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JI seeks Presidential pardon for Mumtaz Qadri
JI says anybody can file mercy plea for the person concerned, urges Zardari to consider in "public interest".
JI says anyone can file a pardon plea on behalf of the sentenced person whether they wish it or not. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD: The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has asked President Asif Ali Zardari to utilise his special powers to grant amnesty to Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed murderer of former Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer. Qadri had been sentenced to death last month by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi.
(Read: Taseer murder case: Qadri sentenced to death)
Qadri had confessed to killing Salmaan Taseer in the ATC court which subsequently found him guilty and pronounced the death penalty for killing Taseer and breaching his oath as a policeman. His defense counsel had filed an appeal against the sentence in the Islamabad High Court.
(Read: Murder case: Taseer’s assassin appeals death sentence)
“[JI] urges the President to announce amnesty for Qadri like many other cases especially under the NRO,” said a resolution adopted by JI Shura. “Government should withdraw the case against him for murdering Taseer in the public interest.” The JI referred to the thousands of cases against criminals and politicians which had been withdrawn under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) whereas Qadri was not given any such concession; The JI leadership observed in a meeting adopted numerous clauses on hot issues. “Qadri gunned down Taseer for criticising the Blasphemy law in line with the sentiments of the masses.”
JI quoted Article 45 of the Constitution by which powers of President of the state enable granting pardon to anybody. “The President shall to grant, reprieve and respite and to remit, suspend any sentence pass by any court, tribunal or authority,” the article reads. Generally, a mercy petition is forwarded to the Presidency in such cases like Qadri, said a retired judge of the Supreme Court who did not want to be named. It is pertinent to mention here that Salmaan Taseer had initiated a similar process seeking the pardon of blasphemy law convict Asia bibi whom he believed had been hard done. Qadri, inflamed by this act and other statements of Taseer against the blasphemy law, proceeded to execute Taseer.
“Qadri has been awarded death sentence under section 7 of the Anti Terrorism Act which is non-compoundable, even the legal heirs compound his offence,” he said and added, “It’s also not possible in the law under section 3/2 (kesaf & diat),” The JI Shura noted.
The government, JI leadership demanded, should categorically announce, the Blasphemy law would not be changed. Europe and the US should also be asked to stop criticising this law because it’s Pakistan’s internal matter, it added.
JI also voiced its disappointment with Zardari saying the President and the co-chairman of Pakistan’s largest political party had shocked people when he termed Taseer, a hero while the trial court also let down the people wishes when it awarded death sentence to Qadri. “Nation stands united on the issue of sanctity of the holy prophet (PBUH),” the JI leadership said.
The JI, in principal, believes the law of the land is supreme and all citizens must be treated equally, said Senator Prof Khurshid. Unfortunately, both Taseer and Qadri took laws in their own hands, said Khurshid. “Qadri case is special and represents nation’s feelings,” he said adding, “Islamic forces demand Article 45 should be invoked in this case.”
To a question whether the JI itself move any pardon plea to the President on behalf of Qadri who himself confessed to the crime, Prof Khurshid said, “JI Shura’s resolution is enough.” Qadri confessed to murder on the grounds that he objected to Salmaan Taseer’s calls to amend the controversial blasphemy law. He also recorded his statement in the ATC that he has no intention to seek pardon from the President. However, he explained that anybody can file mercy plea if the concerned person does not file his/her plea, recalling Nusrat Bhutto’s plea for mercy to General Zia as his husband Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not move his pardon plea.
“My client’s morale is very high urging us not to go for pardon plea,” Qadri’s Counsel Shujaa-ur-Rehman told The Express Tribune.
Read more:
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Reader Comments (62)
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JI is showing its true colors. Its leaders should have been put on trial long ago for the massacres and rapes by its workers in Bangladesh.
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I am normally against the death sentence but in this special case President Zardari should not pardon this brainless (or rather brainwashed) killer. And JI should stop it: This man-made blasphemy law, which is doing nothing but harm and which is just used to settle personal scores, must go for good!Recommend
Innalillahhe wa inna alaeyhe rajioon. But what can you expect from Jamaat Islami who is following Maudoodis Islam and not holy prophets Islam. Jamaat has destroyed Pakistan by these policies of hatred,intolerance and bigotry.Parties like these should be banned for promoting hate, killings and causing disservice to Pakistan and peaceful religion of Islam and bringing bad name to prophet of Islam and our country.Recommend
Oh god! What has this country come to …. so sad
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Oh Please!!! let him get to his 72 hoors as soon as possible. He thinks he earned that.Recommend
J.I.,as a gesture of good will,should ask Rana Sanaullah to release Shahbaz Taseer from the clutches of terrorists.You can’t have a cake and eat it too.
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Oh Please!!! Let him get to his 72 hoors as soon as possible. Why is everybody in the way of qadri and his jannat. I say lets all help him get there, not the other way.
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Why JI does not want him to be ‘shaheed’ and enjoy virgins, milk and honey!
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Very nice….This way we can grant NRO to all killers? Oh btw we have already done that. Welcome to Pakistan.
As much as I dislike liberal & seclar extremists those who want to promote nudity, vulgarity(Pakistani media) and make us more “Pakistani Indians”(slaves of indian media) rather than Pakistanis, I hate these religious extremists as well.
I wish Allah grant us some Ghairat & Pakistaniat!Recommend
One party that has damaged this country and tainted our religion for 60 Yrs. Like in Bangladesh, JI should be banned from politics.Recommend
Yeah, let’s pardon his death sentence and give him life sentence instead so that he could taste how life in a dark cell feels like. He thinks he just got a fast-track ticket to heaven with his act — let’s have him “earn” it!
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Keep ur pardon with urself!!!
he should be hanged publicly …
why u making fuss out of all this , he is a criminal , he killed an un armed innocent person and u mullahs are trying to save this man..
Well this not what Islam preaches us, TASEER didn’t do anything wrong , he never said anything against our Prophet (PBUH)…who gave authority to him to kill HIM ….
KHUDA kay liey logo please come put of this BOX ..these people are ruining ur life…
This is not ISLAM what they are portraying …Recommend
Haha… Zardari is the one who puts the ball to others court.. Zardari will just delay this case till his government completes the tenure. .. so this case will just be put on hold.Recommend
If Pakistan wants to join the community of moderen, Western, democratic countries then they should make Qadri our national hero. In fact he should be our next envoy to the UN to show the world who actually we are? Pakistan is an Islamic country and as such it is free for all. Any mullah can take the matters in his hands by becoming the judge, law and the executioner at the same time.
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Even QeA Jinnah had defended a muslim who had killed a blasphemous hindu for insulting our beloved Prophet(PBUH) in pre-independence india. Since most of the pakistanis are very religious and would die for the honor of the Prophet(PBUH), Mumtaz Qadri should be freed and peace given a chance. This will also calm down people emotions, we can not sacrifice true feeling and peace of majority of pakistanis for the sake of a tiny-secular westernized minority of pakistan.
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till you get rid of mulaa — Pakistan will continue to drown and soon (I pray not) dead!
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@“Qadri case is special and represents nation’s feelings,”
Our Rahmat lil Alameen (saw) said that even if his daughter was involved in a theft, he (saw) will amputate her limb.
And today, his followers are demanding a pardon for a cold blooded murderer. A nations’s feelings are irrelevant in the eyes of the law.
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President should pardon Qadri if he wants his place in Haven!!!!!!
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JI is doing great disfavour and injustice to Mumtaz Qadri. Salman Taseer was murdered to ensure Qadri’s entrance in paradise. By asking for Presidential pardon Qadri’s arrival in paradise will be delayed. Let him go to heavens and enjoy eternal bliss.
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I support this Idea,God bless Qadri…
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I support JI idea, God Bless Qadri,,,
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@Blacksheep
Yeap We want to get rid of these mullahs. Otherwise, believe me, they will destroy our morale and our economy and identity in the world..Mullahs dude………
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Let him GO… He did the right thing. We should be proud of him. We need more men like QADRI. ..Recommend
Holy Prophet (S.A.W.S ) once said that
Recommendif His daughter Fatima is found guilty of
theft He will order her hands to be cut off
This is true Islamic justice
I do not know what justice ISLAMI jamaat
is talking about.Perhapse their home made ISLAM
What i do not understand is, why can’t they just let Salmaan Taseer’s family decide what to do with the criminal? If they want Qadri to be hanged, then by all means, do that! They lost a family member, a human life. He was an innocent man. Why on earth should he not be given justice? JI had always been the narrow-minded, bigoted people they are. No one can change their twisted mentality. We can only hope.
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According to the Muslim law, only family members of Salman Taseer can pardon Mumtaz Qadri and no one else.Recommend
It would have been better if I was born in Libya; I regret to say this.
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I feel sad about being Pakistani after reading some of the comments here. WOW people want a murderer let go free.
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The JI has gone mad and need to be behind the bars but who will speak the whole society has gone mad. Our beloved Prophet (PBUH) never ever hurt any one, nor did he spoke in a harsh way even to the non-muslims. Qadri is a convict who has killed a person he was supposed to defend. He must be punished twice. Lets follow teh tolerant Islam and live peacefully. Plz donot make him a hero he is a bad figure and a shame for Islam.
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Aasia begs for Mercy – JI warns against any pardon, endorses death! Her status: Innocent
Qadri shows no remorse – JI warns against any punishment, endorses freeing! His status: Confessed Cold-blooded murderer!Recommend
JI opposed a Presidential pardon on Aasia Bibi for allegedly saying something
JI demand a Presidential pardon on Mumtaz Qadri for KILLING someone
Makes perfect sense and is totally Halal.
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Why Jamat-e-Islami in particular and Mumtaz Qadri supporters in general behaving like hypocrites? Probably they are hypocrites and so they are blind to see their hypocrisy.
These were the people who said that Presidential Pardon is Un-Islamic and how and can a President pardon a woman convicted of Blasphemy. They said that Salman Taseer deserved the death he got from Mumtaz Qadri because he was trying to bypass Judiciary by asking for Presidential Pardon for Aasia Bibi.
Now what are they doing themselves??
Are they not bypassing the Judiciary (when appeal at High Court and Supreme Court is left) by directly asking for Presidential Pardon?? The same thing they despised for Aasia Bibi is now acceptable in case of Mumtaz Qadri??
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JI is an Umbrella terrorist organization. It has committed crimes in the name of religions and encourages youth to kill innocent people. Qadri is a murderer and must be treated like one. There should be no pardon for him.
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The JI are the same people who call the Taliban ‘their brothers’.
Calling the modern day Kharjites who are murdering Pakistanis, ‘brothers’?!
They’re not just extremist sympathizers, they’re extremists themselves. That goes for the rest of the Mumtaz Qadri murderer supporters.
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So, we should all act according to the wishes of the masses? What about the rule of law? We should all tear up the constitution and the code of laws, get rid of courts, and revert to law of the jungle, where barbarians like Taliban roam the streets in pickup trucks, with bodies of dissenters hanging from poles, where people are lashed and thrashed on mere suspicion of wrongdoing, where minorities fear for their life all the time, where schools are burned, and where it is legitimate to kill any body with whom you have a difference of opinion.
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@fus: JI is not banned in Bangladesh but is a legitimate political player & even came to power in 2001 in a coalition with BNP. It has popular support while the current so called War crime trail is a political trail conducted by AL to please the indians. Please do some research before commenting on a forgein countries political affairs. JI in BAN is much more stronger than JI in PAK.
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if a Muslim says somthing againt the christian Christ in the US should he be killed and hte killer pardoned. isnt it souble standard Taseer invoked pardon and he was killed and here JI invokes pardon for the killer. I believe Islam has nothing to do with public sentiment it has a law which involves trial. Pakistan is moving on a dangerous path, Allah save us.
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This was premeditated first degree murder and should be treated accordingly.
I get the strange feeling that a negotiation has started and a give and take offer has been thrown out. Lets hope that religious principles and moral rectitude don’t have to take a back seat once again.
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It is crystal clear criminal case and this so-called religious political party wants to cash the situation by exploiting the religious sentiments of innocent people.But what is more strange and shocking is that few of my friends gave the example of the great and pious daughter of the prophet(P.B.U.H) which is not relevant in this context.It is the basic and set-out principal of Islam that tooth for tooth and eye for eye.So there should be No pardon and this is not the only concern of tiny secular westernised minority of Pakistanis but it the true Islamic ideology and justice which should not be under mined only because of fear of majority of mad people.
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@Golf
Please for God sake, let Qadri to go Hell for which he deserved. Don’t spread ignorance in the society. Please let the true Muslims live across the globe with open mind and high-headed..
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JI – stop exploiting our religion, and running your politics in name of Islam. Thanks to political parties like you our country has reached this day.
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strange muslims of pakistan, where ghazi ilam din is a shaheed for killing a blamphist but qadri is a murderer for doing the same….
Hyprocrites….
Geay Qadri
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Some of the replies to this post supporting Qadri make me want to cry for the future of my country. All you idiots who are supporting the actions of a killer should be ashamed of youself. I say hang the man in public to make an example of him.
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this is the same ideology who declared Pakistan haram, and now these people make an argument Pakistan should turn into what their ideology say ….
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After pardon, would JI also give him ticket in general election or send him to Imran Khan as his covering candidate.
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@PeaceB:
Our Prophet s.a.w didn’t kill the killer of his uncle rather forgave him and when a person who used to throw garbage in the way of our Prophet, didn’t turn up one day our Prophet (peace be upon him) went to find out about his health. Now what would a Mullah or JI leader say in this situation ? (I am sure will lead a mob of few thousands to slaughter the person in thousand pieces)
Its easy to start calling names than think rationally from all point of views and have a heart big enough to listen to every one’s point of view. You are calling us Secular Westernized minority because we are asking to pardon Asia bibi because its obvious no one in their right mind can think of insulting Islam in our country as they know how illiterate our people are and what its consequences will be for them and their family.
When sunnah is forgiveness then how can a man who’s duty is to protect his employer takes out his gun and shoot him in broad day light just because the person demanded to review a law which was made by a dictator, Zia Ul Haq? Its not that he was talking about holy Quran but just a man made law. How illiterate can some people be to follow JI et al without even thinking on their own.
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Ah! these are the people we will put in charge if given a chance. This is the true colours of JI who is fully backing IK these days. so we now know a few policy inclination of the great saviour
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JI they could not stop the formation of Pakistan so they are taking a stab at destroying it piece by piece, currently they are working at destroying our young generation who are supposed to lead us on. Now we have come to stage where we are a laughing stock of the world, we are considered intolerant fundamentalist, harborers of terror, nothing worthwhile ever comes to boost the image, but on the contrary – someone wrote in ET, a few days ago, ‘whenever I feel we have hit the lowest, I am amazed to find we have new lows’…are we going to let these people destroy what was never theirs to start with while we sit on the side lines, as silent spectators, and let it happen or we stand up and take reins in our hands and try to make a positive change – if we take the first step Insha’Allah – Allah, the Exalted, will help us. Are we ready to start the journey of thousand miles with the first step?Recommend
@Noman: or test his mettle…
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@Bangladeshi:
You say that as if it is a good thing. Atleast majority of Pakistanis realize that it is not the job of the mullah to do governance.. that is why JI has never won any elections. I hope they continue to lose.
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@Waqar:
Correct English word is “blasphemous.”
Can you tell me what Late Salman Taseer did or said that was blasphemous?
Do you know what punishment is prescribed for a false accusation (Tuhmat) which you, the Mulla mafia and your “hero” Qadri seem to be leveling aginst Salman Taseer?
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If the president actually came out and said no to this request, I think Pakistan would find a great deal of new found respect from the world. He’s not fully playing his role. There’s never a tough stance from him to even out the softer ones. He looks weak plain and simple. It’s no wonder people think they can push the Pakistan government around. Well, there’s no “think” about it. They can and do.
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Ironic how soon PAK forgets how it all started.
PAK forgot about Aasia Bibi and Bhatti and from the comments here most of them are concerned about thus Qadri. About 10 days ago, I mentioned here at the forum that Pardon for Qadri will come and here it is.
Let us not forget, Taseer also asked for Pardon for Aasia Bibi and gave his life for it.
Free Aasia Bibi now
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“Oh Mullah; Circle of your faith is so narrow that only you yourself can fit in it.”
A line from Irshad Malik’s Urdu poem “Mullah.”
What an apt and precise description of Mulla’s faith.
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Nothing progressive can be achieved in this countryRecommend
This move on part of the JI is clearly unIslamic. Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth is what justice is all about and so is Islam.
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JI was against the establishment of Pakistan to begin with. They have never been sincere to Pakistan. They should all be exported to Somalia!
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I love the guy Qadri. But also respect Pakistani courts’ decision as well. Let’s see what Zardari does for Qadri. Ball is in his court now. Let’s wait….
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After Maulana Maudoodi’s demise, the Jamaat has slowly become an obscurantist, terorism-liking organisation.
Who but the the Jamaat ( socalled Islami !! ) will side with a confessed murderer?
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let JI go to hell. Remember! Qadri will be released, willingly or unwillingly. hehe let’s seeee
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@R.A:
but in Qadri case, my point is that first of all salman or anyother should not talk about that particular law (keep in mind that the particular law was added just to shut the voice of nasty peoples off, without that law anyone can talk against our prophet Mohammad (PBUH), so keep in mind that the law is just like boundary wall and whoever tries to cross that wall is bad.) now consider that salman’s statement regarding that law was wrong and everyone started opposing salman even one Mr. Qadri decided to show his react in different way, so we should talk on the root cause of that murder incident! I ask u all that being a muslim, will u dare to talk against such law that stops everyone from talking wrong and bad against the last PROPHET of ISLAM and keep in mind that being a muslim we believe that on the day judgement HE will be only source for our forgivness!!
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@HRK:
Government cant afford keeping him alive and feeding him daily for life. He should be publically hanged and make it lesson for other misguided zealots!Recommend