A Pakistani Journalist Blames the Jama'at Islami of Spying and Doing Surveillance on Its Opponents
Journalist
and Columnist Malik Abdullah's Book Gives an Account of His Experience during
Hajj in 1973
Main
Points:
1. Malik
Abdullah and his wife had gone on pilgrimage in 1973.
2. He wrote
that Jam'at Islami had planted spies to watch his movements.
3. He wrote a
letter to Maulana Maududi protesting this 'fascist' act.
4. Malik
Abdullah had criticised the role of the Jama 'at during the 1971 Bangladesh
war.
5. He had been
harassed for his statements in favour of Bangladesh in Pakistan.
------
By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
14 July
2022
Journalist
Raza Naeem has reproduced in English a letter written by a journalist and
columnist Malik Abdullah to the founder of Jama'at Islami, Maulana Maududi in
January 1973 during his Hajj pilgrimage.
Malik
Abdullah had come to know that the Jama'at had planted spies to keep a watch on
his movements during the Hajj and had even given misleading information about
him to the government of Saudi Arabia. As a result, the Saudi government also
kept a close vigil at him.
This was
done because Malik Abdullah, despite being a Pakistani, had criticised the role
of Jama'at Islami during the Bangladesh war of independence. Its cadre had
given witness against him on behalf of the police in Pakistan. Malik Abdullah
writes that this is what the Jama'at does with its opponents. They can go to
any extent in political enmity as was seen in their enmity with Bhutto and in
the Quran burning episode. Although they claim to be a religious organisation,
they gel well with the atheist communists, an unpalatable combination.
Malik Abdullah laments the fact that the
Jama'at did not hesitate to do politics even in the holy land of Makkah during
the pilgrimage when he had not gone for any other purpose other than fulfilling
his religious obligation. This letter and Malik Abdullah's account of the incidents
surrounding it raises curtains from the modus operandi of a religious
organisation which considers its opponents enemies of Islam.
-----
Eid al
Adha Completes Haj: Once, Pakistan Politics Brought Fascism Even to Mecca
By
Raza Naeem
10 Jul 2022
The
distinguished Pakistani communist journalist, writer, and activist Abdullah
Malik (1920–2003), wrote a letter—never posted—to the founder and leader of the
Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Maududi, during the former’s pilgrimage to Mecca in
the winter of 1973.
This un-posted
letter forms a small part of Malik’s Haj travelogue titled Hadees-e-Dil
(Hadith of the Heart), which I am translating into English at the moment. It is
recorded by Malik under the heading ‘A Letter Which Was Not Posted’ and
gives a revealing expose of the Jamaal’s politics of surveillance and spying
against its opponents even during a holy occasion as the Haj at the height of
the Cold War and worldwide anti-communist hysteria.
The letter
itself is preceded by Malik’s journal entry on 29 January, as well as another
preamble to the letter giving a context of why he chose to write the letter and
is being presented here for the very first time in the English translation.
The first
post–COVID Haj culminates with Eid al Adha in
Mecca. On this holy day, readers of this valuable letter may find themselves
being grateful to Malik for peeling off the veil from the face of hypocrites.
Translation
of Abdullah Malik's Journal Entry
29 January
I went down
to find our Muallim (government-appointed guide for pilgrims) Abdullah Attas
sitting on a raised platform at the shop of the owner of our rented house. We
exchanged salutations and I, too, sat near him. He asked me about why
Jamaat-e-Islami folks were so much after me. Then, Abdullah told me the doings
of the people of Jamaat-e-Islami about me in detail which include everyone
including Khalil Hamidi, etc.
These
things really upset me and I began to think that these ‘religious’ and lovers
of Islam were involved in politics even after arriving here. I was extremely
anguished…
…we went
into the Haram and I wrote a letter to Maulana Maududi sitting there, narrating
the full incidents. I am thinking of sending this detailed letter to Maulana
Maududi and have its copy sent for publication and run a whole campaign on
this, otherwise they will try to use the ceremonies of the whole Haj gradually
through the government of Saudi Arabia for their own ends.
Now I feel
that in the rumours about Pakistan which begin to go around here daily, there's
the hand of the agents of this very Jamaat-e-Islami. Their enmity against
Bhutto can take them to any limit. I don’t know if I have written somewhere
before or not that despite serious disagreements with Jamaat-e-Islami I always
had a continuous conjecture about the people of this party; but the events of
1970 and 1971, for example, the burning of the Koran, the attempt to have
individual journalists fired from jobs and then at the very end, when a case
was brought against me for making a speech in favour of Bangladesh and against
the army action during Martial Law, the workers of Jamaat-e-Islami and their
student supporters firmly gave evidence from the side of the police.
At that
time I felt that No, this is a very inferior sort of party and Maulana Maududi
has created fascist wolves in the name of Islam. A party which does not
hesitate from fabricating an incident about burning of the Koran for its
political ends, how would it shun making false cases against its political
opponents or trapping them; and now indeed it is absurd to mention the workers
of this party, since a party which has created assassins in the name of God,
the party which has the blood of thousands of East Pakistanis on the hands of
its workers, it is useless to hope for any type of decency or principles from
them.
A Letter
Which Was Not Posted (Preamble)
Just now I
have written a letter to Maulana Maududi sitting in the Haram Sharif! My
relations with, and obedience, to the Maulana are from before the creation of
Pakistan, when the Maulana was in Pathankot; so whenever he came to Lahore,
Khwaja Abdul Waheed organised some occasion or the other for him and there
would be parties at friends; so I would also be part of them.
Pakistan
was created and the Jamaat-e-Islami began to fully participate in politics. So,
despite all disagreements the Communist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami ran a
campaign for civic freedoms and made arrangements for holding meetings; so I
kept participating in these meetings as a representative of the Communist Party
and Maulana Maududi himself kept addressing the meetings as the Emir of
Jamaat-e-Islami.
Then, one
kept meeting him in the field of journalism but in all conditions the respect
for the Maulana remained and whenever I got the privilege of meeting him, I
always met him very much with obedience, since decency and respect in politics
should nevertheless be a compulsory and permanent quality and one should never
leave its grasp.
My feelings
have always been the same and I always expressed obedience to the Maulana under
the same feelings. Therefore, when he arrived ill in London—I too was in London
in those days but, unfortunately, ill and in a hospital—I wrote a letter to the
Maulana and sought an apology for being unable to visit him and he answered me
with kindness.
Hence, when
I got to know about these things from Abdullah Attas, I wrote a letter to
Maulana Maududi but when I read this letter to Ayesha (wife) she forbade from
posting it. The reason she gave was that if this letter came in the custody of
the Saudi government, some further calamity might befall and besides, what
would be its use? But the reality is that this matter really disturbed me so I
also wrote an article in English for ‘Outlook’ with the title “Haj and
Politics” but I did not send that as well.
The
Letter to Maulana Maududi of Jamaat-e-Islami
Dated 28
January 1973
Mecca
Respected
Syed Maududi Sahib
Salam! I am
sending these lines in your service with respect. I hope that you will reflect
on these objections. Whatever be my political beliefs and however much you may
disagree with them, you or any of your supporters do not have the right, in
principle and morally, to doubt my Islam or my Haj obligation, or to attempt to
make me a target of the rage and fury of the Saudi government by spreading
jealousy among the Ummal (agents) of the Saudi government against me
using your influence and approach.
I have said
these introductory lines, now coming to the real story. I request forgiveness
for the length of the talk, but anyways I want to definitely deliver my full
story to you.
I along
with my wife reached here via plane on 28 December. While coming here, I had
brought a letter of introduction composed of three-four lines from Mr Ehsan
Elahi Zaheer addressed to the Muallim Aqeel Attas. I reached here and gave this
letter to Abdullah, the son of Aqeel Attas who now runs the business of this
firm. My wife and I resided here after renting a room. Afterwards, our contact
with the Muallim was rare, we—husband and wife—spent more time in the Haram and
remained busy in fulfilling the obligation for which we had come.
Meanwhile,
when the ceremonies of Haj began, I met Mian Shafi in Mina. I had no
information about his arrival; he began to say that he came to know of my
arrival through Iqbal Suhail. He said he was looking for me, Iqbal Suhail
wanted to meet me. I, too, was desirous of meeting him. Right after Isha, we
went to Suhail’s place where we talked for three to four hours. While leaving,
I asked for details about Suhail from Mian Shafi who replied with information
on his family and belief. I asked what was Suhail's arrangement for livelihood.
Mian Shafi said that Suhail worked for the Saudi government but did not want to
publicise it. I was not supposed to mention it ever.
We sat for
a long time at Suhail’s. On our return, Mian Shafi asked me whether I had
brought the letter of Ehsan Elahi Zaheer. I asked," How do you know that?
You have arrived from Pakistan before me". He replied that Suhail told
him. "He must have been told by your Muallim because he belongs to
Jamaat-e-Islami." I said OK.
Until that
time, I had no knowledge about my Muallim, nor did I try to find out his
political affiliation. The truth is that these things were not even remotely in
my mind, since I had arrived here with a totally different objective and
different condition. However, I was saddened by this matter.
A few days
passed after this incident. One day, after Isha, I went to look for mail. Abdullah
suddenly began to say that the letter of Ehsan Elahi Zaheer which you had
brought was lying here. It used to be seen by the Jamaat-e-Islami folks daily,
and now they have lifted it off because it’s not in my drawer. I asked,
"What difference does it make?"
This
morning, I came out of my room to find Abdullah sitting outside near the
shopkeeper. He began to say, "Who are you, after all? Do tell me in
detail. Why are the people of Jamaat-e-Islami so worried about you? They ask me
daily as to why I have arranged for you to stay. You are not a Muslim with
proper beliefs, You are is a communist etc. First, they kept looking at the
letter of Ehsan Elahi Zaheer, then one day they asked, 'Do you need this
letter?' Doubts would be expressed upon this letter. Then, the officials of the
Saudi government began calling. Their ummal came and demanded your passport.
After this, the secret police of the Saudi government watched you for two
days."
All these
things have been told to me by Abdullah Attas, he is a great follower of yours,
though he does not have a good opinion about Khalil Hamidi, etc and was saying
that these are the pensioners of our government and are professionals but
Maududi is a Mujahid and a scholar.
Now, you
tell me is this fascism or not? Will one have to come with permission from your
people for Haj in future and be screened by them and now are these people of
yours insistent upon fulfilling the duties of the Gestapo for the government of
Saudi Arabia? Maulana, the ‘enmities’ in the field of politics indeed do not
fall principally within the category of enmity, in fact come under the category
of disagreements; but the people of your party have transformed these
disagreements into enmities. This very enmity took them to the witness-box of
police witnesses against me in the Martial Law case. Is this same the political
training of these people, every sport has some rules, whoever deviates from
these rules whether done by a socialist or a person of Jamaat-e-Islami will be
deemed a criminal.
Maulana
again I seek forgiveness for the length of the conversation but I thought to
make you aware of the situation, since despite all disagreements I still have
faith upon your knowledge and principles. I have dared write these lines based
on this very faith.
Yours
obediently,
Malik
Abdullah
(All
translations are by Raza Naeem. He is a Pakistani award-winning researcher,
translator and dramatic reader based in Lahore, where he is also the president
of the Progressive Writers Association. He is currently working on a book ‘Sahir
Ludhianvi’s Lahore, Lahore’s Sahir Ludhianvi’, forthcoming in 2022. The
views expressed are the author's own.)
-----
Raza Naeem
is a Pakistani social scientist, book critic and award-winning translator and
dramatic reader based in Lahore, where he is also the President of the
Progressive Writers Association. He is currently working on a book, ‘Sahir
Ludhianvi’s Lahore, Lahore’s Sahir Ludhianvi’, forthcoming in 2021.
Source: Eid al Adha Completes Haj: Once,
Pakistan Politics Brought Fascism Even to Mecca
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/pakistani-journalist-jamaat-islami-surveillance-/d/127479
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