Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Aslam Mujahid	Aslam Mujahid	Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal	Afghanistan/South Asia	Pakistani	Deceased		20030520
	Aslam Mujahid	Jamaat-e-Islami	Afghanistan/South Asia	Pakistani	Deceased	Big Shot	20050531	Link
		Mairaj-ul-Huda, head of Jamaat-e-Islami's Karachi wing, said Mujahid was kidnapped after the funeral of a party member. "Two hours later we received a phone call from the area Nazim that his body has been in a car."

India-Pakistan

Nuggets from the Urdu press

2006-05-22

Pir Zakori Sharif in China Writing an account of his visit to China in Jang, columnist Javed Chaudhry stated that in China women were running the markets while no children could be seen on account of China’s one-child policy. In Sinkiang he was entertained by Pir Sahib Zakori Sharif in the Pakistani delegation who sang songs like chitta kukar baneray tay to give evidence of his great talent. In Sinkiang the Chinese were found to be aggressive businessmen who weren’t always too honest but the Chinese slept at nine at night and woke up early morning. They ate moderately and were all slim around the waist. In contrast Pir Zakori Sharif did Pakistan proud by eating more than ten Chinese. His waistline could fill the room and you could make ten Chinese out of him. Pakistan did the anti-US play Columnist Masood Ashar said in Jang that when Sheema Kirmani of Pakistan took her anti-American play Harf-e-Nashunidah to India she was not allowed to stage it there. Back in Pakistan Madeeha Gauhar and Shahid Nadeem organised the Panj Pani Festival in which the play was finally staged. The play described the suffering of women and linked it to American imperialism. India’s strategic blunder Writing in Jang Ikram Sehgal stated that Pak-Bangladesh relations had improved tremendously, with trade keeping pace with the emotion of friendship. It was no longer like 1971 which was now a part of the forgotten past. It would have suited India to have an East Pakistan hating West Pakistan but it made a strategic blunder by breaking Pakistan up. MQM hit Sunni Tehreek! Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt MMA and Jamaat e-Islami leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad said in Islamabad that the Eid Milad massacre in Karachi was no suicide bombing; people responsible for it were interior minister Rauf Siddiqi and governor Ishratul Ibad. He said the stage was blown up by a bomb fixed there to put an end to the Sunni Tehreek leaders who had been unhappy with the MQM over the past many years. According to Khabrain Hafiz Saeed of Lashkar-e-Tayba said that the Nishtar Park bombing was the work of a foreign hand aiming at destroying the country’s integrity. Who was the suicide-bomber? Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt (13 April, 2006) a representative of Sunni Tehreek Shahid Ghauri said in Karachi that the Nishtar Park massacre of Eid Miladun Nabi was done to eliminate the leaders of Sunni Tehreek. He said this act was connected with the killing of the founder of Sunni Tehreek Salim Qadri who was murdered by Sipah Sahaba in 2001. MQM killed Hakim Said! Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt Qazi Hussain Ahmad said that the MQM had killed Hakim Said of Hamdard after killing the well known editor of Takbeer weekly Syed Salahuddin; it was also responsible for the death of Aslam Mujahid in Karachi. The police officials, 30 in number, who had helped interior minister Naseerullah Babar to mount his campaign against the terrorism of the MQM were all killed by the MQM after it came to power in 2002. Now MQM was guilty of attacking Sunni Tehreek and it had killed many members of Sunni Tehreek in the past. He said the MQM was being patronised by President Musharraf who was covering up its crimes. Who did Nishtar Park bombing? Columnist Hamid Mir wrote in Jang that Pakistan’s government was calling the April 11 Nishtar Park Karachi bombing the work of a suicide bomber so that a sectarian colour could be given to it. But the enemy could use a Muslim to do suicide bombing by paying him a lot of money. The enemy was India. When India did terrorism in Pakistan, we think it is sectarian, but when something happens in India everyone thinks it is jihadis or Pakistan’s ISI. It was time we thought of naming India. Yet the March 2005 suicide bombing of the Karachi American Consulate was the work of Al Qaeda. But in India there was suicide bombing of Ram Mandir in 2005, followed by cycle-bombings in Lahore, followed by explosions in New Delhi. In 2006 there was bombing in Benaras which was followed by the suicide bombing of Nishtar Park. But the bombing of Jama Masjid in New Delhi after that could not have been the work of Pakistan; that was India warning the Muslims of India. Musharraf was to be killed like Sadat According to the daily Pakistan Sunday magazine Umar Sheikh had conspired in 2001 to kill President Musharraf while the latter was taking a 23 March Pakistan Day salute in Islamabad like the Egyptian president Sadat. Umar Sheikh had collected the money by looting a bank in Bahawalpur and bought ammunition and explosives from an agent in Mansehra, the centre of ISI-supported jihad. But the plan backfired and Umar Sheikh was arrested in 2002. The same material was used in 2003 when Musharraf narrowly escaped an attempt on his life.

Link

India-Pakistan

Nuggets from the Urdu press

2006-04-30

Is entertainment allowed? Writing in Jang Ataul Haq Qasimi referred to a statement made by singer Abrarul Haq on the question of music as a source of peace of mind. A lady had asked if namaz was not the only source of this tranquillity. The columnist stated that the ulema were not united on the concept of entertainment in Pakistani culture. Were music, photography, singing, painting, poetry and cinema allowed as entertainment or not? Khalid Khwaja and Osama bin Laden Columnist Hamid Mir wrote in Jang that ex-ISI operative Khalid Khwaja had recently revealed that Osama bin Laden had paid Nawaz Sharif money to get rid of Ms Bhutto’s government in 1989 and that he himself had carried the money to Mr Sharif. The truth was that Osama was not interested in bringing a no-confidence vote against Ms Bhutto, he was more interested in getting his Arab friends out of trouble in Peshawar. That year Hosni Mubarak, Qaddafi and Shah Husain had asked Ms Bhutto to get rid of the Arab terrorists in Peshawar. In the operation that was mounted, Abu Mussab Al Zarqavi too had to spend six months in jail in Peshawar. After his release he was imprisoned in Jordan too. Khalid Khwaja was then retired from the ISI but was personally serving Nawaz Sharif and flying Nawaz Sharif’s personal plane between Pindi and Lahore. He proposed that Osama pay money to end Ms Bhutto’s government so that his men would not be bothered any more. One Khayyam Qaiser got some of the money but returned it to Khalid Khwaja because no next ruler would save Osama’s men in Peshawar. Nawaz Sharif and Osama bin Laden Writing in Jang Hamid Mir stated that Nawaz Sharif had done a lot of planning to help the Americans get Osama bin Laden. The Americans thought they could trust Nawaz more in the matter of capturing Osama. In 1998 when Nawaz Sharif was prime minister the Americans bombed Afghanistan for the first time. In 1999, it was agreed between Nawaz Sharif, American adviser on security Sandy Burger, Shahbaz Sharif and ISI chief Ziauddin to mount an operation to capture Osama; and the army chief Musharraf was unaware of it. American writer Bob Woodward had revealed that an operation was afoot in 1999 in the border areas in Pakistan which also triggered the reaction from JUI’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman that any American found in the area should be shot on sight. Nawaz Sharif had also banned Harkatul Ansar and declared war on Al Qaeda, but was toppled in 1999. Magician burns Quran Reporting from Haroonabad in Punjab, the daily Pakistan stated that an aamil (exorcist) of Faqirwali put a copy of the Holy Quran on the burner as a part of his magic spell. When his wife tried to stop him he slapped her. When the village got to know he was given a thrashing and was handed over to the police. During his arrest he tried to throw his magic spell but was not able to do so. Witnesses said he seemed possessed. Some people were thinking of destroying public property to express their anger. A shroud-eating corpse Reported in Khabrain a spiritual ‘baba’ Pir Fazl told a family that their recently dead family members were in great pain in their graves because another dead man was eating up their shrouds (kafan). In Rajanpur everyone became alerted to the underground shroud-eater who was named by Pir Baba as Allahyar. He asked the relatives to open his grave and break his skull with a hammer. The concerned family did the deed but the relatives of the ‘shroud-eater’ found out that their man had been defiled in his grave and there was much trouble in the village. Speaker asked to open his legs According to Sarerahe in Nawa-e-Waqt speaker National Assembly Chaudhry Amir Hussain was about to enter the Australian parliament when he was body-searched (jama-talashi). He submitted to that but then he was asked to spread his legs which he found most insulting. The column was most offended with the thought that the Australians were after something more embarrassing than explosives when they asked him to open his legs. Fish with divine names According to Nawa-e-Waqt a Muslim in London, Ali Al Wakeedi, had bought a pair of fish with Allah and Muhammad written on their bodies. He said the divine names were not very clear to the eye but he believed that the names were there. He now receives a lot of Muslims who want to see the miraculous fish to increase their faith. America running the show! Famous historian Dr Safdar Mehmood wrote in Jang that the educated people of Pakistan were becoming increasingly aware that Pakistan had become the colony of the US and the US could bomb our region any time and arrest anyone it wanted any time and then go back home. They thought that Pakistani rulers had become functionaries (karinday) of America and, after the Bush visit, had come to realise that America itself was not satisfied with these rulers. On the other hand the one-man show in Pakistan was ignoring merit and inducting army officers and friends into important jobs. In these conditions, Pakistan was simmering with underground moves for a final dangal (wrestling bout) against the rulers. ‘Talaq’ while sleeping According to Sarerahe in Nawa-e-Waqt a Muslim in India divorced his wife in his sleep. When he approached his local Islamic scholar he was told that divorce had actually happened and now he had to get his ex-wife married off to a cleric who would divorce her to make her eligible for remarriage to him. Sarerahe thought that the Islamic cleric too gave his fatwa while asleep. Sardar Atiq and snakes Writing in Khabrain Tariq Hamid stated that Azad Kashmiri and Muslim Conference leader Sardar Atiq Khan was an accomplished politician but he was also into spiritual practices. For instance, he could make your headache go away in an instant through incantation. He was also an expert at making the snakes of Azad Kashmir run away from homes. There were many miraculous stories associated with his magical powers. But the columnist wondered why, if Sardar Atiq was against snakes, did he want American and NATO forces to stay on in Azad Kashmir. Chief minister in trouble Writing in the daily Pakistan, Naseer Ahmad Salimi stated that chief minister Arbab Ghulam Raheem was under pressure from coalition in-fighting and a rapidly deteriorating law and order situation in Sindh. After the coming to power of the present MQM-PML coalition, the following politicians had been gunned down in Karachi: PPP’s Abdullah Murad, Jamaat Islami’s MPA Aslam Mujahid, MQM’s former speaker assembly Abdur Raziq Khan, former Sindh minister Badar Iqbal and MQM’s Khalid bin Waleed. Iran has guts! Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt ex-ISI chief Hameed Gul said that Iran will not accept dictation from America because Iran had guts (jaan hai). He said that American ambassador’s statement that there would be no AQ Khan in future was against diplomatic rules. He added that there was ember in the ashes of the Muslim ummah and it will become a fire. MMA leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad said that hundreds of AQ Khans had been born in Pakistan; but America would not find a single Musharraf here in future.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

India will not agree to solution acceptable to Kashmiris: Qazi

2005-06-14

New Delhi will not agree to a solution of the Kashmir dispute that is acceptable to the Kashmiris, said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) president and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) ameer, on Monday. And who knows better than Qazi what Kashmiris will find acceptable? Addressing a five-day long workshop at Mansoorah, Ahmed condemned the attitude of the army generals and said that they were accustomed to luxurious lives and amassing wealth through the real estate business. The MMA leader criticised the army taking over the PTCL for security reasons and questioned the arrest of the protesting employees of the PTCL. He said that the PTCL had been handed over to US General Zinni in order to please the US. He feared that privatisation of profitable units like PTCL would cause instability. I'd say there's a lot more instability caused by Qazi's thugs roaming the streets and breaking things than by the privatization of an occasional industry. Qazi said that the troika of Washington, Tel Aviv and New Delhi had united against Muslims and the US had categorically declared war against Islam. He said that they were paying millions of dollars for a 'moderate and enlightened' Islam, which was actually a scheme to brush aside the real Islam. As we've pointed out in these pages a time or two in the past, the "real Islam" is neither enlightened nor moderate. In fact, it makes a fetish of ignorance and brutality. It's adherents are incapable of controlling their least impulse toward violence. I, for one, am gladdened by the fact that Washington, Tel Aviv, and New Delhi have united against Muslims of Qazi's stripe. The only unhappiness I feel, in fact, is that so far none of them has invested the minimal amount of cash that would be required to hire someone to put a large caliber round through Qazi's turban. He said that Gen Musharraf had allowed the creation of Aga Khan Board to revise the contents of text books in order to please the US. Yeah. The Ismailis aren't believers in All Islam, All the Time. They must be declared apostate and hunted down and killed, right Qazi? Qazi said that the nation had been divided on the basis of religion. And he's been at the forefront of the movement... He said that the MMA had proposed to observe 'Hurmat-e-Quran Day' every year in May to condemn the sacrilege of the Quran in Guantanamo Bay detention camps. Good idea. I pledge to observe 9-11 day every year, too... He said the West and its local agents had tried to malign Islamic movements by spreading a wave of terror in Karachi by setting KFC on fire and carrying out a bomb blast at Madinatul Ilm, following the murder of MMA leader Aslam Mujahid. It's not a bunch of wild-eyed, spittle-spewing, AK-waving Islamists who're conducting a wave of terror in Pakland, it's the West, trying to malign religious movements in Pakistan that most of us never heard of before the WoT. Malik Mohammad Asharf, JI deputy secretary general, also spoke on the occasion. Jamaat workers from across the country attended the meeting. Speakers from various walks of life and seasoned trainers will lecture the participants on various aspects of religion, politics and morality during the workshop.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

MMA protests its leaders' killings

2005-06-11

LAHORE: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) protested on Friday to condemn killings of its leaders Aslam Mujahid, Tahir Jamal and Farhan in Karachi and the sacrilege of the Quran in the US and Israeli jails. MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed led the main protest in front of the Islamabad Parliament House. Who else? When it comes to public indignation over something or other, who you gonna get but Qazi? "Indignation for all occasions, only a dollar!" Addressing the protest rallies, demonstrations and sit-in at Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, and Islamabad, the MMA leaders said that Karachi killings were a part of a conspiracy to target Islamic movements' leaders. In Lahore, Ameerul Azim, Dr Rana Mehmoud and Sheikh Mohammad Amin led a peaceful demonstration outside the Lahore Press Club after the Friday congregation. Protesters, carrying banners and placards with slogans, condemned the killing of the MMA leaders, shouted anti-government slogans and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. They look so... ummm... Islamic, jumping up and down, hollering, rolling their eyes, and vowing dire revenge on whomever... According to a Jammat-e-Islami (JI) spokesman, more than 50 workers, MPAs and MNAs of the MMA were baton-charged and arrested by the police to stop them from entering the Sindh Assembly, where a budget session was in progress. Syed Munawwar Hassan, MMA secretary general, while delivering a Friday sermon at the Jamia Mansoorah said that despite the provocative action against the MMA leaders, the party's workers would not take up arms to crush violence with violence.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

Qazi blames govt, MQM for Karachi violence

2005-06-05

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) president Qazi Hussain Ahmed on Friday accused the Muttahida Qaumi Movement of plotting to kill him and other prominent leaders of his party. Is there someplace we can donate to that cause? Speaking at a news conference at his residence here, he alleged that the MQM, under the patronage of some government agencies, was trying to eliminate its opponents in the urban Sindh, especially Karachi, to ensure its victory in the forthcoming local council polls. He also alleged that the government had recently allocated Rs1 billion for the MQM to help it win the polls. Qazi Hussain said: "We will remain peaceful under all circumstances." Wouldn't that be a switch? The MMA leader, who was expected to speak about his differences with MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the issue of the latter and the NWFP chief minister attending the National Security Council (NSC), refused to answer questions on the subject and only said: "We are friendly and too close to each other and could solve our problems within the house." He said: "We will do whatever Maulana Fazlur Rehman will like us to do to keep our unity." The MMA chief said that the torturing and killing of an IJT student, JI Landhi nazim Tahir Jamal and JI Karachi Naib Amir Aslam Mujahid in quick succession were proof of the designs of the terrorists. When asked if he thought that the situation called for fresh elections, Qazi Hussain said: "Not under President Gen Pervez Musharraf for as long as he is in power no fair, free and transparent election can be held." He said his party would take part in the local council elections to confront the manipulating forces. He accused the American, Indian and Israeli nexus of trying to destabilize Pakistan by creating unrest with the help of the government and its agencies. He said two American authors had suggested to their government to first eliminate the present Jihadis and then stop the growth of new Jihadis by changing the syllabi in Pakistan.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

Qazi warns he will quit as MMA chief

2005-06-01

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Supreme Council has still not decided on permitting Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman and NWFP Chief Minister Muhammad Akram Durrani to participate in the June 8 National Security Council (NSC) meeting. MMA Deputy Secretary General Liaqat Baloch told Daily Times after the meeting on Tuesday that the MMA component parties would likely discuss the issue again on June 6 in Islamabad. He said the religious alliance differed on letting Fazl and Akram Durrani attend the NSC meeting. The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) is against the two men participating in the NSC meeting while the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami and Tehrik-e-Islami leaders favour their participation. Fazl chaired the Supreme Council meeting in JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad's absence. He decided the religious alliance would strike on June 3 against terrorism in the country and the desecration of the Quran by US troops at Guantanamo Bay. Liaqat Baloch read out a letter faxed by Qazi before the meeting, which said he would resign as MMA president if Akram Durrani were allowed to attend the NSC meeting. Qazi was in Karachi to attend the funeral of JI Naib Ameer Aslam Mujahid. Liaqat Baloch told Daily Times that all MMA components had their own view about Fazl and Akram Durrani participating the NSC meeting. He said the JI did not want them to participate. However, the Supreme Council meeting urged Qazi to withdraw his letter. Fazl also asked the other components to avoid making statements about his and Akram Durrani's participation in the NSC meeting till a final decision was taken by the religious alliance. Liaqat Baloch said Qazi being the MMA president wanted the alliance to remain together. "We are ready to talk to the NWFP JUI-F and JUI-S separately on the participation issue. If Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz presides over the NSC meeting, the MMA doesn't object to sending its representative to the meeting, but in the presence of a uniformed president, we will not participate in the meeting," he read out from Qazi's letter.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

Qazi wants Karachi strike

2005-06-01

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad asked people to observe a complete strike in Karachi today (Wednesday) to condemn the killing of JI leader Aslam Mujahid, the imambargah attack and a bombing at Bari Imam Shrine in Islamabad. Qazi will try to milk this for all it's worth... President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday condemned the killing of Aslam Mujahid and the terrorist attack on the imambargah and appealed for calm and unity to foil the saboteurs' designs. What'd they expect him to say? "I'm glad they're all dead!"? Might have induced a few arrhythmias ... Police on Tuesday identified two of the assailants involved in Monday's attack on the imambargah. Dr Najeeb, town investigation officer (TIO) of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, told Daily Times that the surviving assailant was identified as Tehseen, a resident of Orangi Town. The TIO said Tehseen was critically injured in the gunfight outside the imambargah. The dead assailant was identified as Muhammad Asif Khan, the TIO said, adding that Tehsin had told police that he and Asif were from the defunct Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ). "I do no think that word means what you think it means..." Earlier, Tehsin kept changing his statement, the TIO said, adding that he first told police that his name was Muhammad Jamil and he was a Jaish e-Muhammad activist. Then he said his name was Bashir. Even though we're the Great Satan, they really should look into using Craftsman tools...

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

Provincial MMA Leader Killed

2005-05-31

In Karachi, unknown assailants killed a provincial leader from the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Islamic opposition alliance, police said. Aslam Mujahid, deputy chief of Jamaat-e-Islami in Karachi, was kidnapped early in the day and his bullet-riddled body was later found in an abandoned car in the east of the city. Mairaj-ul-Huda, head of Jamaat-e-Islami's Karachi wing, said Mujahid was kidnapped after the funeral of a party member. "Two hours later we received a phone call from the area Nazim that his body has been in a car." Huda said the party suspected the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a rival regional party that is a member of the governing national coalition, was behind the killing. "The city has been put on high alert," Rauf Siddiqui, home minister for the southern province of Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital, told Reuters. "We have ordered all police stations to remain on high alert and have asked the police and rangers to increase patrolling. The blast, and the killing of Aslam Mujahid earlier in the day show that all these activities are planned," he said, adding that a reward of 2.5 million rupees ($42,000) had been offered for information about Mujahid's assassins. More than 100 people have been killed in tit-for-tat attacks by majority Sunni and Shi'ite militants in the past year. Most of the attacks have been blamed on Sunni militant groups with links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network which have been angered by Pakistan's support for Washington's war on terrorism.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

MMA demonstrates againt Musharraf

2005-01-29

Boy! Who'd have expected that to happen? The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) staged a protest demonstration in the city on Friday against President Musharraf for what they called violation of the constitution by him to continue his rule that has harmed vital national institutions. The demonstration was held at Dawood Chowrangi in Landhi, which was attended by a large number of people. The meeting was addressed by central leaders of the MMA, including Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, Maulana Abdul Karim Abid, Hafiz Mohammed Taqi, Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui, Sheikh Rafiq Ahmed, Maulana Ihsanullah Hazarwi, Nasrullah Khan Shajee, Qazi Ahmed Noorani, Mohammed Aslam Mujahid, Qari Sher Zaman, Mufti Mohammed Hanif and others. Second stringers and bench warmers all... Look! It's the Northwestern Wildcats! Protestors were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans Go Musharraf Go, establish the rule of law, restore religion column in passport, stop "army operation" in the NWFP and Balochistan, etc. Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, deputy chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), accused President Musharraf of establishing one-man rule in the country, saying it had harmed vital national institutions.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

MMA says govt trying to make country secular

2005-01-01

A secular state! Oh, no! Oh, hold me, Fatimah! Central leader of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Sahibzada Maulana Ans Shah Noorani has claimed days of the army rulers are numbered, as the countrywide ongoing campaign of the alliance will soon throw them out of power. "Arrr! They be toast!" He was speaking at a protest demonstration organised by the MMA against declaration by President Musharraf to continue as Chief of the Army Staff, outside Karachi Press Club on Friday. That way the photographers don't have to walk too far... Prominent among others who spoke at the protest demonstration were MMA MNA Mohammed Husain Mehnati and Mohammed Aslam Mujahid. When the guy's named "Mujahid," you can pretty well guess that he doesn't favor a secular state. Carrying banners and placards, protesters raised slogans against army rulers and " American intervention in the internal affairs of Pakistan." Maulana Ans Norrani appealed to ulema to play their due role in guiding the people and said the army-led government was bent on making Pakistan a secular state. "Not only do the rulers want to eliminate ulema and seminaries and remove religion column from passport, but they are also ridiculing veil, beard and tenets of Islam. They are doing all this at the behest of the US government," he added. The veil, beard, and tenets of Islam do lend themselves readily to ridicule, don't they?

Link

India-Pakistan

MMA candidate frightened of man with jihadi links

2003-05-20

KARACHI: The candidate of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal in NA-255 is under tremendous pressure due to the presence of an independent candidate affiliated with a banned outfit, which has recently reincarnated. Not that the guy's threatened to kill him if he loses, though... At least 11 candidates are in the field to contest in the by-election scheduled for June 22. However, the general impression is that the real contestants will be the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Dr Farooq Sattar, the MQM Haqiqi’s Sharif Khan and the MMA’s Aslam Mujahid. Anybody named Mujahid, you know he's gotta be the voice of sweet reason... Aslam Mujahid, Mehmood Qureshi’s close rival in the October elections, had challenged the results, asking the Election Commission to conduct re-polling because there had allegedly been rigging. On Oct. 30, a full bench of the Election Commission rejected the appeal and declared Qureshi elected from the constituency that consisted of areas that were dominated by Haqiqi until a state-sponsored operation was carried out against the group and “no-go areas.” The MQM then fielded Abrarul Haq as its candidate who was trailing the two close rivals. Previously, despite its reputation as a Haqiqi stronghold, the MQM had won from the constituency in every election. That's the set-up, convoluted though it may be... Sources told Daily Times that Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi, who is contesting as an independent candidate, has been an activist of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba, led by MNA Maulana Azam Tariq, which now re-emerged as Millat e-Islamia Party. The Maulana is now a local leader of the new party, which, according to its founding leaders, is no longer a jihadi party and “has no relation or link with any jihadi outfit.” "Who, us? Jihadis? Pshaw!" The general impression is that the Maulana was set to influence the voters dedicated to the religious parties. “He will be a spoiler and dash whatever hopes the MMA has to win this constituency,” a local political leader told Daily Times. According to political analysts, Maulana Farooqi’s candidature will largely benefit the two MQM groups and could get MMA’s Mujahid out of the contest. The MMA leadership has realised the situation and sought the PPP leadership’s support for its candidate. The PPP has awarded its ticket to Maulana Feroz Hazarvi who had received more than 10,000 votes in the previous election. Are there any people in Pakland who aren't maulanas or mullahs or muftis or something else starting with an "M" who actually hold public office?

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-11 More