Pakistan reaction to Quran-burning plan muted, so far

By Sohel Uddin, NBC News Producer

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – In a country where flag and effigy burning is a popular retort to insults against Islam and certain Western foreign policies, the reaction to Rev. Terry Jones’ plan to hold an “International Burn a Quran Day” on Sept.11 so far has been relatively tame here.

Although Jones announced a month ago that his Gainesville, Fla., church would desecrate Islam’s holy book, reactions to the plan only started to be seen in Pakistan on Thursday.

The government urged restraint Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was diplomatic as he told reporters in Belgium Thursday, “This gentleman is not in line with the general thinking of the American people … I don't know what he intends to do, but he is not serving anyone.” Qureshi added, “What we have been promoting was interfaith dialogue, interfaith harmony, and this is a complete sort of negation of that … I hope better sense prevails and this event does not take place."

Unfortunately, diplomacy did not prevail on every street in Pakistan. Sentiments were harsh as about 200 people set an American flag on fire in Multan, a city of 4.5 million, about 350 miles from Islamabad. "DEATH TO AMERICA" placards were accompanied by chants of "Down with American dogs." The crowds threatened to take revenge on the proposed Quran-burning insult.

Lawyer Qamar Intizar Mohammad told Reuters, "If this happens in Florida on Sept. 11, there will be a reaction against the church across the world. Then a new war will begin between Muslims and Christians."

However, in Karachi, a more cosmopolitan city of about 18 million, there was a sense of solidarity between Christians and Muslims as they took to the streets together to protest.

Anti-U.S. slogans were chanted as protesters stepped on cartoons of the pastor, but Christians could also be heard saying, “Down with U.S. plan To desecrate Koran.” Their placards read, “WE DEMAND U.S GOVERNMENT TO ARREST THIS RELIGIOUS TERRORIST AND PUNISH.”

The Christian protesters’ condemnation appeared to be just as strong as the Muslim protesters’. The Bishop of Karachi Sadiq Daniel, who was participating in the march, told Reuters, “It is certainly very bad to desecrate any religious book and to hurt someone's religious and spiritual sentiments. I think the one who carries out such things is a mentally sick person.”

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Bracing for the worst
Back in the U.S., President Barack Obama expressed fears during an ABC interview Thursday that Jones plan could result in “serious violence in places like Pakistan.”

In fact, anti-U.S. sentiment in Pakistan is quite significant. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that almost six out of 10 Pakistanis regarded America as an enemy and only one in 10 called it a partner.

The poll results demonstrate the uphill struggle the U.S. is having in gaining the Pakistani people’s trust. If the Florida pastor does go ahead with his proposed event, the setback to Pakistani perceptions of America could be immeasurable.

Over the past few days, I have been asking locals and journalists why there hadn’t been any significant reactions to “Burn a Quran Day.”

A few told me that it was probably because people hadn’t really heard about it yet. But many others said, “Just wait and see what people will do here if he goes ahead with it…”

NBC News

Obama: Quran-burning plan is 'recruitment bonanza for al Qaeda'

September 9, 2010

The Rev. Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove Center, has said he will proceed with the plan Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, despite increased pressure to abandon the proposal and warnings that going ahead could endanger U.S. troops and Americans worldwide.

CNN iReport: 'This man doesn't represent America'

On Wednesday, the Vatican joined a chorus of groups imploring the church not to burn Islam's holy book, saying it would be an "outrageous and grave gesture." The president of the United Nations General Assembly, Ali Abdussalam Treki, also expressed concern, saying it will "lead to uncontrollable reactions" and spark tension worldwide.

Earlier this week, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, warned that the plan "could cause significant problems" for American troops overseas.

Tolerance

"The general needs to point his finger to radical Islam and tell them to shut up, tell them to stop, tell them that we will not bow our knees to them," Jones said on CNN's "AC360."Jones has rejected the pleas, saying his message targets radical Islamists.

"We are burning the book," Jones said. "We are not killing someone. We are not murdering people."

Referring to Jones, Obama said Thursday, "If he's listening, I just hope he understands that what he's proposing to do is completely contrary to our values of Americans, that this country has been built on the notions of religious freedom and religious tolerance."

"And as a very practical matter, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United States, I just want him to understand that this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in Iraq, who are in Afghanistan. We're already seeing protests against Americans just by the mere threat ... this is a destructive act that he's engaging in."

Meanwhile, a major Islamic group will announce an initiative Thursday to distribute 200,000 Qurans to replace what it says are 200 copies that the Dove Center plans to burn.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) plans to hold a news conference in Washington Thursday to address the issue. The group's "Learn, Don't Burn" initiative includes the distribution of 200,000 Qurans and other activities planned for Friday and Saturday.

"This educational initiative is designed for those who seek a proactive and constructive response to the church's very un-American actions," said Nihad Awad, CAIR national executive director.

"The tiny group of extremists carrying out the book burnings clearly do not represent our society or its values and have been repudiated by all mainstream religious and political leaders."

CAIR, a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group, has written to Gen. James Mattis, head of U.S. Central Command, asking for help in trying to dissuade Jones.

"The Quran burning event, while protected by the First Amendment, is not in our nation's best interests," wrote CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad in the letter. "Those who seek to harm our nation will exploit the burnings to promote their own political agenda."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is one of the few public officials who defended Jones' right to go ahead, even as he condemned the idea as "distasteful.

"I don't think he would like if somebody burned a book that in his religion he thinks is holy. ... But the First Amendment protects everybody, and you can't say that we are going to apply the First Amendment to only those cases where we are in agreement," Bloomberg said, citing the section of the Constitution that promises freedom of speech.

The planned action has drawn sharp criticism worldwide.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting U.S. troops from religious intolerance, has promised to buy one new Quran and donate it to the Afghan National Army for each one burned in Florida.

Petraeus has warned that the burning will endanger the lives of the 120,000 U.S. and NATO-led troops still battling al Qaeda and its allies in the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban movement.

Asked his feelings on the matter as president, Obama said, "well, it is frustrating. Now, on the other hand, we are a government of laws. And so we have to abide by those laws. And my understanding is that he can be cited for public burning, but that's the extent of the laws that we have available to us."

"You know, part of this country's history is people doing destructive or offensive or harmful things," the president said. "And yet, we still have to make sure that we're following the laws. And that's part of what I love about this country."

A Christian congregation in Germany on Thursday distanced itself from Jones, its founder and former pastor. Stephan Baar, one of the leaders of the Christian Community of Cologne, said the congregation split with Jones in 2008 over differences in the way the church was run.

"We distance ourselves very very clearly from the actions that are taking place (in Florida) and also from the person himself and unfortunately we really regret what is happening there," Baar said in an interview with CNN affiliate RTL.

CNN

Evangelical leaders try to reach out to the pastor who plans to burn the Koran

By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 9, 2010; 3:07 AM

Geoff Tunnicliffe heads one of the world's largest faith organizations - the World Evangelical Alliance - but on Wednesday morning, when he reached the Florida pastor planning to burn the Koran on Sept. 11, "I felt like a deer in the headlights," he said.

For weeks, Tunnicliffe had remained silent about the intention of the tiny Gainesville church to publicly torch Islam's holy book this Saturday, not wanting to lend legitimacy to the Dove World Outreach Center or its controversial pastor, Terry Jones. But after hearing from Pentecostal leaders around the globe who fear that the scripture-burning could spark sectarian violence, he decided he needed to appeal to Jones as a fellow Christian.

Tunnicliffe is among the religious leaders who have tried to reach out to Jones in recent days and persuade him to abandon his plan, which has been condemned by everyone from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Gen. David H. Petraeus to conservative commentator Glenn Beck to actress Angelina Jolie. Even Franklin Graham, son of famed evangelist Billy Graham and an outspoken critic of Islam, tried twice without success to reach Jones on Wednesday to express his disapproval of defacing or destroying the sacred texts or writings of other religions, a spokesman said.

Jones did not return telephone calls Wednesday seeking comment.

Tunnicliffe described himself as "pleading" during a 10-minute cellphone conversation with the man whose plan has sparked angry protests in Jakarta and Kabul, a plan that some fear could put the lives of U.S. troops in Muslim countries at risk.

"I tried to talk about the impact this would have on his own stated goals of taking the Gospel to the world," said Tunnicliffe, whose group represents hundreds of millions of evangelicals, including those in Muslim countries.

He told Jones that Christian leaders and missionaries around the world were opposed to the burning, and asked, "What are you hearing from God that these people aren't hearing?" He asked how Jones would feel if the event led to the death of a pastor or the destruction of a church in another part of the world.

Jones listened but remained noncommittal, Tunnicliffe said. "He said they might not change their minds, but that they were praying about it."

At the end of the phone call, Tunnicliffe said, he prayed for Jones.

"Here's the reality: That video will never go away," he said. "It will be so detrimental to our work with religious liberty around the world. Everywhere I go around the world, I will have to address this for years to come."

He and others described their lobbying efforts this week as delicate and strange. Jones doesn't belong to a religious denomination and doesn't appear to know fellow pastors in his town.

Some religious leaders said they fear that Jones won't listen to strangers, or they are reluctant to fuel something that they hope will go away. Others said the fact that evangelical leaders aren't taking more action reflects a distant and sometimes tense relationship with Muslims and the fact that many evangelicals are skeptical of Islam.

"People don't speak out the way they should because they don't have personal relationships," said Richard Cizik, a former longtime lobbyist for the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), the U.S. branch of the World Evangelical Alliance. He noted that an NAE poll of evangelical leaders in 2008 found none who said they had a good friend who was Muslim.

Nevertheless, NAE President Leith Anderson issued a statement Wednesday asking Muslims not to judge "all Christians by the behavior of one extremist. One person with 30 silent followers does not speak for 300 million Americans who will never burn a Koran."

Christian leaders from other denominations echoed those sentiments Wednesday, saying there was no support in their communities for Jones. The question was how to reach the former hotel manager who sells furniture on eBay to make extra money.

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said he decided not to approach Jones because he believes that the pastor would disapprove of Land's advocacy for the rights of religious minorities and his general engagement with pluralism.

"If I know my boy, he thinks we're apostate liberals anyway," Land said. "My guess is my call would be counterproductive. My calling him would just encourage him to do it."

City commissioners and the mayor of Gainesville have called Jones, as have local clergy, including the Rev. Dan Johnson of the 4,000-member Trinity United Methodist Church, the closest house of worship to the Dove Center. Johnson tried several times to make appointments with Jones before the Dove pastor called Johnson "yellow-bellied" in a local paper, said Troy Holloway, Trinity's director of stewardship development.

Tunnicliffe said he offered to come to Florida on Friday to speak with Jones's church and was planning to deliver a letter to the congregation and run an advertisement in the Gainesville newspaper.

Asked if evangelical leaders - including himself- had delayed trying to stop the Koran-burning because many Christians feel anxious about the spread of Islam, he said he didn't believe that was the case.

"They may have some concerns, but you'd only find the very fringe that would have any support for this, even among the most conservative," Tunnicliffe said. "I think there would be a strong consensus that this kind of approach is absolutely not acceptable and not biblical."

The Washington Post

Christian leaders in Asia concerned Koran burning will affect Christian minorities

Rome, Italy, Sep 8, 2010 / 02:05 pm (CNA).- Christian leaders in Asia are criticizing plans by a Florida pastor to burn copies of the Koran on September 11, saying Muslim radicals will use the incident as motivation for attacking Christian minorities in the region.

Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida said he intends to continue with his plans to burn the Koran despite the consequences it may have for Christian minorities in Asia. According to Fides news agency, the president of the Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, Bishop Lawrence Saldanha, strongly condemned the idea and said it was “contrary to the respect for all religions, contrary to our teachings, and to our faith.”

Nazir S. Bhatti, president of the Pakistan Christian Congress called on Jones to cancel the Koran burning, saying it would be used “by Muslim radicals as a pretext for attacking Christians.”

Likewise, the president of the Bishops’ Conference of India, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, urged Christian and Muslim leaders to issue a statement rejecting this act as opposed to the teachings of Christ.

In addition, the secretary general of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Johannes Pujasumarta, told Fides that the Church will continue to pray “that nothing unpleasant happens in Indonesia or the whole world because of this irresponsible act.”

Angelina Jolie condemns planned Koran burning

Angelina Jolie has spoken out against the proposed burning of the Koran by a small Florida church on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. When asked about the church's plan, Jolie responded, "I have hardly the words that somebody would do that to somebody's religious book."

Jolie is in Pakistan visiting victims of the recent flooding, the worst in the country's history. "There are people displaced by the floods and they've lost their homes. And the floodwater was as high as this ceiling when you see the mark, and I was surprised by that," Jolie said to reporters. "And their needs need to be addressed."

By Sarah Anne Hughes | September 8, 2010; 11:51 AM ET

The Washington Post

U.S. Muslims Give Pakistan Flood Donation to Christian Agency

A U.S. Muslim group decided to help Pakistani flood victims through a Christian humanitarian aid agency, the latter group reported Tuesday.

The Muslim Community of North East Tennessee (MCNET) donated the $11,000 it raised to help the families in the hard-hit town of Shabarra in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa Province (formerly known as the Northwest Frontier) to World Vision.

MCNET’s organizers, who are Pakistani Americans, praised the Christian aid agency for distributing relief supplies bought using the donation in a “very organized and dignified way.” The group said it wants to raise more money and support more families in Shabarra, which has not received any aid other than from WV.

“The fact that Pakistanis are helping Pakistanis is highly commendable,” remarked Shaharyar Khan Bangash, who manages World Vision’s programs in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province. “These donations from the Pakistani community through World Vision are an endorsement of the trust the Pakistani community has in our work.”

According to World Vision, MCNET’s donation was used to purchase and distribute kitchenware, bedding, hygiene kits, gas cylinders, floor mats, tents and a small cash grant to 48 families in Shabarra.

About a month ago, flood waters from extremely heavy monsoon rains began to overflow in northwest Pakistan. The floods then pushed south along the Indus River, devastating towns and farmland.

The floods have killed 1,760 people but officials said they expect the death toll to rise “significantly” when they account for the missing. Flood waters have to date destroyed 8.9 million acres of rich farmland, damaged or destroyed a million homes, and affected 17 million people.

It is the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history.

Last month, World Vision Pakistan’s program development and quality director, Anita Cole, said the scale of humanitarian aid needed for the floods is “almost incomprehensible.”

But WV said it is encouraged by the donations from Pakistani in and out of the disaster-stricken country. The Pakistani community has so far given more than $17,000 to communities in need through World Vision.

“I have not seen such a good way of distribution anywhere else,” said Haji Ijaz Akhtar, a businessman and president of the Japan Market in Peshawar, who donated nearly $600 to the disaster through WV.

“After witnessing the excellent, transparent and unambiguous way World Vision Pakistan handles its distributions here today, I intend not only to donate more money but will also urge my other colleagues to donate generously to World Vision,” he said.

Overall, American individuals, foundations and companies have donated $25 million towards Pakistan floodrelief as of Aug. 30, according to Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy.

Meanwhile, donors worldwide have given about two-thirds of the $460 million the U.N. requested for emergency aid, according to the head of the World Food Program. But the food agency itself has less than half the money it needs to feed those affected.

Everyday intolerance

By Rafia Zakaria
Wednesday, 04 Aug, 2010

Hakimullah Mehsud, a major leader for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, is seen here with a weapon. - Photo on file

Judging from news accounts, the Pakistani military has been making significant inroads against the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the tribal agencies and Swat valley. In a report published by the Critical Threats Project, army personnel described the victory of the security forces as “long-lasting, sustainable peace”.

Operations in South Waziristan are also reported to have been largely successful in identifying and eliminating militant strongholds. Data culled from news reports shows that Pakistan’s military has made tremendous progress in dismantling Taliban operations and gaining control of previously militant-infested areas. A Gallup Pakistan poll conducted late last year showed that the majority of Pakistanis polled supported the military operation in South Waziristan in the hope that it would bring peace to the region.

However, in the midst of these military victories lies disturbing evidence that suggests that while the territorial project of the TTP may be floundering, its social project of producing a radicalised Pakistan attracted to literal and intolerant interpretations of faith is flourishing. Examples of such societal radicalisation abound, a notable one being the lack of public outcry against the rampant persecution of minorities who do not fit into the idealised mould of the Sunni Muslim Pakistani citizen.

The past month saw the rape of a Christian trainee nurse in Karachi. In the same month two Christian brothers were gunned down in Faisalabad in broad daylight while leaving a court for a hearing on blasphemy charges, while there were reports that a psychology professor, who had been on the faculty of the University of Peshawar for the past 10 years, was brutally beaten by students for refusing to convert to Islam. There are also reports that the coffin of Premchand, a Hindu Youth Parliament member killed in the Air Blue plane crash, was inscribed with ‘kafir’ before being turned over to his family.

These incidents came on the heels of the deadly attacks on the Ahmadi community in Lahore in May, which killed scores of innocent people. In the case of the trainee nurse, there are some views on how those entrusted with investigating the crime are casting the case as a Christian-Muslim issue in which information provided by the victim cannot be taken as credible because she is not Muslim.

Examples of social radicalisation are not limited to the silent tolerance of violence against religious minorities. A few months ago, Pakistan shut off for some time access to the social networking website Facebook, which had a link to content regarded as blasphemous. A poll conducted by the website Propakistan reported that nearly 70 per cent of the Pakistanis responding to the poll wanted a permanent ban on Facebook.

Similarly, we recently saw the banning of Teray Bin Laden, a comedy film that pokes fun at Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and features Pakistani pop star Ali Zafar. The affinity for bans suggests the increasing prevalence of a worldview that wants to eliminate perspectives that are repugnant, rather than develop intellectual arguments against them.

College campuses around the country provide further evidence of creeping radicalism that wishes to institutionalise a literal and dogmatic interpretation of Islam. Kinnaird College, an all women’s institution, banned “jeans and other western dress” on campus last year after the reported harassment of female students by burka-clad women who threatened violence. Similarly, in April this year, female students at the Islamic University in Islamabad were harassed and physically assaulted by a worker of the Islami Jamiat-i-Tulaba.

According to a report published in a Pakistani daily, the accused approached the women near the engineering building on campus, lectured them that taking pictures was haram and then proceeded to slap and kick one of them. This same student had earlier been accused of assaulting a female teacher. Despite all this, when female students protested, the university administration threatenedthem rather than taking action against the guilty party.

Similar acts of vigilantism designed to intimidate women and minorities continue to occur all over Pakistan without inciting even a fraction of public outcry. There have also been reports of armed men accosting women in public places in Karachi, warning them to cover themselves otherwise they would be subjected to acid attacks, while in other cases, letters have been sent to some fathers asking them to “rein in their daughters” and not allow them to be uncovered in public. Women walking in parks have been harassed by groups of men who do not think they should be out in public.

Cumulatively, all these cases point to the constriction of the Pakistani public sphere and the increasing popularity of the dogmatic, intolerant and ignorant interpretation of Islam touted by the Taliban and their ilk. Considered collectively, the most disturbing aspect of these incidents is that they are not being carried out by the Taliban but by ordinary and sometimes educated citizens who have begun to subscribe to radicalised perspectives. The students beating up women and professors, protesters wanting to ban this or that are not the uneducated, barbaric Taliban but educated, urban middle-class citizens from all over the country.

Their acts of intolerance suggest that while the Pakistani military may be winning the territorial conflict, the war for the Pakistani psyche may already have been lost. Such an appraisal begs the question of whether there is any value in fighting the Taliban for territory if we have already ceded our psyche.

The writer is a US-based attorney who teaches constitutional history and political philosophy.

Don't burn the Koran, plead Church leaders

Catholic leaders worldwide and US officials are protesting against a plan to publicly burn the Koran on September 11.

Larry Jones of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville has said that he wants to hold a "Koran Burning Day" on Saturday's anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks, reports Zenit.

Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, Pakistan, president of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops Conference, told Fides, "We strongly condemn this intention and this campaign, as it is contrary to the respect due to all religions, as well as contrary to our doctrine and to our faith."

Nazir Bhatti, chairman of the Pakistan Christian Congress, also appealed for the stopping of this initiative as "it could seriously harm Christian minorities in Muslim-majority countries."

This "Koran Burning Day," he said, "will be used by radical Islamists as a pretext to attack Christians."

Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, India, and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India and several Christian and Muslim religious leaders said in a joint statement that the proposed act was "contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ."

The cardinal said: "I condemn this completely insensitive threat that is disrespectful to the Holy Quran, on behalf of the Catholic Church".

Bishop Johannes Pujasumarta of Bandung, Indonesia, secretary general of the Indonesian bishops' conference, told Fides: "We have expressed our disagreement and have launched an appeal to have it cancelled.

"We will continue to pray that nothing unpleasant occurs in Indonesia and throughout the world as a result of this irresponsible act".

Various US leaders have also joined the Church leaders in condemning this initiative, Zenit said. This includes General David Petraeus, commander of the troops in Afghanistan, who said the act could endanger the soldiers under his care.

Killing of two brothers reported

Saudi Qaeda leader urges killing of Christians

DUBAI: A Saudi leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has urged sympathisers in the Saudi security forces to kill Christians living in the kingdom, in an audio message released on Wednesday. The purported audiotape, posted on a website used by Islamists, also repeated an often-made call to overthrow the Saudi government and called for attacks on Israel. “Those of you who work in guarding the tyrants of princes or ministers, or the compounds inhabited by Christians, or can reach them, should seek God’s help and kill them,” said AQAP’s number two, Said al-Shihri. Shihri, a former inmate of the US military detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, claimed that AQAP has received correspondence from members of Saudi armed forces asking for “guidance.” He urged the Qaeda followers, however, to make sure that they avoid killing Muslims by mistake during their attacks. “Fear God with regards to Muslims’ blood... even if that was a reason to postpone your attack,” he said. Shihri also urged any followers in the armed forces to attack Israel from the northwestern tip of Saudi Arabia on the Gulf of Aqaba, across the water from the Israeli resort of Eilat. “Carry your arms against Israel, which is only few kilometres away from you, whose lights you can see (at night) from the city of Haql,” he said. “Whoever among you is a pilot should seek martyrdom in the skies of Palestine, and who works in the navy should aim his weapon at the Jews there,” he added. Shihri called for forming cells within the armed and security forces to recruit sympathisers “to make the toppling of Al-Saud easier.” In June, Shihri urged al Qaeda supporters in Saudi Arabia to kidnap princes and Christians in order to secure the release of militants, including female “preacher” Heila al-Qsayer, a widow of a Saudi al Qaeda militant killed six years ago by the Saudi authorities. Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia launched a deadly wave of attacks against Westerners and government installations in 2003, but have been dealt severe blows by the authorities, forcing them eventually to regroup in Yemen. Saudi and Yemeni militants announced the merging of their factions in Yemen in January 2009, as intelligence reports have warned that Yemen has become a regrouping haven for Al-Qaeda veterans. Authorities in Yemen have launched a fierce military campaign against AQAP, which has claimed responsibility for the botched attempt to blow up a US airliner over Detroit last Christmas. Yemen is the ancestral homeland of the Saudi-born al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who has been stripped of his Saudi nationality. afp

(Daily Times Thursday, August 12, 2010)

لاہور: ہلاکتوں میں اضافہ، طالبان نے ذمہ داری قبول کر لی

احمدیوں کی عبادت گاہ پر حملہ، دو ہلاک

رفعت اللہ اورکزئی

بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، پشاور

تین ماہ قبل لاہور میں بھی احمدیوں کی عبادگاہوں پرحملے کئے گئے تھے جس میں سو کے قریب افراد ہلاک گئے تھے۔

پاکستان کے صوبہ خیبر پختون خوا کے ضلع مردان میں حکام کا کہنا ہے کہ ایک مبینہ خودکش حملہ آور نے احمدیوں کی عبادت گاہ پر حملے کی کوشش کی ہے جس میں حملہ آور سمیت دو افراد ہلاک ہوگئے ہیں۔

مردان پولیس کے ایک اہلکار شاکر اللہ نے بی بی سی کو بتایا ’یہ واقعہ مردان شہر کے علاقے کینال روڈ پر جمعہ کی دوپہر مقامی وقت کے مطابق ایک بج کر پندرہ منٹ پر پیش آیا۔‘

انہوں نے بتایا کہ ایک مبینہ خودکش حملہ آور احمدیوں کی ایک عبادت گاہ کی جانب بڑھ رہا تھا کہ اس دوران وہاں عبادت گاہ کے سامنے ڈیوٹی پر موجود ایک احمدی رضاکار نے حملہ آور پر فائرنگ کردی جس سے اُس کے جسم سے باندھا ہوا دھماکہ خیز مواد پھٹ گیا۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ دھماکے سے حملہ آور سمیت دو افراد ہلاک ہوئے جس میں ایک احمدی بھی شامل ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ جمعرات سے مردان میں احمدیوں کی عبادت گاہ کے اردگرد سکیورٹی کے سخت انتظامات کئے گئے تھے۔

انہوں نے بتایا کہ ابھی تک کسی تنظیم اس حملے کی ذمہ داری قبول نہیں کی ہے۔

ایک مبینہ خودکش حملہ آور احمدیوں کی ایک عبادت گاہ کی جانب بڑھ رہا تھا کہ اس دوران وہاں عبادت گاہ کے سامنے ڈیوٹی پر موجود ایک احمدی رضاکار نے حملہ آور پر فائرنگ کردی جس سے اُس کے جسم سے باندھا ہوا دھماکہ خیز مواد پھٹ پڑا۔

پولیس اہلکار شاکر اللہ

مقامی لوگوں کا کہنا ہے کہ حملہ آور عبادت گاہ کے اندر جانے کی کوشش رہا تھا تاہم فائرنگ کی زد میں آنے سے وہ آگے بڑھنے میں کامیاب نہیں ہوسکا۔

واضح رہے کہ مردان میں احمدیوں کے چند خاندان ایک ہی جگہ پر آباد ہیں اور حکومت نے انہیں عبادت کےلیے ایک الگ جگہ دے رکھی ہے جہاں وہ عبادت کرتے ہیں۔

خیال رہے کہ تقریباً تین ماہ قبل لاہور میں بھی احمدیوں کی عبادگاہوں پرحملے کیے گئے تھے جس میں سو کے قریب افراد ہلاک اور سو سے زائد زخمی ہوگئے تھے۔

اُدھر پشاور میں پولیس موبائل پر ہونے والےایک ریموٹ کنٹرول بم حملے کے نتیجے میں ایک پولیس اہلکار ہلاک جبکہ دو زخمی ہوگئے ہیں۔

پولیس کے مطابق یہ واقعہ جمعہ کو پشاور کے علاقے رنگ روڈ پر اس وقت پیش آیا جب سڑک کے کنارے نصب ایک ریموٹ کنٹرول بم حملے سے پولیس کی گشتی گاڑی کو نشانہ بنایا گیا۔

دھماکے میں ایک اہلکار ہلاک اور دو زخمی ہوئے۔ حملے میں گاڑی کو بھی نقصان پہنچا ہے۔

پشاور میں ایک ہفتے کے دوران یہ دوسرا دھماکہ ہے۔ اس سے پہلے متنی کے علاقے میں طالبان مخالف لشکر کے رضاکاروں پر حملے میں دو افراد ہلاک ہوگئے تھے