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Maulana Abdur Rehman	Maulana Abdur Rehman	Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam	India-Pakistan				20051129	Link
	Maulana Abdur Rehman	Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam	India-Pakistan				20060411	Link

India-Pakistan

Fazlullah's lover close aide arrested

2008-01-06

Security forces on Saturday arrested Maulana Abdur Rehman, a lover close aide of Maulana Fazlullah from Bahrain, Swat. According to reports, the arrest was made by the security forces in a late night operation against the militants in Bahrain area. Maulana Abdur Rehman is said to be an Afghan national. The security forces have also seized a large quantity of weapons from his possession, and shifted him to an undisclosed location for interrogation. I've come to the conclusion that every third person in Pakistain is named Abdur Rehman, and every third Abdur Rehman is a maulana. I have no idea where they get them all.

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India-Pakistan

Woman freed from vani marriage after police intervention

2006-08-21

MIANWALI: Police have registered a vani case against Maulana Abdur Rehman, a Masjid Imam, punchait members and the tribe notables. Amanullah of Shadia village developed relations with a woman of the Dhuli tribe, who eloped with him. Later, Amanullah sent back the woman after the police and tribe notables pressured. A panchayat decided that Sarwar Bibi (20) would be given in nikah with Haq Nawaz, 10, the younger brother of the eloped woman and the panchayat also decided that a proper marriage ceremony would be held when Nawaz would attain puberty. Both tribes agreed to compromise and the groom divorced his 20-years-old bride in Wan Bhachran Police Station. Police will withdraw the case.

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India-Pakistan

Taliban offer terms of surrender in North Waziristan

2006-04-11

Tribal Taliban offered to enter into negotiations with the government for peace in the tribal areas as thousands attended a jirga in Mir Ali, the second biggest town in North Waziristan, on Monday. And the terms of surrender are: “Troops should leave Waziristan, all arrested people should be released, wanted men be given amnesty, military operations be halted and innocent people should no longer be killed or their homes demolished and the ban on display of weapons be lifted,” were some of the key Taliban demands read out from a letter by clerics at the jirga, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) general-secretary Maulana Abdur Rehman told Daily Times by phone. "Prisoners will then be released and heads reattached. Officers will be permitted to keep their scimitars and sidearms." NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani and National Assembly Opposition Leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman were named as “would-be key witnesses” to the peace agreement. But the Taliban made it clear that the withdrawal of troops was the “key demand” if the government was “interested in peace in North Waziristan”. "Otherwise, we'll demand unconditional surrender and you won't be allowed to keep your scimitars!" He said that the army’s presence had contributed to “anarchy and lawlessness” in Waziristan and the “whole Utmanzai tribe” at the jirga agreed that a military pullout was the “best course to follow”. "Yasss. It's better that you leave. We'll take it from here." He dismissed government claims that the army has been deployed in the area to fight foreign militants. “There are no foreigners here,” he said. “Here are those people who were earlier granted licences by the government,” he added, but did not elaborate. That'd be the foreigners, of course, but once you've got a license you're not a foreigner anymore, and it's good forever... He said the Utmanzai tribe hoped the army would respond positively to the demand for surrender its withdrawal from major towns, leaving it to guard only the border. “Let the paramilitary force and tribal police ensure law and order in all towns of Waziristan,” he said. "Let a million poppies bloom!" A tribal elder who attended the jirga said the clerics dominated the meeting. “Mostly the clerics spoke and tribal elders were either not allowed to speak or deliberately kept silent,” he told Daily Times on condition of anonymity.

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India-Pakistan

Falsehoods about Waziristan

2006-04-09

The government’s policy to cleanse the tribal agencies, especially South and North Waziristan, of hardened extremist Taliban and Al Qaeda elements has drawn increasing flak from various quarters. The political opposition, including the religio-political alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, says the policy is being pursued under pressure from the United States. The MMA also says there are no foreign elements in the area and the security forces are killing Pakistani tribesmen. On the other hand, non-religious and even some liberal elements want the government to remove the blanket cover on the region. They also want the violence to end and advocate a political dialogue with the leaders of the local people. For good measure the issue of reforms is also brought up time and again. The media, while reporting on incidents of violence and other newsworthy developments, is largely at sea when commenting on the situation. This is partially because there is not much access to the area and partially because large sections of the media are not convinced of the appropriateness of the current policy. This also comes through in talk shows and other programmes on TV. What is the truth? Let’s take the issue of foreigners in the area. The MMA and other political elements simply lie when they deny the presence of foreign elements in the tribal agencies. Three years of arrests of various Al Qaeda elements from NWFP, Punjab and Sindh should be enough proof of how many of them were around and how many may be still hiding. The army and paramilitary troops have killed dozens in various encounters. Intelligence reports show their presence, as do the accounts of those who have been to the area. General Pervez Musharraf has admitted to foreign presence on many occasions. It is also corroborated by statements of political and assistant political agents and other administration officials. There is no use denying a fact as glaring as that. As for a political dialogue, again, the truth is that the government has made numerous efforts to engage the local people, tried to cut deals with them, even looked the other way when they have acted in bad faith. But the Taliban penetration in the area is too deep and nothing has really worked. The MMA has played the worst part in the whole affair: its members have resorted to petty and self-serving tactics. While ostensibly allowing the federal troops to operate in the area — to save the provincial government — the MMA has done everything on the ground to trouble and harass the federal government. The reason is simple: it has sympathy for the Taliban and Al Qaeda elements and it wants to retain the profitable status quo in the region. This has forced it into double-speak and double-dealing. Therefore the MMA is not the military’s partner when it comes to dealing with the tribal agencies because it is part of the problem. Thus while dialogue is important and the government must never fear to talk and negotiate, it is counterproductive to talk and negotiate with terrorists out of fear. And, given the situation, the space for a dialogue is increasingly shrinking. Have local people died in the clashes? Yes, they have. But such deaths need to be put in context. Most tribesmen are sympathetic to the Taliban and Al Qaeda and are anti-army. All are armed. It is extremely difficult for the army to know exactly who is who when it is fired upon. These people do not wear uniforms and they cannot be identified. It is very easy to criticise the army from afar but those who have any experience of such operations know how difficult it is to control “collateral damage” in such situations. This is why the government has now directed in some areas within the region that people should not bear arms — a policy that is being criticised by some people on the pretext that the NWFP has an entrenched gun culture. The argument that the government should not indulge in violence and the people must not be deprived of their arms because bearing arms is their tradition is ridiculous. This is what Maulana Abdur Rehman, general secretary of JUI-Fazl in North Waziristan told a jirga in Mir Ali on Friday. This is also the misplaced line taken by various commentators when they talk about engaging the tribesmen through traditional channels. Well, the fact is that the government has tried to engage them through jirgas but nothing much has come out of it. This has reached the point where pro-Taliban local tribesmen have started demanding that the army should withdraw from North Waziristan. These are the same elements that, sometime ago, directed the prayer leaders in the two agencies to enforce the literalist brand of Islam favoured by the Taliban. Now they are clamouring against the army’s presence in the area because they cannot move and operate freely with the army around. It is ironic that they are being supported by the moderate political opposition which wants to put the squeeze on General Musharraf for other reasons. Those who are still not convinced of what the troublemakers are doing would do well to note a statement by tribal militant commander Baitullah Mehsud who said that those killed on Wednesday were “mujahideen” returning from “operations in Afghanistan”. Mr Mehsud has also demanded that the army should withdraw from Waziristan. “It is part of our deal with the government that forces will be withdrawn,” he told the media from an undisclosed location. This should be enough proof that those who want the status quo and those who want to trouble the government are not ready to listen to reason. The war against terrorism is Pakistan’s war first and then America’s war.

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India-Pakistan

Wazoo holy men demand army leave

2006-04-08

Pro-local Taliban tribal clerics in North Waziristan on Friday demanded the army pull out of the area while parliamentarians and nazims of seven Frontier districts asked government to take military action against outlaws in Malakand Agency. Two separate jirgas were held in Mir Ali and Mardan. In Mir Ali, clerics asked the army to leave North Waziristan and guard the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The jirga in Mardan agreed to take action themselves if the government failed to initiate a military operation against outlaws in Malakand Agency within 24 hours. The clerics denounced a ban on the display of weapons in North Waziristan. JUI-Fazl North Waziristan General Secretary Maulana Abdur Rehman told the Mir Ali jirga that carrying weapon was a key element of tribal traditions and tribal people could not accept the ban. The North Waziristan administration banned public display of weapons to improve law and order situation. The ban was also aimed at keeping Al Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants away from attacking security forces in main towns. “We have feuds. Living in the tribal areas without weapons is impossible,” said the JUI-F senior leader, who recently surrendered after the government declared him “wanted”. Eyewitnesses said that only the clerics addressed the jirga attended by around 10,000 tribesmen. The tribal elders did not speak on the occasion. The jirga will meet again on Monday to take “important decisions”. The participants demanded the removal of army from check-posts on roadside throughout North Waziristan. Tribal militant commander Baitullah Mehsud also demanded army’s withdrawal from Waziristan. “It is part of our deal with the government that forces will be withdrawn,” he said while making telephone calls to newspaper offices in Peshawar from an undisclosed location. He said the army’s withdrawal was a “key point” of the peace deal he reached with the government and signed on February 7 last year in the Sararogha area of South Waziristan. Baitullah said all those killed on Wednesday in North Waziristan were “mujahideen” returning from “operations in Afghanistan”. He said the tribal militants did not want to clash with security forces but whenever it happened there was no other way out. He added that tribal militants would continue jihad in Afghanistan. “Jihad will continue as long as it is possible,” he vowed. Baitullah alleged that certain intelligence agencies were threatening him and were “trying to collapse the peace deal”. “Gen Safdar Hussain was sincere to peace in Waziristan but not the intelligence agencies, which are threatening to kill me,” he claimed. The jirga of political leaders and elders in Mardan agreed to first meet NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani to inform him of the situation in the seven districts. They pledged to fight criminals in Malakand Agency themselves if the government did not take action against them. The jirga was attended by parliamentarians Ikramullah Shahid, Amanat Shah and Sikandar Khan Sherpao, former provincial minister Abdus Subhan, former senator from Malakand Agency Sahibzada Khalid Khan, nazims and other elders of the seven districts at Mardan Circuit House on Friday. The participants were from the Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Charsadda, Dir Upper, Dir Lower and Malakand Agency. The jirag was concerned over the increasing incidents of kidnapping for ransom and pledged to flush the Provincial Administered Tribal Area (PATA) of all criminals. The jirga also expressed concern over vehicle thefts and demanded a crackdown on criminals. The speakers said that a handful of gangsters in Malakand Agency had made the life of others miserable. They demanded the federal and provincial governments declare the Agency a settled area and initiate military action against the criminals. The jirga demanded the government recover Haji Lal Zada who has been in the captivity of the kidnappers for the last two months. They threatened a direct action if the government failed to start military operation against the criminals in Malakand Agency.

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India-Pakistan

34 surrender in North Waziristan

2005-11-29

Thirty-four wanted “tribal militants”, including the general secretary of the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman) in North Waziristan Agency, surrendered to the government on Monday after a peace deal was struck among elders, clerics and the civil administration. “They (surrendered militants) are now loyal and patriotic Pakistanis,” North Waziristan chief administrator Zaheerul Islam said at a ceremony in Miranshah on Monday. He made no mention of amnesty to the 34 militants. "No matter how many people they've killed..." Tribal cleric Maulana Sadiq Noor, who former Peshawar corps commander Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain described as a “key Al Qaeda facilitator”, was not among those who surrendered unconditionally, a tribal elder told Daily Times by phone from North Waziristan’s regional headquarters. Official sources said talks were taking place to negotiate Noor’s surrender as well. “Talks are going on to make it happen,” they told Daily Times. The peace deal comes after months of fighting between security forces and tribal militants and their foreign guests in the border area, and operations in Khattey Kaley in September in which both sides reportedly suffered heavy casualties. Key JUI-F leader and former MNA Maulana Deen Dar brokered the deal with the militants, mostly from his own party. MNA Maulana Nek Zaman and Senator Mateen Shah also helped the government reach the deal. Maulana Abdur Rehman, JUI-F general-secretary in North Waziristan, was prominent among those who surrendered. “We don’t know if there are any foreigners in North Waziristan. If there is anybody, he should register himself with the government,” Rehman said on the occasion. He said the “infidel world” wanted to destroy Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, clerics and mosques. “But we will not let it happen,” said Rehman, who security agencies suspected to be facilitating Al Qaeda in the area. The Monday peace deal was the first major “political breakthrough” since new Peshawar Corps Commander Lt-Gen Muhammad Hamid Khan took over in October. Chief broker Dar urged the government to differentiate between “the good and bad people” in North Waziristan. He did not elaborate. Tribal elder Khan Asghar Khan, speaking at the peace deal ceremony, underscored the tribal people’s sacrifices for the defence of the country. “The local population will never take a step that endangers the country’s security,” he said. He asked the tribesmen to stay vigilant as the “enemy”, an apparent reference to India, was trying on the western border to cause a divide between the tribes and the Pakistan Army. The North Waziristan administration did not release the details of the peace deal, or whether the surrendered militants were being kept in custody for interrogation or allowed to go home.

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Afghanistan-Pak-India

Nuggets from the Urdu Press

2005-11-20

October the cruel month Writing in the Jang, historian Dr Safdar Mehmood stated that the greatest-in-history earthquake had hit Pakistan in the month of October. In October, too, Pakistan had to fight its war in Kashmir after the Indians grabbed it unfairly. Also in October Liaquat Ali Khan, the first prime minister, was killed. In October the governor general Ghulam Muhammad dissolved the Constituent Assembly. In the same month did Ayub Khan and Iskander Mirza impose Pakistan’s first martial law. Finally, Pervez Musharraf too overthrew the government of Nawaz Sharif in the month of October. Offended by truth? The daily Nawa-e-Waqt, in its column Sarerahe, greatly minded the letter supposedly written by the federal education ministry to the provincial textbook boards that in future, instead of simply praising the Muslim rule in India, facts may be given and great rulers like Ashoka be described objectively while, instead of describing the great religious achievements of Aurangzeb, his treatment of non-Muslims too be described. Further, the British period may be positively assessed and instead of Muslim commanders, the achievements of Alexander the Great be highlighted. The column expressed great anger at the instruction. Finland’s telephone dept earns more than Pakistan Writing in the Jang, Dr Farooq Hassan stated that America had only temporarily suspended its laws stopping aid to Pakistan, meaning that Pakistan’s war against terrorism was of no use and that Pakistan could be subjected to stoppage of aid any time. About Pakistan’s $12 billion of reserves, one had to note Finland’s telephone department making a profit of $18 billion. Exploiting the earthquake The daily Khabrain highlighted the criminal activities of the citizens in the aftermath of the biggest earthquake in Pakistan’s history. People were reported looting the dead bodies and houses of the affectees, dacoits were reported as looting the citizens while the entire nation was in mourning. There were citizens who came out in Lahore collecting money by the roadside, saying that it would go to the quake victims. The paper also reprimanded the TV cable owners for showing songs and dance. It criticised the showing of films in cinemas halls too. Earthquake as divine punishment According to the Jang, a large number of religious leaders in Lahore stated that the earthquake that killed thousands of people in Pakistan was divine punishment for the people’s dereliction from Islam. Those who reprimanded the Muslims and asked them to start praying for forgiveness were Dr Sarfraz Naeemi, Allama Maqsood Qadiri and Hafiz Abdul Ghaffar Ropari. One Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer came up with an interesting theory,: that ordinary innocent Muslims are punished with death by God if the rulers are bad. Was it punishment of God? Speaking to the daily Pakistan, senator SM Zafar said that floods in America and the earthquake in Pakistan had been interpreted as divine punishment. But there was a difference in the Muslim mind. If the calamity fell on a non-Muslim state it was called the curse of God, but when it fell on a Muslim, it was called a test. He said that the main thing was whether it was a test or a curse. The important thing was to prepare for the next one and plan for self-protection. Dam-building forbidden by Islam Reported in Khabrain, religious leader Abdul Wahab Chachar, Sheikhul Hadith of Jamia Sharia Rohri, said in Karachi that the Kalabagh Dam was not allowed by Islam in light of the fatwa given by 300 ulema 15 years ago. No one had opposed the fatwa by another fatwa, therefore the dam could not be built. Imam Mehdi is about to appear! Quoted in Khabrain, chief of Jamia Ashrafia Maulana Abdur Rehman Ashrafi stated that Imam Mehdi had made his entry and was about to appear in public. He said that the coming of Imam Mehdi will be a clear sign of Qiamat (End of the World). He added that the recent earthquake was a low-grade sampling of what will happen on the Day of Judgement. He said that one Maulana Sarfraz had been told by Allah that Imam Mehdi was about to make his first announcement. It was also revealed that Imam Mehdi would appear while Sarfraz was alive and Sarfraz was already 86 years old. Sarfraz went for Hajj every year to meet Imam Mehdi there because it was divinely ordained that the Imam would be there. Mehmood Mirza’s challenging book Writing in the Jang, Prof Dr Manzur Ahmad stated that Mehmood Mirza’s book Muslim Riasat Jadeed Kaisay Banay had challenged traditional thinking in Islam. Muslims were generally opposed to new knowledge and did not like freedom of expression in this regard. The self-criticism seen in the works of Sir Syed, Allama Iqbal and Dr Fazlur Rehman was no longer in evidence. Religious leaders did not allow any analytical rationalism in discussions. There was a reluctance to express new thoughts because of fear of violence. There was much deductive thinking from the scripture and jurisprudence based on an intellectually debased level by the clergy. Above all, the Muslims were not able to reconcile modern economics to Islam because of their reading of medieval juristic opinion that they treated as final.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Nuggets from the Urdu press

2005-08-23

Pakistani terrorists in Ayodhia The daily Nawa-e-Waqt reported that the Indian police had charged that Pakistani terrorists had attacked the temple at Ayodhia and they were recognised because they spoke Sindhi and Balochi. The conspiracy was prepared in Poonch in Held Kashmir and the training was imparted by Pakistan. Khabrain editorialised that India was once again levelling false charges of terrorism against Pakistan to benefit from the pressure being put on Pakistan after 7/7. Pakistan too had handed over proof of Indian terrorism in Pakistan. Everyone knew that India did terrorism in Pakistan through Afghanistan. 7/7 done by Jews! Quoted in the daily Pakistan, MMA leaders said in a meeting in Lahore that the 7/7 bombings in London were organised by the Jews just like the bombings of 9/11 in America. JUP leader Mufti Hidayatullah said that Pakistan was being run by the slaves of America and Britain. Jamaat’s Lahore leader Hafiz Salman Butt said that the West had put the label of Islam on terrorism. Hasba Bill is good! Talking to Khabrain, Maulana Ajmal Qadiri of his own JUI faction said that the Hasba Bill was necessary because the 1973 Constitution was strangled by Mr Bhutto. He said he did not have contacts with Mullah Umar and thought that he was an emotional (jazbati) man. He said Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Maulana Fazlur Rehman were against each other. MMA was not terrorist but the Jamaat was responsible for violence. He said that the JUI was a natural ally of the PPP. He said instead of China, trade relations should be strengthened with India. He believed that if the NWFP government was removed, the federal government would fall too. Qadianis not allowed, please! As reported in the Jang, chief election commissioner Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar announced that all candidates standing for local elections would have to submit affidavits of Khatm-e-Nabuwwat so that no Qadiani could avail the right of standing for elections under otherwise joint electorates. Non-Muslims are allowed but not Qadianis. The affidavit denounces the apostatised sect. Girls beat boys again! Reported in Khabrain, matriculation results in the Lahore, Multan and Gujranwala divisions of the Punjab showed that girls had taken the top three positions and that girls had passed in larger numbers while 50 per cent of the boys had failed the exam for 2005. State-owned schools did not perform well. No distinction was won by their students. The English-medium private school students protested that their answer sheets were checked by Urdu-medium teachers. 9/11 was never resolved According to Khabrain, the head of the journalism department in the University of the Punjab, Dr Mughisuddin, said that new terrorism was being spread in the name of ending terrorism. He said it was never found out as to who was responsible for the 9/11 act of terrorism in the United States. Qadianis have joined the Jews Reported in the Nawa-e-Waqt, a Khatm-e-Nabuwwat gathering in Muzaffarabad came to the conclusion that the Qadianis were becoming active in Kotli and Muzaffarabad and were building their places of worship that looked alarmingly like mosques. They accused the prime minister of Azad Kashmir of being Qadiani-Nawaz (favouring Qadianis) and said that the Qadianis had joined the Jews to start a conspiracy to divide Kashmir forever. 7/7 was done by Qadianis and Jews! Quoted in the daily Pakistan, Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP) leader Qari Zawwar Bahadur said in Lahore that the London bombings were done by the Qadianis and the Jews as a conspiracy against Islam. He said the Qadianis and the Jews had finally come together as enemies of Islam and their plan is to victimise the Muslims of the world. He said the breakaway factions of his JUP would soon be reunited to face the government on local elections. It was reported that after the death of the JUP founder Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, the Lahore faction of the Noorani faction led by Shah Faridul Haq and General (Retd) KM Azhar rebelled against the family of Maulana Noorani now headed by son Anas Noorani and formed a new faction. Village council gets boy sodomised According to Khabrain, in Dera Ismail Khan (NWFP) a village council (jirga) decided that a large number of men should take 17-year old Habib into the fields and sodomise him. Dozens of men complied and raped the boy, but after the act was completed, the ulema appeared on the scene and ruled that their nikah (contract) with their wives had become null and void. After this all the men of the village who had sodomised the boy arranged for remarriage to the wives they had lost because of sodomy. The men of the village had relied on a five-man jirga which was now in jail. Blair did 7/7! Speaking to the Nawa-e-Waqt, a group of great Islamic scholars of Lahore, including Sarfraz Naeemi of Jamia Naimiyya, Maulana Abdur Rehman Makki of Jamaat Dawa, Pir Saifullah, Maulana Nusrat Ali Shahani, Maulana Abdul Malik and others, said that Tony Blair’s popularity was failing, and therefore he arranged the 7/7 London bombings to unite his voters. They said that 9/11 too was a plan to grab the Muslim states; and Musharraf was committing a blunder by supporting Bush.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Pakistani tribesmen vent anger over US counter-attack

2005-07-17

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - Thousands of Pakistani tribesmen shouted anti-US slogans on Saturday as they buried three of 24 suspected militants killed inside Pakistan by US forces operating out of Afghanistan. Mourners chanted “Down with infidel America” and “Long Live Islam” at the funeral held in two villages in the North Waziristan tribal region, 300 km (180 miles) southwest of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. “These 24 people are martyrs and our entire Waziristan region is ready for jihad (holy war),” Maulana Abdur Rehman, a local prayer leader said at the funeral of two suspects. "Tyrone, listen up, I'm going to have another fire mission for you!" "Yessir, LT, we're ready." On Thursday, a senior US administration official in Washington said the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan needed to squeeze insurgents along the rugged border where Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden might be hiding. The same day, Major-General Akram Sahi, commander of Pakistani troops in North Waziristan warned tribesmen of an imminent offensive unless they handed over foreign militants. Notice boys, that when we nail them there's no lashkar and no drumming. Pakistan military officials said the militants killed on Thursday night near Lowara Mandi, a border village, included Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies. The US military said its forces killed the suspected militants after coming under rocket fire from across the border. One Afghan soldier was killed in the insurgents’ attack. Lieutenant-Colonel Jerry O’Hara, a US military spokesman in Afghanistan, said the militants fired 25 rockets, while US forces replied with eight artillery shells and fire from aircraft. Pakistani officials said they were checking whether any territorial violation was committed by the US forces while hitting the suspected militants. Bet that their findings will be 'inconclusive', since they can't admit that they can't control their border.

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