"The handbills called Syedna Riaz Gohar Shahi the Imam Mehdi, the Messiah and the Kalki Avatar (final incarnation of Vishnu). PHOTO: FILE
Additional District and Sessions Judge Malik Tariq Mehmood Zargham has asked the Ichhra SHO to comment by May 27 on a petition seeking a case against two people for distributing allegedly blasphemous literature in the city.
The petitioner, Muhammad Khan, submitted that Faisal and Goshi had on Saturday been handing out pamphlets advertising the Azeemush Shan Mehfil-i-Milad organised by the Anjuman Ashiqan-i-Rasool on May 26 in Sabzazar.
But the pamphlets were a ruse, he submitted, for they had also been handing out sealed envelopes which included another handbill proclaiming a man named Syedna Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi as the Imam Mehdi, the Messiah and the Kalki Avatar (the final incarnation of Vishnu, in Hindiusm) and that his likeness is visible on the moon, the sun and the stone kept at the Khana-i-Kaba. This handbill was sponsored by Anjuman Sarfaroshan-i-Islam.
Shahi had been thrice sentenced to life in prison over blasphemy charges by an anti-terrorism court in Mirpurkhas on March 11, 2000. He was reported to have fled to the UK and died in 2001 or 2003.
Petitioner’s counsel Advocate Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry argued that Faisal and Goshi had been trying to trick people into attending the so-called Milad, where followers of Gohar Shahi would attempt to proselytise their own religion. He said that the pamphlet for the Milad stated that a lucky draw would be held with the prizes on offer including 10 umra tickets, 20 digital Quran pens and 100 Islamic books. This was meant to lure more unsuspecting people to attend, he said.
He submitted that the Anjuman Ashiqan-i-Rasool said to be organising the Milad was not a real organisation. The pamphlet did not state its address or any contact numbers.
The petitioner has also submitted applications to the capital city police officer and the district coordination officer asking them to order the removal of banners, posters and flexes of Syedna Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi in Shah Jamal and other areas of the city. He also asked them to stop the Milad at Sabzazar.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2013.
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Syedna Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi disappeared in 2001. Whatever the reports say, whatever sources you have, I have no idea where they are getting their information from but I personally know people who claim to have met him in 2005.
I don't know about the rest, but there seems to be a factual error in this article.
Yes it is true, but if the author must take information from Wikipedia, then they should do the reports justice - they should maintain their journalistic integrity. In these news articles and in Wikipedia, it says these reports are unconfirmed. And in fact there are many other news articles where people have claimed to have met Shahi after 2003, which are also mentioned on Wikipedia. The only fact that everyone seems to agree on is that Shahi disappeared. People claiming that Shahi died do not have a body to prove it.
In my eyes the Tribune is one of the most reputable news agencies in Pakistan, so I am sure this matter will be looked into.