Ghazi Abdul Qayyum Shaheed (Rahmatullah Alleh) (1911/12 - 19 March 1935) was born at the village of Ghazi in what is now the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. He lost his father at the age of nineteen and had to take refuge with his uncle who lived in Karachi, Pakistan and had a small business of “Victoria” coaches, a kind of horse drawn carriage in vogue in Karachi those days. This is the type of coach still seen outside the Mazar. Abdul Qayyum took to driving one of his uncle’s coaches. The early part of 20th century India was a place where great political and religious reawakening was underway. This gave birth to many politico-religious movements across the sub-continent, both among Muslims and Hindus. Some of these movements still exert a great influence on our lives today. Some of these movements were positive but many, on both sides had negative, even sinister, objectives. Among the Muslims Khaksaar Tehreek cultivated a militaristic, fascist cult. Among the Hindus, RSS aimed at eliminating, evicting or forcibly converting Muslims to Hinduism. Another strain of Hinduism called “Arya Samaj” movement aimed at “purifying” Hinduism, and creating a common religion based on their idea of “original” Aryan society. As evident from its name, the movement had a strong racial and religious bias. In 1932, the General Secretary of Hyderabad, Sindh branch of the Arya Samaj, Nathu Ram, published a book titled “History of Islam” in which he insulted the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the greatest man in history. This led to a series of protests and presentations by the Muslims in cities of Sindh. Eventually, a suit was filed against Nathu Ram by leading Muslims including Hatim Alvi and Abdul Majeed Sindhi. He was sentenced to a year in prison and the book was recalled. The Muslims were pacified. Later, Nathu Ram appealed his conviction and was granted a bail. This naturally produced consternation among the Muslims. Abdul Qayyum who had married only weeks before this incident heard of this from his local Imam and was filled with rage. On the next appearance of the blasphemer at the court, he found his way among the spectators, and unexpectedly attacked Nathu Ram and killed him. Ghazi Abdul Qayyum turned himself in immediately. Ghazi confessed to intentional homicide. He was defended in the court by S. M. Aslam, Bar at Law, who asked for minimum punishment under the law, as a Muslim cannot be expected to keep his passion in case of blasphemous remarks against the PROPHET MUHAMMAD (SAW) - THE LAST AND GREATEST OF ALL PROPHETS. The jury of the villagers’ peers, consisting of six Englishmen, two local Christians and a Parsi gentleman thought otherwise. The case was disposed in a record time and Ghazi was sentenced to death. Local Muslims appealed to the governor of Bombay, against the penalty, but were rebuffed. They approached the poet-philosopher Iqbal to appeal for clemency from the Viceroy, but Iqbal refused to compromise an act committed in the love of the prophet by an appeal to a worldly authority. Ghazi himself appeared to be satisfied with the judgment and was quite unruffled by the sentence. Ghazi was subsequently hanged and taken for burial to the Mewa Shah graveyard on 19th March 1935. Although he was hanged at night, and the family was informed in haste, the news of his martyrdom spread quickly and the funeral was attended by a large number of people. An unfortunate incident took place in Chakiwara area of Karachi. The government had imposed section 144 on the area to prevent a large funeral. The large but peaceful funeral procession was attacked by the British. More than a hundred people were massacred that day. Many more were injured. Even women and children inside their huts received bullet wounds from indiscriminate fire. It has been demonstrated time and again, not the least by Abdul Qayyum and Alam Din, that Muslims are very sensitive about the personage of the Holy Prophet. This kind of devotion is beyond comprehension by non-Muslims who continue to produce this kind of insensitive stuff to this day. The Muslims are generally not bothered about philosophical discourses about the veracity of the religion, but name-calling and vilification engages a strong reaction at a very basic level. In a large nation of over a billion people, there will be a large range of emotional intensity. The love of the Prophet is so deeply etched on the Muslim psyche that each one of them considers his honor more important than his own. Just as in the Victorian period, people would challenge their rivals to duel when they perceived dishonor, an aroused Muslim will try to avenge lost honor by any means at his disposal. Even if the Muslim minorities do not get this protection from their respective countries, those in the Islamic Republic protect the honor of minorities living within their borders. Nobody is allowed to defame or ridicule Lord Jesus Christ, Baba Guru Nanak and important Hindu deities like Rama. This does not preclude publishing philosophical tracts contrary to established dogma or sober refutations of a religious doctrine. In order to build a more peaceful world, it is important that we learn our lessons from history. The justice system of the international community should take cognizance of the offenses against the honor of individuals and peoples and make the perpetrators culpable in law and practice. The right to live with honor is at least at par with the rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 16:00:53 +0000
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