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A funeral to remember
Lakum din-ukum walya-din. (My faith is with me, while your faith is with you) — Surah-e-Kaffiron, Verse No 6
La...
The writer is a former MQM MNA kunwar.yunus@tribune.com.pk
Lakum din-ukum walya-din. (My faith is with me, while your faith is with you) — Surah-e-Kaffiron, Verse No 6
La aqraha fid-din. (There is no compulsion in religion) — Surah-e-Baqrah, Verse No 256
It was a dark, cloudy and humid afternoon on August 3, 2010.The weather in Karachi suited the city’s mood. Two of Karachi’s sons, one a cop and the other a legislator, had been assassinated at the hands of terrorists just one day earlier.
The place was Azizabad’s Jinnah Ground. Two caskets had arrived, one from Baab-e- illum, an imam bargah in the middle class neighbourhood of North Nazimabad, the other from the lower middle class neighbourhood of Islam Nager in Orangi Town.
In one casket lay the body of Police Constable Khalid Khan. He was shot, at point-blank range in the back of his head. Khalid was a Sunni by faith. The other casket bore the body of Syed Raza Haider, a member of the provincial assembly from the city’s majority party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
He was shot in the back of the neck. Another bullet shattered his forehead. Both bullets were fired at very close range in the House of God, a mosque. Raza was a Shia and an elected legislator from Orangi.
Ask a semi-literate maulvi about the murders and he would reply, “No Muslim would commit such an act.” My answer to such people would be, “Indeed they are committing such acts, blinded by the preachers spreading hate.”
Both caskets were lined up, side by side. Members of both the Shiite and Sunni clergy arrived. Thousands of mourners were assembled in the ground and they were still trickling in disciplined lines. Amongst them were MQM workers; belonging to different sects such as Barelvis, Shias, Deobandis, Ahl-e-Hadees and Ahl-e-Sunnats.
Normally, the caskets of police personnel killed in the line of duty are taken to the police lines and senior police officers attend the funeral prayers. But since Khalid was killed while protecting an MPA his casket was brought along with that of Haider’s.
In this part of the world, religion and the faith, especially when it comes to differences between sects, is a highly sensitive issue. But at Jinnah Ground in Azizabad, the funeral prayers were offered in turn by clerics from both sects and the tens of thousands of congregants fully observed both prayers.
On this historical day, preachers of hatred, who are still busy spreading their extreme philosophy in the cities, towns and villages of the country, should learn a lesson from the worshippers and mourners at Jinnah Ground.
No Sunni or Shia amongst the congregation lifted a finger to protest the way the funeral prayers were being conducted, with preachers from both sects. No one accused other mourners of being a “Shia Kaffir” or “Sunni Kaffir”. And no one was beheaded for this either, because that is the teaching of MQM founder and leader, Altaf Hussain. He preached tolerance in society, tolerance in attitude, and above all, tolerance in religion.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 10th, 2010.
Reader Comments (36)
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You must be kidding. Altaf Hussain preaching tolerance???Recommend
Last sentence….LOL!Recommend
I remember Allama Iqbal’s lines “Majhab Nahin Sikhata, Aapas Main Bair Rakhna”Recommend
u killed ur article in the last sentence!!……. .Altaf Hussain and tolerance??? :|Recommend
Yes, 83 Pashtuns killed post Raza Haider – I wonder where, there Namaz-e-Janaza was held? You see thats the problem with MQMwalas : they try to fool you but not, anymore – if, 12th of May was blood; what happened after the murder of Raza Haider was more bloodier than 12th of May and this is coming from an MQM-voter who has seen folks from our local units killing innocent buswallas and chaiwalas…
while, there’s no doubt whatsoever about the sectarian and religious tolerance but as Mohajirs/MQMwalas we should also save some for different ethnicities too and I am not condoning what’s happening in Orangi too ..Recommend
i agree with Kanwar Khalid Younus..we should appreciate altaf bhai and his party workers.they people doing great job ….Recommend
Oh so thats what Altaf Hussain is all about….Recommend
Ofcourse, MQM is preaching tolerance, people can say whatever they want, but its fact that not only pakhtoons were killed after the shahdat of Raza Haider but also people from different ethnic backgrounds. Pakhtoons are our brothers and we will Insha Allah face this consipiracy against Pakistan together.Recommend
Dear Khalid
Please accept our deepest condolences and our prayers are with the departed and their families. Please keep writing, this was well written.Recommend
Atleast i give the credit to Altaf Hussain and his party in bringing the sectarian harmony In Karachi.Recommend
I guess Kunwar Bhai tried to made his point here. Which is MQM is the only political party which provide a strong leadership to the people of Pakistan. Shia and Sunni differences is the bone of contention. And this funeral of Raza Bhai has provided a starting point to the think tanks of Pakistan. Now its up to the people of Pakistan and think tanks of Pakistan to decide where they want to take their country. There are only two options:
1) Seperation of Country on the name of Faith and ethnicity
2) Bring right people into power and start expanding borders of Pakistan from Indonesia to Turkey.Recommend
khalid bahi u r right
i salute to the mqm leader and works other wiseRecommend
Ofcourse, MQM is preaching tolerance, people can say whatever they want, but its fact that not only pakhtoons were killed after the shahdat of Raza Haider but also people from different ethnic backgrounds. Pakhtoons are our brothers and we will Insha Allah face this consipiracy against Pakistan together.Recommend
Altaf Hussain allways teach the unity between Shia and Sunni, before MQM there was allways killing and fighting in Karachi specially in the month of Moharam. I saw some negative comments about this article, but none of them regreat the killing of Syed Haider and Khalid. The reaction was natural, but no one is condeming the action which cause the serious reaction. In the majority of urdu speaking city, when people plan to kill one of there MPA, they knew that this kind of reaction will happen. If it wasn’t because of Altaf Hussain’s message and instructions of tollerance, it could be 888 dead bodies, not 88. Again, I am very disappointed with the comments who criticize MQM, but didn’t say a word about the murder of Syed Raza Haider. May Allah Bless Pakistan.Recommend
The Shahadat of Raza Haider is a heart-rending incident and irredeemable loss for MQM.
Raza Haider and Sifwat Ghayoor ‘s blood will not go in vain. Everyone is shocked on this National loss. Being a citizen of Pakistan, Every sensible and literate person should condemn and hate this type of Politics. Especially after the Election of 2007, Karachi is facing linguistic, sectarianism and extremism issues which is to be addressed on war footing basis in Strategic way.Recommend
MQM is playing a very positive role in Karachi & Pakistan by avoiding any confrontation and showing its maturity, peaceful nature, positive & broader vision in Pakistan’s politics. Corrupt political parties do not want progressive, developed, educated and enlightened Pakistan. Now it’s our responsibility as a true Pakistani to help & support all positive forces like MQM to take our country out from corrupt, conservative & failure image and make Pakistan a country on which all of us can proud ofRecommend
There is a tolerance in religion due to its invitation but its strictly prohibited to compromise in religion and islamic faith.Recommend
agreed——-for pashtoon bhais kindly recalled activities of mr shahi sayyed and
pakhtoon jirga.Recommend
He is so true.Altaf Hussain is the personality who preaches us tolerance and patience,if today i love this country because of him..
Great person!!.Recommend
May Allah have mercy on the innocent souls.
Are we following the same religion that Muhammad Peace Be upon Him preached to us?
Why one Imam is not enough for ‘Sunni’ ‘& Shias’, even to say the Janaza prayers?
What is the law & order situation of Karachi in last 20 years?
Since the ‘restoration of democracy’ in 1989, how many years MQM has spent out of the government?
How many murderers are caught and put to justice in the last 20 years belonging to any political/ religious party in Karachi only?
As some one quoted is not it true that ‘Jo dawa bechte rahe aajkul woh khud istimal kar rahe hain’Recommend
Altaf Hussain Bhai has always teaches the lesson of unity & harmony not only between different sects but also between all walks of life with different languages of Pakistan, as he knows without that it is not possible to achieve destination. MQM can attend the its destination only by putting 98% middle class/lower middle class Pakistanis on one plateform. It was only because of Altaf Hussain’s message and instructions of tollerance, otherwise this can be un countable as Samraj wana do it. The killing of innocent people of Karachi was only to stop MQM working outside Sindh. This was a continue action of Establishment conducted during lats 03 years including 12th May 2007. The conspiracy is only to stop MQM propagating its message in Punjab, Balochistan, KPK, AJK & Gilgit Biltistan.
The Shahadat of Raza Haider is a heart-rending incident and irredeemable loss for MQM. Raza Haider and Sifwat Ghayoor‘s blood will not go in vain. Everyone is shocked on this National loss. Being a citizen of Pakistan, Every sensible and literate person should condemn and hate this type of Politics. Especially after the Election of 2008, Karachi is facing linguistic, sectarianism and extremism issues which is to be addressed on war footing basis in Strategic way & join hands with Altaf Bhai.
MQM is playing a very positive role in Karachi & Pakistan by avoiding any confrontation and showing its maturity, peaceful nature, positive & broader vision in Pakistan’s politics. Corrupt political parties do not want progressive, developed, educated and enlightened Pakistan. Now it’s our responsibility as a true Pakistani to help & support all positive forces like MQM to take our country out from corrupt, conservative & failure image and make Pakistan a country on which all of us can proud of
May Allah have mercy on the innocent souls.Recommend
A very sad incident event. After Swat, these terrorists have targeted Karachi and are trying to destroy the peace of this city which thrives on liberal and rational views.Recommend
Karachi has seen enough of the violence. Karachiites must tell the mafia gangs that the violence needs to stop and the rest of the country must help them in achieving this objective.Recommend
A very sad incident event. After Swat, these terrorists have targeted Karachi and are trying to destroy the peace of this city which thrives on liberal and rational views.
MQM is playing a very positive role in Karachi & Pakistan by avoiding any confrontation and showing its maturity, peaceful nature, positive & broader vision in Pakistan’s politics. Corrupt political parties do not want progressive, developed, educated and enlightened Pakistan. Now it’s our responsibility as a true Pakistani to help & support all positive forces like MQM to take our country out from corrupt conservative & failure image and make Pakistan a country on which all of us can proud of.So join hands with Altaf Bhai. May Allah have mercy on the innocent souls.Recommend
If Pakistan is such a bad place than the finger must be pointed at the majority, we all know who they are.Recommend
The murder of Raza Haider MPA and Khalid Khan by terrorists is deplorable( May their soul rest in Peace). It is a case of Target Killing instigated by the operating Mafia’s in the city to draw benefits.
Mr. Altaf Hussain grasping the situation appealed to the people of Karachi to stay calm which was a noble gesture, I read the artical of Mr. Kanwar Khalid Younus which he wrote on the funeral of Mr. Raza Haider and Mr. Khalid Khan and it is only through his artical that i have come to know of this achivement made by Mr. Altaf Hussain and his party MQM. It is amazing to know that the police guard was a sunni Muslim and Mr. Raza Haider was a shiatt Muslim and on top of all their funeral prayers were offered in the same premisis but the prayer leaders belonged to their own sects, this sure is an achivement and i will not remain to praise Mr. Altaf Hussain and his men for this glorious achivement. This is really apploudable and when they talk about their Philosphpy Realisim and Pragmatisim they really mean that. This is a mragmatic approch what ever they say they also practically prove it too. LONG LIVE AKTAF HUSSAIN LONG LIVE MQM.Recommend
MQM is the only party where all religous belivers are at the same umbrella this is ITEHAD BAN-UL-MUSLIMEENRecommend
This unfortunate culture of terror which permeated the youth of Karachi reached such proportions that Military Operations were launched to control the situation.Today everyone knows that Political parties are involved in terrorism especially in Karachi.If this was not so then why is CODE OF CONDUCT being signed between MQM & ANP.
what I can say is that people should follow the teachings of Islam rather then following the sermons of Altaf Hussain or Asfandyar WaliRecommend
Dear Mr. Khalid,
I think you missed to write about the killings of almost 60 people in the city or you might thought that an MPA is move valuable to give coverage.
Futher, Mr. Altaf Hussain has been preaching from London is very well known by karchities.
Regards,
Shakil Ahmed.Recommend
Today, I learned how one moronic conclusive statement can ruin not only your own image, but an otherwise well written article. Thank you Mr. Yunus.Recommend
The last lines ruined everything. Those who are not into sectarian clashes are not into because they dont believe in them and not because Altaf Hussain asks them not to do so. This is an insult to all those who believe there should be tolerance and peace amongst people from varying sects.
According to you , everyone who does NOT adhere to Altaf’s telephonic lectures is involved in sectarian violence.Recommend
With all due respect to the people who have lost their lives, right right right how can I ever forget the king of tolerance and peace. Someone who could not even tolerate the Chief Justice of this country in his own city on the 12th of May, now speaks of tolerance. Tolerance at the price of burning television broadcasting offices, tolerance at the price of being shot ruthlessly if you stepped out of your residential confines, tolerance of the ever growing “bhatta khori” from the hard earned pockets of all sects and religions. Tolerance I saw on walls of this very city in the form of some very creative and needless to say, explicit graffiti when someone attempted to file a case on Mr.Tolerance in the UK .Oh and yes above all His Royal Highhness King Tolerance would not tolerate you Sir Kunwar Khalid Younus, had you not written those last two lines describing how tolerating of a leader he is. Thank You for tolerating my reply.Recommend
There is a very disturbing trend in Pakistani politics.The Party heads are treated as a messiah expected to deliver everything. If one listens to the supporters of these so called messiahs they would support every act of these leaders whether its coverup of target killings or steel mills or bank of punjab etc etc.
What I mean to say is that these supporters should commit themselves to Almighty Allah and the Prophet SAW the way they die in their commitment to these leaders who have their hands soaked in blood of innocents or corrupt practices.
BEWARE all such supporters you will also be questioned on the Judgement Day,for your unbridaled support for the acts of your so called leadersRecommend
*> A funeral to remember
Recommend
Ook i hav read all the comments so i think the bottom line is we should appreciate altaf bhai and his party workers.they people doing great jobRecommend
OK, now this debate is totally changing its topic, the last brother who left the comment is about the day of judgment, we all know that killing of inocent people in any religion specially in Islam is absolutely not right. This whole debates started that MQM and Altaf Hussain is giving the lessone of tolerance or not? That is for sure that they did great job in bringing peace back in Karachi, at the same time they are also bussy in releif work in all over the Pakistan, not only in Sindh. I do understand that there are lots of people who have sympathy with other political parties, that is there right to choose their leader, but if some one is doing the good job, they should at least acknowledge it.Recommend