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| India-Pakistan |
| Interview with Azam Tariq |
| 2003-06-13 |
| The rehabilitation of the Sipah-e-Sahaba's leader is now complete, all previous killings of Shias has been forgiven and he is not totally on board with the Pak establishment. Maulana Azam Tariq was the head of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan that spawned most jihadi-sectarian outfits but was banned on by General Musharraf along with three other extremist organisations. Following the ban, Azam Tariq was detained on charges of killing Shias and other serious crimes. He was released after the October 10 elections in which he contested and won a seat from Jhang. His release is widely regarded to have come about as a result of a deal with the government. He reincarnated his party with the changed name of Millat-e-Islamia Party on April 19 in Khairpur and clearly says that his party has no links with the jihadi or sectarian outfits. Presently, he is actively involved in the campaign of his party candidate in the by-election to a Karachi constituency. What do you think of the opposition’s role in parliament? What we are seeing in parliament for the last six months or so is unfortunate. The opposition’s role is negative and will not help the cause of democracy. I have no hesitation in saying that if the present democratic set-up is rolled back and assemblies are dissolved, it is the opposition that will solely be responsible. I warn the MMA leadership to shun such misadventures because they will not gain such a landslide popular mandate again. You think the MMA’s mandate in elections was coincidental? Yes. We must be realistic. MMA cashed in on people’s sentiments due to Afghanistan and their anti-US stance. Even our candidate in Peshawar won as an independent candidate on the same grounds. He later told me that he never dreamt to turn out to be a winner. It was purely Afghanistan that came to MMA’s help. I must say that such situations do not arise every day. In the next elections, people will vote with their brains rather than their hearts. Your politics has been based on the apostatisation of the Shia community. What is your stance now on the Shia-Sunni conflict? Let me clarify one thing. SSP was a non-political religious organisation and its activities had nothing to do with politics. Now, I am talking as the convener of MIP, which is purely a religio-political party. We believe in harmony between Shias and Sunnis. There are obvious ideological differences between the two sects but that does not mean that we should start killing each other. Do you consider Shias Muslims or not? I told you there are obvious differences between the two sects, but we should respect each other. What do you think of Riaz Basra and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi? Basra left our party in 1991 and formed his own outfit. We had clearly said even then that Basra was solely responsible of his acts, which had nothing to do with the SSP. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |