Hajj scam: Kazmi, Swati open unhealed wounds in new war of words

The two former federal ministers question each other’s religious credentials.

ISLAMABAD: A tug of war between two former federal ministers on the alleged mismanagement in last year’s Hajj arrangements turned ugly on Sunday when both questioned each other’s religious credentials.

Former federal minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi, in a press conference, alleged that former federal minister for science and technology Azam Khan Swati frequently participated in funeral prayers of the Ahmadiyya faith in America.

“Swati sahib is non-believer. He is the follower of Ahmadiyya faith. I will give a copy of ‘Form’ in which he (Swati) registered himself as an Ahmadi in America,” claimed Kazmi in an exclusive chat with The Express Tribune.

Kazmi, who is on interim bail in connection with the multi-million hajj corruption case, claimed that police station Uggi in Mansehra district confided in him that Swati’s father Yousuf Khan was an absconder and married his son (Swati) with an Ahmadi woman in Mansehra district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa.

“I am a true preacher of Islam and my father had learnt the Holy Quran by heart (Hafiz-i-Quran),” Swati said while talking to The Express Tribune. “I will go to the Federal Shariat Court against Kamzi seeking justice in light of teachings and reflection of holy Quran and Sunnah,” he added.

Meanwhile, religious scholars feared that the statements which questioned religious credentials of persons who belong to different schools of thought could trigger a new conflict between the Barelvis and Deobandis.

Earlier, while addressing a press conference Kazmi requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to summon Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Umar Ali Sherzai to assist the court on tracing the main beneficiaries of the embezzled money during Hajj arrangements last year.

“I wrote to the prime minister and the president requesting them to conduct an inquiry against Ali Sherzai in connection with the Hajj scam,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune February 14^th, 2011.