Some 150 people marched in a Jamiat Ahle Sunnat Pakistan (JAS) rally that culminated at the Lahore Press Club. They voiced their anger at the sentence handed to the killer of Salmaan Taseer. They held banners and placards and chanted slogans condemning the government, the courts and the media, as well as America and the Catholic Church for good measure. Clerics made speeches accusing news organisations of downplaying Saturday’s protests and made thinly-veiled threats about the security of their owners. Addressing the protestors, JAS Lahore Ameer Professor Muhammad Abdul Aziz Niazi said that the federal government had put pressure on the court to sentence Qadri to death. He said ‘Muslims’ would not accept this and demanded that Qadri be released immediately.
He said the court should change its verdict, or they would boycott the courts as well as any politicians who did not join them in their protests. He said they would not vote for politicians who supported blasphemers. He said they would not let Qadri go to the gallows, “even at the cost of our lives”.
JAS leader Qari Ghulam Nabi Chishti said the president should pardon Qadri.
Maulana Muhammad Naeem said the court verdict was meant to “appease the US”. He said the owners of media outlets would “only be spared if they start giving coverage to our protests against blasphemers”.
Qari Muhammad Nawaz said anyone who blasphemed or supported blasphemers would meet the same fate as Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti. “If killing a blasphemer is illegal under Pakistani law, we reject this law,” he said.
Munir Chishti, a JAS member from Nankana, said if Qadri were not released, “the rulers” would be assassinated.
More protests
Meanwhile, the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and Tahaffuz Namoos-i-Risalat Mahaz announced that they would mark October 7 as a “black day” and organise protests all over the country.
SIC leader Sahibzada Fazle Karim said October 7 would mark the start of a ‘Movement for Qadri’s Release’. He said the SIC would also support Qadri’s legal defence. He warned the government that hanging Qadri would “light the country in an uncontrollable fire”, and warned: “don’t play with this fire”.
The TNRM said it would hold a demonstration on Monday in front of Data Darbar at 11am. The Anjuman Talaba-i-Islam plans to protest at the Press Club at 4pm today.
Maulana Ameer Hamza, convener of Tehreek Hurmat-i-Rasool Pakistan, an offshoot of Jamaatud Dawa, said they would announce a “comprehensive protest plan” after consulting with other religious parties.
Fatwa
More than 500 Ahle Sunnat muftis signed an edict (fatwa) declaring that the sentence given to Qadri violated the Quran and Sunnah. They said that Islam permitted the killing of blasphemers and their supporters.
They said the judge should have consulted religious scholars before deciding the case. They said the president should pardon Qadri under Article 45 of the Constitution.
They said the chief justice of Pakistan should take suo motu notice, summon religious scholars for assistance, and then give a decision in favour of Qadri.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2011.
COMMENTS (7)
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Ghazi Mumtaz is Hero of Muslims !
my previois comments are still awaiting moderation. Its THE END of foreign control on our media.
the supporters should also be hanged with qadri
Apparently 500 muftis have given a fatwa that the death sentence of Qadri is un-Islamic. Well, I say screw them. These muftis haven't really learned Islam - nor have the mullahs, the sheikhs, it's all just one big mafia. They learn what their teachers taught them, they memorize stuff, and they also learn to avoid using their brain - and then they're handed their mufti badges and a golden hammer. Big deal - I would ponder the issue more if the muftis were a diverse lot, but they're not. They all look the same, talk the same, don't use their brains, and they reject other Islamic learners who disagree with them. If they really were advocates of intellect, they would allow people to address their opinions and they would tackle conflict. But instead they just hand wajib-ul-qatl fatwas for anyone that disagrees.
And for the commoners in Pakistan - you rejected almost every single Islamic teaching in the book. You barely pray one time a day, and when you read your Quran you never read its translation or tafsir. You watch porn, share dirty jokes and spread rumors. You slander and hurt your brothers behind their backs, and you don't even pay your taxes. But when it comes to killing someone, all of a sudden your Muslim awakens. Is that it? Is killing the only thing you learned to promote? Is that what you want people to think of Muslims - just murderers, not pious human beings?
Mumtaz Qadri deserves the sentence. He killed a man who didn't even blaspheme, but wanted to protect the minorities from misuse of the blasphemy law. Read the Prophet's last sermon, understand what he said about non-Muslims.
It wouldn't be a difficult issue if ignorance didn't run rampant in Pakistan - people are uneducated fools. Just a basic class in humanity and philosophy will have a decent impact on your puny brains. In order to be a Muslim, you forgot to become a human first.
Munir Chishti, a JAS member from Nankana, said if Qadri were not released, “the rulers” would be assassinated.
Govt should take these threats seriously.
For the first time i am glad that media acted responsibly. Don't give these goons any coverage. That's exactly they want.
“If killing a blasphemer is illegal under Pakistani law, we reject this law,” he said. Munir Chishti, a JAS member from Nankana, said if Qadri were not released, “the rulers” would be assassinated.** Openly defying the law and making assassination threats is illegal. These people are liable to be arrested and sentenced along with Qadri. I for one, wouldn't mind if several hundred of these sort were to "disappear." JAS and other hardline "religious" organizations that hold protests to foment violence and call for not accepting the laws of the land should be declared banned, if not terrorist organizations and they should be proceeded against.
Quran and Sunnah does not provide any sentence for blasphemous. Quran says who kill man is like a person who kill whole mankind. therefore no person have right to kill any one.