Deobandis fume at govt’s a‘Barelvi bias’

Boycott meeting of Muslim unity committee.

LAHORE:

Deobandi clerics boycotted a meeting of a committee to promote harmony between Muslim sects in Muharram in protest at a perceived bias on the Punjab government’s part in favour of Barelvis.

The Deobandi clerics made their feelings known in a meeting with Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Raiwind on November 28. “We categorically conveyed our concerns to him and he assured us our grievances would be redressed,” said Maulana Asad Farooq, a Deobandi member of the Ittehad Bainul Muslimeen (IBM) committee. He said the chief minister was favouring “a specific sect” and always attended their events.

“Nineteen of our mosques have been illegally occupied over the last three years. The Punjab government facilitated these acts,” he said. “Treasury MPA Mohsin Latif even registered a case against our brethren.”

“We also told the chief minister that intelligence agencies are harassing the people of our seminaries. They ask females in their seminaries bizarre and embarrassing questions. This is happening in Punjab only,” he said.

Farooq said that the Wafaqul Madaris ran 5,000 seminaries with 1.4 million students across the country. “If they continue with their biased policies, we will consider our options,” he said.

Wafaqul Madaris chief Qari Hanif Jallandhri said that the Deobandi members had boycotted the IBM meeting on November 29 in protest against the government’s “discriminatory policies”.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) Information Secretary Maulana Amjad Khan said it had taken six months to get a meeting with the chief minister. “We urged him to take all stakeholders into confidence for enduring peace and harmony,” he said.

An official who attended the IBM meeting said that the Deobandi clerics had been incensed to see three major Barelvi figures – Punjab Muttahida Ulema Board Chairman Sahibzada Aminul Hasnaat, Jamia Naeemia Principal Raghib Hussain Naeemi and Maulana Ghulam Muhammad Sialvi  sitting right next to the chief minister. “The Deobandi ulema didn’t like what they saw and they stormed off,” he said.

Asked to comment, Naeemi said that Barelvis had a “generations old” relationship with the Sharif family. “We respect all sects,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2011.