Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Qazi Hussain Ahmed	Qazi Hussain Ahmed	Jamaat-e-Islami	India-Pakistan	Pakistani	At Large	20050806
	Qazi Hussain Ahmed	Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal	Afghanistan/South Asia	Pakistani	At Large	20050715
	Qazi Hussain Ahmed	Muthidda Majlis-e-Amal	India-Pakistan			20020829
	Qazi Hussain Ahmed	Tehrik Hurmat-i-Quran	Afghanistan/South Asia			20050629
	Qazi Hussain Ahmed	Mutthida Majlis-e-Amal	India-Pakistan			20060327	Link

India-Pakistan

Blast termed conspiracy against country

2013-02-19

[Pak Daily Times] Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
(JI) Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
'>Bloody Karachi Muhammad Hussain Mahenti has said that the kaboom on Kirani Road in Quetta was a conspiracy against the illusory sovereignty of the country.

He expressed these views while addressing the people of Hazara community who staged sit-in on MA Jinnah Road against the Quetta kaboom. He termed the blast as a complete failure of police, rangers, FC and other law enforcing agencies. On the occasion, Mahenti demanded of the government to arrest the culprits of the blast immediately and give them exemplary punishment.

"The law and order situation in Quetta has constantly been deteriorating despite the imposition of governor rule, however; the federal government has become a silent spectator over the said tragic condition," Mahenti added.

Mahenti said JI was always with the oppressed people and the sit-in would continue till the government accepted the demands made by Hazara community.

Speaking on the occasion, Mahenti announced the JI with the coordination of Ulema from different school of thoughts would hold a conference for bringing lasting peace in the country.

JI leader Nasrullah Shajih said the United States (US) and its allies in the country, were hatching conspiracies to destabilise Pakistain and the terrorist activists were the open proof of those machinations. "The entire country is burning with kabooms, but the government has not yet taken any step to ensure the safety of the life and property of common people," Shajih added.

"JI wants to unite the nation, as Qazi Hussain Ahmed
...the absolutely humorless, xenophobic former head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also head of the MMA, a coalition of religious parties formed after 2001 that eventually collapsed under the weight of the holy egos involved. Qazi was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the Afghan mujaheddin's war against the Soviets. His sermons are described as fiery, which means they rely heavily on gospel and not at all on logic. Qazi once recommended drinking camel pee for good health, but that was before his kidneys went...
, too, strived his entire life for the very cause," he added. staff report

Link

India-Pakistan

Indian atrocities in held Kashmir condemned

2013-02-05

[Dawn] Activists of Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
Azad Jammu and Kashmire (JIAJK) on Sunday expressed solidarity with the struggling Kashmiris across the Line of Control (LoC) and condemned Indian atrocities.

The JIAJK activists lined up on both sides of a bazaar, in Chakothi, 60 kilometres north of here, and held each other's hands to form symbolic chains. Some also raised their hands while chanting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans.

"Our course of action: Holy War," was their oft-repeated slogan on the occasion.

Interestingly, Chakothi bazaar is overlooked by the Indian army posts situated on lofty mountains across the LoC. Prior to the 2003 ceasefire, it was regularly pounded by the Indian troops with artillery shells.

Speaking to participants, Sheikh Aqeelur Rehman, commander Shamshir Khan and others took strong exception to what they called passiveness of the international community towards flagrant human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
abuses in Indian held Kashmire.

If the international community was genuinely concerned about peace in South Asia, it will have to facilitate early settlement of the issue of Kashmire in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people, they said.

Otherwise, they warned, peace would remain a distant dream.

The speakers vowed to continue struggle until the eviction of Indian soldiers from Kashmire.

They also paid tributes to Qazi Hussain Ahmed
...the absolutely humorless, xenophobic former head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also head of the MMA, a coalition of religious parties formed after 2001 that eventually collapsed under the weight of the holy egos involved. Qazi was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the Afghan mujaheddin's war against the Soviets. His sermons are described as fiery, which means they rely heavily on gospel and not at all on logic. Qazi once recommended drinking camel pee for good health, but that was before his kidneys went...
, former amir of JI Pakistain, for his strong commitment to the cause of Kashmiris and prayed for the deliverance of his soul.

Earlier, the JIAJK activists reached Chakothi in a cycle of violence rally, which started from press club Muzaffarabad, with its participants hoisting JI flags. The rally was greeted with welcoming slogans in many towns, on its way to Chakothi.--

Link

-Obits-

Islamic sendoff for Qazi Hussain Ahmed in Peshawar

2013-01-07

Ululululululululu *deep breath* ulululululululu...

[Dawn] The funeral prayers of former Jamaati-e-Islami (JI) chief, Qazi Hussain Ahmed
...the absolutely humorless, xenophobic former head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also head of the MMA, a coalition of religious parties formed after 2001 that eventually collapsed under the weight of the holy egos involved. Qazi was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the Afghan mujaheddin's war against the Soviets. His sermons are described as fiery, which means they rely heavily on gospel and not at all on logic. Qazi once recommended drinking camel pee for good health, but that was before his kidneys went...
were held on motorway Ring Road in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
on Sunday, January 6, 2012, DawnNews reported.

The funeral prayers were led by JI Chief

Syed Munawar Hassan
... The funny-looking Amir of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He joined the National Students Federation (NSF), a lefty student body, and was elected its President in 1959. He came into contact with the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) Pakistan and studied the writings of Mawlana Syed Abul Ala Maududi, The Great Apostasizer. As a result, he joined IJT in 1960 and soon he was elected as President of its University of Karachi Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistain in 1992-93, and became Secretary General in 1993. After years of holding Qazi's camel he was named Amir when the old man stepped down in 2009...
, and were attended by a large number of political and religious leaders including Central Amir of Jamaat e Ulema Islam (JUI-F) Fazlur Rehman, Chairman Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
President, Javed Hashmi, JUI-F leader, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, JI leader Liaquat Baloch, Former Senior Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
Minister, Siraj Ul Haq, JUI-Sami Chief, Maulana Samiul Haq
...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time...
, Professor Khurshid Ahmed, former MNA Shabeer Ahmed Khan, senators, members of the parliament, officials, ex-local government representatives, and a large number of workers of JI.

After the prayers, his body was shifted to Ziarat Kaka Sahib in Nowshera district where he was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard.

Earlier today, Ahmed's body was brought from Islamabad to his residence in Peshawar.

Many party workers and supporters from all over the country were traveling to Peshawar to attend the funeral.

President of Pakistain Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Federal Information Qamar Zaman Kaira, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor and Chief Minister offered condolences over the death of the veteran politician and called it a great loss.

Pakistain Mohammedan league- Nawaz (PML-N) chief

Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Muttahida Qaumi Movement
...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead...
(MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and Religious scholar and Minhaj-ul-Koran International chief Dr Tahirul Qadri, among others, also offered condolences over the demise of the former JI chief.

The 74-year-old religious scholar had died in Islamabad of cardiac illness.

Ahmed was suffering from cardiac disease for quite some time and turned critical three days ago.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, 74, was also a prominent religious scholar, Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate.

Qazi joined JI in 1978 and was elected as the party's ameer (chief) in 1987, a position he would be re-elected to on two more occassions before finally stepping down in 2009. He served as the party's ameer for 22 years.

Last November, he escaped an attack unhurt when a jacket wallah detonated explosives near his convoy in the Mohmand tribal agency.

Link

India-Pakistan

Qazi Hussain Ahmed shuffles off mortal coil in Islamabad

2013-01-06

[Dawn] ISLAMABAD: Former Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief and veteran politician Qazi Hussain Ahmed passed away in Islamabad, DawnNews reported early Sunday.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, 74, was also a prominent religious scholar, Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate.

He was a strong critic of counter-terrorism policy of the United States, and was widely known for his opposition against United States participation in civil war in the neighbouring Afghanistan.

Ahmed was suffering from cardiac disease for quite some time and turned critical three days ago.

His body will be shifted to his native town Peshawar.

Qazi joined JI in 1978 and was elected as the party's ameer (chief) in 1987, a position he would be re-elected to on two more occassions before finally stepping down in 2009.

Last November, he escaped an attack unhurt when a suicide bomber detonated explosives near his convoy in the Mohmand tribal agency.

Link

India-Pakistan

Who Attacked Qazi?

2012-11-25

The suicide kaboom on the former Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
chief indicates a growing ideological divide between religious parties and the Taliban

On October 19, former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed
...the absolutely humorless, xenophobic former head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also head of the MMA, a coalition of religious parties formed after 2001 that eventually collapsed under the weight of the holy egos involved. Qazi was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the Afghan mujaheddin's war against the Soviets. His sermons are described as fiery, which means they rely heavily on gospel and not at all on logic. Qazi once recommended drinking camel pee for good health, but that was before his kidneys went...
narrowly escaped a suicide attack in Gandau area of

Mohmand Agency
... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar...
. A burqa-clad woman blew herself up near his convoy injuring five.

Qazi's procession was headed to the Mian Mandi area of Haleemzai tehsil to address a gathering and open a party office when it came under attack near Ghyiba Chowk, according to Adil Siddique, the political agent. According to a witness, a woman sitting on the roadside detonated the explosives strapped to her body when the convoy arrived. Officials found pieces of female clothing and hair on the site.

The event was not postponed despite the suicide attack. Qazi told news hounds later that he had been attacked by "the agents of the US, Israel and India", and not by Moslems.

Although nobody has grabbed credit for the bombing, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain chief Hakeemullah Mehsud had released a video several months ago in which he had denounced Qazi and questioned his stance on TTP attacks in Pakistain. In the Pashto video made and released by Umer Media, Mehsud cites an April 2012 interview by Salim Safi on Geo TV. He criticized Qazi for saying that the Afghan Taliban's resistance against foreign forces was true jihad and that of the Pak Taliban against Pakistain was un-Islamic. Hakimullah argued that the JI leader was wrong.

Qazi had refused to respond to the video. "I know about the existence of this videotape, but I have no comments to make," he told news hounds.

Militants operating in Mohmand Agency are led by Omar Khalid, whose real name is Abdul Wali. A source in the police said the Mohmand chapter of TTP was involved in most of the recent attacks on politicians in the neighboring Charsadda and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
districts.

On November 11, a bomb planted near the house of Jamaat-e-Islami Peshawar chief and former politician Sabir Hussain Awan went off, damaging a nearby house and a mosque.

Last year, police defused a bomb planted near the house of another JI leader, Shabbir Ahmad Khan. At least 27 people including JI Peshawar vice chief Haji Dost Muhammad and a deputy superintendent of police were killed in a suicide attack in Qissa Khwani Bazar of Peshawar in April 2010.

Fazlur Rehman, chief of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability...
-Fazl, survived two successive suicide attacks in Swabi and Charsadda in March 2011.

Several activists and leaders of the JUI-F have been targeted and killed in Khyber Pakhtunkwa and FATA in the last four years. Those who died include Mairajuddin, a former MNA from the Mehsud area of South

Wazoo, Noor Muhammad Wazir, a former MNA from the Wazir area of South Waziristan, and Haji Afzal Khan, former district mayor of Hangu.

These attacks are significant because JUI-F and JI are considered pro-Taliban. Some political analysts believe the attacks indicate a growing ideological divide between the religious political parties and Pak Taliban concerning the legitimacy of the Pak state.

The TTP openly denounces democracy and calls the state un-Islamic. The religious parties participate in elections and recognize the authority of the Pak state.

The March 2011 liquidation attempts on Fazlur Rehman came days after leaked US State Department cables revealed JUI-F leaders reportedly wanted to mediate between the US and the Afghan Taliban. Analysts say the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda decided to sever links with the JUI-F after that.

Serious differences had also been reported between Jamaat-e-Islami and Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi led by Sufi Mohammad and his son-in-law Fazlullah. Sufi was a local leader of the JI in Dir district until the early 1980s, when he parted ways with them and violated their policy of getting power only through elections.

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Afghanistan

Karzai writes to Pakistani politicians, urges cooperation against extremism

2012-10-15

[Dawn] Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
has written letters to top political and religious leaders in Pakistain, denouncing the Taliban attack on a Pak teenager who is promoting girls' education and asking them to help battle extremism in both countries.

Karzai's office said in a statement issued late Saturday that the president wrote that the attack on 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai indicated that both Afghanistan and Pakistain need to take "coordinated and serious" steps to fight terrorism and extremism.

Karzai wrote that he views the shooting as an attack on Afghanistan's girls as well. "It is a deplorable event that requires serious attention," Karzai wrote.

Those upset about the shooting should not be silenced, he wrote, and both Afghans and Paks need to cooperate and fight with strong resolve against terrorism and extremism so that the "children of Afghanistan and Pakistain" can be saved from oppression.

Karzai has been pushing Islamabad to take more action against jihad boy groups that he says hide out in Pakistain and then cross into Afghanistan to conduct attacks on Afghan officials and security forces and on international forces.

The letters were sent to more than a dozen political and religious leaders, including Pakistain

President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari
... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ...
; Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf;

Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, the leader of Pakistain's Moslem League -- Nawaz Party; Qazi Hussain Ahmed
...the absolutely humorless, xenophobic former head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also head of the MMA, a coalition of religious parties formed after 2001 that eventually collapsed under the weight of the holy egos involved. Qazi was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the Afghan mujaheddin's war against the Soviets. His sermons are described as fiery, which means they rely heavily on gospel and not at all on logic. Qazi once recommended drinking camel pee for good health, but that was before his kidneys went...
, leader of the Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
; Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who heads the Pakistain Moslem League-Q; and Imran Khan

... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...
, a cricket star who leads the Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
party.

Khan has been especially outspoken against US drone attacks. Khan has argued in the past that Islamabad's alliance with Washington is the main reason Pakistain is facing a homegrown Taliban insurgency and that jihad boy activity in Pakistain's tribal areas will dissipate when US troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, Khan led a protest against US drone attacks, saying that as long as they continue, anti-American sentiment in Pakistain could continue to rise.

Malala Yousufzai, 14, was seriously maimed when a Taliban jihad boy shot her in the head on Tuesday on her way home from school. She is widely respected for being an activist for girls' education in the Swat

...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
Valley where she lives, and the rest of Pakistain. The shooting set off an international outcry against cut-thoats.

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India-Pakistan

Moral policing

2012-08-09

[Dawn] NOW it is the realm of television programming and advertising that has attracted the Supreme Court's attention. Summoning the chief of the Pakistain Electronic Media Regulatory Authority in response to petitions moved by two conservative figures, the former amir of the Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
Qazi Hussain Ahmed
...the absolutely humorless, xenophobic former head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also head of the MMA, a coalition of religious parties formed after 2001 that eventually collapsed under the weight of the holy egos involved. Qazi was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the Afghan mujaheddin's war against the Soviets. His sermons are described as fiery, which means they rely heavily on gospel and not at all on logic. Qazi once recommended drinking camel pee for good health, but that was before his kidneys went...
and a retired Supreme Court justice, Wajihuddin Ahmed, the court on Monday demanded action within a week against 'obscene' and 'vulgar' programming and advertisements on private TV channels aired in Pakistain. Pause for a moment and consider the various problems that afflict this country and that the court is embroiled in. That obscenity and vulgarity on television -- and this before the debate about whether the impugned content is at all obscene or vulgar -- figures in the scheme of things to fix at the highest levels at the moment is somewhat worrying.

Two points need to be made here. First, the excesses that do frequently occur on television -- from content that foments religious intolerance to coverage of terrorist attacks that are insensitive to victims' families and badly handled, and from opinion-laden shows that are divorced from fact to invasion of privacy and worse in intrusive programming -- do need serious redressal. However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money...
government regulation is not the way to go. The Musharraf era epitomised the problem: even the most ardent supporters of a free and independent media in power cannot be trusted to not use government regulation to stifle media freedom. Where self-regulation thus far has failed, perhaps what the government can do is act as a controller for the creation of a regulatory body that is truly independent, professionally run along non-ideological lines and responsive to both the media's and consumers' concerns. But to trust the government with a direct and hands-on role in regulating media content is
an unwelcome idea: today it is obscenity and vulgarity, tomorrow it will be the 'national interest' and 'national security' that will demand certain lines be drawn.

Second, the outmoded idea of what content is vulgar or obscene needs to be discarded. Strangely, violence on television -- domestic, criminal, extrajudicial -- rarely attracts the same kind of censure as does content in which women are attired in a certain way or filmed interacting with men in a certain way. The same goes for intolerance, xenophobia, bigotry and hate spewed on TV: it doesn't attract the same kind of censure as does a woman dancing or singing lustily. The collective ownership that society wants to impose on its women is a problem itself. In the name of moral policing, Pakistain has ended up with deeply skewed priorities: keep the women covered up; let the monsters run loose.

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India-Pakistan

Appeasement policy towards US not acceptable, says�Qazi

2012-04-16

[Dawn] Jamaat-e-Islami's
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
former amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed

...the absolutely humorless, xenophobic former head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also head of the MMA, a coalition of religious parties formed after 2001 that eventually collapsed under the weight of the holy egos involved. Qazi was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the Afghan mujaheddin's war against the Soviets. His sermons are described as fiery, which means they rely heavily on gospel and not at all on logic. Qazi once recommended drinking camel pee for good health, but that was before his kidneys went...
has said that the announcement by the American officials to continue drone attacks is a slap in the face for Pak rulers and the policymakers should learn from past mistakes.

Talking to this correspondent here late Friday, he rejected the parliament's recommendations for resumption of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization....
supplies via Pakistain to the US-led forces in Afghanistan and said that the people would not accept an appeasement policy towards the US.

Mr Ahmed said that the best option for the government was to reconsider its policies and give up cooperating with the US in the so-called fight against terrorism.

"The 'war on terror' is not in Pakistain's interests. We have said this from the day Pakistain started toeing the American policy line in the region," he said. He questioned why millions of people were displaced as a result of military operations in tribal areas and compelled to take shelter in camps and pass through a shameful period of their life.

Mr Ahmed and other leaders of his party had said on numerous occasions before the parliament's decision that the JI workers would block the NATO-supply routes if the government moved to reopen it.

"The attack on Salala checkpost in which 26 of our gallant jawans bit the dust in November last year had brought disgrace for the entire nation," the JI leader said and asked why the unprovoked attack of the US-led forces was backed by the NATO commanders and no action taken against the forces involved in the incident.

Answering a question, the JI leader said that innocent people were being killed in the US drone attacks in total violation of international laws. He said that the government should give up double standard and clearly tell the Americans for an
immediate stoppage of drone strikes in the tribal belt.

About 'war on terror', he said that the American policymakers tactfully dragged Pakistain into this useless war.

"We have suffered economic losses of about $70 billion, while over 40,000 innocent people were killed in this 'war on terror'. Despite this our rulers keep on saying that it is our war and they would continue it. This is an appeasement policy, which is not acceptable to us," he said.

He said that the tribal people who rendered sacrifices for Pakistain could scuttle the reopening of NATO supply line. "The JI would support them in their endeavours," he said.

Mr Ahmed said that the US had betrayed Pakistain because sophisticated weapons were transported through Pak routes of Torkham and Chaman and the same arms had been used for killing innocent people, mostly Pakhtuns, in
Afghanistan and Pakistain.

He urged the party workers to prepare for the next general elections because the rulers had failed on all fronts.

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India-Pakistan

Holy blunders

2011-11-21

[Dawn] In the early 1990s when the then ameer of the Jamat-i-Islami (JI), Qazi Hussain Ahmed,

Punjab, Mumtaz Daultana. In spite of being a secularist, Daultana used the JI and another fundamentalist party, the Ahrar, to instigate a violent religious movement in Punjab in 1953 to divert the attention of the people from the grave economic failings of his ministry.

Hassan Abbas in 'Pakistain's Drift into Extremism' writes that Daultana unleashed JI and Ahrar to turn food riots against his ministry into a full blown movement against the Ahmadiya community. But JI's rise was thwarted by the arrival of the Ayub Khan dictatorship in 1958 that was secular in orientation. The JI did return to its new-found politics of agitation against many of the Ayub regime's policies, but since the party was unable to find any worthwhile patronage from the military-bureaucratic elite, it was largely overshadowed by various leftist political groups, especially the National Awami Party (NAP), the Pakistain People's Party (PPP) and the National Students Federation (NSF).

The three triggered the fall of Ayub in 1969, and the JI suddenly came back into reckoning, this time tacitly supported by yet another secularist opportunist, General Yahya Khan. Faced with the rising tide of leftist agitation, Yahya, a heavy drinker, decided to patronise the JI as a counterforce. Hussain Haqqani in his book, 'Pakistain: Between Mosque & Military' suggests that it was during the Yahya dictatorship (1969-71) that the JI was given leeway to penetrate both state and privately-owned Urdu media. Militant JI groups were also tolerated as long as they were attacking leftist parties.

But state patronage failed to transform the JI into an electoral success. It was trounced by secular parties in the 1970 elections. However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth...
this didn't stop the Yahya regime to use the JI to formulate fanatical pro-military 'hit-squads' in the former East Pakistain against Bengali nationalists. Ironically, when the military lost the 1971 war against Bengali separatists and their Indian backers, the JI turned around and accused its own patrons, Yahya's military, of 'drunkenness and debauchery'.

This is also when JI began finding sympathetic ears in the military, especially in the shape of junior officers. The new 'socialist' PPP regime led by Z A Bhutto allowed the spreading of JI's influence in the military, believing that this would keep the military's 'Bonapartist' tendencies in check. By the mid-1970s, JI had penetrated a large section of the media and the military.
Added to this was the growing influence of JI's student-wing, the IJT, on major campuses -- a happening one of Bhutto's youngest ministers, Meraj Muhammad Khan, claims was facilitated by Bhutto himself.

According to Meraj, after following the example of certain other secular regimes in Mohammedan countries of the time (Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia), Bhutto too over-exaggerated the threat of Soviet-backed leftist radicals, and consequently encouraged the fragmentation of leftist student groups and tactically allowed the flowering of right-wing groups on campuses. After creating various openings for the JI, Bhutto thought he was neutralising the party, whereas all the while the JI was cultivating relations with military men and the industrialists who'd been bitten by Bhutto's nationalisation policies.

All these links came to fruition when in 1977, JI embraced other religious outfits to successfully lead a protest movement against Bhutto, eventually paving the way for the country's third (and harshest) military dictatorship overseen by General Ziaul Haq ( a disciple of JI's chief and scholar, Abul Aala Maududi).

Between 1977 and 1984, JI experienced its most active moments. It first became part of Zia's cabinet and then supplied the ideological engine and manpower that Zia needed to impose his version of 'Islamic laws' and peruse his pro-Jihad policies in Afghanistan.

After Zia's death, JI automatically joined the ISI-backed anti-PPP electoral alliance, the IJI. Former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, accused the ISI for mobilising the JI into holding a violent 'long march' against her first government in 1989.

Then, in 1999, when JI's former partner in the IJI, Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, began peace talks with India (during his second government), JI became the most vocal opponent of the talks. In his book, 'Frontline Pakistain,' Zahid Hussain suggests the JI street protest was instigated by the military chief, General

Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
, who was against Nawaz's new Indian policy.

Some analysts believe that it was again Musharraf who 'facilitated' the electoral victory of the right-wing MMA (of which the JI was a part) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
in the 2002 elections. Today, led by Munawar Hassan, JI stands burdened by a past dented by episodes of being (willingly) used by manipulative secularists and Islamists alike; of being the 'B team of the agencies' and (according to Tariq Fathah's 'Chasing a Mirage'), of being a tool of western powers and Soddy Arabia against the left (during the Cold War).

It will take a lot more from JI than holding passionate anti-US rallies and collecting money to bring Aafia Siddiqui back from the US jail for it to ever again be reconsidered an important political player in the country's changing political landscape--unless, of course, people like Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...
have other plans for this party.

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India-Pakistan

Govt must not launch any operation in Waziristan: JI

2011-10-24

[Dawn] Former head of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmed said the government must act according to the decisions made in the All Parties Conference, DawnNews reported on Sunday.

He also warned government against an army operation in

Wazoo and said that his party will launch strong protests if such an operation is conducted.

Speaking to an anti-US rally in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, he said that the government should act upon the recommendations of the APC and distance itself from US policies.

Qazi Hussain said that the whole nation will come out on to the streets if an operation were launched Waziristan. He said that the government had pledged during the APC that it will not launch any new military operations in Waziristan but after the recent visit of Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Bainbridge Colby ...
, it seems as if the government was thinking otherwise.

Link

India-Pakistan

US looking for excuse to attack: Qazi

2011-09-25

[Dawn] Former Amir of Jamaat-i-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed has said that the US push for establishing a relation between the Haqqani network and ISI is a mere drama in order to materialise its plan of attacking Pakistain.

We've been materializing our plan for simply ages, Former Amir Qazi Hussein Ahmed. How odd that you haven't noticed. But perhaps that's because, as a mere former amir, your name is far down the list for a missile of your very own.

I have no problem voting him up the list...

"The United States is planning to launch an attack on Pakistain on the pretext of hot pursuit. The Haqqani network and ISI relation is a mere drama in order to materialise its plan," Mr Ahmed said in statement issued here on Friday. The JI leader said that the government, Pakistain Army and the entire nation should be ready for any action by the US against Pakistain. He suggested that the government should clearly warn the US that in case of attack Pakistain could use any kinds of weapons for its defence.

Could, yes indeed. Haven't been, for some reason...

The people, he said, still remembered that the US attack on Iraq was launched on the pretext of search for chemical weapons, but no such arms were recovered in the country so far.

Not true, but you go ahead believing the New York Times and their claque, if it brings you comfort. But think on the implications, were it true: not only did we stay on anyway, but we forced democracy on a population that discovered it liked it...and led to the various Arab Spring revolts. However they might turn out long term, the former rulers will no longer be in power, a very real consequence.

He said that the 9/11 was also a drama prepared by the US to attack Afghanistan. He said that thousands of innocent Afghans were killed without any reason.

Another useful thing to ponder, whether or not it's true, you silly fool.

In his statement, the JI leader referred to a book of a Western journalist, Freidman, wherein he had claimed that the US would attack Pakistain and India would capture a portion of its territory.

"Had the US any interest in elimination of the Haqqani network it will have attacked it in Afghanistan, as it had nothing to do with Pakistain," he said.

The JI leader disclosed that during his recent meeting in Iran with Afghan leader Burhanuddin Rabbani

... the legitimate president of Afghanistan...
-- who was assassinated a few days ago -- he (Rabbani) had said that the Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
believed that his brother Ahmed Wali Kazai was killed by the US.

Link

India-Pakistan

Campaign launched to protect blasphemy law

2010-12-17

[Dawn] A number of political and religious parties and groups announced on Wednesday that a campaign to protect the blasphemy law would be launched and gave a call for countrywide protest demonstrations on Dec 24 and a shutter-down strike on Dec 31. They also resolved to hold a public meeting in Bloody Karachi on Jan 9.

The decision was announced by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
at a news conference on the conclusion of the daylong Tahaffuz-i-Nabuwat Conference which was attended by top leadership of Jamaat-i-Islami, PML-Q and Jamaatud Dawa and representatives of Wafaqul Madaris and many other smaller religious organisations and groups.

Maulana Fazl said that all religious parties were united on the issue. He vowed to resist any move by the government to make changes in the existing blasphemy law.

The issue came to the light when PPP's MNA Sherry Rehman submitted a private member bill to the National Assembly Secretariat last month, seeking some changes in the blasphemy law with an aim to avoid the misuse of the law.

The JUI-F chief, who presided over the conference, said all the mosques in the country would organise protest demonstrations on Dec 24 after Friday prayers. He said a big public meeting and protest demonstration would be held in Bloody Karachi on Jan 9, which would be attended by all central leaders of religious parties.

He said an action plan would also be unveiled at the meeting.

He announced that former MNA Dr Abul Khair Mohammad Zubair had been made chairman of Tehrik-i-Namoos-i-Risalat committee with an aim to organise the movement at grassroots level.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman made an appeal to traders' organisations and associations of small and big markets to extend their support to the movement and make the shutter-down strike a success. He said that their protest would be so forceful that no one would dare to think about changing the blasphemy law.

Earlier, during the conference, PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain declared that his party would oppose every move to change the blasphemy law in the Parliament.

JI chief Munawar Hassan said it was wrong to say that the blasphemy law had affected only minorities in the country.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed suggested that the present movement should at the later stage be converted into a movement for the enforcement of Islamic system in the country.

The participants appealed to the media to play an effective role in making the movement a success for the cause of Islam and to show its love for the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).

PML-N's MNA from Islamabad Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry also attended the conference in which some of the speakers, including Maulana Attaul Momin Shah Bukhari of Majlis Ahrarul Islam lashed out at former prime minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Müslim League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
for keeping a silence on the issue.

Dr Tariq Fazal gave an explanation that Senator Raja Zafarul Haq had been assigned the task to represent the party in the conference but he had to go to his native town after receiving news about the death of a relative.

The conference was also attended by Hafiz Saeed of Jamaatud Dawa, Maulana Abdul Majeed Ludhianvi of Majlis Tahaffuz-i-Khatam Nabuwat, Qari Hanif Jalandhary and Dr Abdul Razzaq Sikandar of Wafaqul Madaris, Hafiz Aakif Saeed of Tanzim Islami, Maulana Abdul Aziz of Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith and Allama Sajid Naqvi.

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