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Aamir is being viewed as a hero and a martyr. (Reuters) |
ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani father is fighting off what he sees as an attempt to exploit the memory of his son, who died in German custody in a case related to the reprinting of anti-Prophet caricatures, for financial and sectarian gains.
"A group, led by a local religious personality, is trying to exploit the grave of my son as a permanent financial source," Professor Nazeer Cheema told IslamOnline.net.
His son Aamir was found dead in the custody of German police on April 26, 2006, after being held for attacking a newspaper editor who re-printed the blasphemous Danish caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
German authorities claimed he had committed suicide but the general impression was that he had been tortured and killed. He remains a hero in the eyes of most Pakistanis.
Denmark's Jyllands-Posten daily commissioned and published twelve cartoons lampooning Prophet Muhammad.
The caricatures, considered blasphemous under Islam, were later reprinted by European newspapers on claims of freedom of expression, straining Muslim-West ties and triggering massive and sometimes violent demonstrations across the Muslim world.
Afzal Qadri, the self-styled Ameer (chief) of International Tanzeem Ahl-e-Sunnat (TAS), is constructing a complex near Aamir's grave in Saroki, a small town some 60 miles north of Lahore.
"I asked him many times not to exploit the name of my son for financial matters," said Professor Cheema.
"He had started construction of a shrine on my son's grave without my permission last year. I took notice of his act, and stopped him from doing that."
Qadri has publicized a celebration of Aamir's Urs (birth anniversary) on May 01, 2007, in his native town of Saroki without taking his father into conference.
"He is using my name for Urs, but he has not even informed me about that. He just wants to accumulate money by observing such events," charged the father.
"I am Aamir's father and I don't know what is going on in the name of my son."
Maulana Wali Razi, a renowned religious scholar, terms the concrete constructions over a grave "un-Islamic".
"Constructions over graves or celebrations of the birth anniversary cannot be proved by Quran and Sunnah," he told IOL.
"It's just an emotional way of reverence, but the expression (of the way) is wrong," averred Razi.
Sectarianism
Professor Cheema insists the project stakes of sectarianism.
"He wants to make this as a sectarian issue," he said of Qadri.
"I belong to the same sect, but my contention is that my son did not sacrifice his life for any sect, but for the honor of Prophet Muhammad."
Both Qadri and Cheema belong to Brelvi school of thought.
Dubandi, Brelvi and Ahl-e-Hadit schools of thought are followed by the 80 percent of Pakistan's Sunni majority.
Professor Nazeer said Qadri had collected a huge amount in the name of Aamir Cheema Complex from different sources, and even during his funeral prayers.
"But ironically, he bought the land in the name of his own madrassah instead of Aamir Cheema complex," he noted.
"I have no objection, if he constructs a complex there. But it must be in the name of my son because the people have donated him the money for that purpose, and secondly the complex should not be restricted to any particular sect."
Qadri insists he only wants to pay homage to Aamir constructing a complex, which comprises a madrasah and a mosque, in his name.
No financial greed is involved in this matter, he maintains, though acknowledging that the issue had assumed sectarian proportions.
"It has become a sectarian issue now, and we cannot compromise on our Muslak (school of thought)," Qadri told IOL by telephone from Saroki.
"A majority of the local population belongs to Brelvi school of thought. We cannot allow any other school of thought to use this complex for their interests."
Qadri said he had already handed over the shrine affairs to Professor Cheema on his protest.
"He wants me to hand over the management of the complex to him because he is the father of Shaheed (martyr), but I have told him that he can work with us, but the complex affairs will be dealt by us."
He claimed that Professor Cheema was being played by the leaders of other sects.
"One of his brothers belongs to Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and he wants to confiscate this complex," Qadri alleged.
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba was outlawed by the government after the US State Department placed it on its list of terrorist groups in 2002.
Currently, the group is working under the banner of Jammat-ul-Dawa'h, which represents Ahl-e-Hadit school of thought in Pakistan.
"My demand is neither the shrine nor the complex. I just want him not to exploit the name of my son for his sectarian designs and money," Professor Cheema maintained.
He vowed that he would not allow anyone to exploit his son's name for fomenting sectarian hatred in the country.
"I have told him time and again and I am telling him again that I will not allow him to use my son's name for his sectarian designs.
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