Subsequent efforts were successful as the police decided not to register an FIR. These religious miscreants then took the issue to the Sessions Court at Umerkot where the judge conveniently ordered that a criminal case should be registered. The police complied, but Ahmadis hurriedly secured bail before arrest. The mulla could not bear up with that; he decided to act on his own. Twelve days after the registration of the case, when Mr. Zahid Ahmad, Ahmadi was returning home in the evening on a motor cycle from Bachao Band Stop, he was intercepted by two armed men. Zahid stopped and they fired at him. The shot missed. The two got hold of him and hit him with an axe. The attackers left him in an injured state. He somehow returned to Bachao Band where his friends took him to a hospital. They referred him to the Civil Hospital Mirpur, where he is now recovering. The foot-prints of the attackers led to the village to which the opponents and litigants of the earlier case belong. Those people are supporting the mullas in their campaign against Ahmadis. The situation is full of tension and a cause for concern. Kotri; May 16, 2008: Mr. Nasir Ahmad, Ahmadi of Bhitai Colony, Kotri (Sindh) married sometimes back a widow (who has four children). On May 9, 2008 some mullas went to his home and manhandled him. They accused him of marrying a ‘Muslim’ woman. They forcibly took him to the police station. The police obliged the clerics by registration of a criminal case against Mr. Ahmad under the Ahmadi-specific PPC 298C. In the FIR the cleric was not shy to mention that he is “a member of the Aalami Tahaffuz Khatme Nabuwwat and an ex-Amir of the Jamiat-ul-Ulma Islam Fazlur Rahman Group”. Mr. Ahmad was arrested. The FIR No. 201/08 was registered at P.S. Kotri, District Jamshoro, under section PPC 298C on May 9, 2008. Kot Momin, District Sargodha; May 27, 2008: Mr. Muhammad Farooq Jajja, an Ahmadi religious teacher and Mr. Muhammad Ehsan were booked and arrested by the police for celebrating the Khilafat Jubilee in their mosque. The local community had assembled in the mosque on 27th May afternoon to listen to the Centenary sermon of their Khalifatul Masih on the Ahmadiyya TV channel, the MTA . The mosque was lit for the occasion and sweets were distributed. At the end of the program, participants returned home happy. Then the state struck. The police came and forcibly took away Mr. Farooq, the imam of the mosque. They charged him and one other Mr. Farooq under the anti-Ahmadiyya law PPC 298C. Later they arrested Mr. Farooq as well. This was a criminal act on the part of the police as the PPC 298C does not forbid such celebrations. These two Ahmadis are now exposed to three years in prison only for their faith. The FIR No. 295/08 was registered against the two Ahmadis at police station Kot Momin, under PPC 298C on May 27, 2008. Dera Ghazi Khan, May 27, 2008: Mr. Rab Nawaz, a fresh convert to Ahmadiyyat and Mr. Nadeem Ahmad his Ahmadi acquaintance were charged under the Ahmadi-specific law PPC 298C for preaching on May 27, 2008. Mr. Nadeem had given a copy of the Holy Quran to Mr. Rab Nawaz. The copy bore his signature. Sanaullah, a brother-in-law of the latter reported the two to the police and presented the Quran as evidence. The police registered the case and arrested Mr. Rab Nawaz. Mr. Nadeem Ahmad has not yet been arrested. An application for bail has been moved in the Court for both the victims of tyranny. The FIR No. 345/08 was registered at Police Station Sadr, Dera Ghazi Khan under PPC 298C on May 27, 2008 against Messrs Rab Nawaz and Nadeem Ahmad. Chichi Watni: It is learnt that Subedar Mushtaq Ahmad, a 75-years old Ahmadi, retired army JCO was sent for and arrested by the police under PPC 298C for preaching, in response to a report by mullas. The action precipitated after the observance of the congregational Friday prayers. The civil judge rejected the old man’s plea for bail. Mr. Mushtaq is not only a septuagenarian, he is sick. They admitted him in the hospital. The police registered the FIR No. 168/08 in Police Station Sadr Chicha Watni, District Sahiwal on May 30, 2008 under section PPC 298-C. The police inspector mentioned in the FIR that at the time of his raid, the accused was addressing and preaching to ‘unknown’ persons at his home. The inspector should have investigated, learnt the names of the ‘unknown’ addressees and named them in the FIR in support of his otherwise unsupportable action. Jaisal Khan, Sub Inspector thus added to the dubious reputation already earned by the police in general. Lahore: Below we reproduce verbatim a press report by The News International of May 27, 2008. The Conference is noteworthy for its proceedings, participants, statements, resolutions etc. as it shows the direction to which the so-called religious right is leading the country unabashedly. We offer some comments, but first the report from The News:
This conference was held at an official location, Aiwan-e-Iqbal in Lahore. Who authorized it, the Federal government should take notice. According to an earlier report in The News of May 23, 2008, mulla Ilyas Chinioti the organizer conveyed that he had invited to the conference inter alia: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Mian Nawaz Sharif, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Raja Zafarul Haq, Senator Zafar Iqbal Jhagra etc. The invitees list betrays the group who is ever ready to conscript religion in service of politics. Most of these chose wisely not to turn up except reportedly a PML (N) provincial minister who came at the end but chose not to address the audience. The daily Jang of May 27, 2008 reported that Sheikh Muhammad Umar from Makka, Saudi Arabia, Maulana Sanaullah from Nepal, Dr Saeed from Germany, Maulana Tayyab from England also addressed the conference. The Saudi Arabian participation was mentioned more often in the press. Among the locals present there, JI’s Liaquet Baloch, mulla Zahid-ur-Rashdi, Samiul Haq of JUI and a number of mullas from the notorious Ahrar were noteworthy. Samiul Haq urged: “Jihad should be waged continuously”. Alam Tariq, a mulla from a banned organization was more specific: “Jihad is essential against Qadianis”. The political content and emphasis of the conference is well-apparent from the above press report. All this was facilitated by the government of Punjab, now controlled by MPL (N). A more detailed press report is available in the daily Jinnah, Lahore of May 27, 2008. It is noteworthy that the authorities forbade Ahmadis to hold a Jalsa in Rabwah on that very day, May 27, 2007, the date of Ahmadiyya Khilafat centenary. This is the story of an Ahmadi elder who suffered greatly under the regime of ‘enlightened moderation’, got uprooted irrevocably and had to seek shelter in the United Kingdom. He died there recently, and his remains were brought back to Pakistan. It would be appropriate to recall what happened; may be someone would draw useful lessons. Mr. Muhammad Nawaz practiced medicine in the town of Haveli Lakha, district Okara, Punjab. He was a good man, and had ‘shifa’ i.e. a high proportion of his patients would recover their health. He was thus respected in his town, and his medical practice flourished. There are only a few Ahmadis residing at Haveli Lakha, but on account of his piety and good reputation, he was appointed the district president of all the branches of the Ahmadiyya community in district Okara. Although he was popular in public, the mulla did not like him for his faith and was always on the look out to worst him. During the 1974 anti-Ahmadiyya riots, instigated by the regime of Mr. Bhutto the mulla got his chance, and Mr. Nawaz and his family suffered major jolts. They forced him out of his home and he had to live in countryside for months. Subsequently, in 1984, in the days of General Zia, the authorities charged him for his commitment to the Kalima کلمہ the Islamic creed, and prosecuted him for months. However, the worst was still to come, and that happened in the days of Musharraf regime. On 15-12-1999 an unruly mob attacked and destroyed the under construction extension of the house of Mr. Muhammad Nawaz. The mob pulled down the under construction rooms brick by brick, razed them to the ground and took away all the building material from the site. They also attacked ransacked and looted the main house and put some furniture on fire. Nawaz and his family saved their lives by jumping from the roof of their house on to a neighbor’s housetop. Mr. Nawaz had at his disposal some licensed small arms for self-protection but he forbade his son to use them against the rioters. The saddest and the most painful and inexplicable part of this cruel incident was that all this demolition, looting and violence took place in the presence of the local police and administration. All the while it was taking place the police and local administration did absolutely nothing whatsoever to protect Nawaz, his family and his property. They made no attempt at all to stop the unruly mob. The only thing done by the police was that they arrested Nawaz and his two sons from the neighbor’s house where they had gone to save their lives and charged them under Section 298-C of Pakistan Penal Code. It is narrated that when Nawaz learnt of the police search for them, he told his sons not to be found hiding under a charpoy چارپائی (a bed) or behind a paiti پیٹی (a large trunk for storing quilts in the Punjab). The police had thus no difficulty in locating these victims of mob violence and state tyranny. Having arrested them, they tied their hands behind their back as if they were some dangerous criminals. They sent their victims to prison at Sahiwal. In the jail these gentlemen were initially put in the death row and kept in solitary confinement and denied even customary facilities allowed to the under trial. The attackers were allowed to go scot free and no case was registered against anyone for this crime and no one was arrested, whereas the victims were charged and incarcerated. Three other Ahmadis were also charged under the same section. Lt. General Mohammad Safdar was then the governor of the Punjab. The background of this cruel incident is that adjacent to Mr. Nawaz’s house there was an old and dilapidated house which Mr. Nawaz had purchased from its owner, and started construction of four new rooms. One Munir Ahmad whose house was also adjacent to this house was interested in buying it and was offended at this purchase by Nawaz and raised objection about the common wall between this house and his. The matter was taken to the local civil court and litigation started. Munir Ahmad, feeling that he did not have a strong case, tried to give it a communal and sectarian colour by falsely propagating that Dr. Muhammad Nawaz was building an Ahmadiyya place of worship. In this, he sought and got full help and cooperation of local mullas. As the mater was under litigation, the local authorities decided that they would make an on the spot examination of the site at 11 a.m. on 15-12-1999 to make their own assessment. Fearing that spot examination of the site would vindicate Mr. Nawaz’s stand, the mullas started exhorting people from loudspeakers of mosques of the town to assemble at Dr Nawaz’s house. They proclaimed that it was a matter of Jihad and Dr. Nawaz should not be allowed to build what they claimed to be an Ahmadiyya place of worship. As a result, a large mob gathered at the place and completely demolished the rooms under construction and looted and damaged his main house and clinic. The police and local administration made no effort to stop the violence. The authorities offered no help, relief or shelter to the family of Mr. Nawaz consisting of women and minor school going children who sought shelter on their own as best as they could. Higher authorities in the federal and provincial governments were duly informed of the incident. A letter was written to the Interior Minister by the Ahmadiyya headquarters in Pakistan. The requested relief never arrived. Later, when released on bail, Nawaz and his family could not return to their home because of the opposition and lack of official support. The family shifted to various other towns but could not settle down. Mr. Nawaz suffered an emotional shock from the mob attack followed by official tyranny, and developed a neurotic condition. He could not sleep well at night. This affected adversely his health. The new locations where he tried to establish afresh his medical practice were not responsive, so the family underwent financial hardship. The issue of his resettlement was taken up at the provincial level but it was futile. The threat of the prosecution and an unjustified imprisonment was ever present. This took its toll, and Mr. Nawaz could bear it no longer. He proceeded to the United Kingdom. His frail health could not support him for long. He died in the UK in the last week of May 2008. His remains were brought back to Pakistan to be buried at Rabwah. The funeral of this good man who had suffered greatly at the hands of the state and the mulla was attended by a large number of admirers and well wishers. It is relevant to place on record that Iqbal Jeddah who was the main instigator of this event in 1999, subsequently suffered wholesome personal disgrace in the local society and consequently lost all his business. Safdar, the governor at the time, soon lost his job to Khalid Maqbool, and disappeared from the public scene. The president who made it a policy not to risk the slightest dent in his public standing for supporting human rights of Ahmadis is now exposed to such a hurricane of media and public disapproval that one would not wish it even to an enemy. BELLING: And what, if I may ask, is your destiny? GREGERS: To be the thirteenth at the table. Henrik Ibsen, The Wild Duck, V An Ahmadi, who had been selected for a job in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia received the following E-mail from the company handling his visa formalities; it is reproduced as received: Date: Mon, 5 May 2008 03:25:32 -0700 (PDT) From: ” erc alhuribi” <erctal@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: arrival at KSA To: “mehdi sardar” <an-ideal- mehdi@yahoo.com> Eng. Waja: Please be advice that we have dropped the idea of recruiting you as have no hand in processing your visa from KSA consulate in ISLAMABAD since your religion is AHMADIAH. If you want to process your visa change the religion in your passport and resubmit to RAJA MUSHTAQ. Regards; Eng. Talal ERC GM His Majesty, King Abdullah is in the international news these days for his major initiative in the field of inter-faith dialogue. However, if his government indulges in the kind of duplicity apparent in the above E-mail and the treatment Ahmadis received from his officials in Jeddah in 2006 (large scale arrest from a place of worship, maltreatment followed by unjustified extradition) his verbal intentions will lack the credibility that comes only from facts on the ground. According to a recent press report the Saudi monarch said, “…We are a voice of justice and values and humanity, that we are a voice of co-existence and a just and rational dialogue” (The Dawn; June 5, 2008). But his officials want the visa applicant to change his religion (in fact ‘denomination’) before his visa could be processed. This is hardly the environment, in which a credible and meaningful interfaith dialogue could proceed. Rabwah: The daily Ausaf, Lahore of May 16, 2008 entered the following story by its correspondent:
Faisalabad: There is an active anti-Ahmadiyya wave apparent at the Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad these days. Slanderous and provocative posters against the Ahmadiyya Community, its holy founder and Ahmadiyyat have been put up there. A delegation of students’ parents met the principal, who subsequently put up all the Ahmadi female students in one hostel although the parents did not support this segregation. Some medical colleges in the Punjab have disreputable history of indulging in sectarian agitation. At Lahore the Islami Jamiat Talaba was in the lead in fomenting unrest and maltreatment of Ahmadi colleagues at professional colleges. The situation at the PMC is a cause for concern. A report was presented by a number of organizations on behalf of the civil society of Pakistan in February 2008. It was coordinated ably by the National Commission for Justice and Peace, and Democratic Commission for Human Development. The entire report is worthy of notice and follow-up. Here we present only a few excerpts of the document:
At the end, the Report makes 13 sterling recommendations to the Government of Pakistan and the UN Human Rights Council. Washington: The Daily Times, Lahore of May 4, 2008 reported as follows (extracts):
Minority Rights Group International issued its report on State of the World’s Minorities 2008 (Events of 2007). It has a chapter on Pakistan. The report is edited by Ishbel Matheson, and includes a Preface by Professor Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner. The Report deals with Pakistan on its pages 21-25, and delves on victimization of Ahmadis at some length. It mentions that “Rabwah remains a town under siege”. It quotes I.A. Rehman, director of the HRCP as, “The Ahmadis, among Pakistan’s minority communities, face the worst discrimination.” Karachi: The following interesting news appeared in the daily Aajkal, Lahore of May 29, 2008:
Jamia Banoria is a well-known huge Deobandi seminary at Karachi with numerous branches. It has the dubious distinction of indulging in extensive anti-Ahmadiyya and other sectarian activities, and is a known cradle of Jihadi and extremist politics. Mr. Muhammad Rana, a research scholar undertook extensive research on present-day Jihad and wrote a veritable tome titled ‘Jihad e Kashmir wa Afghanistan’ in which he wrote: “The Chief of Jaish e Muhammad Masood Azhar, the Patron of Harkat ul Jihad Islami Saifulla Akhtar and Abdus Samad Sial, Amir of the same are all graduates of the Jamia Banori Town Karachi… Jamia Banoria is supporter of Jihadi organizations; the Ulama of this Jamia had a major role in the formation of Jaish Muhammad (now banned) in particular…. Prior to this, Harkat ul Mujahideen was a Jihadi organization supported by Jamia Banoria. Sipah Sahaba, a sectarian Jihadi organization, called here simply Jihadi Organization is also supported and propped by Jamia Banoria” (pp. 424-426). This Jamia received back its own share of violence in that its top leaders Mufti Jamil, Maulvi Yusuf Ludhianwi, Mufti Shamzai were murdered by unknown killers in recent years. Last month the extremist Indonesian Ulama Council agitated the Ahmadiyya issue greatly and came close to having the community banned by the government on allegation of heresy. With that recent background and the rise of religious extremism in Indonesia it is rather enigmatic that Indonesian diplomats should have chosen to visit this madrassah and express their pleasure over its role. Indonesia had a good reputation in the past of practicing a tolerant version of Islam; its officials would do well to stay miles clear of people associated with madrassahs like Jamia Banoria in Pakistan. Do they not see what they have done eventually to Pakistan?
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