PAKISTAN MUSLIM CLERIC HATE!
ATC sends threatening
video cleric to jail
Rejects FIA request to
further remand Mirza in its custody for probe
July
07, 2020
The
Express Tribune
ISLAMABAD:
An anti-terrorism court
(ATC) on Tuesday rejected the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) request to
further remand Maulvi Iftikar Udddin
Mirza – a cleric who threatened Supreme Court judge Qazi Faez
Isa in a video – in it custody and sent him on
judicial remand to jail.
The FIA had arrested
Mirza on June 29 on a complaint of Justice Isa’s wife Sarina Isa who said her
husband had received a death threat via the video in which the intimidator –
Mirza – could be heard saying: "Isa should be shot publicly."
"Whoever is caught
in embezzlement, whether it be Faez Isa or anyone
else, should be executed through a firing squad. Those who indulge in such
activities must be hanged and the entire city should be invited to watch
it," Mirza had said in the video.
The ATC on June 30
remanded the cleric in the FIA custody for seven days for interrogation. On
Tuesday, the FIA presented the accused in the court and requested the judge to
extend the remand period. However, the ATC rejected the request and sent Mirza
on judicial custody to jail.
ATC judge Raja Jawad
Abbas Hassan, however, extended remand period of another accused in the case,
Akbar Ali, for two days. The Supreme Court has also taken notice of the
threatening video and started suo motu proceeding.
At the last hearing of
the case on July 2, a division bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar
Ahmed expressed dissatisfaction over Mirza’s unconditional apology and decided
to start contempt of court proceedings against him.
The threatening video had emerged days after a
Supreme Court ten-judge bench quashed a presidential reference that sought
removal of Justice Isa for not disclosing his family members’ foreign
properties in his wealth statement.
Cleric in Pakistan Touts Use of COVID-19 Aid to
Convert Minorities to Islam
05/08/2020 Pakistan (International Christian
Concern) – Church leaders and human rights activists in Pakistan are speaking
out against a video in which an Islamic cleric claims his organization is using
COVID-19 food aid to convert non-Muslims to Islam. Pakistani Christians claim
this cleric and his organization are misusing the COVID-19 pandemic to abuse
Pakistan’s already persecuted religious minorities.
Appearing on Mandi Channel, an Islamic TV
channel in Pakistan, an Islamic cleric claims his organization, named Dawat-e-Islami, is converting
non-Muslims to Islam using COVID-19 food aid. The cleric specifically brought
up an example of a man who recently converted to Islam.
“The staff of the organization offered him
conversion against food which he accepted,” the cleric claimed. The cleric went
on to say the converted man was renamed Muhammad Ramdan
and has started following the Islamic ritual of fasting.
Approximately 45% of Pakistan’s population
lives below the poverty line, earning most of their income through daily labor
jobs. Pakistan’s national lockdown, which started on March 21, has cut off many
of these laborers from earning daily wages.
Pakistan’s Christian community has been
particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to widespread
discrimination and intolerance, Pakistani Christians have been marginalized to
the country’s poorest and most vulnerable sections of society. Many Christians
depend upon the daily labor jobs which have been curtailed by the lockdown.
In addition to these challenges, reports of
Christians being denied desperately needed food aid have come to light. Since
the lockdown started, International Christian Concern (ICC) has documented at
least four incidents in which Christians were denied food aid because of their
religious identity.
Caught in a desperate situation, Christian
leaders in Pakistan fear that other Islamic charities will follow the example
of Dawat-e-Islami and link
religious conversion to aid.
Tariq Jameel
Blames ‘Immodest Women’ For Coronavirus During Live Telethon
April 23, 2020
During a
pre-Ramzan live telethon, Maulana Tariq Jameel blamed ‘immodest women’ for
causing coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan. He said that ‘behaya‘ (immodest) women are
a national issue and curing the nation of immodesty might lead to a better
tomorrow.
Earlier, in a
video of a sermon that had gone viral on social media, preacher and Islamic
scholar Maulana Tariq Jameel openly objectifies and sexualises
women to an audience of hundreds of men. While explaining the concept of hoors
in Islam, he says that the men who enter paradise will be greeted by 70 virgin
women, hoors, who will be there to serve them as a reward from Allah.
He also
described those virgins as dressed in multiple outfits and a new makeup look
with each outfit and a different fragrance. He added that the said virgin will
not be wearing any undergarments and the men will be able to see her body
through the hundred dresses that she’s wearing.
People have
been disappointed on Twitter by the blatant sexualization of women that Tariq
Jameel often indulges in, and have expressed their disappointment.
Infamous Pakistani
cleric keeps 'martyr' Bin Laden library, vows worldwide Sharia
By Hollie McKay, Mohsin Saleem Ullah
Fox News
February 28,
2018
Maulana Mohammad Abdul Aziz is considered one of the most dangerous, yet
influential, men in Pakistan.
And while his movements in the country are restricted by the government, the
57-year-old former head cleric of Islamabad’s oldest mosque – Lal Masjid,
better known as the Red Mosque – is still allowed to inspire new generations
with his radical rhetoric.
“We don’t see Pakistan anymore our destination, we will come out as a force to
establish Islamic rule over the entire world,” Aziz told Fox News last week in
a telephone interiew, from his Islamabad compound
known as Jamia Hafsa, a seminary school that boasts around 1500 girls and 2000
boys. “You will see the change within 10 years - if you stay alive.”
In the government's endeavor to root out terrorism, Aziz is banned from the
mosque – which technically belongs to the state. But he and his wife continue
to oversee teachings just a few miles away.
“We want Sharia within our country and I, along with my pupils, will go to any
extent to implement Sharia – even at the cost of waging a war against the
country coerced government,” he declared.
Aziz has long been known for his inflammatory sermons, anti-American ideology,
for sparking global jihadist movements and supporting designated terrorist
groups. In 2014, he even named his school’s library the “Martyr Usama Bin Laden
Library” in honor of the former Al Qaeda leader and 911 financier.
“Usama had good relations with my late father, thus we don’t support the
American narrative, declaring him a terrorist,” Aziz said. “He did jihad, to
implement Sharia around the world. So, for us he is an Islamist warrior. We
title our library after his name with audacity.”
That chilling discourse may have hit close to the U.S. homeland more than once.
Soon after the 2015 San Bernardino massacre, in which female assailant and ISIS
supporter Tashfeen Malik and her American husband,
Syed Rizwan Farouk, slaughtered 14 of his co-workers, reports emerged that the
Pakistani-born, Saudi Arabia-raised woman had been a Red Mosque student under
Aziz.
“I never met with her,” Aziz claimed, before eventually acknowledging that they
may have had an encounter as he has “many female followers.” But if so, she
would have been fully veiled, he said. “The United States is failing attempts
to establish my link with that shooting.”
But his links with violent movements are well documented.
Under Aziz’s guidance at the Red Mosque in July 2007, scores of his
baton-brandishing male and female students took to the streets outside. Video
stores considered immoral were shuttered. Chinese women were abducted from a
massage parlor they deemed to be a “brothel,” threats were made to throw acid
in the face of female university students nearby, and a government ministry
building was torched.
Tensions escalated between the militant mosque devotees and Pakistani Army into
a bloody 10-day standoff that left over 100 people dead, including Aziz’s
brother, mother and son. Aziz attempted to evade arrest by fleeing the chaotic
scene disguised in a burka.
"I taught my students to stand against the corrupt system immobilizing the
country. Pakistan has inherited the British system, solely non-believers,” Aziz
said of the incident. “I attempted to escape in a long veil with the consent of
my martyred brother Abdul during the operation, and secondly, Islam supports
this act to conceal oneself in a state of emergency.”
After several months in custody following the siege, Aziz was released, but
deposed as cleric and barred from the Red Mosque, which his nephew, Amir
Siddique, now leads instead. But the firebrand cleric promptly set about
building a new facility, Jamia Hafsa, close by.
The Pakistani government has – particularly in the wake of the 2014 Peshawar
school slaughter – purported to squash terror-inspiring voices like Aziz. And
many Pakistanis have expressed their staunch opposition to the extremist
preacher.
Those actions against him come at a cost.
“Last time there was action against Mullah Aziz and his supporters at the Red
Mosque, terrorism erupted in the northern parts of the country and eventually
spread to other parts. So there remains a blowback in
case of any severe action taken against him,” explained Farrukh Khan Pitafi, an Islamabad-based columnist and television
journalist. “The past few years there has been a cultural shift in the country
and Aziz has struggled to find space on the national media. But it remains a
work in progress. It is safe to assume that he is down but not out.”
Jeff Smith, South Asia policy expert at the Heritage Foundation,
pointed out further actions likely have not been taken against Aziz over
concerns of retaliation.
SHIFTING ALLIANCES AS PAKISTAN MANAGES RELATIONSHIP WITH U.S.
“Aziz is highly critical of the Pakistani government but Islamabad knows he
commands a sizable following and claim they have no legal grounds to arrest or
convict him. Ultimately, they’ve decided it’s best to avoid stirring the
hornet’s nest, even if means quietly allowing the swarm to proliferate,” he
said.
“Ideally, Pakistan would pass legislation or criminal justice reforms outlawing
the type of hate speech espoused by Aziz and his ilk, and then deal with them
through the appropriate legal mechanisms.”
The Red Mosque did not respond for further comment regarding their current
relationship with Aziz. But he asserted his ban comes as a result of “American
and Indian influence” on Pakistan’s leadership.
“As a prayer leader in the Red Mosque, people are in support of me,” he
insisted. “In the past, I have tried to enter but our frightened government
called upon the Rangers to prevent me.”
Nonetheless, Aziz’s influence remains a cause for concern on an international
scale. He denied being acquainted with any specific militant groups in
war-ravaged Iraq and Syria, but said he “teaches a lot about jihad” to his many
students who likely have gone “to join the noble in those countries.”
But in his view, Afghanistan is the most noble of all.
“At present, there is no Muslim country left in the world which has a Sharia
ruler – neither Saudi Arabia nor Pakistan,” Aziz said. “I have found
Afghanistan the only country in accordance with Sharia when the Taliban
established its control over the land and I support those Taliban’s to-date.”
And according to Smith, Aziz still has significant influence.
“It is helpful to separate the ‘bad guys’ into two categories. There are those
like the Haqqani Network that are actively and operationally involved in
conducting terrorist targeting Afghanistan and U.S. personnel and interests
there; and then there are those espousing violent extremist ideologies, sowing
the seeds of hatred and religious fundamentalism across Pakistani society,”
Smith added.
“Aziz very much falls into the latter camp and within the spectrum of radical
Pakistani preachers remains a very prominent figure. While the first group
poses the most immediate threat to the U.S. and Afghanistan, it’s arguably the
latter group that’s doing the most long-term damage in the all-important war of
ideas.”
'We Believed Our Cleric': Pakistani Polio Victim's Regretful Father Urges
Others To Use Vaccine
December 12, 2017
Radio Free
Europe
ISLAMABAD --
Five-year-old Mohammad Ashar Aziz will never be able
to walk without orthopedic leg braces.
The youngest
of three brothers from a village near Islamabad, he is one of just 17 children
in the world -- all of them in Pakistan or Afghanistan -- who developed
paralysis during 2017 from a wild polio-virus infection.
His father,
41-year-old day laborer Hamid Aziz, is disconsolate because he repeatedly had
the chance to immunize Mohammad Ashar for free during
the past five years.
Instead, Hamid
Aziz says he listened to the advice of a cleric in his village, who announced
over loudspeakers of the madrasah, a local Islamic religious school, that the
vaccine was “not good” for children’s health, and prevented it from being
administered to any of his sons.
Whenever teams
of government and international aid workers came to his village as part of a
massive polio-eradication campaign, Aziz and his illiterate wife, Huma, hid
Mohammad Ashar and his siblings and told the
vaccination teams there were no children in their home.
“Why didn’t I
give the vaccine to my son?” says Aziz, who quit school at the age of 14 and
knew nothing about the polio vaccine.
“We believed what our cleric told us, but now I realize that we’ve not done the
right thing for our son,” Aziz tells RFE/RL. “We realize how important it was
and that we should have let him get the vaccine.”
Perceptions And Misinformation
Public health
studies in Pakistan have shown that maternal illiteracy and low parental
knowledge about vaccines -- together with poverty and rural residency -- are
factors that most commonly influence whether children are vaccinated against
the polio virus.
Nooran
Afridi, a pediatrician at a private clinic in Pakistan’s Khyber tribal region,
says one of the biggest obstacles to eradicating polio in Pakistan has been
“refusals” stemming from “antipolio propaganda”
spread by conservative Islamic clerics in “backward areas.”
One common
fallacy in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan with low literacy rates is that
the vaccine sterilizes young boys.
Antipolio
propaganda also has been fueled by distrust in Western governments who fund
vaccine programs -- particularly after the CIA staged a fake hepatitis
vaccination campaign in 2011 to confirm the location of Al-Qaeda leader Osama
bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Since then,
some clerics have even issued fatwas saying that children who become paralyzed
or die from polio are “martyrs” because they refused to be tricked by a Western
conspiracy.
Taliban
militants in both Afghanistan and Pakistan also have propagandized that
Western-made vaccines contain pig fat or alcohol, which are both forbidden in
Islam.
Pakistan’s Tehrik-i Taliban has used that false claim to justify its
killing of more than 80 polio vaccination team workers in Pakistan since a
massive polio-eradication effort was launched in 2012.
Massive
Eradication Effort
Pakistani
health workers, together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other
international aid organizations, have immunized millions of children across the
country since 2012 with more than 100 rounds of the vaccination drive.
More than 38
million children under the age of 5, the most susceptible age group for
contracting the contagious disease, were vaccinated in Pakistan during 2017
alone.
The effort has
brought Pakistan’s paralytic polio rate to its lowest level since the early
1990s.
Six of the
world’s 17 paralytic cases in 2017 were reported in Pakistan, compared to 20 in
2016 and a peak of 198 cases in 2011.
In
Afghanistan, there were 11 paralytic polio cases in 2017, down slightly from 13
the year before.
The WHO, which
treats Afghanistan and Pakistan as a single epidemiological block, has warned
that the risk of the spread of polio remains high along the countries'
1,500-kilometer shared border -- particularly among nomadic tribes that travel
within both countries and across the frontier.
But the WHO
also has been encouraged by Pakistan’s eradication efforts in its tribal
regions along the border, where no new paralytic cases were reported during
2017.
Completely
eradicating polio from Pakistan “will depend on reaching all children who have
not been vaccinated,” it said in a late November report.
Both countries
demonstrated “strong progress, with independent technical advisory groups
underscoring the feasibility of rapidly interrupting transmission of the
remaining polio virus strains,” according to the WHO, which also praised
closely coordinated Afghan-Pakistani initiatives to identify children missed by
vaccination programs and to understand why they were missed.
Almost Gone
Pakistan had
hoped to be removed from the list of polio-endemic countries by the end of 2017
by achieving its goal of no new paralytic cases for a year -- a result achieved
by Nigeria in October.
Rana Safdar,
coordinator for Pakistan’s national Emergency Operations Center for Polio
Eradication, announced in April that Pakistan was “about to defeat polio”
because of a continued political commitment from Islamabad and support from
international and Pakistani partners in the eradication programs.
The next round
of mass vaccinations in Pakistan is scheduled for the end of December.
Mezhar
Nisar, a member of Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s polio
eradication task force, says he is confident the disease “is on the way to
being rooted out from Pakistan.”
“We have
addressed all the refusal issues in our overall social-mobilization strategy,”
Nisar told RFE/RL. “We have involved religious scholars from the Ulema councils
and community-based women health workers. This has brought the number of
vaccination refusals to the minimal level. The program is fully on track.”
The
Independent Monitoring Board of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)
on December 8 praised the prime minister’s “hands-on approach” with Pakistani
provincial leaders.
Meanwhile, in
Cairo, the Islamic Advisory Group for Polio Eradication has issued a new
training manual for madrasah students that supports polio eradication efforts
with practical guidance about engaging with local communities in support of
vaccination.
Endpolio
Pakistan, which brings nongovernmental and government experts in Pakistan
together with international health organizations, says declarations by Muslim
scholars in Ulema councils were critical to eliminating new paralytic polio
cases during 2017 from Pakistan’s tribal areas along the Afghan border.
In the town of
Akora Khattak in
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam
party chief Maulana Samiul Haq
declared a fatwa in late 2013 at the Darul Uloom Haqqania religious
seminary, stating that “there is nothing forbidden” in the polio vaccine.
Haq,
who had close ties with the late Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, said it
is “the responsibility” of the religious scholars in the Ulema councils
"to remove misconceptions about the use of vaccines to protect children
from the crippling disease.”
He also publicly declared that Islamic Shari'a law
“has made it clear that there is no harm in it. Rather, the treatment is an
obligation.”
Other clerics
have issued appeals for ordinary citizens, religious scholars, and tribal
elders to fully support the polio vaccination initiative across Pakistan so
that every child is vaccinated -- insisting that the vaccine's ingredients are,
beyond any doubt, permissible under traditional Islamic law.
Hamid Aziz
says he wishes he would have had that kind of Islamic instruction when his son
was born in 2012.
Instead, Aziz
is now struggling on his intermittent wages of about $7 per day to come up with
the funds needed to buy the leg braces that his youngest son will need to use
for the rest of his life in order to walk.
“Now I am
asking other parents to allow the medical workers to administer the polio vaccine
to their children,” Aziz told RFE/RL. “It is good for your children.”
Top Shia cleric, 39 others arrested over involvement in Karachi sectarian
killings
The Express
Tribune
November 6,
2016
Law
enforcement agencies on Sunday rounded up at least 40 suspects, including a
prominent religious scholar, in Karachi following a spate of targeted killings.
Allama
Mirza Yousuf Hussain, a prominent Shia scholar and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen
(MWM) leader, was arrested late on Saturday night during a raid at his house in
the city’s Nazimabad area, sources told The Express Tribune.
Hussain, who
is a prayer leader at Noor-e-Emaan Masjid, was taken
into custody just a day after a former Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP) senator was arrested by law enforcers over his alleged involvement
in sectarian killings in the metropolis that took place recently and in the past as well.
Faisal Raza Abidi had been apprehended from his residence in New Rizvia Society, which falls in District East, late Friday
night. Heavy weapons, including a G-3 rifle and sub-machine guns (SMGs), were
also recovered during the half-an-hour long search before he was shifted to an
undisclosed location for interrogation.
Faisal Raza Abidi arrested for involvement in sectarian killings
On Friday, six
people, including two prayer leaders belonging to the Ahle
Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) and Jamiat
Ulema-e-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F), were shot dead in three
separate attacks within the span of one hour. Two JUI-F workers were killed in
Patel Para while three ASWJ workers, including a prayer leader at Shafiq Morr and a prayer leader in Hyderi, were gunned down
apparently by the same group.
MWM condemns
sectarian killings
MWM leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jaffery
slammed the recent targetted killings of Shia
mourners in New Rizvia Society area on Saturday.
Two Shia
mourners were targeted by armed attackers in Rizvia
Society when they were returning from a religious gathering, Jaffery said. The MWM leader, however, lamented that Shias
were continuously being targeted in the city and yet law enforcers were taking
their leaders into custody. Jaffery urged the
government to take notice of the recent targeted killings in Karachi.
Abidi
sent on judicial remand
Meanwhile, a
local magistrate in Malir sent the former PPP senator
to jail on Sunday on a judicial remand until November 19 for possession of
illegal weapons.
According to
Karachi DIG East, Abidi was rounded up over his
alleged involvement in a double-murder case.
Hafiz Saeed’s
Friday sermon in Lahore
Hafiz Saeed on
Friday launched a terror rally in Lahore in which he called for 'Jihad' against
India.
By: FE Online
New Delhi
September 30,
2016
Hafiz Saeed on
Friday launched a terror rally in Lahore in which he called for ‘Jihad’ against
India, according to a Times Now report. From requesting Pakistan to stay united
in the matter of national defense to talking about avenging the 1971 war, he
tweeted all on his Twitter handle (which is not verified but is being quoted by
all the TV channels). He wrote, “Freedom of Kashmir will be the beginning of
India’s destruction. A lot has to be avenged including #1971.” He requested
politicians, religious groups to stand united. “I would request politicians,
religious groups to stand united in the crucial matter of national defense.”
“We have offered funeral prayers in absentia of our brave soldiers who were
martyred yesterday by Indian provocation at #LOC. This comes a day after India annouced that it conducted surgical strikes across Line of
Control (LoC) causing significant casualties to the terrorists. Nine Pakistani
soldiers and 35-40 terrorists, who were planning to infiltrate into India to
carry out attacks, were killed in the operation by the Indian Army.
Earlier, Pakistan has asked the chiefs of terrorist organisations
operating from its territory to lie low for the time being. It seems that
Pakistan is fearing that the Indian army may now attempt to eliminate the
terror chiefs. Sources told India Today that there is a strategy behind
Pakistan’s plan of not publicly acknowledging the surgical strikes conducted by
the Indian Army. The strategy is in consonance with the fact that Pakistan has
never accepted the presence of terrorists on its land. That the country has never
“owned up to Pakistani jehadi factory or a
terrorist.” hence, it can’t be expected that Pakistan would accept that
terrorists were killed in surgical strikes by India. As that would be “a sign
of admission that there are terror camps”, in Pakistan, India Today reported.
Meanwhile, Uri
terror attack martyr Hawaldar Ashok Kumar Singh’s
widow Sangita Devi urged PM Narendra Modi to kill Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed in the same way as the US forces shot 9/11 mastermind
Osama bin Laden in May 2011. Sangita Devi, whose son and nephew are also in the
Army, said the Narendra Modi government should not hesitate to bomb all the
terrorists and their patrons in Pakistan so that no Indian soldier’s wife is
widowed like her.
In a public address in Faisalabad, the JuD chief and
mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attack warned India of a “befitting response” for
its military operation in PoK, saying Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will now know what is meant by “surgical strikes”. “We will tell
you what is a real surgical strike…and you will get the deserved response
soon,” Saeed said.
“I want to tell Indian media to see soon how Pakistani Jawans
conduct surgical strikes. Let me tell you…the US will not be able to help you,”
he said. “Now it is Pakistan’s turn to give a befitting response to India.
Narendra Modi will now know what is meant by surgical strikes,” Saeed said.
Islamic clerics back blasphemy laws: those who insult
Mohammed have no right to live
by Kamran Chaudhry
6-16-2015
Ten ulema and a former judge criticised a bill that
would water down the existing blasphemy law. They also support the release of
Mumtaz Qadri, who murdered Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who defended Asia Bibi.
Lahore
(AsiaNews) – Islamic religious leaders have attacked the government's plan to neutralise the much criticised
blasphemy laws, and expressed strong support for the release of Mumtaz Qadri, the bodyguard who murdered Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.
An emotionally
charged ‘Seminar for protection of Prophet’s dignity’ was held last Saturday at
Lahore Press Club. Ten ulemas expressed their
reservation against a draft bill that aims to add the word “intention” to the
law.
Human rights
groups as well as Church leaders have repeatedly stated that 295C is used in
extrajudicial killings and the burning of Christian settlements.
If approved by
the Law Ministry, the new legislation would be reviewed by a committee before
going to parliament. According to seminar speakers, 14 people accused of
blasphemy have been hanged so far, whilst 19 more are serving life
imprisonment.
The speakers
included retired Justice Mian Nazir Akhtar, counsel
to Mumtaz Qadri, who is jailed for killing Punjab
governor Salman Taseer because he referred to the
country's blasphemy law as “black law” in a television show.
Taseer, a Muslim, had gained
popularity among Pakistan’s Christian minority for trying to help Asia Bibi, a
Christian woman sentenced to death for allegedly defiling the name of the
Prophet Muhammad.
The judge who
sentenced Mumtaz Qadri to death left for Saudi Arabia
along with his family after receiving death threats from extremists.
“This single
act [Taseer’s murder] made Qadri
immortal,” said Mian Nazir Akhtar to the ovation of
those present. “Taseer’s authority could not save
him. He had lowered himself and violated his oath for a woman who was proven
guilty by the court and then punished. He carried a western agenda (for
abolishing the blasphemy law) for more than three years and was finally sent to
hell.”
“The new bill
rejects all sayings by the Holy Prophet. When it comes to the sanctity of the
Prophet, the implementation of all manmade laws become different. Those
who insult Him have no rights, including no right to live. There is no need for
trial or hearings,” added the former judge.
Other speakers
also warned government leaders against tampering with the blasphemy law.
Quoting Islamic references in favour of the death
sentence, they threatened sit-ins, protest rallies and fatwas against
supporters of the proposed bill.
“Youths will be sacrificed, ghazi (reference to Qadri)
will be saved” and “Allah o Akbar,” chanted the bearded attendants.
Saeeda Deep, of the Institute of Peace
and Secular Studies, has campaigned for changes to blasphemy law a few years
ago.
“We tried to prove blasphemy by producing four Muslim witnesses, but our voices
are being suppressed. Even Saudi Arabia, our religious hub, does not follow
such strict version of this law”, she told AsiaNews.
“If the clerics
believe in killing in the name of God, they must accept death sentence of
governor’s guard for the same cause”.
Cell Phone Use Punished by Acid in the Face
SUNDAY, 20 MAY 2012 13:09 RIGHT SIDE NEWS
Pakistani Women Writers Denounce Islamic Clerics' Fatwas Against Women's Use Of Cell Phones And Access To Secular Education
Former
Pakistani lawmaker and cleric Maulana Abdul Haleem recently issued a fatwa
(Islamic degree) against secular education and justifying honor killings of
women.[1]The fatwa was issued in a sermon during a
weekly Friday prayer in Kohistan district in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province. Haleem also threatened that women from secular NGOs who visit
Kohistan district may be married off forcibly to local men. In a similar
incident, a cleric announced a fatwa in a mosque in Noshki
town of Pakistan's Baluchistan province, justifying acid attacks on women who
use cell phones.
Both fatwas elicited no condemnation from the main
Pakistani media. However, two Pakistani women – an author and a blogger
–slammed the clerics' fatwas, arguing that there is an urgent need to stop such
fatwas against women. In an article titled "Fatwas Against Women: From The
One Who Wears Bangles," Fouzia Saeed – an author and a social scientist –
stated: "I think it is time for our society to forcefully stop such people
who not only violate the dignity and safety of women citizens, but also give a
bad name to Islam…"
In another article "Our Stunted Society,"
blogger and communications consultant Tazeen Javed argued that such fatwas are breeding narrow-mindedness.
She wrote: "A country like ours can ill-afford adventurism of any kind,
but most dangerous is the practice of resorting to a fatwa to get a point
across. Not only does this breed a narrow and rigid view of issues, it also
leaves no room for dialogue, debate, and consultation, making us an
increasingly 'stunted' and intolerant society."
Fouzia Saeed: "A Fatwa Was Announced In A Mosque On May 11, Stating That
Any Woman Using A Cell Phone Will Have Acid Thrown In Her Face"
Following are excerpts from Fouzia Saeed's article:[2]
"Fatwas against women are becoming common again. In
Noshki, Baluchistan, a fatwa was announced in a
mosque on May 11, stating that any woman using a cell phone will have acid
thrown in her face. Another fatwa was issued in Kohistan about two weeks ago,
warning 'NGO women' that they would be forcefully married to their local men if
they dared to enter the area. There was a time when such fatwas were more
common, resulting in serious punishments inflicted on women who dared to
venture beyond the four walls of their homes.
"However, over the last four years there has been a
steady improvement in creating space for women to be more visible in public.
After decades of repression, women have turned the cycle in a different direction
by building a high level of solidarity among women from many backgrounds. The
awareness that one woman's advancement is linked to breaking the shackles of
others has gained ground. Not just women; many men are fully in support of this
process of change.
"Who will tell the 'fatwa guys' that they are
nearly an extinct species? Who will tell these men that they need to wake up to
2012. Who will tell them that our interest in them is
limited to a single news item? Perhaps they should be kept in a museum with the
caption 'we used to have people like this who thought work for women was
'un-Islamic' but marrying them by force was 'Islamic.' Idiots who thought
talking on a cell phone was 'un-Islamic' but throwing acid in women's faces was
'Islamic'!'
"I think it is time for our society to forcefully
stop such people who not only violate the dignity and safety of women citizens,
but also give a bad name to Islam, a religion which places a priority on the
dignity of women."
"I Am More Worried About Those Who Put On A Progressive Facade And Continue To Reinforce Myths That
Imply Women Are Inferior"
"I am not so worried about these fatwas because I
am confident that our society will not let itself regress. I am more worried
about those who put on a progressive facade and continue to reinforce myths
that imply women are inferior. Our society takes these 'put-downs' for granted
and uses them in a patronizing manner.
"Putting down a man by calling him a 'woman,' and
thus a coward, has gone on for generations. These 'humiliations,' while being
common among the ignorant, do concern me more when they are commonly used by
our leaders.
"About two weeks ago, a senior minister raised his
hands and announced that he was not wearing bangles, implying that he was not a
coward but was 'brave' like a 'man' and would handle the violence in Karachi
with a 'man's courage.' Ironically, men with their 'bravery' and 'courage' have
already given that city enough trouble…
"I am a woman who wears bangles yet feels quite
brave. I am also a daughter of a brave woman, a woman who wears bangles
and has felt very brave all her life. I salute my mother today on Mothers' Day
and all the mothers who wear bangles while standing bravely…"
Tazeen Javed:
"Fatwas Are So Commonplace That Even A Power Utility Company Resorted To Seeking One A Few Years Back To Get People To Pay For
Their Electricity"
Following are excerpts from Tazeen
Javed's article:[3]
"[We] are teeming millions of people who cannot
feed themselves, have limited access to energy, and will be dumber and weaker
in the future because of the stunted mental and physical growth of our children
due to the lack of education. At such a juncture in history, amongst us are
individuals who issue fatwas and promote misogyny and obscurantism against hygiene,
education, health, and progress.
"The latest fatwa is one issued by a former
legislator. Maulana Abdul Haleem of the Jamiat
Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman group) came up with a series of misogynist fatwas
clearly detailing what the priorities of his political and religious followers
should be. For starters, the fatwa declares formal education for women to be
un-Islamic. As if declaring the act of going to school and getting an
irreligious education was not enough, he also reprimanded the parents in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa's Kohistan district who send their daughters to school and asked
them to terminate their education. He also strictly told them that failure to
do so would earn them a spot in eternal hellfire.
"The fatwa goes on to declare all NGOs working in
the region as 'hubs of immodesty.' He first blamed the women working in those
NGOs for mobilizing the local women on health and hygiene issues and then
called on the local men to marry the unmarried NGO workers – forcefully, if
they have to – to make them stay at home.
"In short, a former legislator issues fatwas during
a Friday sermon inciting hatred against a group of people (NGO workers) and
declaring the constitutional rights of getting an education for half of the
population forbidden and no one, barring a few bloggers and tweeters, raises
even an eyebrow…
"Had it been just one fatwa from one cleric in one
remote corner, perhaps, we could have ignored it. However, unfortunately, we
churn out one edict after another without realizing what the rest of the world
may think of us. If declaring hair implant services and vegetarian items, such
as potato chips, halal is considered a viable marketing gimmick, then the
abduction of minor girls from minority communities also gets legitimized
through decrees by half-literate mullahs [clerics].
"Fatwas are so commonplace that even a power
utility company resorted to seeking one a few years back to get people to pay
for their electricity. Since that utility is still burdened with thousands of
unpaid bills, we know how useless that fatwa turned out to be.
"A country like ours can ill-afford adventurism of
any kind but most dangerous is the practice of resorting to a fatwa to get a
point across. Not only does this breed a narrow and rigid view of issues, it
also leaves no room for dialogue, debate and consultation, making us an
increasingly 'stunted' and intolerant society."
Acid
attack on boy who 'refused sex with Muslim cleric'
By Massoud Ansari in Karachi
(Filed: 08/02/2004)
On his hospital bed last week, 16-year-old Abid Tanoli
sat listless and alone, half of his body covered by burns that all but
destroyed both his eyes and left his face horribly disfigured.
The teenager talked, with difficulty, of how his life had been destroyed since
the fateful day in June 2002 when he refused to have sex with his teacher at a
religious school in Pakistan.
The boy was horrifically injured in an acid attack after he rebuffed the Muslim
cleric's sexual advances. Now, he has alarmed Pakistan's powerful religious
establishment by pressing charges against his alleged assailants.
A teacher at the school, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and two of his
friends are in prison awaiting trial for attempted murder and rape. All three
deny the charges. A fourth alleged attacker is still at large.
It is the first such case to be brought against a Muslim cleric and threatens
to expose a scandal of sex abuse within Pakistan's secretive Islamic schools.
Abid was blinded and maimed in the assault, which he says came shortly after he
rejected sexual demands from the Islamic teacher at a madrassa in a crowded,
lower middle-class district of Karachi. "He threatened to ruin me for
life," Abid recalled, "but I didn't take him seriously. I just
stopped going to the madrassa".
Abid, who was 14 at the time, told neither parents nor friends what had
happened because, he said, he was ashamed. A few days later, as he played with
his brothers and sister at home, he said that his religious teacher -
accompanied by three associates - broke into the house, bolted the door and
threw acid over him, screaming: "This should be a lesson for your
life."
Abid was taken to a public hospital, where doctors told him that he would be
scarred for life.
Lawyers and campaigners against sexual abuse of children say that it is not
uncommon in Pakistan, especially in the segregated surroundings of the
country's estimated 20,000 religious schools, but
cases involving members of the clergy are rarely - if ever - exposed.
"They are either hushed up and sorted out within the confines of school,
or parents are pressurized not to report the incident to the media as it would
give religion a bad name," said Zia Ahmed Awan, the president of Madadgaar, a joint project of LHRLA (Lawyers for Human
Rights and Legal Aid) and Unicef, the United Nations
children's fund.
Haroon Tanoli, Abid's father, met strong resistance
when he tried to take up his son's case with officials at the school. He says
that they offered to help him secure a cash payment from the alleged attackers,
provided that he did not involve the police. Since then, he has been threatened
with harsh consequences for refusing to back down.
"I despise hypocrites who sport huge beards in the name of religion and
hinder the passage of justice in the name of Islam," said Mr. Tanoli.
"I had a beard, and all my four sons were studying in a madrassa. However,
following this incident, the first thing I did was to pull my children out of
the madrassa - and shave off my beard."
Even as Abid was receiving treatment, the religious authorities pressed the
hospital to discharge him. Mr. Tanoli managed to get
him admitted to a different hospital, where he is being treated free, although
the family cannot afford an operation to save his sight.
Mr. Tanoli refuses to back down, despite being
offered one million rupees (£12,000) by the teacher's relations if he withdraws
the charges. He has moved to a secret location for his own safety.
Pakistan cleric for OIC support
for Iran
Islamic Republic News Agency
Monday October 03, 2005
A noted cleric and vice-president of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal in Pakistan called for the
Organization of the Islamic Conference's support for Iran on its nuclear
program.
In an interview with IRNA here on Saturday, Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi contended that it was high time for
the OIC to extend its support to the Islamic Republic of Iran on the nuclear
issue.
Naqvi proposed that a special summit of OIC member
countries be summoned to discuss the issue.
OIC must devise a strategy to protect Muslim nations
from such coercive tactics, he argued.
The MMA leader was of the view that public opinion in
Muslim nations had always been for safeguarding Islamic interests but that a
majority of Muslim rulers blindly toed the US and its allies
policy.
He pointed out that Iran had repeatedly said that its
program was peaceful and had nothing to do with nuclear arms and that the
United States and European countries were unjustifiably exerting pressure on a
sovereign Islamic nation to give in.
Referring to the United Nations Security Council and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said Iran had every right to
exploit nuclear energy to meet its requirements.
He said he was opposed to the Security Council taking up
the issue, saying it would be an uncalled for and unjustified initiative.
Naqvi criticized the role of the United States and
Europe on the issue and insisted that leading nations were needed to review
their policies towards Iran and other Islamic countries.
"The world must change its policy and the issues
should be settled through peaceful means as use of force is no solution to
problems in the present era," he maintained.
The government of Pakistan abstained from voting in the
IAEA resolution last week on the matter of referring the Iran issue to the
Security Council and also opposed any military solution to it.
All political and religious parties in the country have
also thrown their voice behind Iran on its peaceful nuclear program.
Death threats against Christian leaders in Sangla Hill
An extremist Islamic group offers a “deal”
over the phone. “Making a deal with them might mean peace, but the culprits
would then still be free” and “won’t be punished for what they did.”
by Qaiser Felix 29 December, 2005
PAKISTAN
Sangla Hill (AsiaNews) –
“If you don’t accept our deal in two days, then get ready to die,” said a man
who identified himself as a member of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,
an extremist Islamic group, in an attempt to intimidate Christian community
leaders in Sangla Hill.
On November 12, Christian properties were
attacked by about 2,000 Muslims who had been instigated by Islamic religious
leaders after blasphemy allegations were made against a Christian. The mob
seriously damaged three churches, the homes of two Protestant clergymen, a
nunnery, a girls’ hostel and two schools.
Saqib Sohail Batti, general councillor in Sangla Hill, told AsiaNews that he; Fr Samson Dilawar, the local catholic parish priest; and Rev Tajmal Perves received an identical phone call.
“All three of us got a phone call on
December 27 from the same man using the same phone number,” he said. “We
informed the police who traced the call to a Faislabad
public call office”.
“Making a deal with them might mean peace,
but the culprits would then still be free. If we give in, they won’t be
punished for what they did,” he added.
“We are really scared and are held up in our
homes,” he explained.
“Although the police was
warned [about possible violence] even before November 12, they did nothing to
prevent the extremists’ attack,” he said.
Pakistan cleric supports Iranian president's views about
Israel
Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, Dec 19, IRNA
Pakistan-Iran
A noted cleric and President of Millat-e-Jafria Pakistan Syed Sajid Ali Naqvi on Monday fully
supported Iranian president's views about Israel.
"The West has established Israel to occupy Muslim
land and keep the Islamic countries under pressure," the cleric said
during an interview with "IRNA" here.
The Shia leader pointed out that the reason for the West
always sided with Tel Aviv aimed at serving their vested interest and seize
control of Muslim countries.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week described
Holocaust 'a myth' and suggested Israel to be moved to Germany, US or Canada.
The cleric maintained that the views of Iranian president,
among other things, made it clear that on the basis of might, Tel Aviv had been
established on the Muslim piece of land.
Naqvi, who is also the vice-president of the six-party
alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), said
that Israel was an illegitimate state, created under a well-thought out
conspiracy against the Islamic world.
MMA is an alliance of mainstream religio-political
parties that have a sizable presence in both Houses of the Parliament.
Criticising the Muslim countries' rulers
who wanted to establish relations with Tel Aviv, Naqvi advised them to take
Israelis to their respective countries so that Al-Quds and Palestine could be
liberated.
To a question about the United States threat of attack
on Iran, he said that if America under the pretext of nuclear programme attacked Tehran, the political and religious
parties in Pakistan would strongly agitate against it and support the Islamic
Republic.
He demanded of the United Nations, the European Union, the
International Atomic Energy Agency and the Organisation
of Islamic Conference (OIC) to throw their weight behind Iran about its
peaceful nuclear programme.
Israel is being promoted as a nuclear state while other
countries, particularly Islamic nations are pressured not to opt for even
peaceful nuclear technology, he said.
"Under the same illogical and unjust policy, Iran
is being pressured to abandon its programme. Such
approach, if continued, will greatly disturb the balance of power," he
cautioned.
Pakistani Muslim cleric offers 1 million bounty for
cartoonist
Posted Feb 17, 2006
The cleric offered the bounty during
Friday prayers as Muslim anger against the cartoons flared anew in parts of
Asia.
Weeks of global protests over the cartoons have triggered fears of a clash of civilisations between the West and Islam, and have led to
calls on all sides for calm.
On Friday, thousands rallied in Pakistan, police in Bangladesh blocked
demonstrators heading for the Danish embassy in Dhaka and in the Indian
city of Hyderabad, police fired teargas shells and batons to beat back hundreds
of protesters, who had stoned shops and disrupted traffic.
Protests in Pakistan this week have resulted in at least five deaths and
hundreds of detentions, and on Friday it became the latest country where
Denmark has decided to temporarily close its embassy.
The Danish foreign ministry also issued a travel warning for Pakistan, urging
any Danes to leave as soon as possible.
The cleric leads the congregation at the historic Mohabat
mosque, on a street known for goldsmith shops in the provincial capital of
North West Frontier Province – a stronghold of Pakistan's Islamist opposition
parties.
The cartoons were first published in Denmark last September, but last month
newspapers and magazines in Europe and elsewhere began republishing to assert
principles of freedom of expression.
Pak cleric offers reward on cartoonist
Amir Mir & Agencies
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Lahore/Peshawar: A Pakistani Muslim cleric
and his followers have offered rewards for anyone who kills Danish cartoonists
who drew caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
Maulana Yousef Qureshi said he had personally offered to pay a bounty of
Rs5,00,000 (US$8,400) during Friday prayers, and two of his congregation put up
additional rewards of $1 million and Rs1 million plus a car.
“If the West can place a bounty on Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, we
can also announce a reward for killing the man who has caused this sacrilege,”
Qureshi said.
A Danish newspaper, Jyllands Posten,
first printed the cartoons by 12 cartoonists in September. The newspaper has
since apologised to Muslims.
Denmark closed its embassy in Islamabad on Friday and Pakistan decided to
recall its ambassador from Copenhagen.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani government put Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of the
Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT),
under house arrest on Friday.
Saeed was served the order at his Johar Town
residence in Lahore ahead of protests planned by his organisation,
the Jamaatul Daawa, and the
LeT, its former military wing.
Police said Saeed was detained to avoid any untoward incident in the city
during the Friday protests.
In India, violence erupted in parts of Hyderabad on Friday during protests by
Muslims. Two persons were injured in stone-throwing as protesters ransacked 10
shops and damaged or set on fire dozens of vehicles at Charminar, Murgi Chowk, Chhatrinaka,
Darussalam, Mehdipatnam and Vijaynagar.
Police said the situation was tense but under control. They have arrested 10
people, including a corporator of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen.
Cleric puts $1m bounty on Danish cartoonists
ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani Muslim cleric and
his followers have offered rewards amounting to over US$1 million for anyone
who killed Danish cartoonists who drew caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad that
have enraged Muslims worldwide.
The cleric offered the bounty during Friday prayers as Muslim anger against the
cartoons flared anew in parts of Asia. Weeks of global protests over the
cartoons have gained momentum and fears of a clash of civilizations
between the West and Islam have led to calls on all sides for calm.
About 10 people were killed in violent clashes between Libyan police and
demonstrators today at a protest over the cartoons, Italian Ambassador to
Tripoli Francesco Trupiano told Reuters.
"The number of dead is not official, or definitive, because until the
clashes are over, it's hard to say. But there are certainly about 10
victims," Trupiano said, clarifying that by
victims he meant dead.
Trupiano said he had met Libya's interior minister
about a half hour earlier to discuss the clashes outside Italy's consulate in
the northeastern city of Benghazi.
On Friday, thousands rallied in Pakistan, police in Bangladesh blocked
demonstrators heading for the Danish embassy in Dhaka and in the Indian city of
Hyderabad, police fired teargas shells and batons to beat back hundreds of
protesters, who had stoned shops and disrupted traffic.
Protests in Pakistan this week have resulted in at least five deaths and
hundreds of detentions, and on Friday it became the latest country where
Denmark has decided to temporarily close its embassy.
The Danish foreign ministry also issued a travel warning for Pakistan, urging
any Danes to leave as soon as possible.
In the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, cleric Maulana Yousef Qureshi
said he had personally offered to pay a bounty of 500,000 rupees
to anyone who killed a Danish cartoonist, and two of his congregation
put up additional rewards of $1 million and one million rupees plus a car.
"If the West can place a bounty on Osama bin Laden and Zawahri
we can also announce reward for killing the man who has caused this sacrilege
of the holy Prophet," Qureshi told Reuters, referring to the al Qaeda
leader and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri.
The cleric leads the congregation at the historic Mohabat
mosque, on street known for goldsmith shops in the provincial capital of North
West Frontier Province -- a stronghold of Pakistan's Islamist opposition
parties.
The cartoons were first published in Denmark last September, but last month
newspapers and magazines in Europe and elsewhere began republishing to assert
principles of freedom of expression.
Muslims believe images of the Prophet are
forbidden.
EMBASSY SHUTS
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it was recalling its own ambassador from
Copenhagen for consultations. It did not elaborate further.
The Danish ambassador in Islamabad said, however, that relations had not been
broken off because of the furor.
"I'm still in Pakistan and in a secure place," Ambassador Bent Wigotski told Reuters.
"There is no question of broken relations or anything like that," he
said, adding that the German embassy was looking after Denmark's consular
affairs.
Denmark has already shut its missions in Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Indonesia as
a result of violence or threats of violence.
Protests in Pakistan have been large and violent and many have taken on a
distinctly anti-US tone. Demonstrators, in addition to burning Danish flags,
have attacked US fast-food outlets and burned US President George W. Bush in
effigy.
Islamist parties have called for a nationwide strike on March 3, around the
time President George W. Bush is expected to visit Pakistan, despite the
unrest.
Western leaders have been calling for calm.
Former US President Bill Clinton and French President Jacques Chirac both said
on Friday that it was a mistake to publish the cartoons.
Clinton, on a private visit to Pakistan, said he saw nothing wrong with Muslims
around the world demonstrating in a peaceful way, but he feared a great
opportunity to improve understanding had been squandered.
"This is not a time to burn bridges; this is a time to build them,"
he said, adding, "...I can tell you that most people are horrified that
this much misunderstanding has occurred."
Chirac was more blunt.
"I am appalled by what happened as a result of the publications of these
cartoons," Chirac told India Today news magazine which published an
interview with him on Friday.
"I am, of course, in favor of the freedom of the press, which is a pillar
of democracy. But I am equally for respecting everyone's sensibilities... So I deplore the situation," said Chirac, who visits
India next week.
- REUTERS
Two Muslim clerics in Pak stab to death
accused blasphemer
Multan (Pakistan), June 16: Two Islamic
clerics allegedly stabbed to death a man accused of blasphemy outside a court
in central Pakistan today, police said.
The Mullahs armed with knives attacked Abdus Sattar Gopang
outside a trial court in Muzaffargarh district in Punjab province, district
police chief Rai Tahir said.
Gopang was brought to the court in a case registered
against him three months ago on charges that he abused Allah and the Prophet
Mohammed during a brawl with a truck driver, he said.
Police rushed to the scene and dragged away the two Mullahs, identified as
Maulvi Imran and Mohammad Iqbal, their ripped tunics still splattered with
blood, witnesses said.
They also attacked and injured a policeman.
In a separate incident a frenzied mob beat a teacher to death when he tried to
help a Muslim cleric in a row over alleged desecration of the Koran, a local
police chief said.
The prayer leader was attacked by more than 1,000 people at Hasilpur
town in Punjab after claims that he burned pages from an old copy of the holy
book near a drain, Nasir Sayal said.
"A retired school teacher came in and tried to save the cleric but he was
also severely beaten by the mob and later died in hospital," he said.
Both victims belonged to the hardline Islamic Jamaat-ud-Dawa Party, an incarnation of the banned Kashmir militant
group Laskhar-e-Taeba, he
added.
Bureau Report
Muslim cleric threatens suicide
attacks
By Sheraz
Khurram Khan
April 7, 2007
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- A hard-line
Muslim cleric has threatened to unleash a wave of suicide attacks if the
Pakistan government tries to counter his bid of enforcing Islamic laws in the
federal capital through vigilante Islamic courts that he announced he would set
up.
Maulana Abdul Aziz made the threat while addressing the Friday congregation in
the Lal Masjid (red mosque) located near the city centre
of Islamabad.
“The government has been saying that an operation
against us is the last option, I want to tell the government that suicide
attacks are our last option,” the Reuters News Agency quoted him as saying.
Maulana Aziz, the chief cleric of the Lal Masjid,
flexing his “religious muscles” in a Taliban-like fashion, set a one-month
deadline for the government to ensure closure of music shops and bordellos.
Last month, the cleric's quest for eroding “immorality”
resulted in imprisonment of three women accused of being prostitutes in Jamia
Hafsa, a radical religious school that is being run under his patronage.
Aziz reportedly said the religious school students will take action themselves
to stamp out vice from the capital if the government failed to do so.
“Our youths will shake their palaces with their suicide
attacks,” the Reuters News Agency quoted him as telling Friday congregation at
the mosque.
“They should not take the law into their own hands; this
will create lawlessness in the country. We will not allow them, I will not
allow this,” the Reuters News Agency quoted Pakistan President General Pervez
Musharraf as telling a convention on Friday.
Pakistan's leading Human Rights Activist, Asma Jehangir,
reportedly said a rally would take place in the eastern city of Lahore on April
19 to condemn the cleric's moves.