Blasphemy Law and American Funding to Pakistani Mullahs.

2011 Qadri is not a religious fanatic: report Tahir Khalil Monday, January 10, 2011 ISLAMABAD: Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, is not a religious fanatic having extremist ideologies. This was disclosed in the initial report submitted to Interior Minister Rehman Malik. According to the report, Mumtaz Qadri had fulfilled all worldly requirements and was married 11 months ago. Before his marriage, he had a long love affair with a girl residing in Karachi. He some times grew beard or trimmed it. The report said Mumtaz Qadri had been performing the VIP duties since 2007, and had served in the security squad of Governor Taseer eight times earlier. He used to take the accused of blasphemy from jail to courts. Officials are investigating how the idea of attacking Governor Taseer came to his mind because he is not religious fanatic. Mumtaz Qadri never enrolled at any Madrassa; however, he used to visit shrines. He belongs to village Attall of Barakao where his grandparents live, and presently he is living in Muslim Town, Rawalpindi.

His record shows that he regularly used to attend gatherings of Dawat-e-Islami. It is surprising for security officials that how a man having inclination towards the Dawat-e-Islami took the extreme step of killing Governor Taseer when no suspected militant out of the 150 arrested from the suburbs of the capital belongs to this religious party. The officials, while giving a briefing to Interior Minister Rehman Malik, said Mumtaz Qadri did not conceal anything and described each and everything clearly and, therefore, there was no need to use ‘third degree’ torture. The interior minister directed them to complete the investigation as soon as possible, so that legal action could be taken against the accused. Meanwhile, as a result of the investigation from Mumtaz Qadri, an official has been held from the security squad of the Punjab chief minister after the arrest of a policeman from the security contingent of the prime minister. 

2012 US government website Usaspending.gov shows the Sunni Ittehad Council receiving $36,607 from Washington in 2009. US aided Pakistan group which supported Extremists  ISLAMABAD: The US gave money to a Pakistani Muslim group that organised anti-Taliban rallies, but which later demonstrated in support of an extremist who killed a leading liberal politician, the US Embassy in Pakistan said Wednesday. US government website Usaspending.gov shows that the group, the Sunni Ittehad Council, received $36,607 from Washington in 2009. A US diplomat said that the embassy had given money to the group to organise the rallies, but that it had since changed direction and leadership. He said it was a one-off grant, and wouldn’t be repeated. He didn’t give his name because he wasn’t authorised to speak about the issue on the record. The grant was first reported by the Council of Foreign Relations on its website. The Ittehad council was formed in 2009 to counter extremism. It groups politicians and clerics from Pakistan’s traditionalist Barelvi Muslim movement, often referred to as theological moderates in the Pakistani context. The American money was used to organise nationwide rallies against militants and suicide bombings, the embassy official said. The demonstrations received widespread media coverage, and were some of the first against extremism in the country. The rhetoric at the rallies was mostly focused on opposing militant attacks on shrines, which Barelvis frequent but are opposed by Deobandi Muslims, Pakistan’s other main Muslim sect. In 2011 and also this month, however, the council led demonstrations in support of the killer of Salman Taseer, a governor who was killed a year ago for his criticism of anti-blasphemy laws. The displays have appalled Pakistani liberals and stoked international fears that the country is buckling under the weight of extremism. Taseer’s assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, is a Barelvi. He claimed he acted to defend the honour of Prophet Mohammed. At its rallies, the group maintains its criticism of the Taliban even as it supports Qadri — a seemingly contradictory stance that suggests its leaders may be more interested in harnessing the political support and street power of Barelvis than in genuinely countering militancy. Two leading members of the council who have been with the group from the beginning of its existence denied receiving any American funds. The apparent discrepancy could be explained by lack of transparency within the organisation. However, given the current anti-American climate, owning up to receiving funds from the United States would invite criticism. ”This propaganda is being unleashed against us because we are strongly opposed to Western democracy and American policies in the region and in the world,” said Sahibzada Fazal Karim, the head of the council, before reiterating the group’s support for Qadri. ”We are against extremism, but we support Qadri because he did a right thing,” he said.