Mohammad Shehzad

The jihadi press of Pakistan is after the Ismaelis these days. After demonising the Agha Khani community in Pakistan over the issue of curriculum, the jihadi publications have waged a new propaganda war against it but this time in Afghanistan. The weekly Zarb-e-Momin has accused Agha Khan TV of spreading obscenity in Afghanistan.

In its April 7 issue, the publication says: ‘The Afghan people are demanding ban on the obscene programs of Agha Khan Television (AKTV). The AKTV’s channels ‘Taloo’ has started airing programs full of obscenity and nudity. In these dramas, Islam is ridiculed and highly erotic clips are shown. Maulana Qayamuddin Kashf who heads an Ulema Committee under the Karzai administration has also criticized the programs of AKTV. He has advised Karzai to ban the AKTV, otherwise, the public could protest in a wild manner.’

Jihadi publications are dead against the Karzai administration. They are unable to see any good that has taken place during Karzai’s tenure. They are expert in finding faults and one such example is the change in Nangarhar University’s faculty. Daily Ummat (April 8) claims that at the US behest Karzai has sacked the pro-Islamic faculty of the University. The publication has also demonised India in this story.

‘As a result of the US-made educational policies, 50 professors of Nangarhar University who were Islamists have lost their job. The teaching staff must have degrees recognized by the international educational institutions. The professors who have lost their job have been replaced by 80 communists educationists. They received education from the former USSR.’

‘The students at Nangarhar University are stopped from taking part in Islamic activities. The Indians are providing computer education in the universities. But instead of teaching computers, they are giving lectures against Pakistan. They educate that Pakistan is responsible for the destruction of Afghanistan.’

India and the US are demonised these days due to Balochistan. Weekly Nida-i-Millat (April 5), a publication of Nawai Waqt Group wrote: ‘The interference of Afghanistan, India, US and Israel in Balochistan is not hidden. Balochistan has its importance due to the Gwador Port. The instability in Balochistan will only benefit the US. And that is why it is the biggest player in the politics of Balochistan. CIA believes that some Baloch leaders are supply arms to anti-US elements. So, operation in Balochistan will be started at the US behest.’

The Kashmiri poet Shabnam Qayyum recently visited Pakistan and granted an interview to Kashmir ul Yaum (March 2005), a publication of Hizbul Mujahideen, in which he declared Dr Nazir Gilani a British agent.

‘Some traitors are weakening the political and diplomatic fronts. Dr Nazir Gilani is the gang leader of such traitors. He is hatching conspiracies against the Kashmir movement while sitting in London. He has played a key role in the disintegration of All Parties Hurriyat Conference [APHC]. He is a British agent who is paid by the British and American intelligence agencies to work against the Kashmir movement and the mujahideen.’

Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umri, deputy chief, Jamat-e-Islami (India) made a glaring statement in an interview with the weekly Friday Special (April 7). He said that creation of Pakistan had caused damage to Indian Muslims.

‘The Kashmir policy of Pakistan has isolated the Indian Muslims from the mainstream society. Events like Gujarat and Ahmadabad are a result of Pakistan’s jihad in Kashmir. The Muslims of India are living in abominable conditions. They are without any leadership. After the partition, the entire Muslim leadership migrated to Pakistan, leaving the Indian Muslims alone. The creation of Pakistan has damaged the Muslims of India.’

The weekly publication of the defunct Lashkar-e-Taiba Ghazwa (April 7) has lampooned Musharraf because his personal website is without Bismillah or Kalma! Moreover, it does not say that Islam is Pakistan’s official religion. Ghazwa has also accused Pakistani rulers of burning the midnight oil to promote Indian culture and literature in Pakistan. ‘Last week, a book fair was organized in Lahore where Hindu literature was sold in huge quantity under the cover of education. The fair was titled as ‘international book fair’ but the Indian books overshadowed all other books. The Indian publishers had 40 stalls. They sold highly obscene books. All the books promoted their religion and culture. There were a number of books on sex that caused embarrassment to the married women.’

Ghazwa feels proud to claim that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is gaining popularity among Indian Muslims. It claims that Indian Muslims are joining LeT and this trend is increasing day by day. LeT could survive for another 100 years if Muslims kept on joining it like this. LeT also receives huge donations from Indian Muslims who, by joining LeT, are fighting Indian atrocities in Kashmir. The Indian agencies have admitted that LeT has become a terrible headache for them, the publication stated. Jamat ud Dawa, the defunct Lashkar-e-Taiba has put up an ad for its ‘Al Dawa Systems of School’ that asks:

‘Do you want that your children should grow up and become a doctor, engineer, economist, officer, businessman or leader? But do you also want that they should not become ‘slaves’ of the English people? Then you should put your children in the Al Dawa Systems of School (ADSS). At ADSS, they will become guardian of Islam and Koran. They will become the leaders of the Muslim world besides becoming a professional in medicine, engineering, law, business, etc. At Dawa’s school, we also prepare your children for jihad. We offer the classes of martial arts. Please call +00 92 300 6621028 or +00 92 42 7312203.’

Recently, two women led the Friday prayers in Canada and the US. They have become an object of jihadi press’ ridicule. Daily Ummat (April 7) has published a column on this written by Taiba Zia, a Pakistan writer who lives in the US. Ms Zia says: ‘Female prayer leader is a unique incident in the history of Islam. If you look at the lives of these women, you will come to know that they are sick ladies. The unfaithfulness of men and animal-like treatment towards women forces the latter to rebel against men.’

“The champion of female prayer leader is a woman [named] Naghmani. She believes in free sex. She is an ordinary reporter in an American paper. She [is] married to a Pakistani who left her because of her illicit relations with other men. She went to Pakistan along with Daniel Pearl and tried to implicate some Islamic welfare organizations in Pearl’s murder case. She opposed female following the male prayer leaders in the US. Her brother is a drug addict. She has written a few books in which she has demonised Islam to earn cheap publicity. She went to Mecca and wrote an account of the pilgrimage as a liberal woman.

“After some time, she went to India and spent some time with holy men and authored a book on sex that a gentleman cannot imagine to read. She believes that men and women should remain nude. She is the mother of an illegitimate child.. Naghmani says that she can commit the sin of adultery and still lead the prayer. It is very sad that Benazir Bhutto’s friend Shama Haider also followed Naghmani in prayers.”

Writing on the same issue in Weekly Ghazwa (April 7), Abdul Waris Sajid comments: “Esra Naghmani and Dr Ameena Wadood are the two women who have recently led the Friday prayers of men and women. This is a new scourge of Zionists against Islam. These two women by leading mixed prayers of men and women have tried to give this impression that Islam is anti-women. In fact, Dr Wadood and Naghmani are the agents of the Jews. Naghamani is also a CIA agent under the garb of journalism. Both the ladies have no idea of Islam. They don’t know that Islam is the only religion that has given women their due rights. The west had always considered women an evil. The west would burnt alive the women under the so-called charges of witchcraft. The west recognized women with titles such as: women are dangerous than snakes; women are the tools of devil; women are the daughters of evil and the enemies of peace; women are like scorpions; women are the custodians of hell; etc.

“Now look at the west. Instead of giving women some relief in the domestic work, the west has imposed the duty of office on her. Men and women are equal in the west but it is a woman who bears children. It is the woman who has to embellish herself to satisfy the physical desires of men. Nobody in the west would vacate his seat in the bus for women. Women too have to stand in queues like men. Thus, the west has no respect for men.

“As far as leading prayer is concerned, women can lead women but not men. Women cannot be imam (prayer leader) of men. She cannot stand ahead of men. Women disturb men’s thoughts during the prayer that is why they are not allowed to stand besides men. They can stand behind men.

“It is clear that the Jews and the Christians have once again made up an evil plan to malign Islam by masterminding the incident of prayer under women’s leadership. Any such act is nothing but a scourge because it is literally forbidden in Islam.’

Copyright ©2005 Mohammad Shehzad and Kashmir Times. About the author