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Afghanistan/South Asia

Lynch mob demands immediate hanging of blasphemer

2005-09-20

Difa-e-Islam Mahaz (Front for Islam’s defence), an alliance of 22 Sunni religious organisations, demanded that alleged blasphemer Younis Masih be given the death sentence. Dozens of Mahaz activists and Kainchi Amer Sidhu residents staged a peaceful demonstration outside the Lahore Press Club on Monday and displayed placards with slogans ‘Hang the blasphemer’, ‘Blasphemer of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) must be hanged immediately’ and ‘We are ready to sacrifice everything for the defence and protection of the Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) dignity’. Mahaz speakers opposed the recent amendment made in the Criminal Procedural Code of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) that a superintendent of police must investigate the blasphemy case before lodging the first information report. They declared the amendment “anti-Islamic” and demanded the restoration of the original procedure for registering blasphemy cases. “The Mahaz is not against the Christian community but want to punish the culprit. We are also ready to lodge a blasphemy case against any Muslim who commits blasphemy against Christ or his mother Mariam (AS),” said Mahaz speaker Irfan Shah. They said that they would continue their struggle till Masih was sentenced to death.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Ismailis in precarious position

2005-03-16

Part of the continuing slide of Pakistan into a Sunni state. The Ismailis are a moderate, easygoing people, and how many other religions are led by playboys? There is also the inevitable ethnic/tribal issue here, as most of the Ismailis are physically similar to Tibetans, unlike most Pakistanis. An alliance of Sunni religious organizations in Pakistan proposes to have the Nizari Ismaili community, also known as Aga Khanis, declared infidels. The proposal comes amid increased targeting of members of the Ismaili community and criticism of the educational institutions they run in Pakistan. The Nizari Ismaili community is an Islamic sect whose members are followers of the Aga Khan. The Koran is their primary religious text. They could be described as a Shi'ite sub-sect, as like the Shi'ites they regard Ali as the Prophet Mohammed's successor. However, they broke away from the Shi'ite mainstream centuries ago when they adopted Ismail as their seventh imam, instead of his younger brother. Another difference between Shi'ites and Ismailis is that the latter consider the Aga Khan's birthday and the anniversary of his inauguration as more important than Muharram - the most important event on the Shi'ite calendar, when the battle of Karbala and the death of Hussein are commemorated. Ismailis, unlike other Muslims, rarely undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca. Ismailis regard themselves as "proper Muslims". However, Sunnis and Shi'ites in Pakistan (and other countries where Ismailis live) believe they are "different". For one, they seem quite "Westernized". Ismaili women are not expected to wear the burqa (veil). In their congregation halls, women pray alongside men - on separate but similar and adjacent carpets, denoting equality between the sexes. The schools run by Ismailis are co-educational. A distinct Hindu influence is also discernible in their style of worship. They sing hymns while praying and believe in reincarnation. Ismailis, who had escaped by and large the attention of Pakistan's Sunni hardliners, are now under attack. About 22 Sunni organizations have come together as the Difa-e-Islam Mahaz (Front for the Defense of Islam) to spearhead the anti-Ismaili campaign. A Karachi-based Ismaili businessman told Asia Times Online via e-mail that the current campaign of Sunni hardliners to declare Ismailis infidels might be in its preliminary stage, but it has already triggered considerable alarm within the community. "There are fears that we will suffer the fate of the Ahmadiyyas," he said. Like the Ismailis, the Ahmadiyyas have a liberal interpretation of Islam. In 1953, anti-Ahmadiyya violence in Pakistan resulted in the deaths of thousands of Ahmadiyyas. In 1974, the Pakistani constitution was amended to declare Ahmadiyyas non-Muslims, because they do not consider Mohammed to be the last Prophet of Islam. They were subsequently threatened with death if they tried to pass themselves off as Muslims. It is illegal for Ahmadiyyas in Pakistan to pray in mosques or inscribe Islamic prayers on their gravestones. Ismailis now fear that they, too, will be declared non-Muslims and, worse, be targets of mob violence. They have bitter memories of Sunni mob violence.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Clerics seeking decree to declare Aga Khanis infidels

2005-03-07

"Let's get this straight: Nobody's a Muslim but us! Got that?" Difa-e-Islam Mahaz (Front for the Defence of Islam), an alliance of 22 Sunni religious organisations, is trying to get a fatwa (decree) from scholars of all sects including Shia and Ahle Hadith in Pakistan to declare Aga Khanis kafir (infidels), Dr Mufti Sarfaraz Naeemi, principal of Jamia Naemia, told Daily Times on Sunday. He said, "We have first called for a decree from local Sunni scholars and then the consensus will be made on a national basis to declare Aga Khanis, like the Ahmadis, non-Muslim. After that, no school considering them non-Muslim will join the Aga Khan Board (AKB)." He said this when asked to comment on the AKB issue, which was part of the main agenda of the Difa-e-Islam Mahaz meeting held at Jamia Naemia on Sunday afternoon. The other agenda included the recent amendment in Section 295-C (Blasphemy Law) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the abolition of the religion column in the new passport. He said Sunnis already considered Aga Kahnis non-Muslim. Asked what the problem was with having an Aga Khani educational board in Pakistan as thousands of students were already taking exams under the British (Christian) system, he said it was already clear that the British system was Christian. About discussions on Section 295-C (Blasphemy Law) of the PPC, Dr Naeemi said the meeting opposed the recent amendment in the aforesaid section, empowering only a superintendent of police level official to inquire into a blasphemy incident before lodging a First Information Report (FIR). He warned that the situation could also instigate common Muslims to react or attack such an accused if he were not arrested immediately. He feared that though this would be against the law, the government would be responsible for such a situation.

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