Maulana Muhammad Shoaib, the Shoba Bazaar mosque imam, who was removed by local traders on Thursday, asked the provincial government to help him gain possession of the mosque, or otherwise he would do so forcibly. "If the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government fails to help me gain possession of the mosque within 24 hours then my workers will take possession forcibly, and the government will be responsible for the consequences," Maulana Shaoib told journalists during a press conference.
| "You know we're unable to control ourselves!" |
He called the allegations levelled at him by Shoba Bazaar traders false and fabricated. "I have a property dispute with some traders and I have won a court case against them after which they forcibly occupied the mosque," he said. He said his father, Maulana Muhammad Amir Zaman, had purchased the land on a 99-year lease from the Cantonment Board for the construction of a mosque and a Darul Uloom in 1966, adding he possessed legal documents to support this claim. "The mosque and Darul Uloom has been leased in the name of the Khyber Masjid Committee which has seven members whose names are verified by the police, and which hold regular annual meetings," he said. He said the Shoba Bazaar Traders Association was formed in 1973 and had nothing to do with the mosque management. "Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the MMA chief, is the patron-in-chief of the Darul Uloom and has assured me of his cooperation.
However, the provincial government is taking no action against those who desecrated the mosque," he said. Maulana Shoaib said local Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leaders were behind the attacks on the mosque and his house. "In presence of the police, armed traders raided the mosque and my house and they still occupy it," he said. He said he suspected that traders had taken thousands of rupees and gold ornaments from his house. "I do not know the amount of money and gold ornaments they have taken as they still occupy my house," he said.
| "I had thousands in there! Hunnerts o' thousands! And jewels!" |
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