PAKISTAN MUSLIM CLERIC HATE!
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.