Author: Amit Sharma
Publication: The Indian
Express
Date: September 30,
2000
Followers of the Ahmadiyya
sect among Muslims have strongly objected to the fatwa that a section of
Ulemas and Muslim religious leaders issued against them during a recent
meeting held in Mohanlalganj near here.
Ulemas are believed to
have made provocative appeals during the recentmeeting, saying that followers
of this sect should be ostracised and manhandled wherever they are spotted
in Muslim-dominated colonies and should also not be allowed to bury the
bodies of the dead in Muslim graveyards.
``These Ulemas are politically
motivated and backed by Pakistan for makingsuch provocative speeches.
They are defacing Islam by describing us askafirs,'' said Syed Tanveer
Ahmed, an Ahmaddi and a lawyer, adding that he had met the state police
chief and requested him for proper security for all members of the sect.
The recent episode has
added a sinister chapter to Muslim politics in the state and could assume
menacing proportions if immediate steps arenot taken to defuse the crisis.
The Ahmaddis claim that there are nearly 1.25 crore of them in the state
and many more in at least170 countries the world over. However, the
sect is officially banned in Pakistan, while in Saudi Arabia they are treated
as non-Muslims in practice, though there is no official order to this effect.
``We have full faith
in the Indian Government, which has secular credentialsand appeal to it
to take immediate punitive action against the Ulemas and Muslim religious
leaders who are trying to create an unnecessary law and order problem,''
Chaudhary Mohammed Naseem, state chief of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, said.
The Jamaat has opened
schools, colleges and hospitals in several countries and translated the
Holy Quran in 53 languages, besides starting an Islamic Channel -- Muslim
Televison Ahmadiyya.
``The Ulemas have vested
interEsts in restraining our movement because we talk and try to spread
literacy among the community, while they want them to remain illiterate,''
alleged Naseem. He claimed that the followers of the sect have achieved
total literacy and there has been no crime-related caseagainst an Ahmaddi
since Independence.
``Jamaate-e-Ahmadiyya
is against the jehad which is the slogan of Deobandi, Wahabi and Jamat-I-Islami,
who are trying to disturb the peace of the country. The objective
of the conference in Lucknow on September 21 was to instigate religious
passion in India, like in Pakistan,'' said Saadat Ahmad Jawed, press secretary
of the organisation.
This is not first time
that such statements have been issued against the followers of this sect.
This happened during a conference at Nadwa-Tul-Ulema, a prominent institute
of Islamic teaching in Lucknow, threeyears ago, and in New Delhi five years
ago. But this time, the Ahmaddisare unwilling to take things lie
down.
``We will have to bring
truth before people and also try to save our Muslim brethren from false
propaganda of the Pak-backed Ulemas,'' said Naseem.
