Sunni, Ismaili leaders stress unity, demand punishment for ‘blasphemer’
CHITRAL: At a meeting, religious leaders, civilsociety and government officials stressed unity among people of Chitral in the wake of tension emerging out of a blasphemy incident.
The participants demanded that the person who committed blasphemy at the Shahi Masjid Chitral on Friday should be handed down a severe punishment so that no one could even imagine of committing such a crime and hurting the sentiments of the Muslims in future.
The meeting held at a local hotel was also attended by Assistant commissioner Muhammad Hayat Shah and representatives of local lawyers. Others who attended the meeting included President Ismaili Council Imtiaz Alam, Qazi Lutfur Rehman, former AC Haider Ali, Advocate Hakim Ali, Advocate Gul Hayat, Member Tehsil Council Sardar Hakim, Inayat Lal, Mangar Amir Afzal, Zafarullah Parvaz, Rehmat Salam and Maulana Fida Muhammad.
Condemning the incident of the Shahi Masjid, the participants of the meeting said it was an intolerable act on part of the individual to utter the blasphemous remarks, adding Muslims would never tolerate such types of crime. They said the incident had hurt the sentiments of the Muslims the world over.
They also said the man was liable to be killed and should be punished under the blasphemy law of the country under which the punishment is also death. The representatives on the occasion also said the act was intolerable and the culprit should be punished in accordance with the law.
The meeting stressed the need to promote unity and harmony in order to maintain peace in Chitral and foil the conspiracies of the enemies of Islam and Pakistan. The participants also appreciated the role of Ulema in the aftermath of the blasphemous remarks by the mentally disturbed man.
The culprit should be punished but some people may try to get a chance to create problem in chitral and threaten peace and security of the city. we should try to bring peace and harmony in the District instead of passing negative comments on it. Maulana did noble work to control the situation.
All of u r slaves and pretending to be muslims ok.
I would like to say that I’m not intrested to comment any more through chitral today and waste my valuable time bcaz they did not publish the truth which I had expressed in my last comments.
With due respect to both Shuja Mir and Basit Ali,your comments lack depth and sensitivity, particularly in the time when Chitral and us (Chitralis) need to demonstrate tolerance, soberness, wisdom, rational thinking and tranquility. Why we always focus on ‘differences’ but not on the many things which are common, shared and mutual? Unity is not conditioned upon following the same school of thought – it depends on accepting, appreciating, and celebrating diversity and respecting each other by finding more commonalties than differences. There are many examples of unity and peaceful co-existence of people from different religious, ethnic, and political backgrounds. If places like Dubai, Malaysia, Canada and others can maintain unity and peace with people of all colours, religions, and cultures, why cannot the three communities in Chitral remain united? We have been an example of peace and Inshah Allah will remain to be so until we try to find what is common – rather than what is different. United we can make and divided we will break – the choice is ours!
To punish the culprit the people simply need to provide evidence to the court. Out of the many people present in the mosque at the time of the unfortunate incident, even if a few appear before the court and give evidence the court will punish the alleged blasphemer.
If you remember, in 2011 police arrested a man from Barenis village in Chitral for blasphemy and the court handed him death penalty though at that time no demonstrations were held and no joint Sunni-Ismaili resolution were passed. Even no press release were issued from the political parties or religio-political parties. The police still gathered evidences and the court awarded the sentence.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/466170/blasphemy-charges-man-awarded-death-sentence-in-chitral/
In the present case as well the police will get all evidences and the court will be able to award punishment to the blasphemer.
I am reading all comments from respected writers and thinking that sunni and ismaili leaders are very united to punish a mentally ill person but they are never united in any basic practices of Islam. No need to feel salty about my comments and try to realise the facts. No need to try popular for itself (both side).thanks.
@shuja mir, ismailis believe in imam ali and his descendants, sunnis don’t. so there will definitely differences.
Abdullah khan ta hy commento loli ma hardi kokiani hoi .. if ous ko pagal honay ki sorat ma bhi saza milay ga, aor ap ko in advance sub kuch maloom hy to ap two questions kion pooch rahy hain bahi , kura phar hatera banjo multu hall bakan muxar tha no albat la tu ..
pagal honey k surat b saza hoga pagal khaney bej kar isko, ye to qanun k baat hai shaid apko samaj nehi aegi abi. awa banjo multu d k halbak haya chetraro royan muxa asum la makhyala tu kia khur makhluqo muxa halbak asus hash lu dosan.
Khatib Sab did a super job. All other religious persons should follow him. Khatib show us the true picture of Islam. Islam is the religion of Tolerance, Harmony and brotherhood.Need to probe this who is beyond the screen?
Thanks Abdullah sb..the khatheeb has done a wonderful job by saving a mental person. and Hand hand him over to authorities. I want to raise a very simple question I.e why this person was in the mosque without any supervision. To me it is a game which created such situation in my lovely and peaceful chitral. plz think positive and try to find the bloody culprit and give them punishment instead of killing a mentally sick human and burning khatheeb car..regards..
saza to mile ga. whether the man is mentally stable or not, in both cases he would face punishment.
But I have two questions. if he was a mentally disturbed man who brought him to the mosque and allowed him to speak? I hope there are CCTV cameras in the mosque and its footage would give the answer.
Secondly, should terrorism case not be registered against those who burnt the car of the khateeb and created panic and law and order issue in Chitral?
Yes.I agree with Dr.Khalil and and zulfiqar sb’s comments.The person was mentally not stable and being deported from.abroad.Firstly it was the responsibility of his close relatives to keep him under their supervision.secondly what he was doing in the moaque. All these issues are political and just trying to damage our peaceful culture for thwir only their personal interest. Thanks
Very true, Mr Fida sahib.
There is no need for Mr Khalil and Mr Zulfiqar Ahmad to shout the so called ‘Human Right slogans’ here – there has not been any human right violation as for as this particular issue is concerned. The guy, whether mentally sick or healthy, is in the hand of law enforcement agencies and will be checked for his physical and mental health and be treated according to the law. No one (be a political leader or human right activist) should try to point score here – The Chitrali people led by the Imam of the Shahi Mosque and other religious, political, and civil society leadership have demonstrated great sense of tolerance, wisdom and respect for the law and human rights by handing the man to the police. It is the joint responsibility of both the Sunni and Ismaili leadership to: a) condemn what the guy did in the mosque and b) play their role in maintaining peace in the region. The leadership of both the communities is doing so because they care about the region and its peaceful environment. I personally do not see any human right issue here. There were human right issues in Mardan and Sialkot a few days back and if the two of you really believe in human rights, you can raise your voice against those incidents.
Dr sahib represeted all peace loving people of chitral. strongly agreed with the views of Respected Faizi sb
Let this be another Panama in the court of Law (pl take it as ” la” in Arabic.).
you are write siy….la is true
Unity in our ranks and hearts is the intense need of the hour.Those who use their pen, tongue thoughts and wisdom for unity in the ranks of Ummah are highly appreciable.
I would like to second Dr Khalil. We will bring this in the notice of human rights organizations. Any attempt to influence the court to hang a mentallly unstable man is not acceptable. This is very unfortunate to see the leaders of Ismaili Council to behave like this. Why do you take it so personal? So what if the poor chap was an Ismaili. Why this poor Ismaili leadership is bent upon declaring the Ismailis low grade Muslims? This bloody nonesense on the part of Ismaili leadership must stop. I belong to Ismaili sect and I am a proud Muslim. I don’t need any certification from a mullah to be a Muslim. There is no question about Khatm e Nabuwat, and whoever has any doubt about it is liable to death. But the guy in question is not mentally stable. In such a situation, who is the Ismaili Council to make a poor helpless, mentally unstable man a scapegoat? I am very sorry to say the Ismaili leadership has simply spoiled the image of Ismaili Muslims in the area. I do clarify once again if the person in question has committed blasphemy intentionally, he deserves to be hanged. But if it is proved that he is mentally unstable he must not be penalised for just being an Ismaili.
Very true…
Ismailies don’t need to get so worried, The trail of the so called blasphemer is in progress. It is not you and Sunni Mullahs to be the judges, if the man was found mentally healthy, he could be punished. We are not in favor of punishment of insane person for sunni and Ismaili Ittihad. Lets be human being first and see either the culprit is in sense or not. We as third party want fair trail. If he was proved mentally sick i will be the first to take up the case in Human right commission to help a sick person for Pleasure of my Allah, who cares about Ismaili sunni. Everyone make sure i will be standing beside this man if he was found mentally sick.
the reason why ismailis are worried is because many sunnis, especially the more religious ones blame everything they don’t like on ismailis or kalash the moment it happens. just like the time many sunnis were blaming the earthquakes and floods on the “sins” of kalash people. ismailis are worried because the sunni community has shown violence multiple times in the past and elements among the sunni community continue to do politics through religious division, especially jamat islami people.