India-Pakistan |
4 arrested for murder of Shia leader |
2006-01-15 |
![]() A police team conducted 'a successful raid on a tip-off and arrested Nawab Alam, Akhtar Jan, Abdul Sadiq and Muhammad Anwer alias Moaviya'. The arrests were made on Saturday morning. The accused were declared proclaimed offenders in June last year and Rs 1.5 million were offered for information on their whereabouts. He said that the accused were arrested without any resistance. |
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Afghanistan-Pak-India |
Four Alleged Terrorists Arrested For Murder Of Religious Leader |
2005-11-01 |
![]() During questioning, the four men who were indentified as Shah Rais Khan, Izhar Wali, Aurangzeb and Nasir Abbasi said that they all were from Gilgit and belonged to Lashkar-i-Jhangvi. The DIG said the four men confessed to having murdered Agha Ziauddin and that they were planning to attack two different religious procession with grenades but were prevented from carrying out their plan because of the strict security arrangements made by the police. Pakistan has a long history of sectarian violence between majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims. |
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Afghanistan-Pak-India |
Pakistan arrests four militants |
2005-10-31 |
![]() Aziz said the men were wanted for the sectarian murder in January of prominent Shia leader Agha Ziauddin in the remote northern mountain town of Gilgit. The killing touched off violent clashes that left 17 people dead and put Gilgit under curfew for months. Aziz said the suspects were plotting to attack a Shia event last week âbut it failed because of tight securityâ. Aziz identified the suspects as Shah Raees, Ijaz Wali, Aurangzeb and Amir Abbasi. Three are from Gilgit and one is from Islamabad, Aziz said, adding that police also recovered 160,000 rupees (3,000 dollars) from Aurangzeb. |
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Afghanistan/South Asia | |
The sectarian state in Gilgit | |
2005-07-16 | |
Tanvir Qaiser Shahid interviewed the Shia leader Allama Sajid Naqvi of the all Pakistan Shia organisation now a part of the religious alliance, MMA. Naqvi was clear why the Shia leader of the Northern Areas, Allama Ziauddin Rizvi, was killed. He discounted the report that Rizvi was agitating against the government for its establishment of a military base in the Deosai plain. He asserted that Allama Rizvi was also not greatly agitated against the Aga Khan Support Programme. The real cause of his death was his struggle in favour of a separate syllabus for the Shia students. Rizvi was for including in the textbooks content that would confirm the Shia creed. He also set aside the government suspicion that a foreign agency had killed Allama Rizvi to set alight the fire of sectarianism in Pakistan. Allama Sajid Naqvi, despite his membership in the Deobandi-dominated MMA, accused the state agencies of gestating and giving birth to sectarian terror. He referred to the 1988 massacre of the Shia community in the Northern Areas and a similar massacre of the Shia in the Kurram Agency in the tribal areas for which he held General Zia responsible. (Zia died the same year, killed in a plane crash which his son says was an act of sabotage.) Naqvi accused Zia of being a Deobandi at heart. He pointed out that he was actually related to the leader of Pakistanâs largest Deobandi seminary, Jamia Ashrafia. For the governmentâs part, it issued an advertisement on 17 April 2005 promising a reward of Rs 15 lakh for anyone who would help in the capture of the killers of Agha Ziauddin Rizvi. The Crisis Group Report, The State of Sectarianism in Pakistan , says: âLike other sectarian minorities, those in the Northern Areas believe that political empowerment would enable them to contain Islamic extremism. Elections to even the largely ceremonial Northern Areas Legislative Council have exposed the limited support base of religious radicals. Says a lawyer in Gilgit, âJUI could not win any of the 24 seats, not even in Sunni-dominated areasâ. | |
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Afghanistan/South Asia |
Special police squads to be deployed in Northern Areas |
2005-05-06 |
![]() Pazeer said police were also trying to disarm people in Gilgit and they were in touch with local clerics to ensure sectarian harmony, "and they have assured us of their full support." Officials said local Sunni and Shia leaders signed a peace accord last week to respect each other" faith and help settle disputes. The accord follows the slaying of prominent Shia cleric Agha Ziauddin in January that sparked the violence. Authorities had imposed a curfew and called in army and paramilitary troops. The curfew was lifted later but security forces still man roadblocks in the town. |
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Afghanistan/South Asia |
15 arrested in Gilgit |
2005-04-03 |
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Afghanistan/South Asia |
Nuggets from the Urdu Press |
2005-03-19 |
![]() Writing in Jang, Amjad Islam Amjad stated that in the era of medieval Muslim ruler of India Muhammad Tughlaq a Hindu in Lahore named Haqiqat Rai Dharmi had insulted the Holy Prophet PBUH and was punished with death by the local administration. On this the Hindu population of the city caused an uproar and killed a lot of Muslims to prevent Haqiqat Rai's death. But the death sentence was carried out on the day of Basant (Basant Panchami). The samadhi of Haqiqat Rai exists to this day near Lahore's Engineering University. While it is true that Basant is not a celebration of an insult offered to our Holy Prophet PBUH it nonetheless falls on the same day Haqiqat Rai was hanged and should therefore not be celebrated. Nawa-e-Waqt reported that the NWFP assembly passed a resolution asking for a ban on kite-flying on Basant. Daily Pakistan quoted Yusuf Salahuddin as saying that Basant as spring festival was started at the time of Muslim Emperor Aurangzeb and had nothing to do with Hindus. He said Allama Iqbal used to fly kites and enjoy the festival. DNA test not good enough Daily Pakistan reported that Lahore High Court had asked for expert opinion on whether to accept the evidence of DNA test. In two cases claims of paternity had been proved false on the basis of DNA test. Religious scholar Sarfraz Naeemi said DNA was not acceptable under Islam because it was not sure enough. Gilgit terrorists caught in Peshawar According to Jang, the companion of Niaz who was killed by gunfire from the body guards of the murdered Shia leader Agha Ziauddin Rizvi was caught in Peshawar. His phone number was found in the pocket of the dead terrorist. Both took part in the killing but Niaz was killed during the shooting. 'I did not make any deal!' PPP leader Mr Asif Zardari was quoted by Nawa-e-Waqt as saying that during his incarceration he was kept in the cell where his father-in-law Bhutto was kept before his hanging. He said he was frequently marched in front of the place where Bhutto was hanged to scare him into making a deal with the government, but he had not. Salma Ahmad reveals Junejo's corruption Extracted in Jang, a memoir ('Cutting Free') of Karachi industrialist Salma Ahmad said that after she had acquired an oil factory in Karachi, prime minister Muhammad Khan Junejo met her and said she had done so without permission and must give him 60 percent shares in it. Because she did not want to take on a prime minister, she offered to give the factory to him, for which he prepared proper papers of sale and purchase. Thus she avoided being maltreated by bribing the prime minister. When she offered to 'buy' it he said his family never sold anything, it always bought things. Junejo took the factory in the names of his two children. Then General Zia included her name in his Shura, but her former husband Admiral (Retd) Fazil Janjua threatened that he would resign if she was taken. Frontier governor General Fazle Haq approached Zia and asked him why he was taking 'this cabaret lady'? After that Zia dropped her. She also narrated the incident of a JUP-supporting federal minister Afaq Shahid getting a car from her simply to vote in her favour. Angel of death calls According to Nawa-e-Waqt one Haji Farzand of Muridke was addressed by the Angel of Death Izraeel while he was performing hajj. The Angel said 'come with me'! Haji Farzand said spare me because here in Saudi Arabia I am without waris (heirs). The Angel kept repeating his request but waited till Haji Farzand had reached home at Muridke. After that a sudden heart attack took the man away. 'Namaz' behind PM without 'wuzu' Sarerahe in Nawa-e-Waqt said that PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat was heard telling a gathering of PML members that he had seen some people running after the prime minister to say namaz behind him, but they did not care to do ablution (wuzu) first. After that Chaudhry Sahib held his ears in fear of Allah. Sarerahe said that the wuzu was ignored because there was fear that others might take the places close to the PM. Shehbaz 'third time lucky' According to Nawa-e-Waqt, PML leader Shehbaz Sharif after marrying Tehmina Durrani in London said that he had done it to achieve peace of mind (itminan-e-qalb). Another leader Ghulam Mustafa Khar himself married 8 times and earlier married to Tehmina said that he hoped that third time would be lucky for Shehbaz. The paper said that the divorce of second wife Aliya 'Honey' was not yet complete and that Shehbaz's son Hamza had also divorced his wife. Daily Khabrain reported that after marrying Shehbaz Sharif Tehmina Durrani had become vice president of PMLN. Daily Insaf reported that Nawaz Sharif had stopped talking to his brother after the wedding. It reported that soon a new PML would be announced and Shehbaz will give Tehmina the charge of establishing it in Pakistan. Christian women exploited through 'nikahnama' Quoted in Khabrain, Bishop John Malik of Lahore stated that as long as the minorities were not represented in the Senate the system in Pakistan would not be completely democratic. He said there was a legal loophole which enabled people to kidnap Christian women and convert them to Islam forcibly. After that they obtained nikahnama (marriage deed) that prevented the Christian women from being restored to their faith. He said Christian youth could not get admission to professional institutions because Muslims got extra marks for reading the Quran and Islamiyat which the Christians could not. 'We killed 150 terrorists in Wana!' Quoted in Jang, corps commander Peshawar General Safdar Hussain said that the operation in Wana had killed over 150 foreign terrorists while a large number of them had been arrested. He said there were still around 100 at large in the area. In March 2004, there were 600-700 of them there. He said the survivors had fled in groups of four and were spread around in the country. There were 70,000 Pakistani troops deployed in South Waziristan while there were only 18,000 allied and Afghan forces on the Afghan side of the border. He said he had ordered 44 operations in one year. |
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Afghanistan/South Asia |
Nuggets from the Urdu press |
2005-03-12 |
![]() According to Jang, a mob of 20 motorbike-riding youth shouting religious slogans attacked the office of GEO TV and vandalised it because the channel had interviewed the Israeli deputy prime minister Shimon Peres. The religious fanatics were also protesting another programme called Uljhan-Suljhan which talked about intimate problems of women. The police stood aside and watched while the vandals destroyed the offices. According to Insaf, the student wing of Jamaat Islami in Lahore gathered in front of GEO TV offices and condemned the programme Uljhan-Suljhan. Daily Khabrain reported that one Tahafuz-e-Nazriya-e-Pakistan Committee announced that the attack it carried out was not against the interview but against Uljhan-Suljhan which discussed something that was against Islam. The paper said it was a gumnam (unknown) organisation. Allah will give! Writing in Jang Nazeer Naji said that Muslims did not work hard to enrich themselves in this life because their real life began after death. To pay attention to national projects of uplift was a far cry, Muslims did not even think of providing for their children because Allah is already supposed to provide for them. What did Ijaz Rahim say? Writing in Jang Jamiluddin Aali stated that at the Muqtadara of Urdu cabinet secretary Ijaz Rahim said shocking but right things about the enforcement of Urdu as state medium which was reminiscent of the Quaid, Sir Syed and Maulavi Abdul Haq. Aali's own position was that the governments did not have the political will to enforce Urdu and he also thought that internal and external forces would not allow Urdu to be enforced. Manto's controversial epitaph As quoted in Khabrain magazine a daughter of Saadat Hassan Manto stated that her father had written an epitaph for his own grave which was very 'sharp'. Because of fear of reaction it was not put on his grave. Instead a line of Ghalib loh-e-jahan peh harf-e-mukarrar nahin hun main (I am not a repeated word on the tablet of the world) was engraved by his family. What do you call 'wheat' in Urdu? Daily Insaf reported that during his public address at Okara President Musharraf forgot the Urdu word for wheat and asked how did one say wheat in Urdu. Defence minister Rao Sikandar said it was gandum. Former PML leader Manzur Wattoo was present on the stage but no one took notice of him. Who raped Baloch women? Reported by Khabrain, Sardar Akbar Bugti's cousin Ahmadan Bugti said that Akbar Bugti was disturbed by the rape of a doctor at Sui but his sons had been raping Baloch women. He said Sui belonged to the Bugti tribe but Akbar was in illegal occupation. He had private jails where he tortured his rivals. Kalpar Sardar Jalal Bugti said Sui belonged to his tribe and Sardar Munnoo Bugti said he was happy that the army was taking action in Sui. New notes and pickpockets Daily Nawa-e-Waqt reported that great Lahore lawyer MD Tahir had approached the Lahore High Court with the request that the State Bank be restrained from issuing Rs 5000 banknotes as that will facilitate the pickpockets. He also objected to the removal of five rupee paper notes because that will prevent people from making garlands of low value notes on weddings. He objected to one, two and five rupee coins. Let's go to war! Quoted in Khabrain ex-ISI chief Hameed Gul stated that Pakistan should give up the path of talking to India and embark again on the path of war with India. Former foreign minister Agha Shahi said that since India had not retreated from its position Pakistan too should not budge. Hameed Gul said if Kashmir was not liberated Pakistan too would not last. Allama Rashid Ghazi escapes attempt at life Reported by Khabrain, popular religious leader Allama Ghazi Rashid of Islamabad narrowly escaped death when a car full of terrorists fired at him. He fired back as he was ready with his own weapons. He complained that his kalashnikov had been taken away by the police. A day earlier a religious leader of Sipah Sahaba was killed in Karachi and before that a Shia scholar Ziauddin Rizvi was killed in Gilgit. According to daily Din, the killers of Shia scholar Agha Ziauddin in Gilgit had computers and 'sensitive' instruments in their possession. Kuwait disallows visa to Pakistanis According to Khabrain Kuwait had discontinued allowing visas to Pakistanis after many Pakistanis carrying heroin capsules were caught after landing in Kuwait in quick succession. The heroin trail was so thick and continuous that the Kuwaiti government panicked and cancelled all visas. The paper reported that after the ban, India, the Philippines and Bangladesh benefited because they didn't export heroin. Wrong example of Kamil Agha Daily Nawa-e-Waqt reported that PML senator Kamil Ali Agha speaking in the Senate took note of the Baloch protest about the rape of a Sindhi lady doctor at Sui and said that the Baloch did not speak out when a Baloch boy raped a Punjabi girl in Lahore some time back. Upon this the Senate opposition raised hue and cry. Another Baloch senator reminded him of the inconsistency of the example by saying that Punjabis too should have protested just as the Baloch were protesting at Sui. Oust Nawab Akbar Bugti from Sui! Quoted in daily Insaf, Sardar Khan Muhammad Kalpar Bugti said in Multan that Sardar Akbar Bugti had ousted his Kalpar tribe from Sui and taken over their land where he did not own a marla. He said Sardar Akbar drove the Kalpars from their homes when Nawaz Sharif was in power and unleashed tyranny in the land. He said the man blackmailed the government and took a lot of money. He appealed to the government to resettle his tribe back in Sui and they would restore peace there. Surprised by India Writing in Nawa-e-Waqt Sheikh Muhammad Arshad stated that he was surprised to find during a visit to India that education there was free up to BA and that even in private institutions the fees were subsidised by the state up to 75 percent. He was also surprised by the fact that only matriculates could get a driving licence there. Who killed Maulana Haroonul Qasimi Daily Khabrain reported that the murder of Maulana Haroonul Qasimi in Karachi was cracked by the police and some people were arrested. Maulana Qasimi was an important leader of Millet Islamiya (banned Sipah Sahaba). The terrorists who murdered him also killed four members of Tabilighi Jamaat which was not banned. The paper did not mention the name of the banned outfit to which the murderers belonged. The name of the banned Shia party was now Tahreek-e-Islami which is now part of the MMA. Zakat swallowed by chairmen According to Jang, crores of rupees were embezzled by the Zakat Committees all over the country during 2004. In all 25 chairman of Zakat and Ushr committees were brought to the book for wrongful payments. About Rs 20 crore in all were missing but should have gone to the poor and the deprived. Suicide-bombing is 'ibadat' Daily Khabrain quoted Majeed Nizami speaking at an MMA seminar explaining that far from being prohibited in Islam, suicide-bombing was a form of ibadat (worship) and was recommended for all Muslims. He said the Kashmir problem would be resolved through war and not through dialogues. Jamaat Islami's Munawwar Hassan said that retreat from the Kashmir cause by Pakistan had caused despair in Held Kashmir. |
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Afghanistan/South Asia |
Suspects in Ziauddin's murder held: IG |
2005-02-04 |
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Afghanistan/South Asia | ||
Curfew continues in Gilgit and Skardu | ||
2005-01-16 | ||
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Afghanistan/South Asia | |
Agha Ziauddin laid to rest in Gilgit: 240 arrested, 24 injured | |
2005-01-15 | |
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All reporters again decided not to publish the ISO's protest and returned to LPC's premises. The ISO protested inside and outside the press club for about 35 minutes and left the scene. Journalists including LPC Vice President Shadab Riaz Khan, Shoaib Ahmad, Amir Mughal, Asghar Butt, Rai Hasnain Tahir, Haji Abdul Ghafoor, Moazzam Bhatti, Ijaz Mirza and Amir Sohail were injured by the stoning and were taken to hospital. Later, several journalists demonstrated against the ISO's attack and police's attitude. ISO Secretary General Syed Faisal Abbas Naqvi, however, issued a statement saying the ISO had not attacked the journalists whereas it was activists of the Jamiat Muntazar who took part in the assault. Lahore Police spokesman Athar Ali Khan said police arrested more than 160 rioters after the incident. More than 15 people including seven police officials were injured on Friday when activists of the Pakistan Islami Tehreek threw stones at policemen who tried to stop them from going to Parliament House. Police used tear gas and later baton charged the demonstrators at China Chowk. They were protesting the assassination of Agha Ziauddin. More than eight people received multiple injuries. Police arrested 40 people involved in the scuffle. Meanwhile, in Gilgit, Agha Ziauddin was laid to rest on the premises of the main Shia mosque at about 8:30pm. | |
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Afghanistan/South Asia |
Skardu under curfew as Agha Ziauddin dies |
2005-01-14 |
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