As funeral held for leader, activist killed
Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat leaders warn of countrywide protest if killers are not arrested.
KARACHI:
Another activist of the Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) was killed early Sunday morning, just hours after leader Maulana Ahmed Madni, the half-brother of Maulana Azam Tariq, was targeted on Saturday.
Twenty-eight-year-old Zeeshan and his friend Mansoor were attacked on their way back from a meeting called by the outfit immediately after the cleric’s murder. Armed men on a motorcycle opened fire on them in Chishti Nagar, Orangi Town within the jurisdiction of Iqbal Market police. The injured men were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Zeeshan succumbed.
On Sunday, group leaders announced a countrywide protest for Madni, if no progress is made on the case before March 11.
“It is not in our manifesto to retaliate - but we can,” warned ASWJ Karachi division president and central information secretary Maulana Aurangzaib Farooqi at the press conference held before the funeral prayers for the cleric and his son.
Madni was gunned down along with his 29-year-old son Abu Bakar. ASWJ leaders believe that the attack was part of a “series of target killings” in which their group’s members have been shot. Madni hailed from Khanewal, Punjab but had been living in Karachi for several years. He had survived a murder attempt in 2005, in which one of his sons, Abdullah, was killed.
Madni was a prominent cleric and the administrator of Jamia Mehmoodia, a seminary attached with a mosque in Buffer Zone. Several seminary students attended their teacher and his son’s funeral prayers at Jamia Mehmoodia along with a large number of people, including ASWJ leaders, supporters and relatives.
Maulana Azam Tariq’s brother Maulana Alam Tariq led the prayers sounded by security. The victims were laid to rest at the Sakhi Hassan graveyard. Men in the funeral procession shouted slogans against the authorities and a rival sectarian group on their way to the graveyard. Several parts of the city braced for potential street reaction. Aerial firing was reported in North Karachi, New Karachi, Nagan Chowrangi and Shah Faisal.
Press conference
The group held a press conference before the funeral. Maulana Aurangzaib Farooqi alleged that rival sectarian group Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan was getting support from abroad to kill ASWJ activists. “More than 50 leaders, workers and supporters have been killed since last year,” Farooqi said, adding that the party has remained calm and is simply requesting the government to take action. When eight Sipah-e-Mohammad men were arrested, there was peace for a while but now the organisation has become strong again and so the target killings have resumed, he said.
The federal government had warned about the arrival of four terrorists from Iran and that these men would target leaders. “When it [government] knew about these terrorists, why weren’t they arrested?”
Investigation
The police have yet to register an FIR. “We are waiting for the family to do it,” said DSP Altaf Hussain. “They were busy preparing for the funeral. The case will be registered soon.”
He said that they still had no idea about the motive or who was involved. “We are considering both [sectarian] organisations because the ASWJ recently had a dispute with people from [one] school of thought.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2011.
Another activist of the Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) was killed early Sunday morning, just hours after leader Maulana Ahmed Madni, the half-brother of Maulana Azam Tariq, was targeted on Saturday.
Twenty-eight-year-old Zeeshan and his friend Mansoor were attacked on their way back from a meeting called by the outfit immediately after the cleric’s murder. Armed men on a motorcycle opened fire on them in Chishti Nagar, Orangi Town within the jurisdiction of Iqbal Market police. The injured men were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Zeeshan succumbed.
On Sunday, group leaders announced a countrywide protest for Madni, if no progress is made on the case before March 11.
“It is not in our manifesto to retaliate - but we can,” warned ASWJ Karachi division president and central information secretary Maulana Aurangzaib Farooqi at the press conference held before the funeral prayers for the cleric and his son.
Madni was gunned down along with his 29-year-old son Abu Bakar. ASWJ leaders believe that the attack was part of a “series of target killings” in which their group’s members have been shot. Madni hailed from Khanewal, Punjab but had been living in Karachi for several years. He had survived a murder attempt in 2005, in which one of his sons, Abdullah, was killed.
Madni was a prominent cleric and the administrator of Jamia Mehmoodia, a seminary attached with a mosque in Buffer Zone. Several seminary students attended their teacher and his son’s funeral prayers at Jamia Mehmoodia along with a large number of people, including ASWJ leaders, supporters and relatives.
Maulana Azam Tariq’s brother Maulana Alam Tariq led the prayers sounded by security. The victims were laid to rest at the Sakhi Hassan graveyard. Men in the funeral procession shouted slogans against the authorities and a rival sectarian group on their way to the graveyard. Several parts of the city braced for potential street reaction. Aerial firing was reported in North Karachi, New Karachi, Nagan Chowrangi and Shah Faisal.
Press conference
The group held a press conference before the funeral. Maulana Aurangzaib Farooqi alleged that rival sectarian group Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan was getting support from abroad to kill ASWJ activists. “More than 50 leaders, workers and supporters have been killed since last year,” Farooqi said, adding that the party has remained calm and is simply requesting the government to take action. When eight Sipah-e-Mohammad men were arrested, there was peace for a while but now the organisation has become strong again and so the target killings have resumed, he said.
The federal government had warned about the arrival of four terrorists from Iran and that these men would target leaders. “When it [government] knew about these terrorists, why weren’t they arrested?”
Investigation
The police have yet to register an FIR. “We are waiting for the family to do it,” said DSP Altaf Hussain. “They were busy preparing for the funeral. The case will be registered soon.”
He said that they still had no idea about the motive or who was involved. “We are considering both [sectarian] organisations because the ASWJ recently had a dispute with people from [one] school of thought.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2011.