The
Ahmadis, also known as Qadianis, have tens of thousands of followers in
Pakistan, and the sect has long regarded as deviant and heretic and been
persecuted and targeted in sectarian attacks in the country. Founded by Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad towards the end of the 19th Century, the Ahmadis have a number of unique
views, including the claim that Ahmad himself was a prophet, and that Jesus died
at age 120 in Jammu and Kashmir, assertions regarded as heretical by orthodox
Muslims. An Ahmadi website indicates that the movement, now headquartered in the
UK, spans over 195 countries, with membership exceeding ‘tens of millions’. The
Ahmadis also claim that they are the only leading Islamic organisation to
categorically reject terrorism in any form. They have been systematically
targeted by radical Sunni groups in the past. Significantly, the Pakistani
leaders who condemned the attacks did not refer specifically to the Ahmadis in
their statements. TV channels and newspapers avoided the word "mosque" in
describing the attacked sites, preferring "places of worship." --Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
By Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
At
least 95 worshippers were killed and 92 injured on May 28, 2010, as seven
assailants, including three suicide bombers, attacked Ahmadi mosques in the
Model Town and Garhi Shahu areas of Lahore. Five of the attackers were also
killed.Terrorists wearing suicide vests stormed the two places of worship a few
minutes before special Friday prayers, initiating an over three-hour-long
standoff. Both the attacks were backed by suicide bombers and began within a
span of a few minutes.
After
battling the militants for hours, the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) claimed
to have arrested two of the attackers from Model Town and one suspect from the
Garhi Shahu mosque. Senior Police Official Rana Ayaz disclosed, "They came into
the mosque from the back and started firing. They were armed with hand grenades
and suicide vests and other weapons."
The
Punjab chapter of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility
for the attack. "Congratulations to the whole nation on what the brave
mujahideen (holy warriors) did yesterday in Garhi Shahu and Model Town, Lahore,"
a statement issued by TTP spokesman Muhammad Omar on May 29, declared, "On the
whole, we do like to encourage the nation for increasing such activities, like
targeted killings of Qadianis, Shias, the political parties that support them,
as well as law enforcement agencies, the Pakistan Army and other racist
parties." He also warned the Muttahida Qaumi Movement [MQM] of attacks, calling
it a "terrorist wing of Qadianis and Jews" and adding, "They are responsible for
destruction of the country and the nation. We are encouraging assassination
attacks on everyone who is with the MQM."
The
May 28 attack coincided with the completion of one year since the TTP attack at
Lahore on May 27, 2009, where suicide bombers detonated a vehicle loaded with
some 100 kilograms of explosives near the offices of the CCPO and the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) – killing at least 27 and injuring 326, in
addition to destroying a two-storey building of the Rescue 15 Police Service. An
ISI colonel and 15 Police officials were among those killed. There is some
similarity between the two incidents, since both involved small arms assaults
backed by suicide bombings.
The
Lahore attacks are hardly an exception in any sense beyond the relatively large
numbers killed in a single operation. On May 28, 2010, itself, unidentified
militants killed four Policemen in a suspected sectarian attack in the Satellite
Town area of Quetta in Balochistan. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed
responsibility for the attack. On the same day, one person belonging to the Shia
community was killed and some others injured in a clash between two rival sects,
the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), a front organization of the Sipah-i-Sahaba
Pakistan (SSP), and a group of Shias, at Islam Chowk in the Orangi Town of
Karachi in Sindh.
The
Ahmadis, also known as Qadianis, have tens of thousands of followers in
Pakistan, and the sect has long regarded as deviant and heretic and been
persecuted and targeted in sectarian attacks in the country. Founded by Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad towards the end of the 19th Century, the Ahmadis have a number of
unique views, including the claim that Ahmad himself was a prophet, and that
Jesus died at age 120 in Jammu and Kashmir, assertions regarded as heretical by
orthodox Muslims. An Ahmadi website indicates that the movement, now
headquartered in the UK, spans over 195 countries, with membership exceeding
‘tens of millions’. The Ahmadis also claim that they are the only leading
Islamic organisation to categorically reject terrorism in any form. They have
been systematically targeted by radical Sunni groups in the past. Significantly,
the Pakistani leaders who condemned the attacks did not refer specifically to
the Ahmadis in their statements. TV channels and newspapers avoided the word
"mosque" in describing the attacked sites, preferring "places of
worship."
Throughout the first half of the 20th Century, the issue of the
Ahmadi faith was raised repeatedly before different courts at the District
level. In many such cases, local courts declared them non-Muslims. In 1974,
under severe pressure from clerics, Pakistan's first democratically elected
Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, introduced the Second Amendment to the
Constitution, which declared Ahmadis non-Muslims. In 1984, Pakistan's military
dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq, brought in a new law, which barred Ahmadis from
reciting the Kalima (the first proclamation of Islamic faith) and from calling
their places of worship mosques. The Ahmadis, however, declare themselves
Muslims and claim to practise Islam in its pristine
form.
After
the May 28 attack, the Jamaat-e-Ahmadi Pakistan, which represents the sect,
stated that the Government had been 'going soft' on radical groups that espoused
violence against Ahmedis. "All hard-line religious organisations in Pakistan are
against us and are spreading venomous propaganda against us. We are told that
the Punjabi Taliban had carried out the attack. Tell me which religious party
here does not endorse the idea of killing Ahmedis?" JAP spokesman Qamar Suleman
demanded. He stated, further, "The Government has never come down hard on
elements that instigate people against us, and that is why it is equally
responsible for what happened on Friday." He complained that a section of the
media had incited people against Ahmedis. An audiotape conversation between
Hamid Mir, Executive Editor of GEO News and a man purportedly linked to the TTP,
has revealed that Mir’s exhortations against the Qadianis in a telephonic
conversation with an unnamed TTP leader could have led to the execution of
Khalid Khawaja, a retired ISI official associated with the Lal Masjid Operation
in July 2007. During this conversation, Mir described the Ahmadis as "even worse
than kafirs (unbelievers)". Suleman asserted that, unless the Federal and Punjab
Governments acted "seriously and sincerely" to condemn and eliminate such
elements, incidents like Friday's attacks will not stop: "Pakistani clerics want
us to leave Pakistan. They are giving us this message through such
attacks."
Apart
from Ahmadis, other sects, including the Shias and Barelvis, have also come
under fire from radical Islamist groups. Since the emergence of the TTP,
sectarian violence has escalated, with a cult of suicide bombing taking root
among the extremists. Sectarian groups such as the LeJ and SSP have joined hands
with TTP in executing these sectarian attacks. The Institute for Conflict
Management database records that 2010 has already witnessed 17 such attacks, in
which 215 people have been killed. Total fatalities have already exceeded the
190 killed in 106 sectarian attacks in 2009.
Sectarian
Violence in Pakistan: 2002-2010
|
Year
|
Incidents
|
Killed
|
Injured
|
|
2010*
|
17
|
220
|
336
|
|
2009
|
106
|
190
|
398
|
|
2008
|
97
|
306
|
505
|
|
2007
|
341
|
441
|
630
|
|
2006
|
38
|
201
|
349
|
|
2005
|
62
|
160
|
354
|
|
2004
|
19
|
187
|
619
|
|
2003
|
22
|
102
|
103
|
|
2002
|
63
|
121
|
257
|
*Data till May 30, 2010
Meanwhile, the Minister for Interior Affairs Rehman Malik
indicated that his Ministry had sent two security alerts to the Punjab
Government on May 13 and May 26, respectively, about possible terrorist activity
in Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Such general alerts are, however, issued on
farily regular intervals, and have seldom succeeded in preventing attacks.
Before the March 8, 2010, suicide attack in front of the Special Intelligence
Agency’s (SIA) office in the Model Town area of Lahore, in which 13 persons were
killed and 80 injured, for instance, a February 8 intelligence reports had
warned that the TTP had sent eight female suicide bombers to attack high-value
targets in Punjab.
A
successful attack was, nevertheless, staged, though female suicide bombers were
not involved. A spokesman for the TTP, Azam Tariq, claiming responsibility for
attack had then warned, "The attack was to avenge (US) drone attacks and
(Pakistani) military operations in the Tribal Areas… we have 2,800 to 3,000 more
suicide bombers. We will target all Government places, buildings and
offices."
Again
on March 11, 2010, authorities declared red alert at sensitive installations
after the reported entry of an explosive-laden car into Lahore. Sources claimed
that a white car, with registration number 1320-A, had entered Lahore from
Rawalpindi, following which security was beefed up to avoid any mishap.
Enforcement agencies had warned authorities that 19 militants had been deputed
to cover 12 cities of the Province, and were most likely to target National
Accountability Bureau offices and anti-terrorism courts. A letter had also been
forwarded to the authorities concerned, mentioning that some relatively defunct
organisations, including Maulana Abdul Jabbar’s faction of the Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM), LeJ, Harkat-ul-Jehad Islami (HuJI), Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) and
Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA), had also joined the TTP. Despite all the warnings, on
March 12, suicide bombers ripped through Lahore’s RA Bazaar in the cantonment
area, killing at least 57 persons, including eight soldiers, and injuring more
than 90. While a private television channel reported that the TTP had claimed
responsibility, another television channel reported that al Qaeda-linked Sunni
terrorist organisation LeJ had claimed responsibility. Interior Minister Rehman
Malik’s comments on this remained confused, though he did claim that a ‘decisive
operation’ would be launched against banned sectarian outfits if they did not
refrain from further terrorist attacks. Such ‘decisive action’ remains
conspicuous in its absence.
Pakistan’s political formations, across party lines, have
supported sectarian groups to strengthen their vote banks. Just after the attack
on the Ahmadi mosques in Lahore, for instance, the Punjab Governor Salmaan
Taseer stated that the Ahmedis had been targeted due to the close relations
between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the TTP. In a message on the social
networking website, Twitter, Taseer claimed that the banned SSP and TTP were
united and supported by Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah. Significantly,
during the National Assembly by-election for the Jhang seat on March 11, 2008,
in the Punjab, Sanaullah conducted a joint campaign with the SSP and its head,
Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi. Jhang is the epicentre of the sectarian groups. When
questioned on this, Sanaullah declared, "not all banned outfits and
organisations are involved in terrorist
activities".
Instead of taking effective action against the sectarian
extremists, Islamabad seems quite content to muddy the waters with
unsubstantiated allegation of the involvement of the Indian external
intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). Minister for
Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik, thus insinuated, after the Lahore attacks,
"About Balochistan I am sure that RAW is involved in sabotage activities. But,
for Lahore we are investigating." While such declarations may find some
political traction among the more gullible of Pakistan’s citizens, the state’s
failure to deal with the malignant sectarian genie can only further endanger the
future of a country and system already writhing in the flames of an engulfing
terrorism.
The author is a Research Assistant, Institute for
Conflict Management.
Source: South Asia Intelligence Review
[SAIR]
9:53 PM
Sultan Shahin
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