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1. Scroll down for three reports:
i. Pakistani humanists appeal for Aimal Kasi.
ii. Pakistani women rally: Demand decent burial for Yemeni martyrs
iii. Taliban advancing in Bamyan province (led by Tajik commander)
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PAKISTANI WOMEN DEMONSTRATE: DEMAND PROPER BURIAL FOR TWO MARTYRS
[This is a delayed report from Pakistan and is being published because it
has not received coverage outside Pakistan.]
Readers might remember that on
September 11,
Pakistani coup leader General Musharref wanted to give a special gift to
President
Bush.
That day Pakistani police stormed a home in Karachi's upscale Defense
Society and captured a man whom the police claim is Ramzi al-Shibh, a
supposed mastermind of 9.11. Two Yemeni mujahideen were killed in the
police attack.
American
and pro-Musharref Pakistani media claimed this was a great victory and
wrote about a two hour gun battle. Later reports, however, indicate that
the Islamic refugees living in the home which was stormed by
Musharref's police were UNARMED and held off the cowardly Pakistani police
by throwing cutlery and other household utensils at the police. The two
martyrs had never done anything against Pakistan but were sacrificed by
Musharref to please Bush. [One martyr, while dying of his wounds, wrote
the words "Allahu Akbar" with his own blood on the wall of his room to
remind the Pakistani people of their answerability before the Creator.]
TWENTY FIVE DAYS AFTER the police murders, the bodies of the two martyrs
had still not been buried (a grievous offense against
Islam.
So on October 6, Islamic women held a number of demonstrations in
Karachi urging the authorities to give proper burial to the martyrs of
Islam. Hundreds of women surrounded the Edhi foundation where the bodies
were being kept in cold storage. Another group of women held a silent
rally in front of the Sindh Secretariat for hours in blazing hot weather.
Draped in burqas, these women became the symbols of Islam's agony faced
with treachery, hypocrisy and collusion with kufr. Some of them were the
widows of martyrs who gave their lives in Kashmir and
Afghanistan.
Another group of women rallied at the Press Club. There were children with
them wearing headbands with the wordings: "son of a martyr",
"nephew of a martyr." The Karachi administration behaved with great
arrogance and refused to meet the women. One group of top officials,
including Karachi mayor Naimatullah Khan, ignored the women on the basis
that they were busy with matters related to elections, [U.S. readers
might recall that Naimatullah Khan was brought all the way from Karachi
to the
ISNA
conference and presented to innocent American Muslims as an Islamic civic
leader.]
KARACHI'S RELIGIOUS LEADERS RESPOND TO WOMEN'S DEMONSTRATIONS.
Some of Karachi's Islamic leaders with mass following responded
positively to the women's rallies. They pointed out keeping bodies in a
cooler for 25 days is against Islamic law. They pointed out that the
country has indeed come to a sorry pass that the daughters of Islam
stand in the hot sun for hours demanding justice for the bodies of the
martyrs and the government ignores them. A leader of the Jihad movement
pointed out that the police had been busy digging all over Pakistan to
FIND DANIEL PEARL'S body so that he could receive proper burial. Now the
martyrs who were our guests cannot be buried even after 25 days, he said.
The leading religious leaders who spoke out were: Nizamuddin Shamzai,
Mufti and Shaikh of Hadith from Jamia Uloom ul-Islamia, Binnori town,
Maulana Muhammad Athar Naeemi, president of Jamia Naeemia in Federal B
Area of Karachi, Muhammad Rafi' Usmani, Mufti of Darul Uloom Korangi and
Ihtishamul Haq Ahrar of the movement in defense of the Finality of
Prophethood.
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MUSHARREF's MEN RESPOND:
In response to the women's demonstrations,
Musharref's minions carried out a tri-pronged disinformation campaign.
His police claimed that the bodies had been buried but refused to mention
the place of burial. His investigative branch spread the rumor that the
bodies had been sent to Yemen. Thirdly, according to witnesses, the bodies
were whisked out of Edhi's cooler facility in Sohrab Goth and taken to
Agha Khan hospital.
ARMY OFFICER'S ARROGANCE
[After waiting four hours in the blazing sun, two of the veiled daughters
of Islam, Umm Ali and Umm Khalid, were permitted to enter the Sindh
Secretariat but instead of being able to meet the Home Secretary, they
were taken to the office of an arrogant army officer, Major Izhar,
Deputy Secretary, Army, who scolded the sisters and warned them that
they would not be able to meet the Home Secretary if they came in the
form of a protest rally.]
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KARZAI HEARS DISTURBING NEWS FROM BAMYAN PROVINCE
Rahim Ali Yar, in charge of Bamiyan under the Karzai regime, himself a
Hazara, has asked Karzai for urgent help to repel a resurgence of the
Taliban. Between 400 and 500 Taliban, with the help of 150 government
soldiers, have captured the district of Kah murd, 60 km north of Bamiyan
and are now advancing in district Sigan, 20 km from Bamiyan. Strangely
enough, these Taliban are lead by a Tajik commander Maulvi Muhammad Islam
who is well known in the Taliban movement and was in charge of Bamiyan
when the statues were demolished. Qari Aman, who was Kabul's security
chief during the Taliban rule, is with the advancing Taliban. The Hazara
in charge of Bamiyan, Ali Yar, claims that Qari Aman has just returned
from Pakistan with funds and communication equipment. Karzai has promised
help to disperse the Taliban forces but has failed to come up with
concrete help.
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2002-11-04 Mon 13:28ct