New Trend Magazine (www.newtrendmag.org)
(Phone: 410-435-5000) PO Box 356, Kingsville, MD 21087
People of Kohat Honor
Chechen
Mujahideen martyred by Pakistani troops
Pakistani newspapers (with three exceptions) refuse "wanted" ads
against Osama etc
Jamaate Islami Leader: No general can stop Jihad. Islamic movements
closer to each other
One of the objectives of honest journalism is to mirror reality.
Most
people in
America
do not know, owing to slanted
media,
that the
Bush
war
against "terrorism" is not popular outside America and is seen as a war
against
Islam
in all the countries of the Muslim world, from Morocco to
Indonesia and from
Nigeria
to Chechnya.
In Pakistan, the Pervez Musharref regime, with the help of a
segment of
the army and the westernized elites, has placed itself at the service
of the
United States in return for a billion dollars from the U.S. The
Pakistani
people are thus placed in a situation where they have to fight the
troops of
the Pakistani army whom they have fed and fattened for years.
Pakistanis feel
that they should not fight their own army. The result is that Musharref
is
getting away with murder.
EXAMPLE: The Pakistani army is helping the U.S. to hunt down Al-Qaida
mujahideen who have been given refuge by the people of Pakistan. On
July 3,
there was a clash between Pakistani troops and al-Qaida near the town
of
Kohat (in frontier province near Afghanstan). Four Chechen mujahideen
were
martyred and three Pakistani troops were killed in the clash. As the
news of
the clash spread, thousands of Pakistani people, including women and
children, surrounded the military hospital where the bodies of the four
martyrs were being kept. The people of Kohat demanded that the bodies
be
handed over to be buried with honor. Musharref refused the request of
the
people and rushed in reinforcements led by armored cars. The police
arrested
four leaders of the demonstrators: Dr. Abdur Rabbi, Maulana Ghulam
Mursaleen,
Javed Ibrahim and Abid Piracha.
Three thousand demonstrators then blocked the Bannu-Kohat
highway and
took a number of police officers as hostages. The security forces used
tear
gas and charged the crowd with steel tipped staves. The people replied
with
volleys of stones. During the clashes, Musharref's special forces
whisked
away the bodies of the martyrs and buried them secretly in Peshawar.
[The Chechen mujahideen are the most popular in Pakistan owing to their
great
sacrifices against the Russians and their willingness to give up
everything
to come to
Afghanistan
and help set up an Islamic government. Their
martyrdom
by the Musharref troops to please the Americans sends shock waves
through the
Pakistani communities. The Chechens in turn love Pakistan and have
never done
anything against Pakistan.]
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The Musharref government again misfired when it decided to
publish a
WANTED ad against Osama bin Laden and his companions in the Pakistani
newspapers. The advertisement was REJECTED by just about all Pakistani
newspapers except three, the daily Dawn which represents the
westernized
English-reading elites, the daily Jung, a mass circulation Urdu daily
which
usually supports the government (whoever is in power) and a smaller
newspaper
called Khabrain (Urdu for news). The interior ministry paid very good
sums of
money for the ad but the newspapers considered it an insult that verses
from
the Qur'an were being used in the ad to abuse Osama and other fighters.
The
government ad had the heading: "These people are dangerous religious
terrorists."
One courageous newspaper, the daily UMMAT of Karachi, published
a
counter advertisement of its own titled: "These people are not
dangerous
religious terrorists but mujahideen." Then like the government ad, it
listed
Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abdur-Rahman Yasin, Ibrahim Salih
Muhammad Yaqoob and 12 other names. The ad has this verse from the
Qur'an at
the top: "Those who believe, and emigrate, and fight for the faith in
the
cause of Allah, as well as those who give them asylum and aid, – these
are in
very truth the believers: for them is the forgiveness of sins and a
provision
most generous." (8:74)
[The weekly Ghazwah of Lahore has published both the government ad and
the
Islamic ad in reduced size next to each other. This is a collector's
item
reflecting the two opposing forces at work in Pakistan, the Islamic
masses
and the westernized government. Readers can order these two together by
sending $1 for postage to: New Trend, POB 356, Kingsville, MD 21087.
Remember
the ads are in the Urdu language/script.]
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AN IMPORTANT ASPECT of the struggle in Pakistan resulting from the
collaboration of General Musharref and President Bush plus movement of
Indian
armies meant to deflect internal pressure from Musharref is the
realization
among Pakistani Islamic movements that they must work together. The
Islamic
power in Pakistan could sweep away anything America could install in
Islamabad but Islamic groups are cut off from each other owing to many
historic reasons including concerns for methodology.
Jamaate Islami, for instance, is a peaceful movement which participates
in
elections and tries to spread its message through educational projects.
Jamaat ad-da'wa (which came from Laskhare Taiba, banned by the
Musharref
government), works for internal reform in Pakistan but links all its
work to
Jihad in Kashmir to liberate the Kashmiri people from the Indian
occupation
army. Ad'Da'wa's leader, Hafiz Saeed has been imprisoned by Musharref
in the
efforts to stop Jihad in Kashmir.
In that context, the words of Syed Munawar Hasan, Secretary General of
Jamaate Islami, are important. In a recent interview he said clearly:
THE
JIHAD WILL NOT STOP JUST BECAUSE A GENERAL SO ORDERS. He described
Musharref's U-turn on Kashmir as a crime against the nation. He praised
the
work of Jamaat ad-Dawah and called for cooperation between the two
movements.
In the jihad movement, he said, the Taliban have left an undying
example that
they would rather sacrifice themselves than accept the anti-Islam
orders of a
superpower.
Munawar Hasan criticized Musharref for bowing down before America and
for
constantly retreating in front of American demands, so much so that
today
"Americans are raiding our homes" and searching for wanted people in
our
communities.
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2002-07-26 Fri 20:52ct