shrine to taseer’s murderer mumtaz qadri reveals pakistan’s challenges
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

Shrine to Taseer’s murderer Mumtaz Qadri reveals Pakistan’s challenges

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Shrine to Taseer’s murderer Mumtaz Qadri reveals Pakistan’s challenges

Malik Bashir Awan, father of Mumtaz Qadri,who was
BARA KAHU - Arab today

Pakistan has renewed its vow to root out extremism after a fresh wave of attacks, but a rose-covered shrine in Islamabad built by radicals to glorify an Islamist murderer sends a different message.

Followers of Mumtaz Qadri are set to fete him as a hero at his tomb Monday, the start of a three-day festival marking the anniversary of his hanging on February 29, 2016.

Qadri assassinated liberal Punjab governor Salman Taseer in 2011, angered by the politician’s reformist stance on Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws. The state’s decision to execute him provoked an uproar among Islamists.

“There could be 400,000 people,” Qadri’s father Malik Bashir Awan told AFP this month as he supervised preparations for the commemoration from his plastic chair at the shrine.

Authorities appear unwilling to oppose it

And while the government showed unexpected determination by executing Qadri, his family say it did not prevent them from sanctifying him with the white marble tomb, adorned with four tapered minarets and a tiled green dome.

Each day dozens visit the shrine, built on a family plot bordering Islamabad but within the capital’s territory, to seek divine intervention and leave flowers.

The gestures glorifying the fundamentalist are a perverse echo of popular South Asian traditions venerating mystical, tolerant Sufi saints, many of whom helped spread Islam through the subcontinent.

Qadri’s family do not intend to stop there. His father hopes to build a madrasa (religious school) on the site. Donations from supporters are already pouring in.

 

‘First step in radicalisation’

 

The shrine is a glaring demonstration of how, despite military success in fighting insurgents, Pakistan has made little progress in tackling the underlying causes of extremism.

A military-led crackdown supported by the government’s vaunted National Action Plan led to a dramatic improvement in security in the country since 2014.

But critics have long argued the initiatives do not go far enough.

Then, a wave of apparently coordinated attacks over the last fortnight killed 130 people and shredded the growing sense of optimism. Analysts say there are “visible signs” militants are regrouping.

“It’s turmoil again,” Asha’ar Rehman, the Lahore editor of leading daily Dawn told AFP this week.

For Arif Jamal, an expert on radical Islamism, the presence of the shrine helps to bolster beliefs that contribute to extremism.

“Even for a peaceful Pakistani, the mere existence of such a shrine convinces people that the killing of Salmaan Taseer was actually good,” he told AFP.

“It is a first step in radicalisation.”

But cleric Hanif Qureshi, whose fiery speeches helped inspire Qadri’s actions, was dismissive.

“One year has passed, nobody has killed anyone,” he told AFP.

 

Cause and effect

 

Observers are divided over the government’s inaction.

It is not that Qadri’s supporters are strong, said Saif-ul-Mulook, one of the prosecutors at his trials — “it’s the government’s will which is weak”.

“It’s discouraging,” Mulook told AFP.

“Knowingly paying homage to … [a murderer who] has been judged a terrorist by the highest court in the Constitution of Pakistan — what poorer moral standard can a society show?”

However, the cost of taking action against the shrine could outweigh the dangers of allowing the memorial to flourish, said Zeeshan Salahuddin of the Centre for Research and Security Studies.

“If the government takes a step, goes after this shrine, there’s a very, very good chance there’s going to be anarchy in the streets,” he said.

The sanctuary’s existence also shores up supporters of the blasphemy laws, a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can result in mob lynchings and murder.

Critics — including the assassinated Taseer — have said the laws, which can carry the death penalty, are routinely abused to carry out personal vendettas.

Cleric Qureshi said Qadri is venerated for his defence of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

“There is no debate, only very few people are against Qadri,” he insisted. “All Pakistanis love him.”

There are concerns that if Qadri’s family is able to build their madrasa, they could train a new generation of religious fanatics, like at the influential and radical Red Mosque which has long operated in the heart of Islamabad.

Mohammad Noman, a 26-year-old visiting the tomb from Karachi, told AFP he was inspired by Qadri.

“He sacrificed his life for our faith. May God give us opportunities like him to give our lives,” he said calmly

source : gulfnews

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

shrine to taseer’s murderer mumtaz qadri reveals pakistan’s challenges shrine to taseer’s murderer mumtaz qadri reveals pakistan’s challenges



GMT 09:45 2021 Friday ,21 May

test

GMT 14:58 2018 Friday ,19 October

Turkey to host four-nation summit on Syria crisis

GMT 21:17 2011 Sunday ,30 October

Messi treble spurs five-goal Barça

GMT 18:40 2012 Thursday ,01 March

\'Lost\' novel by dead Nobel laureate published

GMT 10:14 2017 Saturday ,23 December

Quarter of Rohingya refugee children

GMT 17:49 2017 Monday ,07 August

Dutch win a fine topping

GMT 11:05 2017 Tuesday ,14 March

MTV Movie Awards expands into television

GMT 19:36 2015 Saturday ,14 November

French pilots train for survival

GMT 10:36 2016 Tuesday ,21 June

Refugees ‘at highest ever level’

GMT 07:17 2018 Friday ,14 September

Lebanese Newspapers' Headlines For September 14, 2018

GMT 03:08 2016 Tuesday ,28 June

Spaghetti western film star Bud Spencer dies

GMT 14:14 2016 Sunday ,26 June

Iranian forces clash with Kurd separatists

GMT 22:11 2013 Thursday ,08 August

ECHR halts extradition of Latvian hacker to US

GMT 20:59 2017 Monday ,12 June

Mousl’s Old City witnessed increasing battles

GMT 23:25 2012 Tuesday ,27 March

Dubai\'s universities defy the downturn

GMT 13:45 2017 Wednesday ,09 August

Trump warns North Korea threats

GMT 09:48 2017 Tuesday ,03 January

Scissors pulled from Vietnam man's stomach 18 years

GMT 14:00 2017 Thursday ,10 August

Arab coalition kills 7 Houthis in airstrike

GMT 08:00 2015 Monday ,02 February

'Spewing buffalos' understanding Uganda's 'Uglish'

GMT 09:35 2016 Tuesday ,19 April

Becker hits out at Murray over doping comments

GMT 23:24 2016 Monday ,20 June

Global migrant tide swells to record 65m

GMT 22:47 2017 Wednesday ,25 January

Trump to authorise wall and curtail immigration

GMT 13:35 2017 Saturday ,22 April

President of Croatia Arrives in Doha
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday