By Khama Bagosh Madzallah, New Age Islam
April 17, 2013
Jamaat-ud-Dawa, or ex Dawat-ul-Arshad, the standard
bearer of Salafi Islam in Pakistan had been publishing in its magazines “Mujalla
Dawa” and “Mujalla Hermain” since 1993, nearly one thousand biographies,
amazing narratives of bravery, sacrifice and fight on the battle front of the
young martyrs, which include surprising revelations and upsetting accounts of
killings. Also, there are such
statements by the martyrs and their families which may leave you stunned. More
than half of the martyrs are aged between sixteen and eighteen and they earnestly
desire to slaughter Hindu soldiers and civilians. They believe that the
atrocities over Kashmiri Muslims can be revenged only by slaughtering pagan and
Idol worshipping Hindus.
In 1996 congregation of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, a boy from
Indian occupied Kashmir was brought on the stage, he raised the slogan of
“Allah-o-Akbar” and told that by the grace of Allah he had accepted Islam and
had beheaded his Hindu parents and one brother. This just Muslim whose Jihadist
alias was Abu-Qatada very emotionally narrated in front of hundreds of
thousands of people among them ex-ISI chief Hameed Gul, how he had preached
Islam to his whole family, then upon being ridiculed by them, how calmly he
killed them all at night. After this a never ending rising of the slogan
“Allah-o-Akbar” started. In December 1996 addition of Mujalla Dawa the writer
claimed that the brother Abu-Qatada is the apple of every one’s eye and is in
Azad Kashmir. He treats his fellow Jihadists so politely that everyone becomes
a fan of him.
Nowadays no one knows where exactly brother Abu-Qatada
is, either fighting in India, Pakistan or sleeping with his seventy two wives
in paradise, enjoying the eternal pleasures of martyrdom.
On page 22 of the January 1995 addition of Mujalla
Dawa the following is printed in a rectangle. “Father! You want me to marry? Is
there a suitable girl for me? Father my standard is the fairy of paradise (huri)
and I would marry her after my martyrdom”.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa has influenced and enrolled hundreds of
thousands of youth in last two decades to their institutes. In the latest edition
of Mujjalla Hermain Jamaat has claimed that more than fifty thousand students
have joined Al-Dawa schools, colleges and seminaries network all over the
country. Along with this disclosure, it is also written that “by the grace of
Allah the numbers of Islamic Mujahideen are increasing rapidly. These
Mujahedeen will not only fight against un-Islamic practices and vulgarity in
the beloved land but against the pagans as well. Although exact statistics are
not available but it can be estimated from the publications of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa
how many people can call themselves extremist at the end of the endeavour
spanning over two decades. But it is not very difficult to observe growing
Salafism in Pakistan, whether it be in the Urdu media, in government offices or
educational institutes, Salafism is quite visible everywhere.
It is quite normal in Pakistan, not worth much
attention, to accuse someone of blasphemy and kill ruthlessly. Countless such
incidents have happened where innocent people were killed. Not only religious minorities
but Muslims too were targeted with full force. The militant wing of Jamaat-ud-Dawa,
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba actively participated in all these acts. From organized
attacks on minorities to the killing of common people accused of blasphemy
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba had a role in it.
The latest example is the abduction of a mentally
challenged man from the police station in Bahawalpur who was then hit with
bricks by the mob in the bazaar and was burnt to death as they found him about
to expire. The helpless man died while the mob of thousands raised the slogan
of Takbeer. After his death it became known that he was a mental patient who
had been just discharged from a mental hospital but still had not fully
recovered. One fine day he was just accused of disrespecting holy Quran. The police
arrested him. But the Salafi youth made announcements on the loud speakers of
the mosques calling for a gathering of Salafis and as they gathered they attacked
the police station. They torched the building of the police station. An
adjacent residential quarter used by a constable was also burnt along with the
dowry of his two young daughters. He told the media later that there were
copies of holy Quran in the dowry as well which were also burnt to ashes by the
very committed Muslim mob that accused the mentally challenged person of
disrespecting the holy Quran and killed him for that.
Similarly in Punjab, extremist Salafists attacked and
burnt down even whole townships just on the basis of accusations of blasphemy
as it happened in Gojra, Shanti Nagar and Badami Bagh Even some lives were lost
in these attacks.
The emotionalized angry mob over accusation of
blasphemy even burnt churches where many copies of holy Bible faced the same
fate of disrespect as the holy Quran had reportedly faced. Despite being just
accusations, the aroused Salafists deliberately disrespected the churches and
holy Bible. The disturbing fact is that those people who deliberately
disrespected the holy Bible, faced the weak and difficult to prove charges (due
to lack of evidence and high number of accused) of looting and burning only, and
the people who had unproven, reported accusation of disrespect of the Quran
against them were charged with the stringent law of blasphemy. The reason
behind the lack of evidence and testimonies is the fear of extremist Salafists,
because the feeble minority might be at risk again if it testified.
The example of the ineffectiveness of the trial of
those accused of blasphemy can be imagined by the fact that no lawyer dares to
defend the accused as he/she may be targeted too for being an ally of the
blasphemer.
The judges of the courts pray that may there not be a
case of blasphemy for them to hear. The fear of extremist Salafists is the
reason behind this, as a judge of LHC Arif Iqbal Bhatti had already been killed
by them for setting free Manzoor Masih and Rehmat Masih, both from Gujranwala,
on the basis of insufficient evidence. One of the accused was killed just
outside the court room and the other saved his life by escaping from Pakistan.
It has become impossible to stop the prevailing tide Salafism in Pakistan as the powerful institutes have been backing Jihadists to advance their expansionist agendas in Kashmir and at the same time they have been hiring their Jihadist services in Afghanistan.
In thirty-six jails of Punjab dispensaries,
book shops and training centres of Jamaat-ud-Dawa have been set up. This
provides the eagles of JuD access to the thousands of certified criminals
through this network. Socially the traditional centre of power has shifted
towards extremists from the politicians and now even community level
settlements of disputes are done by the extremists. Any resistance to the
decision would result in a certain gruesome death of that party.
Political parties are dependent on Salafi extremist’s help
who provide armed support and protection, either to run political campaign or
in other matters. Today many politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen,
agriculturists and even journalists and intellectuals pay protection money to
these extremists. One of the highest ranking officials of Punjab also pays
protection money to a Salafi organization to save his life. The situation is
going to be much worse in coming days as Pakistan is losing control over
internal affairs very quickly. Deteriorating economic condition is another
problem which raises the morale of such organizations as many jobless youths
are trapped by such organizations, the best example being that of Ajmal Qassab,
the lone survivor of Mumbai attack who joined Salafi camp due to unemployment.
About Khama Bagosh Madzallah: A confused Muslim,
unable to understand the real definition of Muslimhood. Is a Muslim the
standard bearer of Islam in reality? Or just an enemy of fellow Muslims? What
is the Islamic ideology about rest of the world? What is its culture and
history? Why the Muslims are in a conflict not just with other religions but
other cultures as well?
URL of Episode 2: https://www.newageislam.com/radical-islamism-and-jihad/the-salafi-wave-in-south-asia---2nd-episode/d/11075
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