April 25, 2001
An estimated half a million delegates recently attended the International
Deoband Conference at Taro Jaba near Peshawar. While the bulk of the delegates
came from madrassas in Pakistan, there were also a number of them from
Afghanistan and India.
The conference was organised by the Jamiat Ulema-I-Islam of Pakistan headed by
Maulana Fazlur Rahman, a cleric from the North West Frontier Province. Libya had
sent a high-ranking envoy, Abdullah Jibran, to the conference. He read out a
special message from Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qadhafi. According to reports
from Pakistan a number of Deobandi leaders from India attended the conference
including the highly respected Maulana Asad Madni and the vice-chancellor of the
Dar ul Uloom, Deoband, Maulana Marghoob-ul-Rahman.
The organisers of the conference, the JUI, have a continuing history of support for terrorist groups made up of fundamentalist, religious fanatics. They came into prominence during the CIA and ISI-supported struggle against Soviet troops in Afghanistan.
They were somewhat marginalised by General Zia-ul Haq, who extended greater
support to groups close to the Jamat Islami, then headed by a relative of
General Zia -- Mian Tufial Ahmed. But, when the Benazir Bhutto government
decided to arm and train a new force for the ISI's Afghan jehad in 1996, they
turned to their coalition partner Maulana Fazlur Rahman to provide the cadres
and leadership of the Taleban from the madrassas the JUI controlled in the NWFP
and Baluchistan.
The Taleban emerged from these madrassas to take control of most of Afghanistan
with the active support of the ISI that provided arms, training and even
officers and men from the Pakistan army, to participate in its military
operations.
The JUI has not confined its activities to supporting the Taleban alone. When
the ISI decided that secular groups like the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front
had to be sidelined in Jammu and Kashmir, it started supporting fanatical Jehadi
terrorist groups like the Harkat-ul Ansar, which is now known as the Harkat-ul
Mujahideen. It is well known that the supporters of the Harkat are linked to the
JUI and that they have camps in Pakistan and in Taleban controlled areas of
Afghanistan.
The hijacking of IC-814 to Kandahar was organised by the Harkat-ul Mujahideen.
The detained Harkat leader Maulana Masood Azhar, who was released and taken to
Kandahar in the wake of the hijacking, of IC-814, was and is a close friend and
associate of Maulana Fazlur Rahman. The hijackers including the brother of
Maulana Masood Azhar were all supporters and members of the Harkat.
Azhar has now set up a new terrorist outfit called the Jaish-e-Mohammad. The UP
police recently gunned down three terrorists of the Jaish near Lucknow. Maulana
Rahman has also made no secret of his sympathy and support for Chechen
separatists and their jehad against Russia. Thus, the conference near Peshawar
was organized by people who are internationally known as being religious
extremists, given to supporting Jehadi causes and terrorism across the world.
The highlight of the three-day conference near Peshawar from April 8 to April 11
was the prominence given to the messages of Colonel Qadhafi, the Taleban leader
Mullah Omar and the international terrorist, Osama bin Laden. In his message
read out by Taleban Deputy Foreign Minister Mullah Ahsan Akhund, Mullah Omar
slammed the United Nations as a western tool and claimed that Muslims were being
oppressed in Palestine, Kashmir and Chechnya. He asserted that Muslim countries
were being subjected to all forms of aggression by non-Muslim powers, with the
United Nations doing nothing to help Muslims and Muslim countries. Osama bin
Laden described Mullah Omar as a "champion
leader" because of his actions like the destruction of the statues of the
Buddha in Bamiyan and for resisting armed attacks from "anti-Muslim
elements".
The delegates from India quite obviously did not want to be drawn into the
controversies that were bound to arise because of the rhetoric of Mullah Omar,
Osama bin Laden and Maulana Fazlur Rahman. Maulana Asad Madni, who was the chief
guest at the concluding session, confined himself to praying for Allah's
religion to be observed by Muslims. Maulana Marghoobul Rahman made a scholarly
speech referring to the educational, literary and political achievements of Dar-ul-Uloom
in Deoband. He urged Muslims to refrain from aggression so that they are not
labeled as terrorists or fundamentalists.
In marked contrast, their host Maulana Fazlur Rahman strongly criticised the
United Nations for its alleged hostility to the Muslim world. He poured venom on
the United States and voiced support for the "oppressed Muslims" in
Kashmir, Palestine, Bosnia and Chechnya.
The resolutions adopted by the International Deoband Conference have far
reaching implications. One resolution expressed concern over the presence of
American troops in Saudi Arabia and called on the Saudi government to expel the
troops of the US and its allies from the Muslim holy land. This is a demand that
has been consistently been voiced by Osama bin Laden. The conference thus became
a tool of extremists who would not hesitate to criticize and destabilize the
governments of Gulf Arab States. Another resolution called for the formation of
a united Muslim bloc outside the United Nations to "liberate"
Palestine and Jerusalem.
Given the close association of the JUI with virulently anti-Shia groups like the
Sipah-e-Sahiba in Pakistan and the Taleban in Afghanistan, even Iran is not
going to welcome the causes espoused by the conference, despite its strongly
anti-American overtones. More importantly, such a conference could never have
been held in Pakistan that is ruled by a military dictatorship, without the
support and encouragement of the military government itself.
General Pervez Musharraf's government has, after all, banned political
gatherings and even prevented foreign travel by political leaders whenever it
found it necessary to do so. The
permission accorded to the JUI to host the conference clearly indicates that
General Musharraf has signaled to people in Pakistan that he understands and
supports the causes espoused by the Taleban and Osama bin Laden.
Despite the rhetoric of Mullah Omar and Maulana Fazlur Rahman, the resolution on
Kashmir adopted by the conference is balanced. This resolution merely calls on
the political leadership of India and Pakistan to find a peaceful and just
solution to the Kashmir problem to save the sub-continent and Asia from nuclear
confrontation.
This resolution must have been something of a disappointment to the organizers,
the fundamentalist Jehadi groups in Pakistan and to General Musharraf and his
government. It is quite obvious that neither Maulana Madni nor Maulana
Marghoob-ul Rahman would have countenanced the sentiments voiced by their hosts
and Mullah Omar about Kashmir being reflected in the conference resolution. It
is to their credit that this was made abundantly clear to their hosts.
The Dar-ul-Uloom and the Deobandi leadership are held in high regard not only in
India, but also throughout their world, primarily because they have sought to
emphasise the egalitarian and spiritual values of Islam. Their role during
India's struggle for independence when they rejected proposals for partition of
the country gives them a place of honour and respect in India.
But the leaders in Deoband would have to ask themselves honestly whether it is
not a fact that religious bigots like Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Mullah Omar and
Osama bin Laden have tarnished the name of Deoband and the tenets of Islam, by
their practices and the policies they espouse. Was not the name of Deoband
hijacked by such people to organise a conference that extolled bigotry and
violence and seriously sought to undermine the policies of governments in
friendly Arab countries like Saudi Arabia?
It is time for those who cherish the values that Deoband has consistently stood
for and espoused, to openly disassociate themselves from the resolutions passed
and the extremist and bigoted views expressed at the conference they attended.
Tuesday, April 10, 2001 -- Moharram Ul Harram 15,1422 A.H
'Muslims suffering due to West's conspiracies'
The News International, Pakistan
By Rahimullah Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: Speaking at a largely-attended conference dedicated to the achievements of Darul Uloom Deoband in India during the past 150 years, religious scholars from Pakistan and abroad said Muslims were suffering all over the world due to disunity in their ranks and on account of Western conspiracies against Islam.
The three-day conference, which began here on Monday in a huge open ground at Taru Jabba town near Peshawar, is being attended by members and supporters of Maulana Fazlur Rahman's Jamiat Ulema-i-Islami (JUI) from all the provinces. A huge tented village has sprung up in the sprawling, under-construction Wapda Colony where the event is being staged. Vehicles flying the JUI-F flags brought thousands of party workers, many carrying their beddings, to the venue even after the formal opening of the conference.
Elaborate arrangements for seating and feeding the participants were made by the organisers, who claimed rather unconvincingly that the attendance was one million strong. Also attending are delegations from India, Afghanistan, Iran, UK, UAE, Libya and Saudi Arabia. The Indian delegation included Darul Uloom Deoband's head Maulana Marghoobur Rahman and his deputy Qari Mohammad Usman and Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind leader Maulana Asad Madni. Afghanistan's ruling Taliban were represented by a deputy minister Mulla Mohammad Hussain and Badghis province governor Mulla Abdul Mannan. An Iranian delegation comprising Maulana Ishaq Madni and Syed Mohammad Rizvi, both advisers to President Mohammad Khatemi, as well as Peshawar-based consul general Abbas Ali Abdullahi, also attended the conference.
Among Pakistani politicians, only Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) president Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan and Maulana Samiul Haq, who heads a rival faction of JUI, were invited to speak. Others like Jamaat-i-Islami leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad, National Awami Party Pakistan president Ajmal Khattak, Tanzim-i-Islami head Dr Israr Ahmad and former ISI chief Lt Gen (Retd) Hamid Gul sat on the stage listening to the large number of speakers.
Almost all known Ulema and JUI politicians were present at the conference but only Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Maulana Hasan Jan, Maulana Mohammad Amir Bijlighar, Maulana Dr Sher Ali Shah, Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani, Maulana Izzatullah Shah, etc got the opportunity to speak on the opening day. The different sessions were presided by Maulana Marghoobur Rahman from India, the JUI-F patron Maulana Khan Mohammad Kundian Sharif and the party's NWFP head Maulana Amanullah.
Narrating the services of Darul Uloom Deoband, Maulana Fazlur Rahman said its ulema and students were in the forefront of the freedom struggle against the British Raj and in spreading the light of religious education in the subcontinent. He said the Ulema of Deoband set up madaressah to educate Muslims and defend Islam.
Criticising the US-led Western countries, he said Muslims were at the receiving end in all conflict zones in the world such as Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya, Kosovo, Bosnia, etc and they were justified in fighting back to protect their rights.
Other JUI leaders said it was due to the struggle and sacrifices of Deoband Ulema and their followers that India and Pakistan won freedom from the British colonialists, the Tableegh movement was launched and the Taliban captured power and enforced Shariah in Afghanistan.
Qari Mohammad Usman, deputy head of Darul Uloom Deoband, reminded that it was due to the campaign by Ulema and students of Deoband that the Qadiani movement couldn't succeed. He said Deoband graduates spread all over the world were busy serving Islam and Muslims.
Iran's Maulana Ishaq Madni regretted that Muslims and the Islamic countries were never so weak and vulnerable despite the big increase in their numbers and the accumulation of resources and military hardware by the Muslim states. He made an impassioned plea for unity in Muslims ranks and the shunning of factionalism and sectarianism to combat the conspiracies against Islam by anti-Islamic forces.
Nawabzada Nasrullah also praised the contribution by Darul Uloom Deoband in the freedom struggle in undivided India. However, he soon reverted to his favourite subject by demanding holding of elections in Pakistan to elect a popular government that is capable of solving the problems of the people and fighting American imperialism.
Analysis: Muslim radicals flex muscles
Monday, 9 April 2001 21:44 (ET)
By ANWAR IQBAL
WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) -- Weeks after destroying Afghanistan's Buddhist relics, the Taliban and their supporters are meeting other Muslim radicals in Pakistan this week to seek a greater alliance of Muslim activists.
The conference began with a major success for the organizers; bringing together the Taliban and their Iranian adversaries to discuss options for removing their differences. The Taliban belong to the Deobandi school of Muslim jurisprudence, named after a small town in northern India, while the Iranians are Shiites. The two groups have major theological differences that have often led to violent clashes in the past.
The Deobandis lead Pakistan's Sipah-i-Sahaba group which has killed thousands of Shiites during the last five years. The Iranians provide weapons and financial assistance to the rebels fighting the Deobandi Taliban in Afghanistan.
The conference also brings another radical Muslim group, the Jamaat-i-Islami, face to face with the Deobandi clerics, who otherwise strongly dislike the Western-educated Islamists of the Jamaat.
"They have certainly been encouraged by, what they see as, the Taliban's victories against the West," says Farhat Huq, who teaches political science at the Monmouth College in Illinois. "Although not all of them endorse the Taliban decision to demolish Buddhist statues, they admire the way the religious militia ignored the Western demand to stop the destruction."
The 150-year old Deoband seminary in India has trained hundreds of thousands of Muslim clerics in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who vehemently reject "Western cultural and social influences over the Islamic world," says Nasir Zaidi, a Pakistani journalist flogged in the early 1980s for demanding a free press in Pakistan.
"Stop your aggression against the Muslims or face the consequences,"warned Maulana Fazlur Rahman of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Islam party which organized the conference.
The former chief of Pakistan's military intelligence, General Hameed Gul, urged the participants "not to allow the West to destroy the Taliban" as the West hated the religious militia "for enforcing an Islamic code of life in Afghanistan."
To strengthen their demand for replacing Pakistan's Western-inspired judicial system with the Islamic courts, the conference has set up its own courts to deal with the crime committed during the three-day meeting.
"If the Muslims adopt the real spirit of Islam, there is no reason why they remain behind any other nation in the world," said Maulana Ishaq Madni, an adviser to the Iranian president who came especially from Iran to attend the conference.
Delegations have also come from Libya, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian territory and other Muslim countries and those representing Muslim minorities in the West.
Food kiosks are observing a ban on American products, signs advertising Coca-Cola have been painted over and posters depicting burning U.S. flags are on sale.
The boycott is said to be in protest at U.N. sanctions imposed on the Taliban over its refusal to hand over suspected Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden.
"The powers responsible for the oppression of Muslims in the Middle East, Chechnya, Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Kashmir should realize that the Muslims are beginning to understand their game," said Rahman, one of the leaders responsible for gathering various Muslim sects at the conference.
"If their aggressive trend persists, we have the full right to defend ourselves against their aggression," he said.
The organizers also endorsed Rahman's demand for the creation of an Islamic state in Pakistan similar to the Taliban's regime.
BBC News Online
Tuesday, 10 April, 2001, 10:13 GMT 11:13 UK
Bin Laden urges support for Taleban
The exiled Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, who is wanted on terrorism charges in the United States, has called on the Muslim world to support the Taleban regime in Afghanistan.
The people [of Afghanistan] are waiting for your decisions. Do not be afraid. Speak loudly and implement the Islam system
Osama bin Laden
The recorded statement by the Saudi dissident was played to tens of thousands of Muslims who had gathered for a rally near the Pakistani town of Peshawar.
He told them that Afghanistan was the only country in the world with a real Islamic system, and that all Muslims should show loyalty to the Afghan Taleban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
He also urged the gathering to influence young people to go to Afghanistan for military training.
Allegiance
"Allah Almighty and you should be witnesses that I, Osama bin Laden, am giving allegience to Mullah Omar" he said.
And he added: "The people [of Afghanistan] are waiting for your decisions. Do not be afraid. Speak loudly and implement the Islamic system".
The infidel world is not letting Muslims form a government of their own choice
Afghan Taleban chief Mullah Omar
The Taleban have been sheltering Osama Bin Laden in defiance of demands by the US for his extradition to face charges in connection with bomb attacks on US embassies in East Africa.
The military government of Pakistan has denied showing favouritism towards Islamic groups by allowing the huge three-day gathering, despite a ban on rallies.
A government spokesman said it was a purely religious gathering and these were permitted.
The three-day conference is paying tribute to the Deoband School of Islam, which has inspired the organisers of the gathering, Pakistan's Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam as well as the Taleban in Afghanistan.
Islamic front
During the conference, Mullah Omar attacked the United Nations as a Western tool and urged resistance from a united Muslim front, state radio reported.
"The infidel world is not letting Muslims form a government of their own choice," he was quoted as saying in a message to the conference.
"They want to resist Jihad [holy war] and destroy the Islamic system," he said. "Therefore, under the present critical situation, Muslim unity is needed."
Organisers of the conference pledged their support for Taleban and blamed Western conspiracies for discord among Muslims.
Theological centre
The Deoband school is a leading Islamic theological centre in north India which propagates a puritanical and orthodox Islamic outlook and orders women to be veiled and men to keep their beards untrimmed.
Followers of the 143-year-old seminary arrived from all over the Islamic world to attend the gathering.
Vendors boycotted American products and sold posters depicting burning US and Israeli flags.
"We want to send the message that only Islam has the capability of bringing peace and stability in the world. The West has failed," said conference organiser Mohammed Rahim Haqqani.
Thursday, April 12, 2001 -- Moharram Ul Harram 17,1422 A.H
Deoband moot ends condemning US hegemony
The News International, Pakistan
By Rahimullah Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: The three-day international Deoband Conference on Wednesday concluded after adopting resolutions challenging the hegemony of US and its allies in world; demanding end to UN sanctions against Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya and early withdrawal of US-led Western troops from Arab lands.
The conference called for formation of a united Muslim block outside the "pro-Jewish" UN to liberate Al-Quds and rest of Palestine from Israeli occupation and protect the rights of Muslims.
Another resolution urged the political leadership of India and Pakistan to find a peaceful and just solution to the Kashmir problem to save the subcontinent and Asia from a nuclear confrontation.
The sixth resolution accused international media of being biased and anti-Islam and called upon the Muslim Ummah to establish its own information network to break free from the Jewish-controlled medias.
The resolutions were read by JUI leader Maulana Abdul Majeed Nadeem in the concluding session of the conference, and were adopted. The anti-US and anti-West tone of the conference, which continued all three days, peaked on Wednesday when US was described in one of the resolutions as "man-eater" who for the first time dropped atomic bomb on another country.
The resolutions demanded end to US hegemony on weapons in the world so that humanity could be saved from such exploitative forces. The conference was declared closed after a 20-minute prayers led by Darul Uloom Deoband's deputy head Qari Mohammad Usman during which he sought Almighty's blessings for Muslims.
Earlier, Dastarbandi of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman was performed by Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind President Maulana Maulana Syed Asad Madni and Darul Uloom Deoband head Maulana Marghoobur Rahman. Several JUI office bearers were also honoured by tying turbans on their heads in recognition of their efforts to successfully organise the conference.
On the concluding day, the largely-attended conference at Taru Jabba town near Peshawar was addressed by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Maulana Asad Madni, Maulana Marghoobur Rahman, former Afghan mujahideen leader Maulvi Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi, Afghanistan's Ambassador to Pakistan Mulla Abdul Salam Zaef, Maulana Ajmal Khan, Maulana Gul Nasib Khan, Maulana Niamatullah Azmi and Mufti Habibur Rahman Khairabadi. The last-named two were from India, as were Maulanas Madni and Marghoobur Rahman.
A taped message of the Pashto-speaking Taliban supreme leader, Mulla Mohammad Omar, was read out at the conference and simultaneously translated into Urdu. Mulla Omar condemned the UN Security Council sanctions against Afghanistan as unjust and unwarranted and alleged that the Taliban were being punished for enforcing Shariah in their country. He complained that the good deeds of the Taliban like restoring peace in Afghanistan and banning opium poppy-cultivation were ignored while human rights issues were wrongly and deliberately highlighted to malign the Taliban.
He argued: "The infidels consider Islam a threat to their worldwide interests. So every effort is made to weaken Muslims. In Afghanistan we control 95 per cent of the country but we are referred to as one of the factions and denied recognition." He stressed the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan would never abandon Islamic principles and would accept no compromise if it clashed with their religious beliefs.
Maulana Asad Madni, who was chief guest during the concluding session, excused himself from making a speech by saying he wasn't a fire-spitting orator. He just prayed for Allah's religion to be enforced on Allah's land.
The 80-year old Maulana Marghoobur Rahman, who wasn't feeling well, haltingly read out part of his long speech and later allowed a colleague to complete it for him. His was a scholarly speech and it focused on the educational, literary and political achievements of Darul Uloom Deoband. He said the Deoband religious school in India had 3,500 students, 80 teachers and 250 other staffers and its yearly annual budget pooled through donations was Rs 52.4 million.
The Maulana urged the Muslims to refrain from aggression as preached by the Deoband Ulema so that the anti-Islam forces are unable to describe them as terrorists and fundamentalists. Maulana Fazlur Rahman noted that the mammoth gathering of Muslims at the Deoband Conference was a clear signal to the world, especially to the US and its allies, to either accept the hands of friendship extended to them by the Muslims and give up the policy of confrontation against Islam or be ready for the consequences.
"In case the US continues to speak in the language of force, the Muslims would be constrained to fight back and defend themselves," he warned. The Maulana, who claimed the Deoband Conference attracted between one million to 1.5 million, stressed the need for constituting an Islamic coordiation council to jointly struggle for Islamic causes and against West's anti-Islam conspiracies and non-governmental organizations.
He said the UN sanctions imposed against Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya were unjust and cruel and, therefore, unacceptable. Reuters adds: Condemning international sanctions against Muslim nations and demanding immediate withdrawal of Western forces from Saudi Arabia, the conference also slammed the United States and its allies as being "anti-human".
"This meeting condemns the anti-human and anti-peace cruel attitude of the United States and its allies," its resolution, approved by people waving their hands in the air, said. "Sanctions against Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan are open aggression against Muslims; they should be immediately lifted.
"The presence of American and European armed forces in Saudi Arabia is the biggest tragedy of our times. We demand of our Arab brothers to arrange an early removal of these forces," the resolution concluded.