Just days after watching a much-awaited counteroffensive against jihadists in North Waziristan, Islamabad finds itself distracted by the homecoming of populist religious scholar-turned-politician Tahir-ul-Qadri, who returned Monday from Canada to lead a revolution against what he considers a corrupt political order. His arrival has grave implications for one of the worlds largest Muslim countries.On 17 June 2014, at night, the home of Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri, and Minhaj-ul-Quran Secretariat in Lahore, a clash with supporters of the cleric and the police led to 8 deaths with many others injured. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri (Urdu: محمد طاہر القادری) (born 19 February 1951) is a Pakistani politician, former law professor and Islamic scholar of Sufism. He was a former professor of international constitutional law at the University of the Punjab. Qadri is also the founding chairman of Minhaj-ul-Quran International. On 25 May 1989, Qadri founded a political party, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT). This party aims to introduce the culture of democracy, promote economic stability, and improve the state of human rights, justice, and womens roles in Pakistan. In December 2012, after living for seven years in Toronto, Canada, Qadri returned to Pakistan and initiated a political campaign which called for a democratic revolution. Although Qadri called for a million-men march, the estimated total present for the sit-in in Islamabad was 25,000 according to the government. Qadri founded an organisation Minhaj-ul-Quran International, in October 1981 and has subsequently expanded it nationally and internationally. In 1987, the headquarters of Minhaj-ul-Quran, based in Lahore, Pakistan, was inaugurated by the Sufi saint Tahir Allauddin, who is regarded as the organisations spiritual founder; whilst critics claim that the said Sufi was in fact brought to Pakistan from Iraq under a ploy by Tahir-ul-Qadri and exploited for his own ambitions. Over the past thirty years, the organisation has reportedly expanded to over ninety countries[citation needed]. During its March 2011 session, the United Nations Economic and Social Council granted special consultative status to Minhaj-ul-Quran International. On 2 March 2010, Qadri issued a 600-page Fatwa on Terrorism, which is claimed by him to be an absolute scholarly refutation of all terrorism without any excuses or pretexts. He said that Terrorism is terrorism, violence is violence and it has no place in Islamic teaching and no justification can be provided for it On 22 February 2012, Qadri visited Delhi for a four-week tour of India.Qadri delivered a message of peace and said: Terrorism has no place in Islam, while addressing the fatwa book launch in Delhi. People gathered to listen to Qadri along with government officials in Gujarat. Qadri also urged the Pakistani and Indian governments to reduce their defence expenditures and instead spend money on the welfare of poor people. He also visited Ajmer, where he was given a large reception, at which he gave a lecture on Sufism.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 03:13:35 +0000
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