Battling over mosques
The cleric has challenged Baloch’s establishment of a trust with the same name as the one Shah heads at the mosque.
The chief cleric at Al-Mehdi Mosque, claimed that his son was forcibly taken from his residence on May 18. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Most people consider their offspring their dearest ‘possession’. Yet for some, there are other objects that are greater recipients of their love than their children. In one such case, the object is a mosque.
The mosque enjoys a special place in people’s hearts as a place of worship, but while generally respected by Muslims, a cleric’s love for a mosque can be very different.
The mosque, in the contemporary set up, is a source of income for clerics — a possession he would never let go of, even if it meant putting his children at risk. Such a case was recently reported at the Margalla Police Station, where the cleric of a mosque in Sector G-8/1 claimed his 13-year-old son was kidnapped.
While asking the police to register a case against some men he identified, Syed Amer Shah, the chief cleric at Al-Mehdi Mosque, claimed that his son was forcibly taken from his residence on May 18. He asked the police to recover his son, but police were reluctant to register a criminal case before investigating the authenticity of Shah’s claims.
“The people he holds responsible for allegedly kidnapping his son are old rivals who are engaged in a civil suit against him over possession of the mosque and the related trust,” said a Margalla police officer.
The police suspected Shah had staged the kidnapping to get his rivals — Al-Mehdi Masjid Committee Chairman Nayyar Baloch and his associates — incriminated in a criminal case. “I suspect the cleric has hidden his son somewhere and is now accusing his opponents,” said the police officer, maintaining that the dispute over the mosque, has seen both sides stoop to such low levels.
“We are investigating and trying to find the cleric’s son, and the moment we are certain he is genuinely missing, we will book the suspects and start investigations,” said the officer, claiming that the accused had already been questioned in this regard.
Shah claimed that Baloch and Siffat Hussain — a Cabinet Division employee — Tasawar Abbas, and Ghulam Muhammad, who he said were members of a gang of land-grabbers, kidnapped his son while he was in court to attend the hearing of his civil petition against Baloch. The cleric has challenged Baloch’s establishment of a trust with the same name as the one Shah heads at the mosque.
The cleric also refused to accept Baloch as chairman of the Masjid Committee, claiming he alone was the true ‘owner’ of the mosque and the trust.
Ironically, the mosque itself was initially built illegally on encroached land.
Shah, a native of Skardu, came to Islamabad in 2004 as the cleric of a mosque in G-8 Markaz, but later moved to Sector G-8/1 and illegally occupied a vacant government plot.
Shah illegally built the structure of the mosque on government land the same year. Later, he got the plot allotted in his name after the original structure was razed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
This was thanks to the plea of about 48 Shia families in the neighbourhood who said they had no place for worship. At the time, he also got endorsements from many influential public offices, including the President’s complaint cell and some ministries.
Later, a philanthropist came to him and offered to build a mosque on the now legally-occupied land. “He built the structure for Rs2.7 million,” said Shah. He said he also established a trust at the mosque that was accepting donations, besides setting up his residence adjacent to the mosque — which is in line with CDA rules.
Shah said that it was after the mosque and the trust became fully operational that Baloch and his associates jumped in to claim ownership, forcing him to go to court.
Whether he was speaking truth about the mosque will become clear once the court decides. That can still wait, because for now, the only thing that matters is finding out if he is telling the truth about his son.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2013.
Most people consider their offspring their dearest ‘possession’. Yet for some, there are other objects that are greater recipients of their love than their children. In one such case, the object is a mosque.
The mosque enjoys a special place in people’s hearts as a place of worship, but while generally respected by Muslims, a cleric’s love for a mosque can be very different.
The mosque, in the contemporary set up, is a source of income for clerics — a possession he would never let go of, even if it meant putting his children at risk. Such a case was recently reported at the Margalla Police Station, where the cleric of a mosque in Sector G-8/1 claimed his 13-year-old son was kidnapped.
While asking the police to register a case against some men he identified, Syed Amer Shah, the chief cleric at Al-Mehdi Mosque, claimed that his son was forcibly taken from his residence on May 18. He asked the police to recover his son, but police were reluctant to register a criminal case before investigating the authenticity of Shah’s claims.
“The people he holds responsible for allegedly kidnapping his son are old rivals who are engaged in a civil suit against him over possession of the mosque and the related trust,” said a Margalla police officer.
The police suspected Shah had staged the kidnapping to get his rivals — Al-Mehdi Masjid Committee Chairman Nayyar Baloch and his associates — incriminated in a criminal case. “I suspect the cleric has hidden his son somewhere and is now accusing his opponents,” said the police officer, maintaining that the dispute over the mosque, has seen both sides stoop to such low levels.
“We are investigating and trying to find the cleric’s son, and the moment we are certain he is genuinely missing, we will book the suspects and start investigations,” said the officer, claiming that the accused had already been questioned in this regard.
Shah claimed that Baloch and Siffat Hussain — a Cabinet Division employee — Tasawar Abbas, and Ghulam Muhammad, who he said were members of a gang of land-grabbers, kidnapped his son while he was in court to attend the hearing of his civil petition against Baloch. The cleric has challenged Baloch’s establishment of a trust with the same name as the one Shah heads at the mosque.
The cleric also refused to accept Baloch as chairman of the Masjid Committee, claiming he alone was the true ‘owner’ of the mosque and the trust.
Ironically, the mosque itself was initially built illegally on encroached land.
Shah, a native of Skardu, came to Islamabad in 2004 as the cleric of a mosque in G-8 Markaz, but later moved to Sector G-8/1 and illegally occupied a vacant government plot.
Shah illegally built the structure of the mosque on government land the same year. Later, he got the plot allotted in his name after the original structure was razed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
This was thanks to the plea of about 48 Shia families in the neighbourhood who said they had no place for worship. At the time, he also got endorsements from many influential public offices, including the President’s complaint cell and some ministries.
Later, a philanthropist came to him and offered to build a mosque on the now legally-occupied land. “He built the structure for Rs2.7 million,” said Shah. He said he also established a trust at the mosque that was accepting donations, besides setting up his residence adjacent to the mosque — which is in line with CDA rules.
Shah said that it was after the mosque and the trust became fully operational that Baloch and his associates jumped in to claim ownership, forcing him to go to court.
Whether he was speaking truth about the mosque will become clear once the court decides. That can still wait, because for now, the only thing that matters is finding out if he is telling the truth about his son.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2013.