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India-Pakistan

Renowned KP clerics issue fatwa denouncing terrorism, only head of Islamic country may declare jihad

2023-01-10

[Dawn] Amid an uptick in murderous Moslem attacks in the country, renowned holy mans in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa issued a fatwa (religious decree) denouncing terrorism, it emerged on Monday. The development comes as terrorism is again rearing its head in the country, especially in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... Pakistain has seen a rise in terrorist attacks across the country, believed to have been planned and directed by the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... Pakistain (TTP) leaders based in Afghanistan. The TTP, which has ideological linkages with the Afghan Taliban, executed more than 100 attacks last year, most of which happened after August when the group’s peace talks with the Pakistain government began to falter. The ceasefire was formally ended last year on Nov 28 by the TTP. The 14-page fatwa, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, has been signed by 16 religious scholars from difference schools of thought, including Maulana Qari Ehsanul Haq, Mufti Subhanallah Jan, Dr Maulana Attaur Rehman, Maulana Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Dr Abdul Nasir, Mufti Mukhtarullah Haqqani, Maulana Tayyab Qureshi, Maulana Salmanul Haq Haqqani, Maulana Rehmatullah Qadri, Maulana Umar bin Abdul Aziz, Allama Abid Hussain Shakri, Mufti Mairajul Din Sarkani, Mufti Raza Mohammad Haqqani, Mufti Khalid Usmani, Mufti Sheikh Aijaz and Maulana Abdul Kareem. KP Chief Khateeb Maulana Tayyab Qureshi, one of the signatories, said the Learned Elders of Islam had issued the fatwa to answer some questions related to jihad. Speaking to Dawn.com, he said: "Recently some so-called Learned Elders of Islam tried to create chaos using Islam. After that, it became our responsibility to issue the fatwa." In the decree, the scholars condemned "spreading chaos and riots" in an Islamic state". They also termed those "declaring war and picking up weapons against" authorities to be "perpetrators deserving of punishment". The fatwa also said that "not every person has the right to declare jihad" and that it could only be declared by the head of an Islamic state. It further said that a soldier or police official killed by the enemy during battle was a martyr, adding that there was "no doubt about his martyrdom". Head of an Islamic country alone can declare jihad: edict [Dawn] Only the head of an Islamic country is entitled to declare jihad, and anyone involved in revolt against the state is required to be "crushed" in light of the principles of Islam. Amid a surge in terrorist attacks, the significant announcement came in form of an edict which was issued on Monday with signatures of Khyber Pakhtun­khwa’s 16 religious scholars on it. The holy mans said that the head of the Islamic country will announce jihad since this is one of the basic components of the Islamic country. "According to the teaching[s] of Islam, all the citizens of the Islamic country have to respect the law, and refusing to follow the Constitution [of the Islamic country] is prohibited according to the Shari’ah," read the decree, a copy of which is available with Dawn. Protection of an Islamic country is the responsibility of all its citizens. "Since Pakistain is an Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... , there is no doubt that all, including the military and police deployed to defend the country, when killed in the battle against enemies, are deaders," the decree read. The decree noted that a so-called religious scholar in Islamabad as well as some enemies and some anti-state elements have been issuing provocative and controversial statements. "Obeying [the directions issued by the] head of the State is compulsory under the Islamic principles and those refusing to follow, is [rising in] revolt," the decree read, adding "it is compulsory for all the citizens to follow the head of the state and the Constitution". Anyone who took up arms against the state or the [Pak] armed forces would be considered an bad boy, it said, adding that such an act had been forbidden and anyone involved in revolt is required to be crushed in light of the principles of Islam. According to the scholars, there is no doubt that the Western democracy is against the teachings of Islam. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... they added, ’if someone declares the parliament’s decision submissive to the Holy Koran, he should not be called as misled’. The decree read that shaving the beard was forbidden in Islam but "it does not mean if somebody shaves the beard is a non-Moslem", adding that once there was a time when wearing a tie and pants was considered dress of the Westerners but it had now become common among Moslems. "No religious scholar has termed wearing a tie and pants against Islam and this is the reason why religious scholars have justified wearing pants at offices," the 14-page edict read. The decree has been signed by Sheikhul Hadis Maulana Qari Ehsanul Haq of Darul Uloom Sarhad, Mufti Subhanullah Jan from Madressah Darwesh Imdadul Uloom, Dr Maulana Ataur Rehman from Tafheemul Koran Mardan, Maulana Hussain Ahmad from Wifaqul Madaris Arabia, Maulana Dr Abdul Nasir from Tanzeemul Madaris Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Mufti Mukhtarullah Haqqani and Maulana Salmanul Haq Haqqani from Jamia Daraul Uloom Akora Khattak, Chief Khateeb KP Maulana Tayyab Qureshi, provincial nazim ...small time big shot, the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council... of Tanzeemul Madaris Maulana Rehmatullah Qadri, Maulana Umar Bin Abdul Aziz from Wifaqul Madaris Aslafia, Allama Abid Hussain Shakiri from Jamia Arif-Al-Hussaini Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire... , Mufti Mairajuddin Sarkani from Jamia Amania Peshawar, Mufti Raza Muhammad Haqqani from Jamia Taleemul Koran Peshawar, Mufti Khalid Usmani from Jamia Islamia Kohat, Mufti Sheikh Aizaj from Jamia Masjid Ahl-e-Hadis Fawara Chowk Peshawar and Maulana Abdul Karim from KP Ulema Council.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan's top militant commanders

2015-07-10

Useful information about a bunch of baddies, eighteen in all, with pictures of some of them. [DAWN] Mullah Fazlullah ...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan... A Yousufzai from Swat, he took charge as the head of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain after the death of Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone strike in November 2013. He is currently heading the TTP faction often referred to as "TTP central" in intelligence circles. He controlled large parts of the Malakand division for nearly three years before escaping to Afghanistan in 2009 following a military operation. Fazlullah has been the criminal mastermind behind various high profile attacks including the brutal Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. school attack as well as the killing of GoC Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... Major General Sanaullah Khan Niazi. He maintains good relations with the Afghan Taliban. Affiliated with: Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) Maulana Asim Umar ...chief of al-Qaeda's Sharia Committee for Pakistain, named head of al-Qaeda in India. His video appearances are frequently accompanied by clips of al Qaeda's senior propagandist in Pakistan, Ahmad Farooq. Umar the author of The Army of Anti-Christ: Blackwater, Documentation of the Dreadful Terrorist Activities of America's Blackwater in Islamic Countries... The head of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and the first Deobandi to lead an Al-Qaeda franchise. He has studied in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... and also taught at seminaries there. He has authored several books on subjects such as doomsday, the Anti-Christ, and Freemasons, etc. He is well-connected with various Deobandi and Salafi scholars and enjoys a good reputation in various religious circles. Affiliated with: Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) Sirajuddin Haqqani Commonly known as "Khalifa Sahib", he heads what the US refers to as the Haqqani Network, which is in fact a group fighting under the direct command of Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... His fighters are some of the best-trained holy warriors in this region, and have carried out a number of high profile attacks in Afghanistan. Sirajuddin Haqqani's step mother is a Yemeni, and he maintains close ties with Al Qaeda. When questioned about the TTP, he has referred to them as "our brothers". He was a close friend of former TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud. Affiliated with: Haqqani Network, TTP, Al-Qaeda Hafiz Saeed Khan Orakzai He had previously served as a TTP commander in Orakzai Agency ... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers... He parted ways with the TTP and joined His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us... 's "Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... " (IS). In January this year, he was appointed as a representative of IS in Pakistain through an audio announcement Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the official front man of IS. A report says he was killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) kaboom earlier this year. Affiliated with: TTP, IS Umar Khalid Khurasani ...intel chief of the Jamaatul Ahrar TTP splinter group, or whatever it's calling itself these days... One of the founding members of the TTP, Umar Khalid Khurasani (also known as 'Abdul Wali') is a poet and former journalist from Mohmand Agency ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... . Within organizational circles, he is known to be a formidable military commander and was one of the first in the TTP to execute opponents by slitting their throats. He was the TTP Mohmand Chief and also held the additional charge of the Khyber Agency chapter for a brief period during which he orchestrated a bloody campaign against government-backed lashkars. He parted ways with "TTP central" and is now the de-facto chief of the splinter group Jamatul Ahrar. The group has now decided to reunite with TTP central. Affiliated with: TTP, Jamatul Ahrar Sheikh Khalid Haqqani Hailing from the Swabi district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... (KP), he is the deputy head of "TTP central" and has also served as its Head of Shura (consultative committee). A graduate of the Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak, he is held in high esteem within the banned group as a "thoughtful religious scholar and a seasoned military commander". He also authored a fatwa against Pak media, dividing them into different categories and legitimising the killing of some journalists. Affiliated with: TTP Muhammad Khurasani Also known as Mufti Khalid Balti, he is the current head of media at "TTP central" as well as their official front man. He spent many years in Karachi where he also taught at Jamia-tur-Rasheed. Muhammad Khurasani is fluent in Urdu, Arabic and Balti. He is well-connected with many of the seminaries across the country and his personality is one of the reasons many students wish to join him in North Wazoo. Affiliated with: TTP Ehsanullah Ehsan ...formerly the front man for the Pak Taliban, now the lips and tongue of the Jamaatul Ahrar splinter group in Mohmand Agency... Formerly the chief TTP front man, he was removed from the post after being accused of trying to sabotage relations with the Afghan Taliban, a charge he has termed baseless. He is now the front man of Jamatul Ahrar. After the reunification with TTP central, his new role is expected to be announced within the next few days. Affiliated with: TTP, Jamatul Ahrar Sheikh Maqbool Orakzai He was previously known as Shahidullah Shahid and served as the chief front man of the TTP under Hakimullah Mehsud and then Mullah Fazlullah. He parted ways with the TTP and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of IS. He is a Salafi in orientation and maintains good contacts with Arab fighters. Affiliated with: TTP, IS Commander Abdul Jabbar A close confidante of Mullah Umar, he currently heads Tehrik Ghalba-e-Islam and spends much of his time in Karachi. His fighters have been actively engaged in Kandahar and Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... provinces of Afghanistan. Publicly, he opposes rebellion against the Pak state and urges his men to focus on Afghanistan. Affiliated with: Tehrik Ghalba-e-Islam Ustad Ahmad Farooq Also known as Abdullah Farooqi, he is effectively the second-in-command of Al-Qaeda in Pakistain and has been the propaganda chief of the group. The group is now operating as Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). Most of the inner circle of Ustad Ahmad Farooq includes university graduates who had previously been associated with Islami Jamaat-e-Talaba ...The Islamic Students' Organization: the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, where young Moslems are trained into the arts of street fighting... (IJT), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI). A powerful orator, he is fluent in Urdu, Arabic, English and Punjabi. Affiliated with: Al-Qaeda in Pakistain, IJT, JI Asmatullah Muavia He has previously headed the "Punjabi Taliban", an alliance consisting primarily of Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard 2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers 3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... based sectarian Death Eaters. Taliban sources claim that a few weeks before the launch of operation Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... , Muavia surrendered himself at Razmak Fort in North Waziristan and announced that he would restrict his Death Eater activities to Afghanistan. He released a statement arguing that because of the infighting within the TTP and the changing regional situation, his group will only engage in propagation activities in Pakistain. Affiliated with: TTP Khan Saeed Also known as "Sajna", he leads one of the more influential Mehsud factions of the Taliban. Based in South Waziristan, he maintains a strong footprint in Karachi. A number of Mehsud transporters and other businessmen take their disputes to him. Affiliated with: TTP Adnan Rasheed Formerly a technician with the Pakistain Air Force (PAF), he was convicted as one of the planners behind an liquidation attempt on the then army chief and president Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... He was freed by the TTP in an audacious raid on Bannu jail, along with nearly 300 others. He currently leads the Ansaar-al-Aseer (helpers of prisoners), a unit that focuses on freeing Talibs in prison. Affiliated with: PAF, Ansaar-al-Aseer, TTP Qazi Hammad He was the 'chief justice' of the TTP. He is known for addressing internal disputes taken to his court. Qazi Hammad now part of Jamatul Ahrar. Affiliated with: Jamatul Ahrar, TTP Maulana Saleh Qassam Editor of 'Ihyae Khilafat', Jamatul Ahrar's monthly magazine. Affiliated with: Jamatul Ahrar Mufti Hassan Swati Former TTP commander who maintains a strong footprint in Peshawar and adjoining areas. He left the TTP a few months ago and joined Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's IS. A number of cases had been filed against him at the TTP's court in Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , accusing him of extortion and intimidating those who had refused to pay. Affiliated with: TTP, IS Mangal Bagh ...a former bus driver, now head of the Deobandi bandido group Lashkar-e-Islam and the Terror of Khyber Agency... He hails from the Bara area of Khyber agency and is a member of the Afridi tribe. He took charge of Khyber agency based Lashkar-e-Islam ...a group of Islamic bandidos infesting Khyber Agency. It's headed by a former bus driver.... around 2006 from Mufti Munir Shakir and has fought several battles with pro-government rustics. Mangal Bagh has also been involved in the drug trade, running a network in Karachi. Traditionally his focus has been on territorial control and furthering his business interests. However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... some TTP members claim that his stance is getting increasingly ideological. His group has now forged a formal alliance with the TTP. Affiliated with: Lashkar-e-Islam, TTP Jamatul Ahrar, a former splinter group of the TTP has announced its reunification with the TTP. Khyber Agency-based Lashkar-e-Islam headed by Mangal Bagh has also decided to merge with the TTP. The three have announced that they will now operate under the name of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain. Prior to the split, Jamatul Ahrar had largely operated as the Mohmand chapter of the TTP. According to TTP chief front man, Muhammad Khurasani, the group will announce its new structure within the next few days.

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India-Pakistan

TTP, govt committee meeting concludes; agreement on terms

2014-03-06

[DAWN] The meeting between negotiators from the government and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) concluded in Akora Khattak on Wednesday with both sides agreeing to certain terms and conditions, DawnNews reported. The current government committee includes Irfan Siddiqui, retired Major Amir, Rustam Shah Mohmand and Rahimullah Yousufzai and the negotiators nominated by the TTP include Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... , Maulana Abdul Aziz ...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is... and Professor Mohammad Ibrahim. Haq, chief of the Taliban negotiating committee, told news hounds after the meeting that the Taliban committee was seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... . He praised the Taliban for announcing the ceasefire and said he had asked the faceless myrmidons to track down whoever was responsible for the recent violence. Moreover, he also said that the announcement of a ceasefire from both sides was a major progress and that the Taliban had been asked to probe into those responsible for recent attacks. The chief Taliban mediator added that Afghanistan, India and the United States wanted the dialogue process to fail. He further said that the government and Taliban should jointly unveil the enemy. Haq said that the Taliban had not put forward any demands to change the democratic system. Talking about the Ahrarul Hind, the group that grabbed credit of the recent attack in an Islamabad court, he said that he had never heard the organization's name before and the Taliban were also unaware of the outfit. The head of the committee representing the government, Irfan Siddiqui, said they had discussed various options for how the negotiating process could continue and the results of today's meeting were satisfactory. Siddiqui said that the Taliban should openly condemn incidents of terrorism. He also said that the dialogue process had entered its second phase now, which included decision-making steps.The first round of talks was meant only to increase and facilitate contacts between the two sides, he added. Another government negotiator retired Major Amir told media representatives that the suggestions presented during the first round of the meeting had been agreed upon by both sides. Rahimullah Yousufzai told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the negotiators had decided to push forward with the process because the Pak Taliban had said they were not responsible for the recent attacks. ''In this situation, we opted to continue the talks, and we hope the Taliban will condemn these attacks and trace those who are behind it,'' Yousafzai said. During the meeting, held at Maulana Samiul Haq's Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania seminary, the members consulted on the dissolution of existing committees and the formation of new committees to carry forward peace talks, DawnNews had quoted sources as saying. Reports said the government had decided to dissolve the existing committee and form a new committee to represent it in the talks. Sources told DawnNews that the new government committee would likely comprise of members from the Pakistain Mohammedan League - Nawaz (PML-N) led government at the centre as well as members from the armed forces. Moreover, Chief Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Pervez Khattak or his representative would be added to the committee. The new committee was likely to also include a high-ranking official from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan would be its focal person. The recommendation for the formation of a new committee was made by Major Amir during a meeting of the current negotiators with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. On Tuesday, the government decided to resume peace dialogue with the outlawed group which was suspended last month after the TTP Mohmand claimed to have killed 23 detained Frontier Corps personnel. The two committees had met twice prior to the suspension of the dialogue process. The process appeared to gain new life over the weekend when the Pak Taliban declared a one-month ceasefire and the government responded by saying it would halt Arclight airstrikes against hard boy hideouts in the tribal areas. The decision was taken at a meeting of the four-member government negotiating team, headed by Irfan Siddqui, with Prime Minister Sharif. It was attended by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and Major (retired) Amir, Rustam Shah Mohmand and Rahimullah Yousufzai. The killing of eight troops this week, including six just hours before the negotiators met Wednesday, have also strained the process.

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India-Pakistan

Farooqi survives yet another deadly attack

2013-05-10

[Pak Daily Times] Leader of Ahle Sunnat Wal-Jamaat (ASWJ) Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi narrowly survived an armed attack in Korangi, meanwhile two people were killed in other incidents of violence across the city. ASWJ leader Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi survived an armed attack near Korangi seminary within the remits of Awami Colony Police Station. According to details, Farooqi was going to attend corner meeting of his party along with his security guards when unidentified armed riders intercepted his vehicle and resorted indiscriminate firing near Dar-ul-Uloom Korangi. Maulana narrowly escaped the attack but his police guard Adeel, Zamir Abbasi and two private guards Abdullah and Abdul Rehman sustained bullet injuries and were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medical treatment. Police said that guards of Mulana Farooqi also opened fire in retaliation which caused culprits to escape without achieving their illegitimate goals. It is pertinent to mention here that Mulana Farooqi had also survived the attack couple of months ago at Moti Mehal locality of Gulshan-e-Iqbal in which six police guards were killed. Separately, a young man was rubbed out near Karbala Ground within the remits of Landhi cop shoppe. Police said that victim was attacked by armed riders who shot him and managed to flee the scene. ... as though they had never been... On being informed police reached the spot and shifted his body to morgue for identification after autopsy. Police are yet to ascertain the motive behind this attack, while further investigation is underway. Another man was rubbed out in Macher Colony within the jurisdiction of Maripur police remits. Police informed that unidentified armed riders attacked Jan Muhammad, 32, near his residence, resultantly he sustained multiple bullet injuries and died on the way to hospital. The dead body was later handed over to his heirs after completing medico legal formalities. The motive behind the incident is currently unknown, said police.

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India-Pakistan

Former ST activist among 3 killed in separate acts of violence

2012-01-09

[Pak Daily Times] Three people, including a former activist of Sunni Tehreek A Brelvi political group founded in bloody Kärachi in 1992 by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. Its political wing is the Pakistan Inqilabi Tehreek. As the MQM's power declined it became the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque hard boyz in the heyday of Nizamuddin Shamzai. By coincidence, Muhammad Saleem Qadri was bumped off by Deobandi button men of the SSP in 2001. Even more coincidentally, SSP's funding comes from Kärachi, where‐also strictly coincidentally‐Binori Mosque is located. Go figure. (ST), were killed in separate acts of murder and violence in the metropolis on Sunday. A former activist of ST was rubbed out at Tonga Stand Street, Jutt Lines within the precincts of Brigade cop shoppe. The 36-year-old victim, Abdul Aziz alias Bhayya, son of Abdul Hameed, resided in the same area. He was sitting at a friend's optical store, when two armed motorcyclists opened fire, killing him on the spot. The culprits managed to flee from the scene with no trouble. The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for medico-legal formalities. SHO Rasool Sayal said that the victim was a former activist of ST and at the time of incident was sitting at his friend's shop. According to eyewitnesses, two gunnies wearing Shalwar Kameez fired a single shot in his head. Police have recovered empty shells of 9 mm pistol from the scene. They believed that it was a murder incident, however; the actual motive would be determined after the investigation. Investigation Officer Sub Inspector Asif said that the victim quit ST one year ago and was working as a painter. The case could not be registered till filing this report. Separately, the body of a man was found near Dar-ul-Uloom, Korangi, sector 5 ½ within the limits of Awami Colony cop shoppe. The victim was identified as 27-year-old Sarwar Khan, son of Asghar Khan, a resident of Sharif Colony, Landhi, sector 36-G. Police said that his hands and legs were tied with ropes and had received a bullet in the head. The body was shifted to the JPMC for his appointment with Doctor Quincy. Police officials said the victim was an employee of a garment factory and had been missing since yesterday. They further informed that he got married some seven months ago. Police suspected that a personal enmity might have been the reason behind the murder. An FIR (9/12) has been registered against faceless myrmidons on the complaint of victim's brother. A man was rubbed out at Karalla stop, New Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... within the jurisdiction of Bilal Colony cop shoppe. Thirty-year-old Pervez Jan, son of Ahmed Jan, was standing at the bus stop when two armed motorcyclists after an exchange of hot words, opened fire. Resultantly, Jan received a bullet in his neck and was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital at death's door. The culprits easily managed to flee from the scene while Jan succumbed to the injuries while being treated at the hospital.

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India-Pakistan

Violence erupts after killing of Muttahida leader

2011-05-04

[Dawn] Karachi descended into fear and panic as violence erupted across the metropolis shortly after the killing of a senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) They're the secular, liberal, progressive party, rooted in the immigrant Urdu speakers of Karachi, and one of the largest political parties in Pakistan. Nonetheless, they currently are the number four party in the National Assembly. MQM held a large rally of sympathy for the victims of 9/11 even as the Palestinians were dancing in the streets... but the zeitgeist is different now. member on Monday that left four more people dead, nearly a dozen others maimed, around 25 vehicles torched and a private bank branch partially damaged, police and witnesses said. The sudden and intense assaults, which were first reported in the east zone of the police organisational structure, gradually engulfed all major neighbourhoods, including residential and commercial areas, amid frequent incidents of firing and arson. The violence sparked in the afternoon after gunnies riding a cycle of violence intercepted the car of 48-year-old Farooq Baig, an organising committee member of the MQM Bloody Karachi and a former sector in charge of Landhi, and shot him dead. He was heading to the party`s headquarters Nine Zero after leaving his home in Landhi No 6 when he was targeted. "Mr Baig was driving the car bearing registration number GL-6367, which was intercepted near a stop called Bagh-i-Korangi by pillion riders," said SP Landhi Nasir Aftab. "One of the riders fired multiple shots at him before running away with his accomplice. He was seriously maimed and was rushed to a private hospital on Stadium Road where he died during treatment." Known and respected as the senior MQM member, Mr Baig was employed at the Landhi Town administration. He was father of three sons and associated with the MQM for almost three decades. His murder left many residents shocked and also caused fear in the densely-populated locality. The incident came at a time when senior leaders of the MQM were meeting Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad following his repeated offers to rejoin the federal cabinet. Before they could reach an agreement, the assassination sparked anger among MQM leaders and workers. Shortly after Mr Baig`s killing, gunnies riding a motorbike in the same area intercepted a truck (RIH-7793) loaded with construction material and bumped off its driver and his helper. "The victims were identified as the 40-year-old driver, Mohammad Mir Hazara, and 35-year-old cleaner, Abdul Razzaq. Both were also paternal cousins," said an official at the Awami Colony cop shoppe. The killings were carried out near Korangi Dar-ul-Uloom. Amid intense firing, an unidentified youngster was found rubbed out near Kamal Petrol Pump in Pak Colony. The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi, the area police said. Same was the fate of a young man who was targeted by gunnies riding a motorbike on Tariq Road. "The incident was witnessed near Edhi Centre on main Tariq Road. The victim was in his mid 20s and seemed to be a labourer by clothes and features. The body has been shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for want of identification," SSP Amir Farooqi of Jamshed Town. Figures gathered from the medico-legal sections of three major public hospitals -- JPMC, Civil Hospital and the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital -- indicated that at least 13 people were brought maimed to the hospitals. A couple of the victims were in their teens. Nevertheless rampant firing was followed by arson attacks in different areas that paralysed city life. The intense firing and arson attacks on vehicles left hundreds of thousands of people stranded in traffic jams on roads. The worst traffic jams were witnessed on Sharea Faisal, M.A. Jinnah Road, Shahrah-i-Pakistain and other major arteries linking the city`s commercial centre to residential localities. Capital City Police Officer Saud Mirza confirmed to Dawn that some 25 vehicles were set on fire in different arson attacks though he claimed that police`s timely intervention proved effective and the law-enforcers managed to arrest more than 100 suspects `red-handed while they were engaged in arson and firing activities.` "We took several initiatives and managed to arrest some 103 suspects with arms and arson materials found in their possession," the CCPO said. He said he saw `ethnic colour in the targeted attacks mainly on the buses and trucks`. "We are hopeful about making more arrests as the arsonists targeted mostly minibuses and trucks owned by people from a particular ethnic background," he said. The police chief also said that the entire event seemed planned to trigger ethnic-based violence. The facts gathered through the central fire station and cop shoppes showed that three buses and a hi-roof van were torched in Landhi Town. A taxi was seen in flames near Malir 15. A minibus of route Z-18 was set on fire in Pak Colony. A private bus was set ablaze on University Road near Al-Mustafa Centre. Similarly, arsonists attacked a trailer near Al-Karam Square in Liaquatabad and a water tanker near Firdous Cinema in the same area.In Gizri area, gunnies set fire to five vehicles -- two cars, two buses and a minibus -- within half-an-hour. In Nazimabad, a minibus of route N-4 was set ablaze near the Shamim Shaheed police post. A passenger coach was torched in Bilal Colony of New Bloody Karachi Town. Three mini-trucks, one each in Gulshan-i-Shamim of Azizabad, at Water Pump and near Sindhi Hotel in Liaquatabad, were set on fire. Most arson attacks were reported before the sunset, while scattered attempts were also made in the dark. After the sunset, two more trucks were set on fire in Liaquatabad while a carpet showroom was seen in blazes in the Buffer Zone area. A car was also set on fire on Mubarak Saeed Road in Jamshed Town in the late hours. "A total of 44 fire tenders were used in firefighting," said Chief Fire Officer Ehtashamuddin. "All the 20 stations in the city remained engaged in today`s operation as the incidents were reported in almost every district of the city. In most areas, we enjoyed police escort for the security purpose." He said a private bank branch near Lasbela was also targeted by arsonists but with the timely intervention by the area police the flames were prevented from engulfing the structure that helped firefighters to divert resources to other affected areas.

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Arabia

Talaq joke on Skype ends marriage

2010-10-28

Talaq is no joke. An e-savvy Qatar resident learnt this the hard way when he typed talaq thrice while chatting with his wife on Skype. He says he did not mean it but Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband has ruled that his nikah stands terminated. That's not all. For his careless 'chat', the man can remarry his divorced wife only after halaala, a practice under which the woman has to marry and divorce another man before she can marry her previous husband again. Deoband's fatwa section — Dar-ul-Ifta (DuI) — recently received a written request from Qatar, seeking a fatwa on a rather amusing situation. The youth stated that he was recently chatting with his wife on Skype when he typed the word 'talaq' three times, though he did not mean it and asked if his nikah was still valid. Dar-ul-Ifta shot back that the nikah stands terminated. "When you pronounce talaq three times, it means talaq has taken place, and it does not matter whether the woman has reciprocated or not. Your wife has become 'haraam' for you whether you are aware of the commandment of Islam or not. You neither have the right to take her back nor solemnise new nikah with her without a valid 'halaala'. After the completion of 'iddah' (iddat) period, the woman can marry where she wishes except you," the seminary said. As per senior Islamic scholars, 'halaala' requires the woman to complete her iddat period of 40 days beginning immediately after talaq. During this period she is supposed to stay away from celebrations and socialising. At the end of iddat, she would have to marry another man who should then divorce her. She will be required to go through another round of iddat only then would she be eligible to marry her "first husband".

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India-Pakistan

Clerics vent ire over Rushdie's secret Taj visit

2010-01-03

LUCKNOW: Twenty-one years isn't long enough time to forgive and forget. Salman Rushdie, the India-born novelist whose work about ‘‘migration, metamorphosis, divided selves, love, death, London and Bombay'' — Satanic Verses — raised the hackles of Islamic hardliners, has once again run into rough weather. The latest ‘provocation' was his hush-hush visit to Taj Mahal last Tuesday. Rushdie, according to reports, roamed about admiring the monument of love, minus any police protection, in company of his son and an unidentified friend. The brief visit ruffled quite a few holy feathers. Miffed at the ‘‘scandalous laxity shown by the Indian government to the author who carries a reward on his head for blaspheming the Prophet'', Dar-ul-Uloom Firangimahli held an urgent meeting on Saturday morning. After a resolution denouncing the Centre, the outfit faxed a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding cancellation of Rushdie's visa. Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimahali, head of Islamic Centre of India and Naib Imam of Lucknow, expressed concern ‘‘at the scant regard the authorities have towards minority sentiments''. He said first it was Taslima Nasreen and now Rushdie. ‘‘Why should such people be allowed to set foot on our soil? We consider their presence sacrilegious to Islam. It's the duty of the government to ensure that they don't darken out doorstep now or ever,'' the Maulana told TOI. Report of Rushdie's visit provoked the normally moderate Shia Personal Law Board also into a righteous frenzy. Board spokesman, Maulana Yasoob Abbas, told TOI that the author of offending ‘‘Shaitaani Ayatein (Satanic Verses) carries a fatwa over his head, which is yet to be withdrawn by Iran's religious leaders''. He said Rushdie was quite blase about his writing and hasn't apologized to this date. ‘‘This makes him a ‘gunahgaar' (sinner) in the eyes of Allah. Therefore, allowing him an entry is the worst kind of affront to Muslims,'' he said. Maulana Abbas said that Shias will stage protest marches and lead processions outside his hotel.‘‘Muslims all over the world, including 18 crore Muslims in India, haven't forgiven him. His presence could trigger off a violent reaction anytime, anywhere. The board, therefore, demands immediate deportation of the man and a lifetime ban on his re-entry,'' he said. Reports said Rushdie made a brief stopover at Hotel Amar Vilas in Agra before proceeding to an unknown destination.

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India-Pakistan

Jaish-e-Mohammad build huge Pakistan base

2009-09-13

Jaish-e-Mohammad ("army of Mohammad"), which is linked to a series of atrocities including an attack on the Indian parliament and the beheading of the American journalist Daniel Pearl, has walled off a 4.5 acre compound just outside the town of Bahawalpur. Pakistani authorities have turned a blind eye to the new base, in the far south of Punjab province, even though it is believed to have been built to serve as a radical madrassah - Islamic school - or some kind of training camp. British security sources believe Rauf helped organise the July 7 and 21 attacks in 2005. He was born in England to Pakistani parents and brought up in Birmingham where his father was a baker. It was in Bahawalpur that Rauf was arrested in 2006, before his mysterious and still unexplained escape from custody. Bahawalpur is a backwater, a dusty, dirt-poor town which is swelteringly hot in summer. Its isolation allows it to function quietly as a centre for ideological indoctrination and terrorist planning, a jihadist oasis surrounded by parched fields. Once mentally prepared, promising students are dispatched to camps for training jihadists in warfare, in the north west of the country. Aside from Rauf, two other two other notorious British-Pakistani militants had connections with Jaish: Shehzad Tanweer, one of the 2005 bombers of the London transport system; and Omar Sheikh, who was found guilty in Pakistan of the murder of the American journalist, Daniel Pearl. It emerged last week that British intelligence believes that Rauf is still alive, despite claims that he died in a US missile attack in Pakistan's tribal area in 2008. Bahawalpur and the surrounding districts also serve as a safe resting place for jihadists battling in Afghanistan, including, it is believed, for British-born Muslims who go to fight there. They have respite from the threat of US spy planes that patrol the tribal area in the north west, killing militants with deadly missile strikes. In Bahawalpur alone, there may be as many as 1,000 madrassas, many of which teach a violent version of Islam to children, who are mostly too poor to go to regular school. Jaish has its headquarters in Bahawalpur and it openly runs a imposing madrassah in the centre of town, called Usman-o-Ali, where it teaches its extremist interpretation of Islam to hundreds of children every year. The group was banned by Pakistan back in 2002 and designated by the US as a "foreign terrorist organisation". The Sunday Telegraph was prevented from entering the madrassah, which also has a mosque that should be open to everyone. Jaish's new site, about 5km (3 miles) out of Bahawalpur at Chowk Azam, on the main road to Karachi, is much larger, with evidence that it could contain underground bunkers or tunnels. Surrounded by a high brick and mud wall, little can be seen from the road. However, The Sunday Telegraph discovered that it has a fully-tiled swimming pool, stabling for over a dozen horses, an ornamental fountain and even swings and a slide for children – all belying claims by the group and Pakistani officials that the facility is simply a small farm to keep cattle. There were signs of construction activity. A man at the site, who gave his name as Abdul Jabbar, who wore a visible ammunition vest under his shirt, would not allow The Sunday Telegraph to enter, and suggested it was time for the newspaper to leave. "We're not hiding anything. Nothing happens here. We have just kept some cattle for our milk," said Mr Jabbar, who sported the long hair that is typical for Pakistani and Afghan Taliban. A man on a motorbike followed as The Sunday Telegraph drove away. The new facility is known to the regional administration and, with a hefty army cantonment in Bahawalpur, the military would also be aware. It has deeply worried some Pakistani security personnel. One described it as a "second centre of terrorism", to complement the existing Jaish madrassah in the middle of town. The officer, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that Jaish should never have been allowed to buy the land. He said they initially acquired 4.5 acres, then they forced the adjacent landowner to sell them another 2 acres. "It's big enough for training purposes," he said. On the inside walls, there are painted jihadist inscriptions, including a warning to "Hindus and Jews", with a picture of Delhi's historic Red Fort, suggesting they will conquer the city. Bahawalpur was where Rashid Rauf fled in 2002, after being implicated in the murder of his uncle in the UK. His family friend Ghulam Mustafa, a radical imam, ran a madrassah, the Dar-ul-Uloom Medina. He married Mr Mustafa's daughter, and his wife and children are still believed to live there. No-one was willing to talk about Rauf in Bahawalpur. Attaur Rehman, the deputy head of the Dar-ul-Uloom Medina madrassah, which is run out of an unmarked building in a back street and is closely associated with Jaish, said: "We don't say anything about this, I won't talk to you. I'm fed up with you media people." Publicly, Pakistani officials insisted that the new compound is innocuous and even that there is no extremist threat in Bahawalpur. Mushtaq Sukhera, the Regional Police Officer for Bahawalpur, the most senior police officer for the area, admitted that the Usman-o-Ali madrassah in the middle of Bahawalpur "belongs to "Jaish" . He said that Jaish also owned the facility out of town. "But there's nothing over there except a few cows and horses," he said. "No militancy, no military training is being imparted to students (at Usman-o-Ali)," said Mr Sukhera. "There is no problem with militancy (in south Punjab), there's no problem with Talibanisation. It's just media hype." Others tell a different story. Somewhere between 3,000 and 8,000 men from southern Punjab are currently fighting jihad in Afghanistan or Pakistan's north western tribal area, according to independent estimates, said Ayesha Siddiqa, an analyst who has studied the area. They are often known as the "Punjabi Taliban", whereas the main Taliban forces are ethnic Pashtuns, the group that straddles north west Pakistan and Afghanistan. "These guys [in Bahawalpur] aren't connected with a war, they don't have any ethnic affiliation with Afghanistan," said Dr Siddiqa. "These guys are purely ideologically motivated. That makes it much more difficult to crack them during investigation or to break their will to fight."

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan reacts strongly to Mukherjee's statement

2009-02-14

Pakistan on Friday urged India to "come clean on multiple facets of the Mumbai tragedy" and expose those responsible for acts of "commission and omission" to help uncover full facts and bring the perpetrators to justice. Boy, I am such a dullard! For the life of me, I can't understand why, if Pakistain -- or "plausibly deniable non-state actors" send kill teams to India, why India has to "come clean" and expose people responsbile for acts of "commission and omission." Responding to a statement by Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee at Lok Sabha, the foreign office said Pakistan expects India to come clean on multiple facets of the Mumbai tragedy. They aleady said that once... It also demanded India to "expose the names of persons and entities in India who were also responsible for acts of commission and omission in a transparent manner." Pakistan said the reality of Mumbai attacks were increasingly getting mixed with compulsions of domestic politics in India. Actually they're not. Pak is trying to obfuscate them into some sort of mixture, but it's a success only in the minds of Pak politicians and generals, retired or otherwise. Mukherjee told Lok sabha, a day after Pakistan's response to the Indian dossier; "Authorities in Pakistan have to choose the kind of relationship that they want with India in future; much depends on actions in the Mumbai case reaching their logical conclusion." Sounds like they've made their choice, doesn't it? The spokesman said Pakistan has so far refrained from commenting on Indian internal affairs. "We have acted with a high sense of responsibility and exercised restraint," he added. "Mukherjee's remarks are essentially a rehash of the standard Indian line against Pakistan and in complete variance with the imperatives of a serious approach to uncover the "full facts "relating to Mumbai attacks and bringing the perpetrators to justice," the foreign office statement said. I think the standard Indian line against Pakistain is that they're all nuts. Events to date seem to bear out that assessment. The Spokesman said "we have a distinct sense that the reality of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, which were whole-heartedly condemned by the international community and Pakistan, is getting increasingly mixed with compulsions of domestic politics in India." To the extent that parties within India want something done about the attacks, which were on their sovreign territory. Some parties are more timid than others, and still others are looking toward their own political gain, but nobody's harboring warm fuzzies toward Pakistain except for possibly Dar ul-Uloom Deoband. Mukherjee told the parliament that India will continue to review the situation, including Pakistan's responses "and will take further steps that we deem necessary to protect our people." Twist it as you will, that sez they haven't dropped the matter, and they're not going to let Pak drop the matter. The foreign office spokesman said "the Government of Pakistan expects India to come clean on the multiple facets of the Mumbai tragedy and expose the names of persons and entities in India who were also responsible for acts of commission and omission in a transparent manner." That's the third time they've repeated that, word for word. The spokesman said Pakistan has offered India a hand of cooperation. "We do so in the interest of regional peace and security," the statement said. Then his lips fell off.

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India-Pakistan

Violent agitations styming India By M.V. Kamath

2008-06-24

On May 31, 2008, a massive gathering of Muslims was held at the historic Ram Lila Ground in Delhi, led by clerics who issued a fatwa against terrorism, which was unanimously accepted. This is a major development, whose significance cannot be under-estimated. The fatwa is especially relevant coming as it does from the Dar-ul-Uloom, India’s most respected Islamic seminary. If one understands its meaning, it is that there are no longer any takers for the jihadi agenda of outside elements within the Muslim community in India which will henceforth work on the theory that its destiny is irrevocably linked with the land of their birth. So far so good. But there are Muslims and Muslims. There are elements among Muslims who take their orders from Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). There are blind followers of the United Jihad Council (UJC) whose chief, Syed Salahuddin, stationed in Pakistan recently called for renewed offensive against India and openly urged cadres to advance the cause of jihad in Kashmir. Then we have followers of the Bangladesh-based Harkatul Jihadi-e-Islami (HUJI) and the banned Students Islamic Movement of India(SIMI) both of which have been very active in recent times. The terror challenge has become all the more serious following reports that Pakistan’s ISI has made Dawood Ibrahim’s gang ‘D-company’ to merge with the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror network. It is well-known that Dawood’s gang has a formidable smuggling network in India but Pakistan still refuses to hand over the gangster to India on the plea that his presence in the country is not verifiable. According to M.K.Narayan, National Security Adviser, India’s high-value oil assets are being targeted by an unholy nexus of the underworld and terrorist groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad. Interestingly, the entire Dawood Ibrahim family, according to reports has been awarded high educational qualifications by the ISI to facilitate fake travel documents and visas. Pakistan’s duplicity become evident when it is noted that it has released the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar from house-arrest and lifted restraint on the Lashkar. Meanwhile, let it be noted that in the thirteen major blasts since August 2003, about 560 people have been killed and more than thrice the number have been wounded, a clear testimony that terrorism is not yet dead in the country, but, on the other hand, is very much alive. The law moves slowly. It took the country nearly 14 years to get convictions in the 1993 Bombay blasts. There have been virtually no break-throughs in cases of terrorist attacks in Malegaon (September 2006), Samjhauta Express (February 2007), Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad (May 2007), Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park, Hyderabad (August 2007) and the serial bombings in U.P. courts (November 2007). The cycle bombings in Jaipur cost at least 63 lives, forget the number of people injured. All these were professionally planned and it is clear that the terrorists have enough manpower in the country to back their murderous activities. No doubt, the Grand Mufti of Deoband’s Dar-ul-Uloom, Habibur Rehman is aware of all this and feels frustrated. He has taken the first step; the next step is to establish an anti-terrorist network throughout the country and report suspects to the police without delay. Muslim patriots alone can do that; intelligence agencies have their limitations. But the worst enemies of the country are our secularists who would rather turn a blind eye to terrorism then act swiftly to contain it. The Supreme Court had decreed that Mohammad Afzal, the man involved in the murderous attack on Parliament should be hanged. But the UPA government with one eye on the Muslim vote bank has been reluctant to implement law. The condemned man has had enough of solitary confinement and would prefer to be executed and is praying for L.K.Advani to be the next Prime Minister; but the self-styled secularists seem to believe that that would offend Muslim sentiment. Afzal is a criminal who has been found guilty. One may be against capital punishment, but that is another matter. Not to obey the Supreme Court is to show cowardice and fear of Islamic fundamentalists. We have had enough of secularist double talk. If the government does not implement the Supreme Court decision, what is the Supreme Court for? The time has come to take this matter of minorities seriously. We must stop dividing the country along these lines. It hasn’t in the least helped Muslims. On the other hand they have for all purposes been marginalised because the whole lot has been taken to be sworn enemies of India. In part they have to accept blame because they wanted to be treated as minorities. There are no minorities in India. There are only people. One of the most sensible thing that the BJP government in Karnataka did was to co-opt a leading Muslim into the cabinet. And he has already shown his courage by exposing corruption in handling of wakf properties. But a more urgent problem is facing the country and that is the recourse to violence taken by people over the silliest of issues. The Gujjars have done incalculable harm to themselves and the country by their behaviour. Their leaders should have been arrested, tried and sentenced to rigourous imprisonment. It is shocking to learn that India’s Corporate Sector has lost over Rs.5,300 crore since May 23 due to Gujjar stir, apart from cancellation of at least 75 trains by the railways. The losses are in addition to the physical damage done to train tracks. Violence should never be tolerated for howsoever right a cause it is supposedly resorted to and punishment must be swift, adequate and drastic. The damage done to public transport in Hubli-Dharwar because shops selling fertilisers had gone out of stock is shocking. It is now believed that Congressmen were behind this vile exhibition of violence. The idea, apparently, was to embarrass the newly established BJP government right from the start. People take to violence at the slightest or no provocation because it has become the accepted thing in politics, whether at Singur in West Bengal or Samba in Kashmir. That it is not and it must be impressed on every section of society, including Congress adherents. Public property is sacrosanct and anybody who damages it must be made to pay for it by the heaviest punishment possible. It is time our people learn to behave like adults. India is not for burning. And anybody who indulges in it should know that they will not be spared.

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India-Pakistan

Co-education unlawful, says Deoband

2007-07-07

New Delhi, July 6: A fatwa issued by leading Islamic seminary Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband has ruled that co-education is ‘unlawful’ as the system has given rise to ‘a number of evils’ in colleges and universities. Muslim scholars, however, contested the fatwa, saying Islam does permit co-education but within certain parameters. The prestigious seminary, in a fatwa (decree) posted on its website on July 1, said: "The co-education system of colleges and universities is having a number of evils, therefore it is undoubtedly unlawful." The fatwa was issued in reply to a question from a member of the public whether a girl could attend co-educational institutions after reaching puberty. The Darul Ifta, the seminary's wing that issues fatwas, said even 'deeni' (religious) classes for grown up boys and girls are ‘un-Islamic and attending such classes is not allowed’. It asserted that it is ‘unlawful for women to meet non-Mahram men (men who are not their fathers or close kin) without hijab or mix with them’. It also said boys and girls could study together only till the age of 10. However, Muslim scholars said co-education is not unlawful if it is in accordance with Islamic values. "Studying in a co-education institution is not unlawful for boys and girls as long as they follow Islamic values and remain within its parameters," said All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board spokesman S Q R Ilyas. Referring to countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey where co-educational colleges exist, Ilyas said a girl wearing a veil could attend such institutions. He, however, agreed Islam prohibits the mixing of women with the opposite sex. Abdul Hameed Nomani, the spokesman of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and a Muslim scholar, said: "Islam favours education for all men and women but asks its followers to avoid mixing with non-Mahrams". All India Shia Personal Law Board spokesman Maulana Yasoob Abbas said such fatwas defame Islam and send out wrong signals to other communities. "Women are permitted to do every work which their male counterparts can do," he said, adding that women should follow the proper dress code, including wearing the hijab.

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